So Confused About Recommended Calories!

ohabib
ohabib Posts: 7 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello!

I'm currently attempting to lose 8-10 pounds and I've been having a really difficult time figuring out how much I should be eating.

I have spent more time than I'd like to admit eating 1200-1300 calories a day (during the weekdays and then weekends become a huge mess of calories) and that used to work for me. For the last year or so I put on some weight and I went back to my low calorie intake and it hasn't been working.

I'm 5'4" and currently 128lbs. I'm hoping to get back down to 120lbs eventually. I've been currently trying to maintain about 1300 calories during the week and I don't pay very much mind during the weekends. I try to workout as often as possible but between a full time job and night classes, it's hard to find time or energy. My workouts are either The Bar Method or just using the elliptical and doing light weights (shoulder issues keep me from doing anything too heavy right now).

BMR: 1390
TDEE: 1909 (with 1-3x light activity) or 1661 (with no activity)

Not sure what to do with these numbers and how much I should be eating. Because of my shoulder problem and scheduling problems, I'd like to make my diet do the majority of the work in terms of my weight loss - any exercise I can manage will be an added bonus.

Sorry for basically writing a novel on here and I look forward hearing from anyone who can help!

Replies

  • LINIA
    LINIA Posts: 1,159 Member
    edited March 2015
    People on this website do not like to hear this but if you weigh 128 and you have a goal of 120, you must eat less to lose or you can build muscle by doing " decent" lifting.

    If you are small and short, your body does not require the calories that someone may recommend here on MFP. Remember that we generally underestimate what we actually eat and overestimate what we burn during a fitness session. Usually cutting the simple carbs and increasing the complex carbs also helps. GL.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    TDEE minus 15% = 1622 calories. Do not eat back exercise calories. You do not have much to lose, it is not going to come off quickly. Try this religiously for 6 weeks. Then if you haven't lost, dial it down 100 calories at a time until you are losing.
  • pzarnosky
    pzarnosky Posts: 256 Member
    First off, whatever you do, don't drop below 1200/day, it's really not good for you. Next, take a look at your macro nutrients; protein, carbs, fat. Make sure you're hitting those goals. Generally low carb works well for a lot of people. If you're having a hard time dropping weight eating only 1200-1300 per day then you need to ramp up your exercise routine. I'm in the same boat as you with work and school so I fully understand how challenging it can be. I'm not sure how severe the shoulder issue is that you're dealing with but keep in mind the shoulder is just one joint. There's a lot of muscles you can work harder with out stressing it. That will add muscle mass (which can make the scale go up) though which it sounds like isn't a goal for you. So my suggestion is stay with light weights but do high rep sets, you're looking to hit 12-15 reps per set. But keep in mind it should be a struggle to get to those numbers. Ramp up your cardio with high intensity interval training. If you're not drenched in sweat by the end of your time on the elliptical or whatever cardio machine you're using then you're not working hard enough. Hope this stuff helps! Just remember when you're at the gym, if it's uncomfortable, if it's challenging, then it's working :)
  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,269 MFP Moderator
    Your BMR is the number of calories your body needs just to maintain basic functions (like a beating heart). Typically you want to eat at or above your BMR, because eating less for a long period of time can do bad things to your body (like make hair fall out). Your TDEE is the approximate amount of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight with your current activity level. In order to lose weight, you need to eat less than your TDEE. In order to stay healthy over the long term, you need to eat more than your BMR - your body truly does need those calories to function.

    Maintaining a deficit during the week is a good thing. Letting go on the weekends is counterproductive if you're trying to lose weight. If you are not tracking all of your food, you are very likely undoing any weekly deficit you had during the week. My advice is to log ALL of your food ALL of the time - including weekends.

    Good luck!

  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    OP, what is your age? I just did a range of ages, and they all came out at least 200 calories lower than what you calculated for sedentary TDEE. That was at a modest 10% calorie reduction. Used Scooby's calculator which defaults to Mifflin-St. Jeor. So it seems likely you set your goal too close to maintenence.

    scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
  • ohabib
    ohabib Posts: 7 Member
    Thank you to everyone who replied! I know that increasing activity is going to be the biggest help - it's just hard to do when I have very little free time during the week. I'll try my hardest to fit things in where I can.

    I've tried a few times to log in my calories on the weekend but then it becomes very disheartening because although I'm not eating a lot of food, it's a lot of calories. I have a lot of social engagements with family and friends and although I try my hardest to make good food choices, it becomes difficult with the types of places we go to.

    To answer the age and height questions I received: 5ft. 4in and 26yrs old.
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    edited March 2015
    ohabib wrote: »
    I've been currently trying to maintain about 1300 calories during the week and I don't pay very much mind during the weekends.

    Bingo? You need to measure and log it all. You are close to goal weight, it is harder to lose now (assuming your goal weight is a healthy weight for your age/height/etc).

    Calculate your correct calorie intake via the online tools provided or MFP. You should only be trying to lose .5lbs a week. Yes it is slow, but it is healthy. Eat back your exercise calories. And do not net below 1200. Most health care professionals do not recommend that for women.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    Personally I like Alan Aragon's formula...

    Goal weight x (hours of exercise + 9.5)
  • ohabib
    ohabib Posts: 7 Member
    esjones12 wrote: »
    ohabib wrote: »

    Calculate your correct calorie intake via the online tools provided or MFP. You should only be trying to lose .5lbs a week. Yes it is slow, but it is healthy. Eat back your exercise calories. And do not net below 1200. Most health care professionals do not recommend that for women.

