Help w/calorie goal

nrsejs
nrsejs Posts: 5 Member
edited November 21 in Fitness and Exercise
I am female, 244 pounds and 5'7". My job is sedentary. I've lost about 50 pounds so far this year through a caloric deficit, but recently added StrongLifts 5x5 (no cardio). My goal is fat loss while preserving muscle mass, using methods that are sustainable for me long-term (hence no cardio!).

My question is, how many calories should I be eating per day? Thank you

Replies

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    What did this website give you for a goal? Eat that.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    2 options -

    (1) Whatever MFP says you should eat

    (2) Whatever you've been doing to lose the 50lbs so far.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,449 Member
    I agree, just use this site's recommended calorie goal.

    At your weight, it will fly off you. The nuances of calories will really matter when you get much closer to your weight goal.

    Congrats on the 50 pounds!
  • nrsejs
    nrsejs Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks. MFP has me at 1,550 calories to lose 1.5 pounds per week. I'm trying to sift through all the conflicting information that's out there; I've seen in a few places that when someone is lifting and losing weight not to eat at more than a 20% deficit, but I don't know if that's widely accepted or not. I'm not recording any exercise in the app because my understanding is that strength training shouldn't impact calorie limit in MFP. I have followed MFP's recommendations thus far but I guess I was looking for input on how I may or may not need to adjust the rate of loss setting based on the addition of the weightlifting.
  • sheepingly
    sheepingly Posts: 237 Member
    nrsejs wrote: »
    Thanks. MFP has me at 1,550 calories to lose 1.5 pounds per week. I'm trying to sift through all the conflicting information that's out there; I've seen in a few places that when someone is lifting and losing weight not to eat at more than a 20% deficit, but I don't know if that's widely accepted or not. I'm not recording any exercise in the app because my understanding is that strength training shouldn't impact calorie limit in MFP. I have followed MFP's recommendations thus far but I guess I was looking for input on how I may or may not need to adjust the rate of loss setting based on the addition of the weightlifting.

    just follow MFP if you are not seeing the results then adjust accordingly.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,449 Member
    nrsejs wrote: »
    Thanks. MFP has me at 1,550 calories to lose 1.5 pounds per week. I'm trying to sift through all the conflicting information that's out there; I've seen in a few places that when someone is lifting and losing weight not to eat at more than a 20% deficit, but I don't know if that's widely accepted or not. I'm not recording any exercise in the app because my understanding is that strength training shouldn't impact calorie limit in MFP. I have followed MFP's recommendations thus far but I guess I was looking for input on how I may or may not need to adjust the rate of loss setting based on the addition of the weightlifting.

    Keep really good records. This is your weight-loss experiment and your body and your activity. What we say is pretty meaningless, we know next to nothing about you or your life.

    When you keep good records, you will know exactly what the right thing is, how many calories you need, etc. Some people add a hundred or so calories extra for their weight-lifting. Run the experiment. If you find yourself starving, adjust. If your weight loss seems not right for the amount of food, adjust. We all had to do that and I still do that ten years into my maintenance weight.
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