Should I be eating more calories?

slinkyreptile
slinkyreptile Posts: 16 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys,

I am only week 3 of my journey and want to start as I mean to go in and get things right. I'm a 5ft 7 female currently weighing 12st 10 aiming to get to around 10 stone or thereabouts with a calorie intake of 1260 by MFP recommendations.

My question is: 5 days a week I currently do about 20 mins of the Scarlett Moffat super slim me DVD. I'm hoping to build up to be able to do it all but that's me pushing myself to the limit. At the moment I don't incorporate any weight as I'm trying to simply make it a habit and sustainable long term so I don't want to throw in too much at once! I also average 10000 steps a day on my Fitbit. Should I be eating more calories? I don't imagine doing a 20 minute workout would burn that many calories?

Replies

  • BonnieDundee78
    BonnieDundee78 Posts: 158 Member
    I'd definitely eat a bit more than that just from a sustainability perspective. I'm shorter than you (5ft 3), and I'm looking at 1400 cals, which is totally doable. MFP suggested 1200 for me, and I was all "Ha! No chance". That extra 200 cals makes ALL the difference.
  • ShortSh
    ShortSh Posts: 12 Member
    I gained 3 pounds this past week and I'm devastated. The only thing I can say is I didn't reach my calorie goals for 2 days, but every other day was perfect. Help?
  • pinksparklefairy
    pinksparklefairy Posts: 97 Member
    edited January 2017
    Yes you need to work out how many calories you are burning with your exercise (including walking), add them to MFP and

    I have no idea what this workout video is like but if you are really working hard and pushing yourself with a high heart rate you might be burning 200 calories. I would add 150 to be on the safe side. Plus another 100 for each mile walked. You should be eating these calories back each day as fuel.

    Only eat 1260 if you spend all day on the sofa not doing much.

    I am a bit shorter than you (5'6) and am currently eating 1350 calories a day plus exercise calories.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    ShortSh wrote: »
    I gained 3 pounds this past week and I'm devastated. The only thing I can say is I didn't reach my calorie goals for 2 days, but every other day was perfect. Help?

    You're better starting your own thread but a week isn't enough time to know anything, weight fluctuates.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    OP, you are relatively tall for a female and I think you have probably picked too aggressive a weekly loss. 1260 is really very little. Did you also pick sedentary? At 10'000 steps a day you are at least lightly active.

    MFP is also designed for you to eat at least some of your purposeful exercise calories back as it uses the NEAT method. So whilst 20 minutes isn't going to give you any big numbers, you do need to fuel your activity appropriately.

    Now of course all of this supposes your tracking is also as accurate as it can be, some people like to leave a little room for error.

    And you wear a Fitbit. Have you synced this to your account?
  • slinkyreptile
    slinkyreptile Posts: 16 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    OP, you are relatively tall for a female and I think you have probably picked too aggressive a weekly loss. 1260 is really very little. Did you also pick sedentary? At 10'000 steps a day you are at least lightly active.

    MFP is also designed for you to eat at least some of your purposeful exercise calories back as it uses the NEAT method. So whilst 20 minutes isn't going to give you any big numbers, you do need to fuel your activity appropriately.

    Now of course all of this supposes your tracking is also as accurate as it can be, some people like to leave a little room for error.

    And you wear a Fitbit. Have you synced this to your account?

    Thanks very much for everyone's helpful responses. I have my activity level as lightly active giving that I do so many steps. When I tried to sync my Fitbit to MFP before the calorie count was way overestimated so I'm reluctant to do that again? I do weigh all my food and as far as I'm aware is very accurate
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    I don't wear a Fitbit but another activity tracker and it is accurate for me. From what I have seen in feedback here, Fitbit is usually accurate for a lot of people but it is always prudent to perhaps be a little conservative with eating back the adjustment to begin with until you have a good amount of data to be working with. Real world adjustments trump any technology and estimates.

    Did you also pick 2lbs per week to lose? That's far too aggressive for you. And I expect you will start to feel fatigued very quickly on such a low intake. That or have an epic binge!
  • slinkyreptile
    slinkyreptile Posts: 16 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    I don't wear a Fitbit but another activity tracker and it is accurate for me. From what I have seen in feedback here, Fitbit is usually accurate for a lot of people but it is always prudent to perhaps be a little conservative with eating back the adjustment to begin with until you have a good amount of data to be working with. Real world adjustments trump any technology and estimates.

    Did you also pick 2lbs per week to lose? That's far too aggressive for you. And I expect you will start to feel fatigued very quickly on such a low intake. That or have an epic binge!

    Thanks for the reply ☺I will try syncing my Fitbit and see how I get on. Yeah I did go for 2lbs but I will adjust this as well. So far I have managed to refrain from a binge but I can't say I haven't been tempted!!

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    It might be a little more reasonable to chose 1 - 1.5 lb per week with only 34 lbs to lose and increasing protein will help with muscle retention (~120g would probably be ideal for you). This also assume you are using a food scale for accuracy.


    Either way, you should track calories for 3-4 weeks and adjust based on actual results. In the end, actual data is better than estimates.
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