Should I really be eating this many calories!?

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  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Well I mean I will be considered overweight and not Obese. It's only 1 pound over 70 :)

    I walk in the morning for 51-53 minutes and get 3.2-3.3 miles :) I thought I burned 300 calories for that, but it turns out it was only 156 :(. I do the same thing in the afternoon and burn another 156 calories. So 313 in total.

    I don't count calories for my daily routine like grocery shopping, going some where, riding my bike, ect. Just the calories that I actually work on.
  • ScottH_200
    ScottH_200 Posts: 377 Member
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    Wow, reading all these different perspectives, suggestions and analysis gives me a headache! LOL
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
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    You will never get an 100% accurate estimate of your calories - I really think you're overthinking it. I do "different" activities - aka circuit training - and could never accurately estimate it, so I moved to the TDEE -20% method and have been MUCH happier. And I'm around the same size as you. If I didn't eat back any of my calories (I have a desk job so was in as sedentary, but hit the gym/barn daily), I would be starving. Not literally... but super super hungry...

    The purpose of having extra calories from working out is to fuel said workouts. You earned that extra workout food!

    Congratulations on your loss so far... but it's not a race. It doesn't matter how people say things. Own your weight loss and own how much more you have to lose. Good luck!
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Yeah calories are such a pain, especially when estimating how much you are losing. I know I am probably over thinking it and I haven't in the past, but it's driving me absolutely crazy to not lose anything in so long. I don't understand TDEE at all. It says my current TDEE is 2,379 calories. So I'm suppose to take 20% of that and that's suppose to be my daily calorie intake? If that's true, then me daily calorie intake should be 1,903? That would seem extremely high amount of calories for someone that is only lightly active and trying to lose weight, at least I think so. I was super hungry on my previous diet, but I bumped my calories up to 1,500ish and it has helped a lot.

    It still is strange to me to eat back the calories you burned, but I understand your body needs fuel to keep going.

    Thank you so much! I know it's not a race, but it doesn't mean I don't like setting goals for myself and at least lose 1 pound a week. I would love to lose 2 pounds a week for a while and hopefully get down to 185 so I won't be considered obese anymore. It's just nice to get as much weight off as you can, you also feel a lot better about yourself.
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Wonderful news guys! I woke up this morning and I'm back down to 200 :D!!! I've been eating a bit more and feeling a lot better. The best part is now some people can't say 71 + anymore :P
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Jenniator, I wanted to apologies if I discouraged you about the HRM. It was not my intent. Also, since you still have 75 lbs to lose, your body can sustain a bit more than a 20% reduction to your TDEE. If anything, I would put your daily intake to 1500 as a starting point and NOT eat back exercise calories. I would make sure protein is adequate macros be around 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. This will give you about a 1.5 to 1.7 lb loss per week. If you want, you can add some body resistance training to help retain your muscle mass. This could include, squats, lunges, push ups, planks, pull ups (even with a resistance band and door attachment), etc...
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    jenniator wrote: »
    Yeah calories are such a pain, especially when estimating how much you are losing. I know I am probably over thinking it and I haven't in the past, but it's driving me absolutely crazy to not lose anything in so long. I don't understand TDEE at all. It says my current TDEE is 2,379 calories. So I'm suppose to take 20% of that and that's suppose to be my daily calorie intake? If that's true, then me daily calorie intake should be 1,903? That would seem extremely high amount of calories for someone that is only lightly active and trying to lose weight, at least I think so. I was super hungry on my previous diet, but I bumped my calories up to 1,500ish and it has helped a lot.

    It still is strange to me to eat back the calories you burned, but I understand your body needs fuel to keep going.

    Thank you so much! I know it's not a race, but it doesn't mean I don't like setting goals for myself and at least lose 1 pound a week. I would love to lose 2 pounds a week for a while and hopefully get down to 185 so I won't be considered obese anymore. It's just nice to get as much weight off as you can, you also feel a lot better about yourself.

    It's hard not to overthink it, I certainly do sometimes, but it sounds like you are doing what makes sense. Eating more because those low calories were getting hard to sustain and picking a reasonable number--1500-- and just trying it for a while. I also think 1500 and not worrying about exercise calories makes sense. This is not because your exercise isn't valuable, but trying to mess with calculating them is probably unnecessary, since you are consistent every week so they are part of your normal routine.

    Congrats on getting back to 200 and good luck!
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
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    jenniator wrote: »
    Yeah calories are such a pain, especially when estimating how much you are losing. I know I am probably over thinking it and I haven't in the past, but it's driving me absolutely crazy to not lose anything in so long. I don't understand TDEE at all. It says my current TDEE is 2,379 calories. So I'm suppose to take 20% of that and that's suppose to be my daily calorie intake? If that's true, then me daily calorie intake should be 1,903? That would seem extremely high amount of calories for someone that is only lightly active and trying to lose weight, at least I think so. I was super hungry on my previous diet, but I bumped my calories up to 1,500ish and it has helped a lot.

    It still is strange to me to eat back the calories you burned, but I understand your body needs fuel to keep going.

    Thank you so much! I know it's not a race, but it doesn't mean I don't like setting goals for myself and at least lose 1 pound a week. I would love to lose 2 pounds a week for a while and hopefully get down to 185 so I won't be considered obese anymore. It's just nice to get as much weight off as you can, you also feel a lot better about yourself.

    Yes that is accurate. Although I am a similar size (5'5", 205 lbs) and mine - 20% at working out 3 times a week is 1800.

