Finding the right amount of calories...

S_Evanson613
S_Evanson613 Posts: 62 Member
edited November 16 in Food and Nutrition
Can someone please help? I started on MFP and it gave me a 1200 calorie allowance - which I was able to stick to for a while without feeling too hungry (I would generally eat back maybe 50-100 of my exercise calories), but lately I have been getting hungrier and 1200 doesn't seem to be doing the trick. I have adjusted my goal weight loss per week to be lower, but my calorie intake has not budged.

I have tried to use IIFYM, but I don't know my BF% so it won't let me continue.

Can anyone help with how many I should be eating (not including exercise calories?

Stats:
Female, 26 (next month)
Height: 5'3
SW: 173
CW: 158-160
GW: 125-130
Current cal allowance: 1200

I have a desk job so I sit most of the day, but work out 4-6 days a week. Each workout is about 1hr - 1hr and a half. 20-30 minutes of cardio and the rest is weight lifting.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Change it again (I'm assuming from 1.5 pounds per week to 1 pound?). That should be enough. Since your maintenance calories are less than 750 calories above 1200, that would be why it didn't change.
  • dawnna76
    dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
    change your goal to lose .5-1 pound a week. dont eat back calories
  • S_Evanson613
    S_Evanson613 Posts: 62 Member
    It's already set at .5lbs a week, and I am generally hungry throughout the day (before I work out) rather than after. Thanks for the advice though!
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    You don't have to know your bf% for IIFYM. You can use Harris-Benedict, or Mifflin-St Jeor.
    Just select and calculate. I use a fitness band and Harris Benidict formula has me at 200 calories higher for TDEE than my UP24. Mifflin-St Jeor lines up with my daily burn tho. Keep in mind they are just tools and you have to play with the numbers to find what work for you. I tend to get very caught up in the numbers game.
    When I put your info in and use Mifflin-St Jeor with 4 workouts, it says your TDEE is 2038. So if you take 500 off that, its 1538. If a 500 calorie deficit is too much for you, you can try to lower it.
  • S_Evanson613
    S_Evanson613 Posts: 62 Member
    tzarba wrote: »
    You don't have to know your bf% for IIFYM. You can use Harris-Benedict, or Mifflin-St Jeor.
    Just select and calculate. I use a fitness band and Harris Benidict formula has me at 200 calories higher for TDEE than my UP24. Mifflin-St Jeor lines up with my daily burn tho. Keep in mind they are just tools and you have to play with the numbers to find what work for you. I tend to get very caught up in the numbers game.
    When I put your info in and use Mifflin-St Jeor with 4 workouts, it says your TDEE is 2038. So if you take 500 off that, its 1538. If a 500 calorie deficit is too much for you, you can try to lower it.

    Thank you. Can I ask why you took 500 off?

  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    500 calorie deficit a day to lose one pound a week. 500X7=3500
  • S_Evanson613
    S_Evanson613 Posts: 62 Member
    tzarba wrote: »
    500 calorie deficit a day to lose one pound a week. 500X7=3500

    Gotcha! Thank you!!!! That is a help! Do you count your macros? I just looked at IIFYM and estimated my BF% just to see how they calculate macros and it had my carbs way higher than my protein. (Currently I eat way more protein than anything and only get carbs through meats, veggies and fruit)

  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    Yes, Im going for a recomp, so I focus on marocs. I do 30P-30F-40C. Its a lot of planning. I plan each meal. I've also given up flour, sugar and alcohol. Two weeks in....I miss my wine lol.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2015
    S_Evanson613 wrote: »
    It's already set at .5lbs a week, and I am generally hungry throughout the day (before I work out) rather than after. Thanks for the advice though!

    The MFP goal assumes that you eat back exercise but that doesn't mean you have to eat after--I don't eat back now (do TDEE) but when I did I'd eat based on my planned exercise (and also move calories to other days).

    But certainly TDEE is simpler for this, and there are TDEE calculators that don't need body fat--find one that does Mifflin-St Jeor or try Scooby: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calories-burned/.

    I'm older than you, but 5'3 and I think I switched to TDEE around your weight and was doing 1550 for about 1-1.5 lb/week loss. (I did lots of cardio, but it sounds like you work out a lot.)
  • S_Evanson613
    S_Evanson613 Posts: 62 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    S_Evanson613 wrote: »
    It's already set at .5lbs a week, and I am generally hungry throughout the day (before I work out) rather than after. Thanks for the advice though!

    The MFP goal assumes that you eat back exercise but that doesn't mean you have to eat after--I don't eat back now (do TDEE) but when I did I'd eat based on my planned exercise (and also move calories to other days).

    But certainly TDEE is simpler for this, and there are TDEE calculators that don't need body fat--find one that does Mifflin-St Jeor or try Scooby: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calories-burned/.

    I'm older than you, but 5'3 and I think I switched to TDEE around your weight and was doing 1550 for about 1-1.5 lb/week loss. (I did lots of cardio, but it sounds like you work out a lot.)

    Thank you, this helps a lot! I try to do weight lifting 5 days a week (follow a program from BodyBuilding.com) and on those days i warm up with about 20 minutes of cardio. If i make it to the gym on the 6th day i do just cardio for about an hour. If i dont make it to the gym on that 6th day i try to just be more active at home (like cleaning the whole house).
  • S_Evanson613
    S_Evanson613 Posts: 62 Member
    tzarba wrote: »
    Yes, Im going for a recomp, so I focus on marocs. I do 30P-30F-40C. Its a lot of planning. I plan each meal. I've also given up flour, sugar and alcohol. Two weeks in....I miss my wine lol.

    I gave up alcohol back in January (although i rarely ever had any then.) Are those numbers grams or percentages?
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    They are percentages based on 1650 calories a day
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Don't pick a weight loss target, pick a calorie limit you can live with and take whatever loss that gives you.
  • S_Evanson613
    S_Evanson613 Posts: 62 Member
    Oh okay. Thank you!
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