How many calories per day to lose weight?
lizt1455
Posts: 2 Member
I am new to MFP and I think the app is great. However I am supposed to eat around 1350 calories a day and then I probably burn 500 calories a day throught exercise. How many calories should I eat in order to lose weight? Thanks
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Replies
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1850, if you burn the exercise calories. MFP adds the exercise calories to your daily "lose weight" calories, so if you burn 500 in exercise then 1850 it is, likewise if you burn 100 in exercise it is 1450
MFP will work it out for you, once you enter your exercise burn the food allowance /calories is is amended0 -
Why do you say you are supposed to eat 1350?
I found this site really helpful: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
It will give you what you should be eating depending on how fast you want to lose. Eating below (and also netting below - Food calories minus exercise calories) your BMR starves yourself. Eating a calorie deficit should be eating below your TDEE and you will lose weight. Eating below BMR - well of course you will lose weight faster but you will probably have trouble keeping it off. This is the world of yo yo dieting, lose, regain plus some, lose again....Once you stop tracking, or have a weekend "off" - your body will hold on.
I currently have a TDEE of 2400 (this includes all the exercise I do in a week). I lift heavy 3 times per week, chase my kids, walk the dog twice a week and do about an hour of extra cardio at the gym each week. I eat 2100 cal per day and am losing weight at a rate of 1lb per week. Of course, I will need to keep adjusting this as I lose more weight...but even once I get to my goal weight I will need to eat about 1900 - 2000 to maintain with my current exercise level.
Good luck! Don't buy into the starvation myths!!0 -
Starvation mode is a myth though. But eating 10-20% below TDEE is a good way to know how many caloriesto eat. Just be aware that TDEE -20% is included "exercise" calories.0
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Firefly0606 wrote: »Why do you say you are supposed to eat 1350?
I found this site really helpful: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
It will give you what you should be eating depending on how fast you want to lose. Eating below (and also netting below - Food calories minus exercise calories) your BMR starves yourself. Eating a calorie deficit should be eating below your TDEE and you will lose weight. Eating below BMR - well of course you will lose weight faster but you will probably have trouble keeping it off. This is the world of yo yo dieting, lose, regain plus some, lose again....Once you stop tracking, or have a weekend "off" - your body will hold on.
I currently have a TDEE of 2400 (this includes all the exercise I do in a week). I lift heavy 3 times per week, chase my kids, walk the dog twice a week and do about an hour of extra cardio at the gym each week. I eat 2100 cal per day and am losing weight at a rate of 1lb per week. Of course, I will need to keep adjusting this as I lose more weight...but even once I get to my goal weight I will need to eat about 1900 - 2000 to maintain with my current exercise level.
Good luck! Don't buy into the starvation myths!!
^^This. I also use that website to calculate my calories. Follow that and you won't have to worry about eating back your excercise calories.0 -
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Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks0
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Also, I suggest not eating back all your exercise calories. They are typically over estimated. I recommend only eating back 50-75% of them0
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Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
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Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
Which is essentially what MFP does for you when you set your activity level to include your exercise.0 -
following0
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TimothyFish wrote: »Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
Which is essentially what MFP does for you when you set your activity level to include your exercise.
Incorrect. MFP set with activity level is nowhere near as accurate as TDEE.
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TimothyFish wrote: »Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
Which is essentially what MFP does for you when you set your activity level to include your exercise.
Incorrect. MFP set with activity level is nowhere near as accurate as TDEE.
Prove it.
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TimothyFish wrote: »Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
Which is essentially what MFP does for you when you set your activity level to include your exercise.
MFP only calculates on the 500 calorie per weekly pound loss paradigm ... it does not calculate percentages.
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TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
Which is essentially what MFP does for you when you set your activity level to include your exercise.
Incorrect. MFP set with activity level is nowhere near as accurate as TDEE.
Prove it.
Well, when I use MFP settings (including my activity level), it gives me 1480 calories. When I use the TDEE method, it gives me 1823 calories. I've been using TDEE and losing weight each week, so.... point proven.0 -
Bug, TDEEE factors IN the calories as part of the calculation by your report of your activity level. MFP doesn't. You log what you exercise then eat them.
Interestingly enough, in the end, the calculations are remarkably the same over the long term. It just depends on whether you want the amount you eat per day to be driven by daily or weekly activity levels.0 -
Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
No your goal is 2124, whether you workout or not, as it assumes you workout x times/week and averages that burn out for the week.0 -
Do NOT eat back the calories you burn. You will lose weight at a much slower pace. My current plan is 1200 cals daily and moderate exercise daily as well and I've been losing weight regularly. Your plan sounds good/healthy though so keep it up, just don't eat those calories you burned.0
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Do NOT eat back the calories you burn. You will lose weight at a much slower pace. My current plan is 1200 cals daily and moderate exercise daily as well and I've been losing weight regularly. Your plan sounds good/healthy though so keep it up, just don't eat those calories you burned.
Faster loss is not necessarily better for a person and MFP is designed around eating back exercise calories.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
Which is essentially what MFP does for you when you set your activity level to include your exercise.
Incorrect. MFP set with activity level is nowhere near as accurate as TDEE.
Prove it.
Well, when I use MFP settings (including my activity level), it gives me 1480 calories. When I use the TDEE method, it gives me 1823 calories. I've been using TDEE and losing weight each week, so.... point proven.
they should be about the same if you picked the correct goal on MFP for the amount you ahve to lose:
As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.
