Calories

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jennydelgado09
jennydelgado09 Posts: 119 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So here I am again.
I'm 4'11 and 153lbs. Trying to get to 130-135.

I tried 1200 calories a day. Failed miserably. Tried 1400 a day, did a bit better. Thought about fasting, the 5:2 way but I wouldn't really be able to workout those days. I'm usually starving after I workout. (5am class, don't eat before or just an apple). Still debating though.

Someone had suggested eating at maintenance at sedentary and not eating exercise calories back.

So that's what I'm trying. Maintenance at sedentary is a little over 1600. A lot easier. My workouts are usually give or take 400 calories burned. When I enter my stats to get maintenance level with 4 days of exercise a week I get a bit over 1800.

So does that mean I'm in a defict of 600 cal a day or still only 400 cal a day?

This seems to be working. Not sure about result wise yet, I'm sure it'll be a slower process but its more doable.
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  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,070 Member
    edited October 2017
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    The easiest way to look at it is

    no of workouts x 400 calories / 7 days for example if you work out 4 days per week. That would be
    4 x 400 (1600) /7 = 228 cal deficit averaged daily.

    This will put you at just under 0.5lb loss per week. Which is an ideal rate for the amount you have to lose.

    Your logging will need to be spot on accuracy at this rate of loss as you have very little margin for error, so weighing your food is pretty much a necessity. If after 4-6 weeks you're still not seeing much scale movement, chances are you're overestimating your calorie burns.

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    why not try putting our stats into MFP and doing a weekly weight loss goal of 1/2lb or 1lb and log exercise and eat in that goal????

    Basically you are over complicating it.


  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    jennydelgado09 wrote: »
    So here I am again.
    I'm 4'11 and 153lbs. Trying to get to 130-135.

    I tried 1200 calories a day. Failed miserably. Tried 1400 a day, did a bit better. Thought about fasting, the 5:2 way but I wouldn't really be able to workout those days. I'm usually starving after I workout. (5am class, don't eat before or just an apple). Still debating though.

    Someone had suggested eating at maintenance at sedentary and not eating exercise calories back.

    So that's what I'm trying. Maintenance at sedentary is a little over 1600. A lot easier. My workouts are usually give or take 400 calories burned. When I enter my stats to get maintenance level with 4 days of exercise a week I get a bit over 1800.

    So does that mean I'm in a defict of 600 cal a day or still only 400 cal a day?

    This seems to be working. Not sure about result wise yet, I'm sure it'll be a slower process but its more doable.

    I don't remember if this was discussed on your other threads, but how do you do on protein, fat, and fiber? If any of those are low, it could be causing additional hunger. Many shorter women also need to become "volume eaters" making the foundation of their diet large portions of low cal foods like veggies, egg whites, tuna, etc and then add in small portions of higher calorie foods that they can fit.

    There is really no way to tell what your deficit is on your current plan because exercise calories can be so hard to determine accurately on a day to day basis. But if your more comfortable eating at 1600 and are consistently exercising, it could work.

    Sorry you're struggling!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    YepItsKriss wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    why not try putting our stats into MFP and doing a weekly weight loss goal of 1/2lb or 1lb and log exercise and eat in that goal????

    Basically you are over complicating it.


    A lot of times for short people who are under 5 feet the end result for them is 1200, as MFP won't go any lower, it takes harder work but can be done, but 1200 calories is hard to live on for a lot of people. so in order to maintain not feeling starved, high calorie amounts are needed but more vigilance and work is required.

    I am well aware of what MFP does...but if maintenance at sedentary is 1600 then 1/5lb a week is 1350 calories at sedentary...add in appx 200-300 calories for exercise you are at 1550-1600 calories a day.

    again over complicating it....

    People need to stick to something for a while before calling it a failure.

    Logging accurately and consistently using a food scale often times prevents "diets" from failing as people get more in tuned with what helps keep them from being hungry...aka protein, fat and fiber.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    The only way to really know for sure is to try it for a month, and then use your actual rate of loss to back-calculate your deficit.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    AliceDark wrote: »
    The only way to really know for sure is to try it for a month, and then use your actual rate of loss to back-calculate your deficit.

    only if the OP is logging accurately. I suspect they aren't due to 1400 calories not being enough...

