Getting a little discouraged
Lovemehatemebytchez
Posts: 119 Member
Hello,
So trying to lose body fat don't know if I'm eating enough or eating too much. I'm 30 years old (Female) 5ft5 weigh 260lb 42% body fat. I workout 6 days a week cardio, lifting weights. I get a little overwhelmed and inpatient sometimes. Now, all these estimates online as well as my Fitbit and fitness pal say I need to be eating about 2300 calories at the moment I eat about 1800 to 2000. My Fitbit tells me I burn 2500 on my rest day to 3800 on my active day.
So my question is how much should I be eating?
So trying to lose body fat don't know if I'm eating enough or eating too much. I'm 30 years old (Female) 5ft5 weigh 260lb 42% body fat. I workout 6 days a week cardio, lifting weights. I get a little overwhelmed and inpatient sometimes. Now, all these estimates online as well as my Fitbit and fitness pal say I need to be eating about 2300 calories at the moment I eat about 1800 to 2000. My Fitbit tells me I burn 2500 on my rest day to 3800 on my active day.
So my question is how much should I be eating?
0
Replies
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To help us help you:
How long have you been eating that amount?
How much weight are you actually losing per week?
How much did you tell MFP you want to lose each week?
How much do you want to lose in total?3 -
To help us help you:
How long have you been eating that amount?
How much weight are you actually losing per week?
How much did you tell MFP you want to lose each week?
How much do you want to lose in total?
Well to be perfectly honest I've been having difficulties eating exactly that amount it's usually no less than 1500 calories and no more than 2000 calories.
In the past 3 weeks I think I've lost 2 lb but I'm not trying to focus on this scale mostly on measuring myself and my body fat.
Well I told MyFitnessPal the truth but I adjusted the 1700 and just fixed it and going to try to eat what it says on my light active which is 2160 to eat and it says on my rest days 1870.
Well I wouldn't mind losing 50 lbs but really trying to get my body fat in the 30%
Thank you for replying to my question.0 -
Okay.....it can be really frustrating with all of the different things out there that tell you conflicting things.
I am not going to speak to all of the devices out there. They all have their value. But, they might lead to confusion for you (and that seems to be the case). So, I will suggest the following:
1. Get your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
2. Get your TDEE (based off of the BMR and a Physical Activity Level).
3. Use these as starting points.....
I took the liberty to determine these two things for you. Here is what I have for you:
Female
30 years old
5'5" (65 inches)
260lbs
Basal Metabolic Rate 1,900 calories per day
Sedentary 2,280 calories per day
Light Exercise 2,613 calories per day
Moderate Exercise 2,945 calories per day
Heavy Exercise 3,278 calories per day
Athlete 3,610 calories per day
Now, these are numbers based off of the Mifflin-St. Jeor BMR Formula from 1990. So, this is a formula. It is a pretty good measure - generally speaking. But, as everyone is different I suggest that you simply use these numbers as a starting point.
So, this is going to be a little bit different from using MyFitnessPal. The BMR is absolutely available here. It is in the APPS section.
And, I do not want to add confusion to the situation, so if this information does not help you then please excuse me.
Also, what is your nutritional history? Have you dieted a lot? Or, is this something new to you? I ask, because how often and for how long one has dieted does indeed affect things.
If you want to do this 100% with the tools that you have then please follow _TMac_.......she asked some good questions.2 -
Ok. As long as your body is using more calories than you're eating, you'll lose weight. If you also want to be healthy, don't try to lose more than 2 lbs per week.
If you're losing .66 lbs/wk, you're in a slight deficit. If you told MFP you want to lose more than that, you're eating more than you think you are, and would do well to examine your food logging methods. Lots of people do this; it's a learning curve we all have to go through.
If you'd like to lose a little than that more per week, feel free to lower your calories (from the previous level) a little.
If you're happy with your current rate of loss, keep on doing what you're doing.
Your own results are the key. Your body is telling you what to do.3 -
CWShultz27105 wrote: »Okay.....it can be really frustrating with all of the different things out there that tell you conflicting things.
I am not going to speak to all of the devices out there. They all have their value. But, they might lead to confusion for you (and that seems to be the case). So, I will suggest the following:
1. Get your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
2. Get your TDEE (based off of the BMR and a Physical Activity Level).
3. Use these as starting points.....
I took the liberty to determine these two things for you. Here is what I have for you:
Female
30 years old
5'5" (65 inches)
260lbs
Basal Metabolic Rate 1,900 calories per day
Sedentary 2,280 calories per day
Light Exercise 2,613 calories per day
Moderate Exercise 2,945 calories per day
Heavy Exercise 3,278 calories per day
Athlete 3,610 calories per day
Now, these are numbers based off of the Mifflin-St. Jeor BMR Formula from 1990. So, this is a formula. It is a pretty good measure - generally speaking. But, as everyone is different I suggest that you simply use these numbers as a starting point.
So, this is going to be a little bit different from using MyFitnessPal. The BMR is absolutely available here. It is in the APPS section.
