So what the hell am I doing?

lost_work7
lost_work7 Posts: 41 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
I've done like I don't even know how many different calculators on what calorie count I'm supposed to be eating. MFP told me to eat 1200 calories, the TDEE calculator told me to eat 1838 calories and there was another calculator (I forget what it's called) and it told me to eat 1318. With all this conflicting information, I have no idea what I'm doing. I put myself at 1500 calories at first to get me in the logging and minding what I'm eating for a week and a half (eating a little back of calories that I burned). The next week and a half I did 1200 (not really eating back calories from gym) and I've only got 1lb loss. :disappointed:

Now, I know to be patient with weight loss since it's not a race, but it's frustrating not really knowing where I should be calorie wise. I think that's hindering me in my weight loss.

Side note, I do weigh my food. I'm 207lbs. I workout 5 days a week, at least 25 minutes cardio, I'm on a workout program at the YMCA.

Help?

Replies

  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    What is your height, age and general activity level not counting exercise?
  • lost_work7
    lost_work7 Posts: 41 Member
    serindipte wrote: »
    What is your height, age and general activity level not counting exercise?

    I'm 27, 5'7 and probably sedentary.
  • vespiquenn
    vespiquenn Posts: 1,455 Member
    edited February 2017
    It's essentially picking a model and sticking to it. MFP uses the NEAT model, which does includes your activity levels but not exercise. So using MFP would mean you eat a portion of your exercise calories back. On the other hand, TDEE includes daily activities, so you wouldn't eat anything back essentially because exercise would be included in that number (or should be).

    With that being said, I prefer TDEE because over time, I am able to use data points and fine tune my necessary calories rather than guessing at what my exercise calories should be for the day

    Edited for some typos.
  • sybillabryson
    sybillabryson Posts: 58 Member
    I think MFP's calculator is right on, for my body at least. I would suggest eating back your exercise calories. I did 90 minutes of cardio, 6 days a week at 1200 calories and i lost a lot of weight fast but it hurt really bad, i damaged my health and i gained a lot back. I felt much better and found i could work out more when i ate back my exercise calories. When i was properly fueling my body i looked and felt great and was very physically capable. If health is your goal, I recommend slow and steady and always listen to your body. I felt terrible when i was eating at such a huge deficit, your body will tell you when you are hurting it and when you are helping it.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    Alright, based on your stats, your TDEE is about 2048/day. For a 1 lb/week deficit, that would put you at 1548c/day. For 2lbs/week, it would drop you below 1200 which is why MFP put you at 1200. That is the minimum per day for a woman. At your age, height and weight, I would set it at 1500 and go from there. I'm 42, 5'4" and 200 and have been losing fairly consistently at 1400-1500/day. If you add in some exercise, you can eat back some of those calories or let them add to your deficit.
  • Dee_D33
    Dee_D33 Posts: 106 Member
    Slow progress is better than no progress. Slow but steady weight loss is much easier to maintain than drastically cutting your calories. This is my second time around losing weight. The first time I was impatient and cut my calories by more than 20% of my TDEE. The weight came off fast, but I had a hard time maintaining that deficit because I was so hungry and overall not happy. This time around I have learned and changed my eating habits and found it to be a much more enjoyable process and an easy lifestyle change.
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,246 Member
    So you're hitting close to a 1/2 pound weight loss every 10 days, eating between 1200-1500. While that may not seem like much, it looks like progress to me! Lots of good advice here, but I'd stick with a moderate deficit around the same amount for a couple weeks and see how that goes. If you're eating a small enough amount to lose 2+ pounds a week that will be a hard to sustain long term.

    I'm twice your age, but I'm still losing about 1/2 pound a week with a moderate deficit. My daily goal is 1410 and I eat back about 50% of my exercise calories, which puts me about 1600 a day pretty consistently.

    Also, remember that you've only been at this a few weeks, so there are other factors to consider. Hormonal changes, sodium intake, etc. You'll find your groove, just don't give up!
  • JaiDessaT
    JaiDessaT Posts: 74 Member
    Your stats are similar to mine (height & weight - 224 was my starting weight). I lose about 1.5 lbs each week, sometimes more. I eat 1500 calories per day, and exercise 6 days a week. Cardio intervals for 20 minutes, 3x a week and weights for 40 minutes 3x a week, alternating upper and lower body. If I don't exercise, I keep calories between 1300 - 1400. I also have a treat day every week or two, where I don't count calories. Then it's right back to it.

    I've maintained a 40 lb loss for a couple years and am now going for the last 40 lbs.