    I figured 0.5lbs/week would be a good place to set my goals. I realize that my weight loss is mainly vanity weight but even with losing those few pounds, I'm still within a healthy range for my height and age.

    Thanks for the feedback!
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    ohabib wrote: »
    Thank you to everyone who replied! I know that increasing activity is going to be the biggest help - it's just hard to do when I have very little free time during the week. I'll try my hardest to fit things in where I can.

    I've tried a few times to log in my calories on the weekend but then it becomes very disheartening because although I'm not eating a lot of food, it's a lot of calories. I have a lot of social engagements with family and friends and although I try my hardest to make good food choices, it becomes difficult with the types of places we go to.

    To answer the age and height questions I received: 5ft. 4in and 26yrs old.

    I know it's disheartening. But you'll have to work past those feelings. IMO, this will make the biggest difference. It's pretty easy to eat like, 1k to 2k cals over your maintenance on a weekend and not realize you went over by that much. That will kill ALL your hard work through the week. And you won't know why. Even if you don't know how to change it at first, having the log will show you WHY you aren't making progress. And maybe once you've logged a few weekends, you'll be able to think up some strategies for bringing those cals down.

    One strategy is to set your weekend goal to your maintenance calories. Just aim to not eat over maintenance. That way, you make progress during the week, and can be more flexible over the weekends, without losing or undoing that progress.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited March 2015
    Brolympus wrote: »
    OP, what is your age? I just did a range of ages, and they all came out at least 200 calories lower than what you calculated for sedentary TDEE. That was at a modest 10% calorie reduction. Used Scooby's calculator which defaults to Mifflin-St. Jeor. So it seems likely you set your goal too close to maintenence.

    scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    OP's is extremely close to what I got at Scooby's. Did you notice that the 1909 was for 1-3 hours of light exercise?

    I'm 125, 5'3, but older than OP, and for me the trick is simply being consistent with logging and staying within the calories or increasing exercise. I have to be vigilant to lose anything now, though.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    ohabib wrote: »
    I've tried a few times to log in my calories on the weekend but then it becomes very disheartening because although I'm not eating a lot of food, it's a lot of calories. I have a lot of social engagements with family and friends and although I try my hardest to make good food choices, it becomes difficult with the types of places we go to.

    It might be easier to either try to keep a weekly deficit and build up your exercise calories (or other calories if you prefer TDEE method) to use on the weekend or, perhaps, figure out your maintenance and stick to maintenance on the weekends and a deficit the rest of the week. You'll still lose, just a bit slower, and not undercut yourself on the weekends.

    It's best to log even if seeing the calories is a downer, since knowing gives you the ability to understand what is going on and make changes to deal with it.

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    My opinion: aim for 1400-1600 in, which will be a very slight deficit based on little to no activity. And then anything you burn above & beyond is a bonus.

    BUT for having a low daily burn, accuracy is key. Meaning weighing all foods, and avoiding guesswork as much as possible. Every 25-50 calorie error will erode away at your deficit.

    And of course, slow & steady...
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    My opinion: aim for 1400-1600 in, which will be a very slight deficit based on little to no activity. And then anything you burn above & beyond is a bonus.

    BUT for having a low daily burn, accuracy is key. Meaning weighing all foods, and avoiding guesswork as much as possible. Every 25-50 calorie error will erode away at your deficit.

    And of course, slow & steady...

    This would be my suggestion as well. I know that right now 8-10 pounds feels like so much but I would pay money to be back to that place where I thought I could stand to lose a few pounds. You're already a healthy weight, there's no hurry, try to make it as painless as possible. :)

  • ohabib
    ohabib Posts: 7 Member
    You have all been so kind and helpful with all of this feedback and I really appreciate all of your help!

    I think I'm going to stick to working up a deficit to make wiggle room for the weekends. I'm going to try to start scheduling times to exercise even though it's going to be hard to fit it in...this will be 100x easier once I'm done with the semester lol

    Thank you again for all your help and good luck with your health journeys! :D
  • HotPotato22
    HotPotato22 Posts: 91
    I think you might be undoing all your work on the weekends. I would up your calories like somebody said (1400-1600) and track all foods 24/7. If you have a cheat meal or go over track it, at least you can see how many calories you are eating so you know if your weekends are the problem.

    This was my problem, I would be very strict M-F and just eat what I wanted weekends. For every two lbs I lost I gained 1-3 back.
  • HotPotato22
    HotPotato22 Posts: 91
    ohabib wrote: »
    Thank you to everyone who replied! I know that increasing activity is going to be the biggest help - it's just hard to do when I have very little free time during the week. I'll try my hardest to fit things in where I can.

    I've tried a few times to log in my calories on the weekend but then it becomes very disheartening because although I'm not eating a lot of food, it's a lot of calories. I have a lot of social engagements with family and friends and although I try my hardest to make good food choices, it becomes difficult with the types of places we go to.

    To answer the age and height questions I received: 5ft. 4in and 26yrs old.

    I know the weekends are hard, but to be blunt, you either do it or you don't. I socialize a lot as well and it is REALLY hard to not go over weekends. For months I would use this as an excuse and not lose weight. You have to decide how bad you want to lose those 8 lbs.

    I still go out with friends as much but I can only have a beer while they have a few. I have to eat a salad while they eat burgers. It sucks but to me losing the weight is worth it. It took me a long time to get to the point where it was worth it.
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