A little confused

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InspireM3World
InspireM3World Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all.

So I've started my weight loss journey on the 1st of January and it's going great (I think)

The one thing that is confusing me is what my calorie intake should be...I've used multiple calculators and most are telling me that to maintain my weight I should be eating 4,237Cal a day. I'm 171.6Kg (378.313 pounds) It's telling me in order for me to lose 1KG per week I need to eat 3,237Cal per day which is fine.

My Fitness Pal however has put me on a calorie bank of 2,300Cal per day which I'm managing to stick too.

If I have 2,300 per day as indicated by My fitness Pal how much would I actually lose in a week?

Thank you all in advanced :smiley:

Replies

  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
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    The calculators are probably telling you your TDEE which includes all your activity and exercise. MFP is traditionally set at sedentary and does not include any activity/exercise, so it's thought you would eat back at least 1/2 of the exercise calories. I personally found that I did better with TDEE calculations versus the MFP calculations. And honestly, why not eat as much as you can to lose weight?
  • bkerr30
    bkerr30 Posts: 131 Member
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    You don't mention your activity level. With mfp I always "earn" extra calories due to exercise and activity. That being said, I try not to eat the total calories I have earned, i don't find I need them. If mfp calorie allotment is working for you I say stick with it. Just remember to log your exercise :D
  • InspireM3World
    InspireM3World Posts: 12
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    So based on the fact that I have a desk job so not a lot of moving around but I exercise 6 times a week on the treadmill (averaging 150cal burn at a 4.5KM/H rate) I probably should change my settings from sedentary to something else? I've been managing on the 2,300 cal per day but towards the end of the night I'm finding that I'm getting a little hungry after dinner.

    Thanks again for the help :smile:
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    No, stay at sedentary and log your exercise. The activity level includes everything you do in the day outside of working out.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    You could leave it at sedentary and eat back your exercise calories after dinner :)
  • InspireM3World
    InspireM3World Posts: 12
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    That's what I have been doing. Glad to know I've been doing it right. It still begs the question about how much I will lose per week though. Given that I'm suppose to be eating 3,237Cal per day in order to lose 1KG per week and I'm only having 2,300 (I don't always eat all of it, usually a few hundred calories under per day) then wouldn't I lose more weight than 1KG per week?

    Apologies for all the questions, I'm a complete noob at this :neutral_face:
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    How tall are you?
  • InspireM3World
    InspireM3World Posts: 12
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    I'm 182cm
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    3500 calorie defecit is around a pound of weight loss

    But weight loss is not linear, and often masked by water fluctuations

    Weigh yourself in a week and see ...you will lose quickly to start and then it may slow down, speed up, stall and start again

    Just keep on counting
  • InspireM3World
    InspireM3World Posts: 12
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    Thank you and I will :smiley:

    I don't expect to be an easy journey but in time I will get there. I'm not looking to lose the maximum to start. Being my size, if I lose to much I'm suspecting that I'll end up with a lot of loose skin.

    Thanks everyone for your help!!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited January 2015
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    InspireM3World wrote: »
    The one thing that is confusing me is what my calorie intake should be...I've used multiple calculators and most are telling me that to maintain my weight I should be eating 4,237Cal a day. I'm 171.6Kg (378.313 pounds) It's telling me in order for me to lose 1KG per week I need to eat 3,237Cal per day which is fine.

    Those numbers are most likely too high, unless you're very tall, because most online calculators over-estimate burns for high body fat cases.

    A more realistic number is going to be a maintenance intake of about 3000 calories/day, so work out your deficit from that level.

    At your current level of exercise, you can safely ignore exercise burn for now. Just keep it simple...
  • InspireM3World
    InspireM3World Posts: 12
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    Thanks :smiley:

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