How many calories?

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NoahGoldstraw
NoahGoldstraw Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 18 years old male and around 5ft 6 I do cardio twice a week and weights twice a week so I exercise around 4 times a week other than that I'm really lazy, how many calories should I be eating to lose and how many to maintain? Please let me know worried I am undereating!

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  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    I know you mentioned that you're lazy, but this post will walk you through the two most popular ways to setup your calorie goals. I think that learning how to do it will help you out in the long run if you need to make changes to your routine later.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    If you just enter the info MFP asks for, then it will tell you how many calories to eat. You don't even have to do any math. :)
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
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    The site can give you a starting point for that itself in the goals section. The above link should be read regardless, just because it has good info.

    The fact that you're worried about under eating begs the question: Why are you worried? If you used the site to set those goals, it will set a target for you that's reasonable...as long as the goal itself is reasonable, that is.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    NoahGoldstraw wrote: »
    I'm 18 years old male and around 5ft 6 I do cardio twice a week and weights twice a week so I exercise around 4 times a week other than that I'm really lazy, how many calories should I be eating to lose and how many to maintain? Please let me know worried I am undereating!

    P.S. Your post says you're 18 but your profile says 19. I don't know if it's a typo or an attempt to get around the age limit, but I just want to point out that age is an important factor in determining your calorie goals. If you give the site bad information it won't be able to accurately tell you how much you need.
  • NoahGoldstraw
    NoahGoldstraw Posts: 11
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    Oh sorry was a typo haha! I've tried typ
  • NoahGoldstraw
    NoahGoldstraw Posts: 11
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    Typing the info on there and doesn't really give me much I eat around 1500 cals a day roughly!
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
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    NoahGoldstraw wrote: »
    Typing the info on there and doesn't really give me much I eat around 1500 cals a day roughly!

    That isn't much for your age. How much do you weigh and how much are you trying to lose? And at what desired rate?

  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    edited November 2014
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    If you just enter the info MFP asks for, then it will tell you how many calories to eat. You don't even have to do any math. :)

    There's a bit more to it than that... In this particular case, OP only wants to lose a little over 10 pounds and therefore should be only trying to lose 1/2 a pound per week. If he chooses a higher goal than that, he likely won't be getting enough calories/nutrients.

    OP, be sure to also log your exercise and eat back most, if not all of the earned calories.

    For more customized advice, please provide answers to Evan's questions above. It would also be helpful to know what your current and goal weight numbers are.

    ETA: I ran some numbers going with a guess weight of 170 and if that's even remotely close, your BMR would be about 1800 calories. You're definitely undereating!
  • NoahGoldstraw
    NoahGoldstraw Posts: 11
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    MinnieInMaine wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    If you just enter the info MFP asks for, then it will tell you how many calories to eat. You don't even have to do any math. :)

    There's a bit more to it than that... In this particular case, OP only wants to lose a little over 10 pounds and therefore should be only trying to lose 1/2 a pound per week. If he chooses a higher goal than that, he likely won't be getting enough calories/nutrients.

    OP, be sure to also log your exercise and eat back most, if not all of the earned calories.

    For more customized advice, please provide answers to Evan's questions above. It would also be helpful to know what your current and goal weight numbers are.

    ETA: I ran some numbers going with a guess weight of 170 and if that's even remotely close, your BMR would be about 1800 calories. You're definitely undereating!

    I only weigh 9 stone (126/128 pounds) but I still have fat on my stomach and love handle area that I'm really trying to get rid of I eat pretty healthy but still have the odd bits of junk food and pizzas etc with friends I just don't know how many calories I should be eating at all
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
    edited November 2014
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    NoahGoldstraw wrote: »
    MinnieInMaine wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    If you just enter the info MFP asks for, then it will tell you how many calories to eat. You don't even have to do any math. :)

    There's a bit more to it than that... In this particular case, OP only wants to lose a little over 10 pounds and therefore should be only trying to lose 1/2 a pound per week. If he chooses a higher goal than that, he likely won't be getting enough calories/nutrients.

    OP, be sure to also log your exercise and eat back most, if not all of the earned calories.

    For more customized advice, please provide answers to Evan's questions above. It would also be helpful to know what your current and goal weight numbers are.

    ETA: I ran some numbers going with a guess weight of 170 and if that's even remotely close, your BMR would be about 1800 calories. You're definitely undereating!

    I only weigh 9 stone (126/128 pounds) but I still have fat on my stomach and love handle area that I'm really trying to get rid of I eat pretty healthy but still have the odd bits of junk food and pizzas etc with friends I just don't know how many calories I should be eating at all

    Ok...It's not that you want to lose weight. You want body recomposition. Your deficit should be as slight as you can manage. For example, if I just use an online TDEE calculator for your stats with a moderate exercise level, you're looking at a daily expenditure of around 2400 calories. Which means you'd want to eat at around 2150. Of course, with that particular method you wouldn't eat back your exercise calories. MFP's method is slightly different because the goal doesn't include exercise calories (unless you included it in your activity level to begin with). So the number will be lower because they assume you'd log exercise separately and eat back those calories...Even still, I think 1500 isn't enough and would be too aggressive a goal for your situation. Just my 2 cents.

    Keep up with the progressive lifting routine, get plenty of protein.

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