confused on how may calories to eat to lose weight

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  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    I think you will find 2lb a week hard consiering how much you have to lose.
    Working out how many calories simply requires you knowing how much you need to maintain then creating a deficit of 500 per day per lb a week you wish to try and lose. That can be from eating less or burning calories. Work out were your deficit is coming from.
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
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    nm212 wrote: »
    I get your point though. It differs for everyone...

    Yep. Like, if she were lightly active in her job instead of sedentary, her TDEE would be higher, maybe 2077, making 1 lb a week 1577. Her BMR would be the same though.

    MFP looks at BMR + lifestyle calories (calories burned existing + living your life, going about your day) to get you a target with your deficit built in. Then you log exercise and eat that back to maintain that deficit (rather than increase it further).

    TDEE looks at your BMR and lifestyle and exercise and gives you an average total daily energy burn. You subtract from that to get a deficit, and eat that, flat, every day.

    So BMR itself really shouldn't be used for anything, except getting these other numbers. You don't add to or subtract from it yourself. Knowing the minimum number of calories your body would burn in a day (if you didn't move at all) doesn't really help you determine how much to eat to still be eating at a set target below what you burn in total.
  • Barbosas77
    Barbosas77 Posts: 100 Member
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    Pu_239 wrote: »
    Barbosas77 wrote: »
    I'm so confused on how many calories I should be eating to lose weight. I weigh 150 and I'm 5'0 female and I want to get to 130 and toned. I was at 120 before my daughters but I felt too small for a Latin curvy woman lol. Please please help me on how many calories to eat to lose at least 2 pounds. My day consist of sitting 8 hour a day (desk job) but I lift 4 days a week and do 30 min of hiit kick boxing 1day a week. Rest for 2 days. I calculated my TDEE and it says 1877 but MFP says 1200 calories to eat a day, I think that's so low. So you see, I need help. All of this is so confusing to me. Thank you!!

    have you tried putting your information into MFP and setting it to 2lbs a week?

    Yes

  • charlesmauch
    charlesmauch Posts: 58 Member
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    I've fooled with online calculators to try and figure this stuff out, and was never convinced that I should be eating as much as they indicated. Eventually I just started tracking what I ate and calculated my own TDEE, which is pretty simple to do.

    Log what you eat for 2 weeks, which you should be doing already here. Add up all the calories you ate in that period of time, and then add 3500 calories to that number for every pound you lost (or subtract 3500 for every pound you gained). Divide by 14 (2 weeks) and you'll have your TDEE for the past 2 weeks which includes all your exercise activity.

    As for calculating the most deficit you maintain (safely), if you know your current bodyfat level (I use both tape measure and skin-fold calipers), take the amount of fat on your body in pounds and multiply that number by 31. (see: http://www.mindandmuscle.net/articles/determining-the-maximum-dietary-deficit-for-fat-loss/ and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15615615 for the science)

    This is the largest deficit (in calories) you can sustain without loosing muscle mass. Subtract that number from your TDEE and you have a maximum deficit. Eat somewhere between that number and your TDEE and you'll lose weight.

    Ignore BMR. In terms of diet it does not seem to provide any meaningful information you can use.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,020 Member
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    Barbosas77 wrote: »
    I'm so confused on how many calories I should be eating to lose weight. I weigh 150 and I'm 5'0 female and I want to get to 130 and toned. I was at 120 before my daughters but I felt too small for a Latin curvy woman lol. Please please help me on how many calories to eat to lose at least 2 pounds. My day consist of sitting 8 hour a day (desk job) but I lift 4 days a week and do 30 min of hiit kick boxing 1day a week. Rest for 2 days. I calculated my TDEE and it says 1877 but MFP says 1200 calories to eat a day, I think that's so low. So you see, I need help. All of this is so confusing to me. Thank you!!

    Getting "toned" and losing at least 2 lbs a week are conflicting goals at your starting weight. A big deficit when you are that close to goal weight makes it hard for your body to fuel the deficit from your stored fat, and instead it will tap other energy storage (like muscle) more than would be necessary at a more a moderate deficit (like a half to three-quarters pound a week), and you will end up what people like to call "skinny fat"--which is pretty much the opposite of what most people mean by "toned."
  • nm212
    nm212 Posts: 570 Member
    edited May 2015
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    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP doesn't include exercise in their calculation where TDEE does. That is why you get calories to eat back when you enter your exercise.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Barbosas77 wrote: »
    I'm so confused on how many calories I should be eating to lose weight. I weigh 150 and I'm 5'0 female and I want to get to 130 and toned. I was at 120 before my daughters but I felt too small for a Latin curvy woman lol. Please please help me on how many calories to eat to lose at least 2 pounds. My day consist of sitting 8 hour a day (desk job) but I lift 4 days a week and do 30 min of hiit kick boxing 1day a week. Rest for 2 days. I calculated my TDEE and it says 1877 but MFP says 1200 calories to eat a day, I think that's so low. So you see, I need help. All of this is so confusing to me. Thank you!!

