ALSO freaked out about my calorie goal..

BlazeCooper
BlazeCooper Posts: 3
edited November 11 in Getting Started
I just made my account, talked into joining by my room mate.

So, similar to the other user (but I didn't want to hijack their thread) my allotted calories right now are SUPER high..

I am 6'1", 274 lbs, 32 year old male, with goal to lose 74 lbs, 1 lb a week.
My suggested calorie intake is 2,310 calories a day.

That's a HUGE amount, I'm so confused! It's way more than the other person's too, I don't know if it's broken, or what?

Replies

  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    That isn't a huge amount for a person your size. It's less than your body needs to maintain at your current weight if you were in a coma.
  • BlazeCooper
    BlazeCooper Posts: 3
    Dang.. that implies I eat that much daily. What an eye opener..
  • samanthavugallegos
    samanthavugallegos Posts: 7
    I just started also and it says I can only eat 1200 calories a day... that seems way to low to me
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
    Your calorie goal sounds very appropriate. Most people are shocked by how much they eat. As a 5'5", 125 lb female, 2300 calories is what I tend to put away when I'm not logging or thinking about what I eat. A nice dinner out or a burger, fries, and beer will easily run me 1500 calories, and then there's the rest of the day. Try thinking back to a typical day and log that. It's good to know what you're used to eating so you know where to make changes.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    @samanthavug use this link and put in your stats http://calorieline.com/tools/tdee and see if the numbers are similar to MFP. You can custom MFP if needed but we all lose weight the healthy way so make sure you setup a deficit that keeps you in a healthy range and lose modestly and not too fast. It took me about a month to figure out what was weight gain and what was accurate to loose slower..
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
    samanthavugallegos wrote: »
    I just started also and it says I can only eat 1200 calories a day... that seems way to low to me

    It probably is. Are your goals set up appropriately? With the amount of weight you're trying to lose, you should be trying to lose 0.5-1lb a week, not 2 lbs. Also, check your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/). You should have a 500 calorie deficit off that, max.
  • ShellyBell999
    ShellyBell999 Posts: 1,482 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/31062422/#Comment_31062422

    :flowerforyou:
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    edited January 2015
    That isn't a lot of cals. That is my close to my maintenance and I am 146lbs, so of course you will lose eating that.

    I would suggest get a kitchen scale and weigh you food. Most people eat much more than they think they are, could be more than 50% more than you would estimate.

    I would also suggest setting a goal of 1.5lbs/week, that will give you 250 cals less per day, so 2060.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    samanthavugallegos wrote: »
    I just started also and it says I can only eat 1200 calories a day... that seems way to low to me

    It might be on the low side. MFP simply calculates a total based on what you input. If you set too aggressive of a loss goal, it doesn't care ... it just does the math. With what you have to lose according to your ticker, 1 pound per week is on the upper end of what your goal should be set at ... with 1/2 pound per week as things get closer.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    samanthavugallegos wrote: »
    I just started also and it says I can only eat 1200 calories a day... that seems way to low to me

    change your goal to 1 lb/week or 0.5 and remember with MFP you are to eat that much and eat back the cals burned from exercise.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    2,310 isn't huge!
    Around 2,500 is often given as an average man's daily calorie needs and you are way bigger than average.

    By the way your goal is 2,310 plus exercise calories - that the way MyFitnessPal works out your goal.

    Maybe log a few days of what you have been eating recently to see what your intake has really been?
  • lemur_lady
    lemur_lady Posts: 350 Member
    I'm a 5'3 girl, 182lbs and I net about 2000+ a day to lose weight. HonestlyHonestly your goal is appropriate for you. Go with it for a few weeks and see how you go.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    edited January 2015
    BlazeCooper wrote: »
    Dang.. that implies I eat that much daily. What an eye opener..

    I think that's the biggest thing we all have to realize. Most of us just don't realize how much we eat. For "fun" you could always log tomorrow with some of the normal food you would eat in a day as a fake day just to see how much you would typically eat. It can be eye opening.

    ETA: And I guess this wasn't clear, but fake log, see what the calories are, then delete and log what you actually eat tomorrow.
  • credle071207
    credle071207 Posts: 37 Member
    I am 55 years old, and started at 337.7 lbs. My cardiologist suggested 2000 calories or less per day. Then I went to my primary care doctor who did a metabolism study. Turns out she wants me to only take in 1800. This does not account for exercise either. I guess my point is that I wouldn't trust what MFP calculates or what any other program calculates. Go to your doctor and have them tell you what your caloie intake should be for weight loss. By the way, he recommended that I lose 1-2 lbs per week.
  • credle071207
    credle071207 Posts: 37 Member
    Auddii, you are exactly right. Until I started honestly logging everything I eat in MFP, I had no clue how many calories I was taking in on a daily basis. It really has been an eye opener.
  • BlazeCooper
    BlazeCooper Posts: 3
    ShellyBell999 wrote: »
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/31062422/#Comment_31062422

    :flowerforyou:

    I like the way you think, haha.

