Calorie intake

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karamelch
karamelch Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How do you figure out how many calories you need per day

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  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    Depending on your goals, you need to find out what you burn first. There are different methods of obtaining this. Some are free, some cost money, some are more accurate than others. But that's the first step, then you can figure out how much to eat.
  • karamelch
    karamelch Posts: 7 Member
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    Ok. I know that info , do I'm off to a good start lol. Does weight have anything to do with it ? Or gender?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
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    Read the stickies in the Getting Started thread would be a good start point.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    Yes, both your weight and your gender have to do with your calorie intake. The heavier you are, the more you burn so the more you should eat to effectively lose weight over the long term. Also, men burn more calories then women on average.

    Without knowing your stats (age, height, weight, current bodyfat% estimation, and your active lifestyle), it's tough to give advice on how much you should probably eat per day.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited April 2015
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    MFP will give you a goal based upon your height, weight, age, gender and (here's the tricky part for many people)....how much weight you would like to lose each week. This number will include activity level (your job) ....but will NOT include exercise. So, if you use MFP you will want to eat a portion of your exercise calories back.....or use a different method TDEE less a percent (see below). No need to log exercise using TDEE....because it's included already.

    So if you want a second opinion...this one is pretty good and includes exercise. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is your maintenance....you need to eat less than that to lose weight.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    These are very helpful threads.......

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-target
  • karamelch
    karamelch Posts: 7 Member
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    Teabea, mfp did set up my calories when I first made my account a couple of years ago. But it never changed when my weight did. I looked but didn't see a way to reset it :(
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    karamelch wrote: »
    Teabea, mfp did set up my calories when I first made my account a couple of years ago. But it never changed when my weight did. I looked but didn't see a way to reset it :(

    Ok - under the Home menu - Look for Check-In. From Check-In you can enter "today's weight" or below that....Edit previous settings.....
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
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    another tool to figure out TDEE http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    This and other calculators calculate it based on you inputs.

  • karamelch
    karamelch Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks guys !:)
  • karamelch
    karamelch Posts: 7 Member
    edited April 2015
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    so do i eat my
    BMR calories or my TDEE? wow. MFP gave me way less calories than scooby or iifym
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    karamelch wrote: »
    so do i eat my
    BMR calories or my TDEE?

    If you eat your TDEE then you won't gain nor lose weight. Your TDEE is what you burn in a day. You want to eat roughly 20-30% under TDEE.
  • karamelch
    karamelch Posts: 7 Member
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    Ok. Thx
  • jukyu
    jukyu Posts: 80 Member
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    Lot of variables to consider, i.e. lean body mass, activity level, age, gender etc.
    Good place to start, as others have already mentioned http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

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