So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.
What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.
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TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
Which is essentially what MFP does for you when you set your activity level to include your exercise.
Incorrect. MFP set with activity level is nowhere near as accurate as TDEE.
Prove it.
Well, when I use MFP settings (including my activity level), it gives me 1480 calories. When I use the TDEE method, it gives me 1823 calories. I've been using TDEE and losing weight each week, so.... point proven.
I didn't know what a t'dee was until AFTER I'd reached my goal. Why do so many people make weight loss such a big deal & try to combine calculations/approaches/techniques?
I guess I'm stupid, but I didn't know any better than to follow MFP's methodology.
Success.
Counterpoint proven.
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TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Thanks Firefly0606 this site is great. Just for clarification I entered all my statistics and my TDEE is 2655 including exercise. I am allowed 2124 calls per day to lose a pound a week. In MFP if I add 500 cals a day due to exercise then my goal should be 1624 is this correct? Thanks
If you are using the TDEE method, you don't follow what MFP gives you. Go into your setting and change your calories to match what your TDEE -15 or 20% is. That's the number you should be eating.
Which is essentially what MFP does for you when you set your activity level to include your exercise.
Incorrect. MFP set with activity level is nowhere near as accurate as TDEE.
Prove it.
Well, when I use MFP settings (including my activity level), it gives me 1480 calories. When I use the TDEE method, it gives me 1823 calories. I've been using TDEE and losing weight each week, so.... point proven.
I've got to jump in here.
MFP set to 1 lb loss per week, and then adding and eating exercise calories worked like a charm for me until I got close to goal. Then TDEE worked better.
MFP method of adding exercise calories and then eating them back helped me to understand the importance of exercise in weight management. It was also very motivating to couch-potato me. Now, five years later, exercise is a habit, and it is not such a big deal to "earn" my calories. So TDEE is just as appropriate. (although, if I don't exercise, I do plan on eating less that day. Actually, I use an activity monitor (Misfit flash) to help me now.)
My point is, both MFP method and TDEE method work well, and both have their place. Some will find one works better than the other for them personally.
OP--bottom line is that MFP does not include exercise cals in your total eating goal, so add them and eat at least half back. But also make sure you don't include exercise in your activity level settings. That should be just your lifestyle--like desk job, or sales clerk, etc. to determine how much NON EXERCISE activity you do.
Or use TDEE-% and don't add extra exercise calories.
Your choice.
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Do NOT eat back the calories you burn. You will lose weight at a much slower pace. My current plan is 1200 cals daily and moderate exercise daily as well and I've been losing weight regularly. Your plan sounds good/healthy though so keep it up, just don't eat those calories you burned.
Faster weight loss usually leads to a larger % of your loss coming from lean muscle and less from fat. MFP is designed for you to eat them back in order to hit your weekly weight loss goal.0 -
brianpperkins wrote: »Do NOT eat back the calories you burn. You will lose weight at a much slower pace. My current plan is 1200 cals daily and moderate exercise daily as well and I've been losing weight regularly. Your plan sounds good/healthy though so keep it up, just don't eat those calories you burned.
Faster loss is not necessarily better for a person and MFP is designed around eating back exercise calories.
While you may be right about how MFP is designed, we all use the features differently
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MFP calculates a net caloric goal that does not include exercise calories ... which it then expects you to eat back to maintain that net. TDEE includes your exercise calories in its calculations so there is no need to eat them back because they are already included.
Either way, the totals should be the same ... both include RMR + exercise calories. The difference is when you include the exercise calories into the equation.0 -
brianpperkins wrote: »Do NOT eat back the calories you burn. You will lose weight at a much slower pace. My current plan is 1200 cals daily and moderate exercise daily as well and I've been losing weight regularly. Your plan sounds good/healthy though so keep it up, just don't eat those calories you burned.
Faster loss is not necessarily better for a person and MFP is designed around eating back exercise calories.
While you may be right about how MFP is designed, we all use the features differently
Tools are designed to do a job within a set of parameters. If one wants to use TDEE, there is no reason to setup MFP for a weight loss plan ... just use its (or any of the multiple other online site's) log. If one using MFP to calculate a loss plan, the entire net deficit is based upon eating exercise calories to maintain that net caloric intake and required nutritional levels.
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When you exercise it adds calories to your "allowance." So if I eat 1200, which is what it recommends and then burn 300 it says I can eat 300 more. Doesn't that basically cancel out the exercising?0
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rhiannajohnson2015 wrote: »When you exercise it adds calories to your "allowance." So if I eat 1200, which is what it recommends and then burn 300 it says I can eat 300 more. Doesn't that basically cancel out the exercising?
No. When you set your goal, MFP doesn't take into account that you're going to exercise. When you say you're a sedentary individual of age, gender, ht, wt, it figures out how many calories you should eat to lose the goal you entered. Let's say...
You entered in a goal loss of 1lb per week and got a caloric goal of 1700 cals with 2200 to maintain.
1700 cals + 0 exercise = 500 cal deficit
1700 cals - 300 cals to exercise = 1400, Eat back 300 cals to get back to 1700 = 500 cal defict.0 -
down 3500 calories for a week should get you a lb a week off.0
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