    TDEE is maintenance calories...you aren't even comparing apples to apples here. You would need to compare TDEE - X%.

    Most women maintain somewhere in the neighborhood of 1800 - 2000 calories per day with minimal if any exercise...so when you put your stats into MFP, the calculator is going to take a cut from your theoretical maintenance number. People tend to pick the most aggressive goal possible...2 Lbs per week...doesn't sound like much, but that's a 1,000 calorie cut from maintenance and 1200 is as low as MFP will go for liability reasons. It's difficult at that point to get adequate nutrition which is why there is usually doctors supervision when people to VLCDs.

    Also, your activity level with MFP isn't supposed to include any exercise, just your day to day...you account for exercise after the fact when you log it and then get those calories to "eat back".

    If you're doing it right, TDEE and MFP are 6 of 1.
  • shlygraham
    shlygraham Posts: 21 Member
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    nm212 wrote: »

    This is what my good friend, who is a personal trainer, has told me. Figure out what you need to consume to maintain your weight and then deduct a 4 or 5 hundred calories a day from that number. 1200 or 1300 calories is way too few calories.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP is a NEAT method calculator, not a TDEE calculator. A TDEE calculator is going to include an estimate of exercise in your activity level and thus an estimate of those calorie requirements. With the NEAT method, your activity level only includes your day to day hum drum...exercise is an "extra" activity that you log and then get those calories.

    When I did MFP, my net calorie goal was 1800 to lose 1 Lb per week...with regular exercise I was regularly eating a gross of 2200 - 2300 calories per day. When I became more consistent in my workouts I switched methods so that I could just eat the same amount every day and my target was around 2250 daily with a 20% cut from my TDEE of 2800. Basically 6 of 1, half dozen of the other...the problem is that people don't even compare apples to apples rate of loss goals and on top of that, people seemed to be baffled by exercise and why you would want to account for that activity somewhere.
  • nm212
    nm212 Posts: 570 Member
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    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP doesn't include exercise in their calculation where TDEE does. That is why you get calories to eat back when you enter your exercise.

    OK but isn't your "base calories" what your BMR is about? I thought you should eat your BMR calories, like mine is around 1360 or does that have nothing to do with it? Otherwise, I would be eating less than my BMR at 1200 and that would be unhealthy, right? that's how I understood it... I actually lost more weight with eating more calories than what MFP recommends
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP doesn't include exercise in their calculation where TDEE does. That is why you get calories to eat back when you enter your exercise.

    OK but isn't your "base calories" what your BMR is about? I thought you should eat your BMR calories, like mine is around 1360 or does that have nothing to do with it? Otherwise, I would be eating less than my BMR at 1200 and that would be unhealthy, right? that's how I understood it... I actually lost more weight with eating more calories than what MFP recommends

    MFP is just a calculator...you still have to provide the brains...mfp is just calculating your calories as per the information you put in and your stats...it's one of the reasons why 2 Lbs per week is not a realistic goal for many people.
  • nm212
    nm212 Posts: 570 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP is a NEAT method calculator, not a TDEE calculator. A TDEE calculator is going to include an estimate of exercise in your activity level and thus an estimate of those calorie requirements. With the NEAT method, your activity level only includes your day to day hum drum...exercise is an "extra" activity that you log and then get those calories.

    When I did MFP, my net calorie goal was 1800 to lose 1 Lb per week...with regular exercise I was regularly eating a gross of 2200 - 2300 calories per day. When I became more consistent in my workouts I switched methods so that I could just eat the same amount every day and my target was around 2250 daily with a 20% cut from my TDEE of 2800. Basically 6 of 1, half dozen of the other...the problem is that people don't even compare apples to apples rate of loss goals and on top of that, people seemed to be baffled by exercise and why you would want to account for that activity somewhere.

    Yeah, it does get confusing on whether to eat back exercise calories or not... I've heard both sides of it. I guess whatever works for you!
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    nm212 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP is a NEAT method calculator, not a TDEE calculator. A TDEE calculator is going to include an estimate of exercise in your activity level and thus an estimate of those calorie requirements. With the NEAT method, your activity level only includes your day to day hum drum...exercise is an "extra" activity that you log and then get those calories.

    When I did MFP, my net calorie goal was 1800 to lose 1 Lb per week...with regular exercise I was regularly eating a gross of 2200 - 2300 calories per day. When I became more consistent in my workouts I switched methods so that I could just eat the same amount every day and my target was around 2250 daily with a 20% cut from my TDEE of 2800. Basically 6 of 1, half dozen of the other...the problem is that people don't even compare apples to apples rate of loss goals and on top of that, people seemed to be baffled by exercise and why you would want to account for that activity somewhere.

