Don't know how many calories I should be eating.

irishlass38
irishlass38 Posts: 17 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm currently set at 1200 cals per day. I work a sedentary job, but I work out 5 days a week (spin, bootcamp, or weight training). I need to lose about 15 pounds to be at my goal. Any advice? I always worry I'm not eating enough and will go into "starvation mode" and not lose. Thanks :)

Replies

  • leooftheyear
    leooftheyear Posts: 429 Member
    first of all, starvation mode is a myth.... secondly, we won't be able to give you a yes/no on the calorie count without some stats: Height, Weight, ect.
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    What does MFP tell you to eat to lose .5lbs a week? Eat that, plus half your exercise calories.

    And by the way, if you work out 5 days a week you aren't sedentary. I'd go for lightly active.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    kristen6350 wrote: »
    What does MFP tell you to eat to lose .5lbs a week? Eat that, plus half your exercise calories.

    And by the way, if you work out 5 days a week you aren't sedentary. I'd go for lightly active.

    Agree with first lime

    Activity level is based on your life without exercise so if you're sitting at a desk all day you're sedentary and you log your workouts on top - eating half the calories as you say - there's an activity descriptor there
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,903 Member
    kristen6350 wrote: »
    What does MFP tell you to eat to lose .5lbs a week? Eat that, plus half your exercise calories.

    And by the way, if you work out 5 days a week you aren't sedentary. I'd go for lightly active.

    I'm not sure I'd agree with that last bit. If we were using a different method of figuring out a goal, it probably wouldn't matter. The difference between classifying activity as light or sedentary based on exercise vs all day activity ends up coming out the same in the end if we use a TDEE method.

    But...

    If we're using MFP's NEAT method, and we're logging exercise calories, I'm not sure I'd suggest bumping up the activity to lightly active if all her noteworthy activity is bound to her exercise and she's sedentary otherwise.

    I do agree with setting a goal of .5 loss per week and eating back half calories.
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    kristen6350 wrote: »
    What does MFP tell you to eat to lose .5lbs a week? Eat that, plus half your exercise calories.

    And by the way, if you work out 5 days a week you aren't sedentary. I'd go for lightly active.

    Agree with first lime

    Activity level is based on your life without exercise so if you're sitting at a desk all day you're sedentary and you log your workouts on top - eating half the calories as you say - there's an activity descriptor there


    If you're just starting out, then follow MFP guidelines.

    You want to lose 15lbs, and you have a desk job. What is your life like after work?

    Stick with Sedentary, 0.5 pounds per week as a goal, and log exercise, and eat back half (MFP tends to overestimate) ..

    No need to complicate things while you're getting started!
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    kristen6350 wrote: »
    What does MFP tell you to eat to lose .5lbs a week? Eat that, plus half your exercise calories.

    And by the way, if you work out 5 days a week you aren't sedentary. I'd go for lightly active.

    Agree with first lime

    Activity level is based on your life without exercise so if you're sitting at a desk all day you're sedentary and you log your workouts on top - eating half the calories as you say - there's an activity descriptor there

    Ok, I guess you are right. But I'm sure she's not sitting ALL day. When you come home you cook, do laundry, and do errands. But I guess on the safe side keep it sedentary. I have a desk job and have mine at sedentary because I don't work out. My mistake.


  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    If you are logging your exercise in MFP, it will tell you how many more calories you can eat, but many people cut the additional calories in half, to account for estimation errors.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    irishlass38 wrote: »
    I'm currently set at 1200 cals per day. I work a sedentary job, but I work out 5 days a week (spin, bootcamp, or weight training). I need to lose about 15 pounds to be at my goal. Any advice? I always worry I'm not eating enough and will go into "starvation mode" and not lose. Thanks :)

    When you log your exercise, MFP will increase your calorie goal to account for that activity...that's how this calculator works. Just make sure you leave some room for error.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    What are your stats? Also, with so little to lose, your goal should be set to lose .5 pound a week.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited January 2015
    kristen6350 wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    kristen6350 wrote: »
    What does MFP tell you to eat to lose .5lbs a week? Eat that, plus half your exercise calories.

    And by the way, if you work out 5 days a week you aren't sedentary. I'd go for lightly active.