And, I do not want to add confusion to the situation, so if this information does not help you then please excuse me.
Also, what is your nutritional history? Have you dieted a lot? Or, is this something new to you? I ask, because how often and for how long one has dieted does indeed affect things.
If you want to do this 100% with the tools that you have then please follow _TMac_.......she asked some good questions.
OMG thank you so much. Now I have been dieting or eating healthy as I call it for a couple years now and exercising as well. I did have a couple things health issues like high blood pressure got rid of it now. I'm trying to focus on my calories instead of sodium since my high blood pressure went away.
This should help me but I'm a little confused on that sedentary, light exercise, moderate exercise and heavy exercise how do I know what is light exercise and what is heavy exercise. Now, I spend like an hour sometimes two in the gym and then the rest of my day cleaning house. So is this moderate exercise?0 -
Ok. As long as your body is using more calories than you're eating, you'll lose weight. If you also want to be healthy, don't try to lose more than 2 lbs per week.
If you're losing .66 lbs/wk, you're in a slight deficit. If you told MFP you want to lose more than that, you're eating more than you think you are, and would do well to examine your food logging methods. Lots of people do this; it's a learning curve we all have to go through.
If you'd like to lose a little than that more per week, feel free to lower your calories (from the previous level) a little.
If you're happy with your current rate of loss, keep on doing what you're doing.
Your own results are the key. Your body is telling you what to do.
Thank you so much and I told Fitness Pal one pound a week and I fixed it and it says 2160 I should be eating on a light active day. This is just too much food for me I feel like it's already 5pm and I already had 1800 calories. Ugh! Now, I know why I see a lot of people eating fast food just to get their calorie intake. I used to think they were crazy eating all that junk.0 -
Thank you both and if you would like to see my journey you can follow me on Instagram at Sully_getsfit0
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You are welcome. And, good question. The PAL (Physical Activity Level) is broken down like this:
*Sedentary (little or no exercise) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.2
*Lightly active (light exercise/work 1-3 days per week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.375
*Moderately active (moderate exercise/work 3-5 days per week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.55
*Very active (hard exercise/work 6-7 days a week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.725
*Ultra active (very hard exercise/work 6-7 days a week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.9
So, I will submit to you - what do you think the PAL should be?
Possibly Moderate?1 -
CWShultz27105 wrote: »You are welcome. And, good question. The PAL (Physical Activity Level) is broken down like this:
*Sedentary (little or no exercise) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.2
*Lightly active (light exercise/work 1-3 days per week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.375
*Moderately active (moderate exercise/work 3-5 days per week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.55
*Very active (hard exercise/work 6-7 days a week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.725
*Ultra active (very hard exercise/work 6-7 days a week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.9
So, I will submit to you - what do you think the PAL should be?
Possibly Moderate?
Where does someone who does light exercise 7 days a week fit into those brackets? @CWShultz271051 -
@Christine_72 I always use the sedentary TDEE and then add exercise on top of that, since I have a desk job.1
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Count your exercise as exercise.
I would put the activity level at sedentary, unless you have a physically demanding job or you do a physically demanding task as a daily routine1 -
@Christine_72 I always use the sedentary TDEE and then add exercise on top of that, since I have a desk job.
Yeah that's what I've been doing. I would just love to have a clear cut black and white answer of where i fit in. Wishful thinking and not imperative, was just curious.2 -
If you're just starting out, I think setting MFP at 2 pound loss/week works well. When I started, I set it at 2 pounds. Now that I'm getting closer to my goal, I changed it to 1 pound loss/week.
So, you could set it to 2 pounds/week and sedentary activity level as rmgnow said. With this setting, your steps (synced from your phone or fitbit) will give you exercise calories. You should also then log any additional exercise calories that are not accounted by your fitbit, such as swimming, biking, etc.
Generally, I don't eat back all my exercise calories. I'll eat back about half of the calories from exercise in addition to my calorie goal.
I would also get a food scale. When I'm cooking, I measure out my ingredients. I also portion out snacks using the scale. If I eat out, I try to buy from places with known calories. Otherwise, I'm forced to guess. I try to overestimate my guesses for food with unknown calories attached to it.
Good luck!1 -
CWShultz27105 wrote: »You are welcome. And, good question. The PAL (Physical Activity Level) is broken down like this:
*Sedentary (little or no exercise) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.2
*Lightly active (light exercise/work 1-3 days per week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.375
*Moderately active (moderate exercise/work 3-5 days per week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.55
*Very active (hard exercise/work 6-7 days a week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.725
*Ultra active (very hard exercise/work 6-7 days a week) – your TDEE = BMR x 1.9
So, I will submit to you - what do you think the PAL should be?
Possibly Moderate?
Thank you and yeah I agree moderate.0 -
Thanks everyone who commented and gave me good information and ideas. I'm going to do what the fitness pal says so going to eat 2150 on my workout days and 1860 on my rest days so cross your fingers hope I lose a pound this week.1
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