    Yeah, it does get confusing on whether to eat back exercise calories or not... I've heard both sides of it. I guess whatever works for you!

    MFP method: eat back exercise calories. The consensus seems to be to eat back about 50% of calories burned, and then adjust accordingly, depending on your results.

    TDEE: do not eat them back, because you take them into account when you determine TDEE. But you still may need to do some adjusting to get activity level correct.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    edited May 2015
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    nm212 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP is a NEAT method calculator, not a TDEE calculator. A TDEE calculator is going to include an estimate of exercise in your activity level and thus an estimate of those calorie requirements. With the NEAT method, your activity level only includes your day to day hum drum...exercise is an "extra" activity that you log and then get those calories.

    When I did MFP, my net calorie goal was 1800 to lose 1 Lb per week...with regular exercise I was regularly eating a gross of 2200 - 2300 calories per day. When I became more consistent in my workouts I switched methods so that I could just eat the same amount every day and my target was around 2250 daily with a 20% cut from my TDEE of 2800. Basically 6 of 1, half dozen of the other...the problem is that people don't even compare apples to apples rate of loss goals and on top of that, people seemed to be baffled by exercise and why you would want to account for that activity somewhere.

    Yeah, it does get confusing on whether to eat back exercise calories or not... I've heard both sides of it. I guess whatever works for you!

    It's not a matter of "what works"...there are two methods...TDEE and NEAT...with TDEE, exercise is included up front...with NEAT it is accounted for on the *kitten* end when you log it. It's not more complicated than that and I honestly don't understand how people are so baffled by it. The only thing that is difficult with NEAT (MFP) is figuring out a decent estimate of calories burned, but really, there are a lot of sources out there for which people could come to some reasonable estimate...but lazy I suppose.

    Learning to properly fuel your fitness is actually pretty important for fitness performance and recovery and health in general. Exercise is very good for you...but it is also a stress on the body, particularly if you're working hard. Your body requires energy (calories) and nutrients to recover. Proper recovery is how you avoid injury and make fitness gains.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Options
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP doesn't include exercise in their calculation where TDEE does. That is why you get calories to eat back when you enter your exercise.

    OK but isn't your "base calories" what your BMR is about? I thought you should eat your BMR calories, like mine is around 1360 or does that have nothing to do with it? Otherwise, I would be eating less than my BMR at 1200 and that would be unhealthy, right? that's how I understood it... I actually lost more weight with eating more calories than what MFP recommends

    No, your BMR is basically what would keep you alive if all you did is lay on the couch all day. Many have a goal somewhere between TDEE and BMR. For some people though, that doesn't leave much room for error so they aim for closer to BMR with their goal.
  • nm212
    nm212 Posts: 570 Member
    Options
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    RGv2 wrote: »
    nm212 wrote: »
    Your BMR is more important...it's what your body uses to burn energy naturally, with no exercise. I have a similar TDEE as you (around 1860), and my BMR is 1360... With no exercise, I can eat that much and still be in 500 calorie deficit (to burn a pound a week).

    Your TDEE is the MOST you could eat, without gaining weight.

    To LOSE weight, you have to eat less than that. MFP does 1200 calories a day as a general guide for weight loss (and yes you can eat back exercise calories)

    All I'm saying is that you can eat a little more if you want and still lose weight! lol but it's up to you...both methods work. If you do your BMR, you can still eat back half of your exercise calories too.

    :smile:

    MFP does not do 1200 calories as a general guide for weight loss. It's a calculator. A person enters their stats and goals, MFP calculates the users daily TDEE and subtracts from that to meet the goal the person enters. 1200 is also where MFP bottoms out. In this case, as pointed out earlier, for the OP to meet their goal they would need to eat 877 calories per day. MFP won't go that low, so it displays the default basement (1200).

    Sorry for the misinformation. Now I am confused myself . lol Then why does MFP give different numbers than a TDEE calculator? Someone told me about the iifym.com website and it worked for me. I've heard people say that MFP is not accurate . I know 1200 is the minimum anybody should eat...not talking about that. lol

    MFP doesn't include exercise in their calculation where TDEE does. That is why you get calories to eat back when you enter your exercise.

    OK but isn't your "base calories" what your BMR is about? I thought you should eat your BMR calories, like mine is around 1360 or does that have nothing to do with it? Otherwise, I would be eating less than my BMR at 1200 and that would be unhealthy, right? that's how I understood it... I actually lost more weight with eating more calories than what MFP recommends

    No, your BMR is basically what would keep you alive if all you did is lay on the couch all day. Many have a goal somewhere between TDEE and BMR. For some people though, that doesn't leave much room for error so they aim for closer to BMR with their goal.

    ohhhhh hmm. i suppose that makes sense then . thanks for clarifying !