    Thanks everyone, it all makes a lot more sense now. Man, being overweight sucks in more ways than one.

    I remember when I was in my teens I was just naturally slim and toned, from my job and metabolism. Wish those days were back!
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
    Personally, I love using MFP as a tool to track my calories, but I tend to ignore its recommendations. I'm vain enough to believe that I can do a better job on my own. I may not be right, but I've lost between .5 lbs and 1 lb a week since I began, so I will carry on.

    I go to the TDEE calculator on IIFYM. This calculator figures out both your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and your BMR (Base Metabolic Rate). I use the Mifflin-St. Jeor formula for myself, so that's what I used for my example. Average your BMR and your TDEE, and try to eat near that number of calories. I'd recommend not eating your exercise back (use the couch potato option), so your weight loss will be faster. But, some people like to be able to eat more, and if that's your choice, go for it.

    For example, I figured your BMR to be 2,249, but your TDEE with exercise 3 days a week is 3.093. The average of those two is 2,671. My husband is 6'4" and weighs 268#. His BMR is 2210, and his TDEE for no exercise is 2652, so his average is 2431. However, he makes up for his refusal to exercise by cutting his calories down to 1800. Thus far, he's lost 32 lbs in the past 90 days, so his technique is working.

    Tall guys are lucky more fortunate than short people like myself. My TDEE is 1,644. :\
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    PokeyBug wrote: »
    Personally, I love using MFP as a tool to track my calories, but I tend to ignore its recommendations. I'm vain enough to believe that I can do a better job on my own. I may not be right, but I've lost between .5 lbs and 1 lb a week since I began, so I will carry on.

    I go to the TDEE calculator on IIFYM. This calculator figures out both your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and your BMR (Base Metabolic Rate). I use the Mifflin-St. Jeor formula for myself, so that's what I used for my example. Average your BMR and your TDEE, and try to eat near that number of calories. I'd recommend not eating your exercise back (use the couch potato option), so your weight loss will be faster. But, some people like to be able to eat more, and if that's your choice, go for it.

    For example, I figured your BMR to be 2,249, but your TDEE with exercise 3 days a week is 3.093. The average of those two is 2,671. My husband is 6'4" and weighs 268#. His BMR is 2210, and his TDEE for no exercise is 2652, so his average is 2431. However, he makes up for his refusal to exercise by cutting his calories down to 1800. Thus far, he's lost 32 lbs in the past 90 days, so his technique is working.

    Tall guys are lucky more fortunate than short people like myself. My TDEE is 1,644. :\

    TDEE accounts for exercise in the setup so there is no eating back ... NEAT expects you to eat them back because they aren't accounted for in the setup. It really is just a difference of where you plug them into the equation.
  • ELiCiT23
    ELiCiT23 Posts: 106 Member
    2310 calories is my weight loss calorie amount. Eating that much inst hard... you'll be surprised to know that you can intake those calories with 2-3 meals... but preferably 6 meals throughout the day.
  • JazzAmbassador
    JazzAmbassador Posts: 17 Member
    I know what you mean. When I joined 7 months ago, my allotted calories seemed sky-high too -- something like 2240 calories (I'm 52, 5'11", 245 lbs. and shooting to lose half a pound a week). My wife openly scoffed, and I was certainly doubtful. But you know what? I used it as a target anyway, was pretty good about staying under (maybe a 75% daily success rate over the last 90 days -- lower than usual because of holiday meals and parties)...and I've lost 30 pounds since last July. I'm a believer.
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
    brianpperkins wrote: »
    TDEE accounts for exercise in the setup so there is no eating back ... NEAT expects you to eat them back because they aren't accounted for in the setup. It really is just a difference of where you plug them into the equation.

    Actually, on the calculator I posted, you have the option to choose your activity level. I chose 'couch potato', which doesn't include exercise, because I fail to see how a calculator can take into account all the different varieties of working out that exist. Anyone with half a brain realizes that there is a big difference between walking for an hour at 3 mph for your exercise and doing the elliptical for an hour. Also, the amount of calories you burn on the elliptical will vary, according to the settings. That's why I choose to calculate my calories burned separately.

