Help with the math??

dontjinxit
dontjinxit Posts: 82 Member
edited February 2015 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
When I do it, it just seems wrong.

I have been losing 2 pounds every 5-6 days (let's say every 5.5 days) while on 1600 calories a day. I want to stop losing weight, so obviously that calorie number needs to go up.

So if a pound has 3500 calories, then 2 pounds have 7000 calories.
If I burn 7000 calories that go purely to weight loss over 5.5 days... that is 7000/5.5 = approx 1275 calories a day that I would need to add back in.
1600 (current daily intake) plus 1275 a day =
2875 a day to maintain.

Is that even possible?

I'm female, 5'6", 120 pounds and spend over 90% of my day sitting. How on earth do I need that many calories?

I'm not saying I couldn't get to that number, somewhat by the power of cheesecake, but is the math right? Does anyone else need that much to maintain?


These should be fairly straight numbers. I eat back all of my exercise and my calorie counting is mostly accurate.

Replies

  • margolinville
    margolinville Posts: 127 Member
    Most people burn 2000 calories a day. Eat 2000 calories a day and you should stay the same weight.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I would assume some of your loss was water weight which you do not need to account for cals in that. I would start by switching your cals to maintenance and eat back what you burn from exercise. If you are still losing after 3-4 weeks add another 100-200 cals to your day, rinse and repeat
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    margolinville wrote: »
    Most people burn 2000 calories a day. Eat 2000 calories a day and you should stay the same weight.

    ^^^not really...there are numerous factors in RE to an individuals calorie requirements.

    OP, how long have you been losing at this rate? How accurate is your logging? It sounds like you have a desk job, but do you train/workout?

    2900ish seems a bit high to me...that's what I maintain on with a desk job and all of my training which consists of riding 80ish miles per week and lifting 3x weekly.

    If it were me, I would make sure my logging is as accurate as possible and that I wasn't underestimating intake...a lot of people overestimate their intake, but a lot of people go the other way and substantially underestimate their intake too. Beyond that, I'd just start adding in calories at a rate of 200 or so until I was seeing the kind of trend I expect to see.

    If you recently have cut calories, you may be experiencing bigger initial losses that come with releasing fluids and less waste in your system...if that is the case, this usually levels off in a matter of 2-3 weeks or so.
  • slomo22
    slomo22 Posts: 125 Member
    You don't really provide enough info. You've been loosing this weight for weeks? months? You could be also loosing a lot of water. Try eating 1800 or 2000 or until you feel comfortable. Don't force yourself to eat more if you feel full. Don't overthink the math.
  • dontjinxit
    dontjinxit Posts: 82 Member
    I've been losing at a steady rate for a little over a month and a half.

    The only working out I do is cleaning the house. I've actually counted calories burned while cooking. Ha.

    I've always overeaten and usually maintained my weight over the years, so maybe I do just have a higher caloric intake level?

    The only thing I can think of is that I have always had some medical issues - a higher than healthy heart rate mixed with super low blood pressure - so maybe my body just requires more to get through the normal stuff.

    - Idk, I think I'm going to take a "break" for a couple of weeks, eat about 2500 a day and see if the scale tells me I've got it wrong.
  • DarrelBirkett
    DarrelBirkett Posts: 221 Member
    1600 is fairly low. the body needs an amount of energy just to operate never mind move.

    Anyway, the easiest thing for you to do (and best thing) is slowly increase cals over a number of weeks. Add 200 per day this week for example and then keep it at that for 2 weeks, check what changes at the end of each week. Then change the 3rd week accordingly, add 200, 100 or 0 etc.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    dontjinxit wrote: »
    I've been losing at a steady rate for a little over a month and a half.

    The only working out I do is cleaning the house. I've actually counted calories burned while cooking. Ha.

    I've always overeaten and usually maintained my weight over the years, so maybe I do just have a higher caloric intake level?

    The only thing I can think of is that I have always had some medical issues - a higher than healthy heart rate mixed with super low blood pressure - so maybe my body just requires more to get through the normal stuff.

    - Idk, I think I'm going to take a "break" for a couple of weeks, eat about 2500 a day and see if the scale tells me I've got it wrong.

