calorie issues :/

shmem_96
shmem_96 Posts: 36 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
hi everyone! could you just help me figure out how many calories I should be eating to lose about 2 lbs a week?? I'm 5'5.5, 19, female and 178 lbs! thanks for the help!!!!!!

Replies

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Just plug that info into MFP and it will do the work for you.
  • mbcieslak87
    mbcieslak87 Posts: 206 Member
    Yeah, you can get really complicated with trying to figure out exactly how many calories you need to get the exact deficit you want, but typically the basic number MFP gives you will work to help you lose at first. However remember that if you want to eat back workout calories, you need to make sure you're entering you activity level as the lowest. If you enter something like moderately active, that already takes into account a rough estimate of what you're burning during your workouts and you don't get to "eat back your workout cals" like so many people on here like to talk about. Remember though, 2 lbs/week is ambitious! It may be doable for the first couple weeks, but probably is not sustainable for much of your weight loss journey.
  • mbcieslak87
    mbcieslak87 Posts: 206 Member
    If you would rather get more complicated, a lot of people like Scooby for calculating deficits... but as I mentioned before, this is your daily calories and you don't get to add exercise to this calculation, because it's already accounted for.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    mbcieslak87 wrote: »
    Yeah, you can get really complicated with trying to figure out exactly how many calories you need to get the exact deficit you want, but typically the basic number MFP gives you will work to help you lose at first. However remember that if you want to eat back workout calories, you need to make sure you're entering you activity level as the lowest. If you enter something like moderately active, that already takes into account a rough estimate of what you're burning during your workouts and you don't get to "eat back your workout cals" like so many people on here like to talk about. Remember though, 2 lbs/week is ambitious! It may be doable for the first couple weeks, but probably is not sustainable for much of your weight loss journey.

    No, this isn't how it works. Your activity level should be based on your non-exercise activity -- it doesn't take any exercise into account. If your daily life is lightly active or active without exercise, you can choose that activity level and then log your workouts.

    If you ignore the instructions and choose an activity level that includes your exercise, then obviously this won't apply. But the design is intended for you to log your workouts regardless of what activity level you choose because they are completely independent of each other.
  • mbcieslak87
    mbcieslak87 Posts: 206 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    mbcieslak87 wrote: »
    Yeah, you can get really complicated with trying to figure out exactly how many calories you need to get the exact deficit you want, but typically the basic number MFP gives you will work to help you lose at first. However remember that if you want to eat back workout calories, you need to make sure you're entering you activity level as the lowest. If you enter something like moderately active, that already takes into account a rough estimate of what you're burning during your workouts and you don't get to "eat back your workout cals" like so many people on here like to talk about. Remember though, 2 lbs/week is ambitious! It may be doable for the first couple weeks, but probably is not sustainable for much of your weight loss journey.

    No, this isn't how it works. Your activity level should be based on your non-exercise activity -- it doesn't take any exercise into account. If your daily life is lightly active or active without exercise, you can choose that activity level and then log your workouts.

    If you ignore the instructions and choose an activity level that includes your exercise, then obviously this won't apply. But the design is intended for you to log your workouts regardless of what activity level you choose because they are completely independent of each other.

    True JaneJellyRoll - I have just seen many newbies vastly over-estimate their daily activity. You're definitely right overall though.
  • shmem_96
    shmem_96 Posts: 36 Member
    thanks for the help y'all!!
  • brigetsfit91
    brigetsfit91 Posts: 1 Member
    You can go to iifym.com they are really helpful and give your calories and macros
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,731 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Just plug that info into MFP and it will do the work for you.

    Yep ... I just put my info into MFP, selected the amount of weight I wanted to lose each week, and MFP gave me a calorie number.

    I stuck with that (1250 + exercise calories) for a few weeks, then MFP dropped me to 1200 because I had lost that much weight. I didn't like 1200, so I manually readjusted back to 1250.

    And that worked very well. :)

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