  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    edited January 2015
    PokeyBug wrote: »
    brianpperkins wrote: »
    TDEE accounts for exercise in the setup so there is no eating back ... NEAT expects you to eat them back because they aren't accounted for in the setup. It really is just a difference of where you plug them into the equation.

    Actually, on the calculator I posted, you have the option to choose your activity level. I chose 'couch potato', which doesn't include exercise, because I fail to see how a calculator can take into account all the different varieties of working out that exist. Anyone with half a brain realizes that there is a big difference between walking for an hour at 3 mph for your exercise and doing the elliptical for an hour. Also, the amount of calories you burn on the elliptical will vary, according to the settings. That's why I choose to calculate my calories burned separately.

    Then you're not doing TOTAL DAILY ENERGY EXPENDITURE. Words mean things. If you use one of the calculators set at sedentary and then track exercise separately, you're doing NEAT (NON EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENISIS) ... the same thing MFP uses.

    I won't reply in kind with the ad hominem comments.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    BlazeCooper wrote: »
    Dang.. that implies I eat that much daily. What an eye opener..

    1700 calories is barely more than a large shake at many fast food places (Sonic large chocolate shake is over 1400 calories) ... a Wendy's double is 820 calories ... a Big Mac value meal is over 1000 calories ...

    What MFP prescribed based on your input is not a lot.
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    LOL 2300 calories is not a "huge" amount. I'm a 172-ish pound 44 yo woman who eats 2000 calories a day and I'm still losing over a pound a week.

    What many beginners at calorie-counting find very helpful to do is spend their first week or two on MFP not changing their diet, but logging everything they're currently eating. It helps you 1) get a handle on the quirks of MFP and how to use the tool accurately (protips: the database is full of inaccurate entries, how you measure your portions matters, etc.) and 2) is a super-useful reality check to get a sense of how much you've actually been eating.
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
    Then you're not doing TOTAL DAILY ENERGY EXPENDITURE. Words mean things. If you use one of the calculators set at sedentary and then track exercise separately, you're doing NEAT (NON EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENISIS) ... the same thing MFP uses.

    I won't reply in kind with the ad hominem comments. [/quote]

    I wasn't making any sort of ad hominem attack toward you. I was telling you my logic in the methodology I use. Don't be so touchy! Some random internet stranger isn't worth getting upset over.

    Look in my first post. You will see the words "couch potato" clearly written. That was the information I was suggesting he use for TDEE, rather than include his exercise, because I was clearly suggesting that he not eat back his exercise calories burned. I'm sorry you didn't read my post through or didn't understand what I was saying, but it seems as if you are attacking me for no reason. I don't understand why. If you disagree with me, that is your right. As the French would say, "Et puis après?"
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    Man, I'm a girl and I can lose on that much.
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
    BlazeCooper wrote: »
    My suggested calorie intake is 2,310 calories a day.

    Sounds about right for your size/weight. But be mindful that this is an estimate and you should adjust based on actual experience. Also assumes accurate tracking, adjusting caloric intake as you lose weight and eating some portion of your exercise calorie back . I started at 245 lbs (6' 2") and easily lost 1 lbs/week at 2250.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    PokeyBug wrote: »
    Then you're not doing TOTAL DAILY ENERGY EXPENDITURE. Words mean things. If you use one of the calculators set at sedentary and then track exercise separately, you're doing NEAT (NON EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENISIS) ... the same thing MFP uses.

    I won't reply in kind with the ad hominem comments.

    I wasn't making any sort of ad hominem attack toward you. I was telling you my logic in the methodology I use. Don't be so touchy! Some random internet stranger isn't worth getting upset over.

    Look in my first post. You will see the words "couch potato" clearly written. That was the information I was suggesting he use for TDEE, rather than include his exercise, because I was clearly suggesting that he not eat back his exercise calories burned. I'm sorry you didn't read my post through or didn't understand what I was saying, but it seems as if you are attacking me for no reason. I don't understand why. If you disagree with me, that is your right. As the French would say, "Et puis après?"[/quote]

    TDEE includes exercise ... if you separate out exercise and count it separately, you're using NEAT. That is the difference between TOTAL DAILY ENERGY EXPENDITURE (exercise included) and NON EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENISIS (exercise tracked separately). As I said, words mean things. Keep intimating that I don't understand you when your explanation includes the intermingling and interchanging of disparate terms.


  • CariJean64
    CariJean64 Posts: 297 Member
    BlazeCooper wrote: »
    Dang.. that implies I eat that much daily. What an eye opener..

    To maintain your current weight, you've probably been eating about 3200 or more per day most days. Unless you're very active, in which case it might even have been more.

    Don't worry... you most likely will do just fine at that recommended calorie level.
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