    If you're maintaining, you're not over eating. . . if you're over eating you won't be maintaining. If you're maintaining, you're maintaining. If you're over eating, you're gaining weight.
  • tomsarno
    tomsarno Posts: 105 Member
    The math is correct but that is not the way to calculate it. At 1600 cal a day you will eventual stop loosing (you will not go to zero pounds given enough time). Once you stop loosing, adding back 1275 a day will make you gain at 2.5lbs in 5.5 days. The suggestion of adding 200cal per day for 2 weeks is the best idea
  • dontjinxit
    dontjinxit Posts: 82 Member
    acorsaut89 wrote: »
    dontjinxit wrote: »
    I've been losing at a steady rate for a little over a month and a half.

    The only working out I do is cleaning the house. I've actually counted calories burned while cooking. Ha.

    I've always overeaten and usually maintained my weight over the years, so maybe I do just have a higher caloric intake level?

    The only thing I can think of is that I have always had some medical issues - a higher than healthy heart rate mixed with super low blood pressure - so maybe my body just requires more to get through the normal stuff.

    - Idk, I think I'm going to take a "break" for a couple of weeks, eat about 2500 a day and see if the scale tells me I've got it wrong.

    If you're maintaining, you're not over eating. . . if you're over eating you won't be maintaining. If you're maintaining, you're maintaining. If you're over eating, you're gaining weight.

    Yeah. It's more overeating by other people's standards. Like the looks of horror I get when eating a triple scoop ice cream and then following it up with a full meal. >^-^<
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    DarrelBirkett wrote: »
    1600 is fairly low. the body needs an amount of energy just to operate never mind move.

    Anyway, the easiest thing for you to do (and best thing) is slowly increase cals over a number of weeks. Add 200 per day this week for example and then keep it at that for 2 weeks, check what changes at the end of each week. Then change the 3rd week accordingly, add 200, 100 or 0 etc.

    Yours may. Mine sure doesn't. And MFP knows it.

    I'm 54 and 5'10". MFP gives me 1700 calories to maintain - and it's correct. I eat more when I exercise more, but that's my baseline.



  • svull
    svull Posts: 3
    You can find calories calculators on internet that give you approximatively how much you burn per day (doesn't this application have one? !) Based on age, gender, weight. Usually for a woman is around 1800cals/day and on diet you should eat one 1200-1500.
    Good luck and it's great you are maintaining!
  • svull
    svull Posts: 3
    And if you are exercising you can eat more! :-)
  • dontjinxit
    dontjinxit Posts: 82 Member
    I think I just had an epiphany (or a huge "duh" moment) while reading about someone's heart rate monitor and calorie burning.

    The higher your heart rate, the more calories you burn.
    If even my resting heart rate is, and always has been, much higher than average - then my calorie need is going to be higher than average. Thus my love of cheesecake is somewhat justified. Mwahhahahaaa >^-^<

    Thanks to everyone for all of the insight and trying to help me figure it all out.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    I would assume some of your loss was water weight which you do not need to account for cals in that. I would start by switching your cals to maintenance and eat back what you burn from exercise. If you are still losing after 3-4 weeks add another 100-200 cals to your day, rinse and repeat

    Agree
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    dontjinxit wrote: »
    I think I just had an epiphany (or a huge "duh" moment) while reading about someone's heart rate monitor and calorie burning.

    The higher your heart rate, the more calories you burn.
    If even my resting heart rate is, and always has been, much higher than average - then my calorie need is going to be higher than average. Thus my love of cheesecake is somewhat justified. Mwahhahahaaa >^-^<

    Thanks to everyone for all of the insight and trying to help me figure it all out.

    No that's not true at all. Some people just have a higher resting heart rate.

    You are over thinking the whole thing. Just experiment until you find your maintenance calories.
  • dontjinxit
    dontjinxit Posts: 82 Member
    Update:
    It's been 2 weeks since I jumped up to 2400 calories a day.
    I immediately gained 2 pounds (I'm assuming they were mostly the food in my stomach) and have since lost them. It looks like I'm still steadily losing a tiny bit, so 2600 calories may be closer to the magic number. Not too far off from my original odd looking math :)

    Oh, and I keep discovering organs and muscles I didn't know were under the layer of fat, ha. Like when I eat a lot, my stomach (the organ) actually feels full and hard to the touch O.o . It's so weird that I may never eat till I'm stuffed again.

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