    When I came here I was on 1460 and I am taller and weighed more and I wasn't hungry ever and even managed to eat a chocolate bar every night...and still lose 1lb a week.
  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
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    I suggest tapering. If you control it and get it down to consistently 1600 a day, do it. You can then taper once you have a handle on it. It's a lot easier going from 2000 to 1600 to 1400 than it is trying to go straight from 2000 to 1400.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    AliceDark wrote: »
    The only way to really know for sure is to try it for a month, and then use your actual rate of loss to back-calculate your deficit.

    only if the OP is logging accurately. I suspect they aren't due to 1400 calories not being enough...

    When I came here I was on 1460 and I am taller and weighed more and I wasn't hungry ever and even managed to eat a chocolate bar every night...and still lose 1lb a week.

    Agreed, although I think that most people aren't logging accurately anyway.

    My point is really that we can do all the theoretical math in the world, and it isn't as helpful as a month's worth of real-world data. See what happens at 1600, then adjust accordingly.
  • jennydelgado09
    jennydelgado09 Posts: 119 Member
    edited October 2017
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    I've been weighing all my food for about 3 weeks. So if I was off not by much. And yes I know that's not a lot of time but trying to eat 1200 sucked.

    I used a different calculator I found online that determined calorie amount by allowing you to add in how many days to work out.

    Also, great if you weren't hungry on low cal.
    I like food though. And do get hungry easily.

    I do need more protein which I'm sure would help some.

    I use a heart rate monitor to track my calories burned.

    I guess I was asking to see how effective how I'm doing it might be. Which the first person responded it would be a little under .5 lb a week.
  • anitastevens75
    anitastevens75 Posts: 10 Member
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    Great post, mine is set at 1200 and I find it very difficult to stay at that at tend to go over and always feel hungry too
  • bionicrooster
    bionicrooster Posts: 353 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    why not try putting our stats into MFP and doing a weekly weight loss goal of 1/2lb or 1lb and log exercise and eat in that goal????

    Basically you are over complicating it.


    I agree with this 100%.
  • jennydelgado09
    jennydelgado09 Posts: 119 Member
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    YepItsKriss wrote: »
    so do you want to use the TDEE method? which is what you found, when you said you found one that used your workouts. Or do you want to follow the NEAT method? which does not include workouts. because if youre going to use the TDEE method, you wouldn't subtract your 400 calorie burns from that, you would need to subtract a % and then be absolutely consistent with your workout routine, depending on how much weight you need to lose, the % off a TDEE calorie goal usually goes up to 25% for obese individuals

    I used mfp to set my calorie goal at the 1600 right now.

    I used tdee and included my workouts and got 1800.
    bionicrooster wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    why not try putting our stats into MFP and doing a weekly weight loss goal of 1/2lb or 1lb and log exercise and eat in that goal????

    Basically you are over complicating it.


    I agree with this 100%.

    I know i am unfortunately. But I feel like it's a mental thing. When mfp spits out 1300 a day it feels depressing. And i know at that I can eat back my exercise cal but then I end up overdoing it before I realize it.

    Leaving it at 1600 let's me feel like it's more managable and less likely to be disappointed.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    jennydelgado09 wrote: »
    I've been weighing all my food for about 3 weeks. So if I was off not by much. And yes I know that's not a lot of time but trying to eat 1200 sucked.

    I used a different calculator I found online that determined calorie amount by allowing you to add in how many days to work out.

    Also, great if you weren't hungry on low cal.
    I like food though. And do get hungry easily.

    I do need more protein which I'm sure would help some.

    I use a heart rate monitor to track my calories burned.

    I guess I was asking to see how effective how I'm doing it might be. Which the first person responded it would be a little under .5 lb a week.

    lol @ like food...

    Liking food and being hungry are two different things.

    I wasn't hungry because I ate a lot of protein and fats...and I ate exercise calories...
    and HRM aren't for calculating calories...they are for monitoring Heart rates...

    My point is this..log accurately using a food scale and correct entries everything you eat, get in enough protein and fats etc and you won't be hungry.

    and to your question about effective...it's only as effective as you make it.

    and based on your post you don't stick to anything long enough to see how effective it is...

    1400 calories + exercise calories is 1600 calories...so what you said didn't work before you are doing now again but saying it differently...

    hence my comment don't over complicate it...pick a calorie goal and stick with it for longer than a week to see how effective it is.

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