    You don't HAVE to eat that much if you aren't hungry, but it ends up being a more consistent value on non-workout days =)


    I know exactly what you mean - I've been at 205 for 3 weeks now.. but for me, I KNOW I'm eating more at maintenance (sigh).
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    jenniator wrote: »
    It still is strange to me to eat back the calories you burned, but I understand your body needs fuel to keep going./quote]

    Well, you don't HAVE TO eat back your walking burn. Given the difficulties in estimating what you do burn on walks, it's probably better if you don't, assuming you're not losing more than 1% of your body weight per week regularly.

    The fuel your body uses to fund the deficit is your body fat. That fuels your walk as well as today's meals do. Eating a minimum amount today isn't so much a fueling issue as a nutrition one. Walking doesn't negate nutrition.

    Good luck!
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    That's alright psulemon, you didn't discourage me :) I just figured that it wouldn't really be important since I'm primary going to be using the elliptical. Maybe a little bit of jogging also. The HRM is really best for jogging, running, and things like that. Actually I have 70 pounds exactly left to lose whoo! For the past 2 days, I've been eating around 1,500 calories which I think is a good range. Thank you for the information :) I wasn't sure how much percent everything should be. I'm not good at pull up's or push up's, but I can try my best :)
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Hello lemurcat,

    It really is hard to not overthink it. I'm such a worry wart and tend to overthink a lot of this :P 1,500 a day I think is really good! I don't feel as hungry and my body has enough calories for the day :) That is true the calories I burn are part of my normal routine, but I would like to think they do help with the weight.

    Thank you :) I was so happy to see 200 on the scale this morning.
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Hello arrrrjt,

    It is still such a high amount. I think I will stick to 1,500 calories since I think that's more of a reasonable range :)

    I don't eat when I'm not hungry since that's just extra calories I don't need. But it is a bit difficult to resist snacking, but I do pretty well at it :)

    It really is difficult being stuck at the same weight for weeks when you are doing your best to eat healthy, maintain your calories, and stick to your workouts. It really is discouraging :( I really hope your weight will start budging soon :D
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
    edited October 2014
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    For breakfast I had 60 grams of All-Brain fiber: 256 calories.
    Then after walking I had a turkey and spinach sandwich on whole-grain bread: 202 calories
    for lunch I had 2 eggs with a lot of spinach, turkey lunch meat diced, and veggies mixed together: 300 calories
    Dinner is chicken with noodles and veggies: 780 calories

    I cheated and had 3 squares of chocolate since I was really craving for it :(: 113 calories. I'm really proud of myself though for having enough restraint to only eat 3 squares! Not everyone can do that :D But I feel bad for not sticking to my 1,500 limit :(

    Total for the day: 1,651 calories without counting the exercise

    Hopefully I am doing alright :)

    Also Happy Halloween guys!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
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    Jeeze, when I walk an hour, which is 3 miles, it tells me I have only burned like 180 calories. It's for sure not 600. I would say don't eat back exercise calories because it's extremely hard to know how many calories you burned, even ballpark. Go with the calories your regular daily lifestyle burns (as calculated here or other reputable site).
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Hello gothchiq,

    Yeah unfortunately I believed I was burning 300 calories for 3.2 miles in 52 minutes since my walking app said it was around 320 and MFP said it was 312 :(. But I learned I really am only burning around 156 calories per 52 minutes. I do hope it is around 180 though :D!! ha ha. But I count it as 156 to be sure. It really is difficult to figure out how many calories you burn with walking. I'm sticking around 1,500 without exercise and I think that's good :D
  • peter7361
    peter7361 Posts: 20 Member
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    jenniator wrote: »
    Omg rabbitjb, are you seriously?! So MFP says I burn 312 calories, so it's actually 156 calories for 51-53 minutes!? I thought a mile was 100 calories? Wow that is actually really sad to hear. I thought I was getting 600 a day, but it's really only 312 calories for 2 hours of walking?

    And here I was so proud of myself for burning so many calories...I thought.

    I'm a fairly new user with MFP, but one thing I noticed immediately when logging my exercise was that it was giving me my total calories burned (calories from exercise in addition to my BMR) when exercising instead of my net calories burned from exercise. In other words, for the time spent doing cardio, it was including the number of calories I would have burned had I spent that time sitting on the couch watching TV.

    For an exercise such as walking, it's been calculated that you'll burn 0.3 calories per pound you weigh for every mile you walk. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and you walk one mile (0.3 x 200 x 1) you would burn 60 calories in addition to what you would burn had you spent that same time resting. In contrast, the average total calories burned per mile walking is .63 calories per pound you weigh. The total calories burned for that same 200 pound person walking a mile (.63 x 200 x 1) would be 128 calories. These numbers may vary a little bit based on your individual body and the speed you walk, but they are generally accepted as accurate. When MFP calculates your calories burned for walking a mile, it gives you 128 instead of 60.
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
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    I can't afford a HRM at the moment so ive been using this website.
    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/walking-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
    Takes in account your weight, distance and time. I like having something that dosn't use an average weight and speed to calculate. When i started I was at 4' 11" and 225 lbs none of the machines that take "averages" were anywhere near correct for me.
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Wow Peter you are awesome!! I am still new to nutrition and estimating calories, so all this is a bit confusing to me. :) But yeah I noticed that MFP way over estimates the calories. I didn't know you burn 0.3 calories per pound of your weight per mile you want. Even luckier, you used my exact weight :D I was thinking that I was burning around 156 calories for 3 miles. But really it is 180 calories if I'm 200 pounds right?
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Hello ktekc,

    Yeah HRM are pretty expensive. Unfortunately that site is way way over estimating the calories. I entered my information and it says in 3 miles I would've burned 357 calories which is not possible :P

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