Confused about calories..
TasnimEz
Posts: 280 Member
Wondering if someone might be able to help me. 
I've lost 16 kg now in 1 year and 4 months, slow progress but I'm in no hurry. I'm about 8 kg away from my goal weight now, and I was thinking to switch to maintenance then and just continue lifting.
I'm very confused about how much I should be eating, Mfp puts me at 1400 calories to lose half a kilo a week and 1740 I think to lose 0.25. I've been gaining and losing the same few kg's now for months and I can't make up my mind on what to do, how much to eat. I would like to lose weight faster but on the other hand.. I don't do well with too little food!
Not sure either what settings to use in the Scooby's Workshop calculator either (always preferred that one to Mfp's calculator), "deskjob with little to no exercise" or "1-3 hours a week of light exercise".. I'm VERY sedentary at home, but I lift 3 times a week, about 40 minutes each session and usually take short walks of about 20 minutes 2-3 times a week.
So basically I'm not sure what settings to use and how to deal with the fact that on lifting days I'm just too hungry to deal with the 1400-1700 calorie limit some calculators give me.. Any ideas?
I've lost 16 kg now in 1 year and 4 months, slow progress but I'm in no hurry. I'm about 8 kg away from my goal weight now, and I was thinking to switch to maintenance then and just continue lifting.
I'm very confused about how much I should be eating, Mfp puts me at 1400 calories to lose half a kilo a week and 1740 I think to lose 0.25. I've been gaining and losing the same few kg's now for months and I can't make up my mind on what to do, how much to eat. I would like to lose weight faster but on the other hand.. I don't do well with too little food!
Not sure either what settings to use in the Scooby's Workshop calculator either (always preferred that one to Mfp's calculator), "deskjob with little to no exercise" or "1-3 hours a week of light exercise".. I'm VERY sedentary at home, but I lift 3 times a week, about 40 minutes each session and usually take short walks of about 20 minutes 2-3 times a week.
So basically I'm not sure what settings to use and how to deal with the fact that on lifting days I'm just too hungry to deal with the 1400-1700 calorie limit some calculators give me.. Any ideas?
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Replies
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Sometimes it's just trial and error. If you are too hungry with 1400, eat more. I make it simple and eat the same amount every day - else I find it too hard to manage (I'm maintaining). If you aren't losing weight (track daily for at least 6-8 weeks to see the trend), workout more if you aren't willing to forego the food. I love to eat so I work out heaps to off set the intake. But it has been a long process to work out my 'magic numbers'. Patience and perseverance to a plan are key.0
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I like MFPs method for being able to eat more on exercise days - I run so on long run days I definitely want to eat more than a rest day.
The numbers are trial and error though. how many cals have you net for the last few weeks? start with that number, reduce slightly if you're not losing.0 -
You can estimate your average weekly TDEE by how much you have been losing over the past 6-8 weeks - unless the seasonal change has had big change in daily activity or something else has.
You look at what you've lost, use the average formula of 3500 calories per lb of fat lost, and that tells you what the deficit must have been on average.
Now for same period of time, look at eating logs, which are hopefully accurate as can be. Figure out average eaten.
Add the deficit.
There's your average TDEE over that period of time for that level of activity done.
Eat that daily, or to better mimic actual activity, 100 less on rest days, 100 more on workout days, as long as they cancel each other out.
Of course can and maybe should adjust more as Tavis mentions if doing really big days.0 -
That's part of my problem though.. I haven't been logging accurately for months, the overall trend is that I'm losing weight but it's going up and down. Progress is slow (about 1 kg lost per month) and I'm so tired of eating at a deficit and counting calories, lol. I wish I could just find a good number, a small deficit that keeps me satisfied but also allows me to lose. The calculators on Scooby's workshop and the EM2WL website seem to give sane numbers but I'm not sure which activity level to use.
I tried the "lightly active" option and a 15% deficit which gives me 1894 calories. Sounds like a lot but at the same time I feel like if I ever want to reach goal and not give up I need to find something sustainable.. I'll try this for a month and also log accurately so I can get the correct numbers at the end of the month and then take it from there...
Thanks for your help 0 -
Scooby's and EM2WL and many others all use the same rough 5 level TDEE table from the 1919 study where the Harris BMR formula came from.
Just as the BMR formula has been improved on - so also has the TDEE method. Some are easier than others, most a tad convoluted.
Look at my profile page, find the link for the Just TDEE Please spreadsheet - try that.
You could end up with an activity level that happens to exactly match the midpoint of the rough TDEE table.
Then again - probably not.0 -
Thanks, I tried it and it gave me even more to eat, which is not a bad thing.. But it seems very precise compared to other calculators so I think I'll give it a go and see what happens. 0
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Scooby's and EM2WL and many others all use the same rough 5 level TDEE table from the 1919 study where the Harris BMR formula came from.
Just as the BMR formula has been improved on - so also has the TDEE method. Some are easier than others, most a tad convoluted.
Look at my profile page, find the link for the Just TDEE Please spreadsheet - try that.
You could end up with an activity level that happens to exactly match the midpoint of the rough TDEE table.
Then again - probably not.
Thanks for that spreadsheet (where is the thank button on here??)!
I filled it in and ran the numbers. My calculated TDEE (with exercise) from the spreadsheet was 2772. My TDEE from last month based on logging and weight loss was 2765. Pretty awesome they were so close. It's also nice to have a couple of points of confirmation.
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Thanks, I tried it and it gave me even more to eat, which is not a bad thing.. But it seems very precise compared to other calculators so I think I'll give it a go and see what happens.
Those rough 5 level TDEE tables don't even discuss daily activity - only exercise - that's usually the difference.
Because a mail carrier doing 3 x 90 min lifting weekly isn't burning the same as a desk jockey with that workout.
But strictly using the description of 3-5 days a week, or slightly better 3-5 hrs a week, of exercise - would be woefully underestimated for the mail carrier.
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That's what's been so confusing to me when it comes to all these calculators out there.. I lift 3 times a week and I take short walks 2-3 times a week, but other than that, I'm not doing much. So of course my daily calories must be a lot less than someone on her feet all day but with the same amount of exercise..0
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MFP says I need 2200. Other sites have calculated me as high as 2700. Just a bit of difference between them.0
