Calorie confusion

xomorganjc
xomorganjc Posts: 106 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a quick calorie question... not sure if any of you can help or not but I am SO confused and I do not know what to do. I seriously do not know how many calories I need to be consuming to continue losing weight. I have tried readjusting and doing everything differently but I keep feeling lost.

When I started counting calories I started at 1200 and I lost quite a bit of weight. Several people told me I should readjust, so I did... I wasn't sure if I should go up or down. I heard both sides. I decided to recalculate through MFP and the site allowed me around 1600 or so. However, I have heard also many things about Scooby's calorie calculator so I decided to plug in some numbers on there and it gave me a daily goal of 1982 to lose.

These numbers scare me and I'm not sure if this is too much. What would you guys do? I'm afraid I am eating too few calories and stalling my weight loss, but I have also gained 2 pounds since I have increased by a couple hundred just in the past week, which I'm sure could be water weight or TOM related. Any advice? I'm probably rambling... but I'm just trying to figure something out so I can decide what to do.

(I do not eat back exercise calories, if this is important information to disclose)

Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    You don't give any details about yourself except by your mention of TOM I assume you're female.

    How much you burn in day is based on gender, weight, height, age and activity. 1200 often comes up as a MFP goal when you put in an aggressive weight loss goal of 2 pounds per week.

    1-2 weeks is too little time to assess for results, because as you're aware TOM and other causes can affect water weight. Keep in mind that MFP and Scooby use 2 different methods. MFP is 1600 + exercise, Scooby is 1982 and exercise is already factored in. So they're probably giving you similar answers. Perhaps try 1600 + some adjustment for exercise for 6-8 weeks and then assess?
  • xomorganjc
    xomorganjc Posts: 106 Member
    Are you suggesting 1600 while eating back exercise cals?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Yes, go with MFP's recommendation of 1600 + exercise calories. Just keep in mind: you want to be realistic on calories burned for exercise. My treadmill says I burn 250 calories from walking for 20 minutes. I know that is not true, its more like 100-125. So the caveat is to not eat too much for exercise.
  • edwardetr
    edwardetr Posts: 140 Member
    Pick a number, any number. Track it for two weeks. Adjust accordingly. Repeat.
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