    Agree with first lime

    Activity level is based on your life without exercise so if you're sitting at a desk all day you're sedentary and you log your workouts on top - eating half the calories as you say - there's an activity descriptor there

    Ok, I guess you are right. But I'm sure she's not sitting ALL day. When you come home you cook, do laundry, and do errands. But I guess on the safe side keep it sedentary. I have a desk job and have mine at sedentary because I don't work out. My mistake.


    That's sedentary ....it includes general light living its about 20% above bmr ...for me, wearing a fitbit sedentary is acheived at between 2500 to 4000 steps dependent on intensity ...light housework and cooking is about 1500 (numbers geek)
  • irishlass38
    irishlass38 Posts: 17 Member
    I'm 5'7'' -- 168 lbs, hoping to get to 153. Ive been told that MFP over estimates cals burned, so, it tells me I burn 600 in Spin, so I've only been eating half back. I always worry I'm not eating enough...
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Then change your target to 1300 a day, eat your earned calories back by half and weigh yourself in a week to see if you are still losing. Your body is your best guide.
  • irishlass38
    irishlass38 Posts: 17 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    What are your stats? Also, with so little to lose, your goal should be set to lose .5 pound a week.

    Just wondering why I should be set to only .5 per week? Just confused...thanks :)
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    Because you only have 15lbs left. Trust us. I've been doing .5lbs a week for 4 weeks and I'm down 6lbs. I have 3 more to go.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    Set your goal for 1/2 lb a week and eat back half your exercise calories - then you will be at a good level of weight loss for what you have to lose. If you find you aren't losing that 1/2 lb per week (averaging over 4 weeks), then drop 100 calories and see how it goes.
  • irishlass38
    irishlass38 Posts: 17 Member
    Thanks everyone :) I appreciate the help!
  • DvlDwnInGA
    DvlDwnInGA Posts: 369 Member
    edited January 2015
    Half pound a week, track your calories you burn doing your workouts and eat back half the calories a day.

    You need to make sure your logging of your food is the most accurate. Food scale, track everything you eat. Vitamins have calories.

    Adjust as you go. Don't panic and make big changes to your calorie goals with out making sure that you are actually logging accurately.

    There are few people who actually need to eat 1200 cals a day to lose weight. Mostly you will find this in women who when given the option to lose 2 lbs a week vs a pound or half a pound, obviously they want that 2 lbs. Unfortunately, if you don't have a lot to lose, 2 lbs a week is an extremely quick way to burn yourself out and you will be starving all the time and will likely quit.



  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
    DvlDwnInGA wrote: »
    If you are going to exercise 5 times a week. Tell MFP that you are going to exercise 5 times a week from the get go. You will get more cals a day to eat. Eat the same calories everyday and forget about logging your work outs.

    This isn't quite correct. In order to get more calories per week to eat without tracking every individual workout, you need to adjust your activity levels, not the workouts bit - the workouts bit doesn't do anything other than serve as a goal setting thing to see how you are doing on fitness as well as exercise.

  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,903 Member
    edited January 2015
    mumblemagic wrote: »
    DvlDwnInGA wrote: »
    If you are going to exercise 5 times a week. Tell MFP that you are going to exercise 5 times a week from the get go. You will get more cals a day to eat. Eat the same calories everyday and forget about logging your work outs.

    This isn't quite correct. In order to get more calories per week to eat without tracking every individual workout, you need to adjust your activity levels, not the workouts bit - the workouts bit doesn't do anything other than serve as a goal setting thing to see how you are doing on fitness as well as exercise.

    Yeah, that.

    Also, if someone is taking a multivitamin that happens to contain calories, that should be logged, but generally vitamins aren't considered energy sources in that way. My multi doesn't have calories, for example. That's part of being a micronutrient.

  • DvlDwnInGA
    DvlDwnInGA Posts: 369 Member
    You are correct. Disregard what I said about the exercise part. I have not used the MFP exercise part in awhile. I run it all through IIFYM and have only been using MFP to track. It does make an adjustment on the IIFYM site, but not on MFP. Thanks for correcting me. I will edit it.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    irishlass38 wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    What are your stats? Also, with so little to lose, your goal should be set to lose .5 pound a week.

    Just wondering why I should be set to only .5 per week? Just confused...thanks :)
    Because the winner gets to eat the most and still lose.
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