    Sorry so long. I hope maybe this helps you a little bit. You can do this!
  • red99ryder
    red99ryder Posts: 399 Member
    i just use MFP .. eat the number of calories it gives me and go from there ,, i think i will have to change my weight loss number to 1 pound a week soon , am trying to wait till im in onederland first ..

    good luck
  • bisky4
    bisky4 Posts: 12 Member
    I've been told NOT to eat back all the calories that you burn. You must eat the same amount of calories every day. IIFYM tell me to eat 1480 calories (thats where I got my figures from, this already includes my 4 hard workouts a week. MFP tells me to eat only 1200. So the 1200 MFP plus an extra 280 would pretty much account for my exercise for the week. IIFYM told me to ALWAYS hit my macros on my non training days because your body needs these extra calories to continue to train and to lose fat. I've only been on it for 4 weeks and I've already lost 2cm off my waist, weight has only decreased 1kg but for my body type that is fine I can see definition in body. I'm only looking to loose around 5-7kg or 1 dress size, so I'm on track. Its difficult for me to eat the 1480 calories as I only eat whole foods but with protein shakes and wholemeal bread I can get close to my macros. Good luck
  • lost_work7
    lost_work7 Posts: 41 Member
    serindipte wrote: »
    Alright, based on your stats, your TDEE is about 2048/day. For a 1 lb/week deficit, that would put you at 1548c/day. For 2lbs/week, it would drop you below 1200 which is why MFP put you at 1200. That is the minimum per day for a woman. At your age, height and weight, I would set it at 1500 and go from there. I'm 42, 5'4" and 200 and have been losing fairly consistently at 1400-1500/day. If you add in some exercise, you can eat back some of those calories or let them add to your deficit.
    Thank you. :smile: I was thinking of going back to that because I feel like 1200 is just too low of calories.
  • lost_work7
    lost_work7 Posts: 41 Member
    JaiDessaT wrote: »
    Your stats are similar to mine (height & weight - 224 was my starting weight). I lose about 1.5 lbs each week, sometimes more. I eat 1500 calories per day, and exercise 6 days a week. Cardio intervals for 20 minutes, 3x a week and weights for 40 minutes 3x a week, alternating upper and lower body. If I don't exercise, I keep calories between 1300 - 1400. I also have a treat day every week or two, where I don't count calories. Then it's right back to it.

    I've maintained a 40 lb loss for a couple years and am now going for the last 40 lbs.

    Sorry so long. I hope maybe this helps you a little bit. You can do this!
    Thanks :smile: This does help.

  • bethanyraezel
    bethanyraezel Posts: 2 Member
    I am 212lbs, 5'6"
    I manually input my calories in mfp based on my resting metabolic rate. To get that it's your body weight x 10 x 1.3
    That's how many cals your body needs to maintain your current weight. To lose 2lbs a week, subtract 1000 from the number. To lose 1lb a week subtract 500.

    So for me:
    212x10x1.3= 2,756 calories
    Minus 1000 = 1,756 calories a day to lose 2lvs per week.

    I also do not eat back my exercise calories unless I have physical signs of hunger. Stomach growling, water, or just distracting myself.
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
    bethanyraezel wrote: »
    I am 212lbs, 5'6"
    I manually input my calories in mfp based on my resting metabolic rate. To get that it's your body weight x 10 x 1.3
    That's how many cals your body needs to maintain your current weight. To lose 2lbs a week, subtract 1000 from the number. To lose 1lb a week subtract 500.

    So for me:
    212x10x1.3= 2,756 calories
    Minus 1000 = 1,756 calories a day to lose 2lvs per week.

    I also do not eat back my exercise calories unless I have physical signs of hunger. Stomach growling, water, or just distracting myself.
    How long have you been on this type of plan eating this number of cals?
  • lost_work7
    lost_work7 Posts: 41 Member
    bethanyraezel wrote: »
    I am 212lbs, 5'6"
    I manually input my calories in mfp based on my resting metabolic rate. To get that it's your body weight x 10 x 1.3
    That's how many cals your body needs to maintain your current weight. To lose 2lbs a week, subtract 1000 from the number. To lose 1lb a week subtract 500.

    So for me:
    212x10x1.3= 2,756 calories
    Minus 1000 = 1,756 calories a day to lose 2lvs per week.

    I also do not eat back my exercise calories unless I have physical signs of hunger. Stomach growling, water, or just distracting myself.

    Has this worked for you? And I haven't seen this equation before, where did it come from? Just curious. I've seen other equations such as:

    For women: BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) – 161

    and my BMR would be 1706.
  • Dee_D33
    Dee_D33 Posts: 106 Member
    bethanyraezel wrote: »
    I am 212lbs, 5'6"
    I manually input my calories in mfp based on my resting metabolic rate. To get that it's your body weight x 10 x 1.3
    That's how many cals your body needs to maintain your current weight. To lose 2lbs a week, subtract 1000 from the number. To lose 1lb a week subtract 500.

    So for me:
    212x10x1.3= 2,756 calories
    Minus 1000 = 1,756 calories a day to lose 2lvs per week.

    I also do not eat back my exercise calories unless I have physical signs of hunger. Stomach growling, water, or just distracting myself.

    It's important to note as well that the 1.3 is your activity factor and can be different for other individual's equations. Just wanted OP to be aware. :)

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    The MFP number would be before exercise and the TDEE number would be after exercise.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Agree with the advice to pick a method and stick with it. I think the MFP plan is fine for most people, especially if your exercise isn't consistent day in and day out. If 1200 isn't enough for you, and for a lot of people it isn't, I would raise it to 1500 and try to be consistent and accurate with logging. Establish a pattern of weight loss and then monitor and adjust calories from there.

    For what it's worth, I'm 5'2 and lost most of my weight eating between 1600-1900 calories.
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