Calorie Take In/Calorie Deficit

sydneyregan
sydneyregan Posts: 32 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
rb4mvusbl94k.jpeg

Thought this would help with people just starting out and trying to figure out calories etc. It really helped for me!

Replies

  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    It's a starting point. There is no one sizero fits all answer.

    Use real world data thereafter.

    Accurately track intake and monitor trends in weight and adjust intake as necessary.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Not really as multiplying by 1.2 is for sedentary people only...
  • sydneyregan
    sydneyregan Posts: 32 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Not really as multiplying by 1.2 is for sedentary people only...

    You're figuring out how much you need to maintain your weight and then to lose weight eating less than that amount of calories. Also throwing in exercise to increase your calorie deficit. For example to maintain my weight at the moment I would need to eat +/- 1576 calories. So I'm aiming to eat around 1300 so that already gives me +/- 276 calorie deficit with no exercise. Obviously adding in exercise to increase that deficit. That's what the picture is explaining.
  • sydneyregan
    sydneyregan Posts: 32 Member
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    sydneyregan wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Not really as multiplying by 1.2 is for sedentary people only...

    You're figuring out how much you need to maintain your weight and then to lose weight eating less than that amount of calories. Also throwing in exercise to increase your calorie deficit. For example to maintain my weight at the moment I would need to eat +/- 1576 calories. So I'm aiming to eat around 1300 so that already gives me +/- 276 calorie deficit with no exercise. Obviously adding in exercise to increase that deficit. That's what the picture is explaining.

    And what tavistocktoad is saying is that only works if you are sedentary, if you are active without purposeful exercise it will be equally wrong as an estimat, because you should be using a higher multiple (eg1.6)

    Activity level is not inclusive of purposeful exercise, it is just how you generally live ...

    Awesome :) thanks for the advice!
  • sydneyregan
    sydneyregan Posts: 32 Member
    Sorry for confusing everyone. I was given this info, I thought it made sense to me! Lesson learned as to what to post on here
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    It is much easier when one is just starting out to put your stats and weekly weight loss goal into MFP and eat the calories allotted. If you exercise eat a percentage of the calories burnt as that is the way MFP works.

    Cheers, h.

    Yes, this.

    I don't understand why people decide to try MFP and don't follow MFP to start. Not talking about people who come in knowing more and get a calorie goal from elsewhere or who are using it to follow a calorie plan, but if you are confused about how many calories to eat, that's one of the things MFP is intended to help with.

    This has always perplexed me too...

    OP, it is good that you want to try to understand how this all works, and while the advice you posted may be relevant for some or a good starting point, it is not necessarily applicable in all situations.

    I would recommend reading the stickied "Most Helpful Posts" at the top of each forum section if you are interested in learning more about how this site works, how to optimize your results, etc. In particular, in the Getting Started section, I find this thread handy since it consolidates several other helpful posts...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10260499/i-like-old-posts-and-i-cannot-lie/p1
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    sydneyregan wrote: »
    Sorry for confusing everyone. I was given this info, I thought it made sense to me! Lesson learned as to what to post on here

    It does, or you could just use MFP!
  • sydneyregan
    sydneyregan Posts: 32 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    sydneyregan wrote: »
    Sorry for confusing everyone. I was given this info, I thought it made sense to me! Lesson learned as to what to post on here

    It does, or you could just use MFP!

    I do use MFP, just started out on here. Still learning and always will be.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,162 Member
    sydneyregan wrote: »
    Sorry for confusing everyone. I was given this info, I thought it made sense to me! Lesson learned as to what to post on here

    It does makes sense. It is just that that is basically what you get when you put your stats into mfp. The first thing I did when I started on mfp was set up my goals. It does kind of surprise me when people ask questions about how many calories they need when that is the first thing I figured when I signed on. Plus TavistockToad is right about the 1.2. That works if you are sedentary, but some people have more active jobs. I am sedentary at work and am lucky to have 1200 steps when I get home from work (if I am busy at work and don't walk during my breaks). My husband on the other hand is on his feet and walking around at work and often has around 9000 sometimes 10,000 when he gets off work. His activity level is higher than mine so 1.2 wouldn't work for him.
  • sydneyregan
    sydneyregan Posts: 32 Member
    kgirlhart wrote: »
    sydneyregan wrote: »
    Sorry for confusing everyone. I was given this info, I thought it made sense to me! Lesson learned as to what to post on here

    It does makes sense. It is just that that is basically what you get when you put your stats into mfp. The first thing I did when I started on mfp was set up my goals. It does kind of surprise me when people ask questions about how many calories they need when that is the first thing I figured when I signed on. Plus TavistockToad is right about the 1.2. That works if you are sedentary, but some people have more active jobs. I am sedentary at work and am lucky to have 1200 steps when I get home from work (if I am busy at work and don't walk during my breaks). My husband on the other hand is on his feet and walking around at work and often has around 9000 sometimes 10,000 when he gets off work. His activity level is higher than mine so 1.2 wouldn't work for him.

    Thankyou! :)
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    @sydneyregan, I wasn't having a go at you. It's just that there are a lot of people just starting out that get confused when given too many options for calculating calories.
    If they are planning to use MFP as designed, it is best that they use the NEAT calculation MFP gives them to start with.
    Going with an alternate way of calculating calories, whether it be what you posted or an online TDEE calculated, can, for some just make it more confusing and harder to follow.

    The info you posed is interesting and good to know, especially if one has the numbers for all activity levels.

    Don't stop posting information that you have found useful.

    Cheers, h.
  • sydneyregan
    sydneyregan Posts: 32 Member
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    @sydneyregan, I wasn't having a go at you. It's just that there are a lot of people just starting out that get confused when given too many options for calculating calories.
    If they are planning to use MFP as designed, it is best that they use the NEAT calculation MFP gives them to start with.
    Going with an alternate way of calculating calories, whether it be what you posted or an online TDEE calculated, can, for some just make it more confusing and harder to follow.

    The info you posed is interesting and good to know, especially if one has the numbers for all activity levels.

    Don't stop posting information that you have found useful.

    Cheers, h.

    Thankyou! Hope you have a good day! :)

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