How many calories should I eat

zek19
zek19 Posts: 4 Member
edited November 23 in Food and Nutrition
I have been keeping track of my caloric intake for about a year to now, I also have had a fitness tracker so I'm able to keep track of the amount of calories I burn a day. This has helped me lose a good amount of weight but there's still more, I've hit a plateau and I'm trying to restructure my caloric intake vs output. Online calculators tell me about where I should be, but I would like to get something a little more accurate. With the knowledge of the average amount of calories that I burn each day, if I want to lose weight, how many calories should I take away. When I use a 500 calorie deficit I get an output of what one calculator would say is my maintenance but another calculator would say that's too low. In another case the weight loss of one is the weight gain of another. So I'm a little confused.

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If you've been keeping track of your intake for a year now, you should know what you're eating per day while you're maintaining.

    I would use your real life data and results to set your calorie goal, not a calorie calculator.

    So what are you eating now and how long have you been maintaining?
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    First, figure out what the average is of how many cals your tracker says you have burnt each day over the last 4 weeks.
    Then,
    (Average of what you burn each day) - 500 cals = (Amount you should be eating to lose around 1lb a week)

    If after 4 weeks you don't think you are losing fast enough, then make the -500 cals a higher number.
    Fitness trackers are not the most accurate things in the world, says the guy who has been wearing them since 2008.

    Real life data is better than the guess a calculator will come up with.

    Also, every month, figure what your tracker says was your average for the last 2 weeks, and compare that to what you figured out last time. This way, if winter has you doing less, or you are walking more due to shopping, you are taking it into account.
  • zek19
    zek19 Posts: 4 Member
    edited November 2017
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If you've been keeping track of your intake for a year now, you should know what you're eating per day while you're maintaining.

    I would use your real life data and results to set your calorie goal, not a calorie calculator.

    So what are you eating now and how long have you been maintaining?

    Right now I'm 5months into keto. I have been playing around with my cals to find the optimal number. I'm not necessarily trying to maintain, it's the outcome of my current experiment. My data says that I burn a little over 3200 a day, average. Even if I adjust for accuracy and take a 400 cals deficit I would get about 2700. But I am currently at 2450 cals, 39 carbs 189 protien and 180 fat haven't seen progress.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    zek19 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If you've been keeping track of your intake for a year now, you should know what you're eating per day while you're maintaining.

    I would use your real life data and results to set your calorie goal, not a calorie calculator.

    So what are you eating now and how long have you been maintaining?

    Right now I'm 5months into keto. I have been playing around with my cals to find the optimal number. I'm not necessarily trying to maintain, it's the outcome of my current experiment. My data says that I burn a little over 3200 a day, average. Even if I adjust for accuracy and take a 400 cals deficit I would get about 2700. But I am currently at 2450 cals, 39 carbs 189 protien and 180 fat haven't seen progress.

    I realize you're not trying to maintain, but if you're consistently eating the same number of calories and not losing then you've found the number of calories you need to maintain. You can deduct from that to create a deficit. So if you're eating 2,450 calories regularly and you want to lose a pound a week, your goal will be 1,950.
  • zek19
    zek19 Posts: 4 Member
    @janejellyroll awesomeness. I didn't realize that. But I wonder my current maintain and the number I get from my data are so different. Oh well. Thank you so much.
  • Athena98501
    Athena98501 Posts: 716 Member
    edited November 2017
    zek19 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If you've been keeping track of your intake for a year now, you should know what you're eating per day while you're maintaining.

    I would use your real life data and results to set your calorie goal, not a calorie calculator.

    So what are you eating now and how long have you been maintaining?

    Right now I'm 5months into keto. I have been playing around with my cals to find the optimal number. I'm not necessarily trying to maintain, it's the outcome of my current experiment. My data says that I burn a little over 3200 a day, average. Even if I adjust for accuracy and take a 400 cals deficit I would get about 2700. But I am currently at 2450 cals, 39 carbs 189 protien and 180 fat haven't seen progress.

    Your protein is awfully high for keto. That burn estimate might be a bit high too, unless you're quite heavy, or very active. What tracker do you use? What's your actual activity level? If you're comfortable sharing your stats, that could be helpful.

    ETA: Those macros actually come out to 2532 calories.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    zek19 wrote: »
    @janejellyroll awesomeness. I didn't realize that. But I wonder my current maintain and the number I get from my data are so different. Oh well. Thank you so much.

    It could be that your logging isn't accurate, so that you are consuming more calories than you think. Or you're overestimating exercise calories, if you log those.

    It could be that some of the information you're giving the calculators is inaccurate (such as your activity level -- what you think is active, for example, may be less active than what the calculators assume is active).

    You could lie a standard deviation or two away from the averages used in constructing the calculator -- for example, you could have less muscle mass than the formulas assume, or you could be an unusually "still" person (someone who doesn't fidget or move around at all when seated or standing still).

    Or it could be a combination of these things.

    The good news is that, for purposes of losing weight, it really doesn't matter. You know from your data what your maintenance level is, based on the way you count calories. If your logging isn't accurate, it doesn't really matter for the purposes of setting a calorie goal based on your data, so long as your inaccuracy is reasonably consistent. If you're generally undercounting by about 200 calories a day, so your data tells you your goal should be 200 calories less than the calculators say, that's OK. Because when you try to eat to that goal, you're most likely still going to be undercounting by about 200 calories a day.

    Same thing for overestimating exercise calories. If your overestimation is fairly consistent, and you set a calorie goal based on your inaccurate but inconsistent exercise calories, you're likely to continue making those same inaccuracies while you're eating to that goal.

    Or if it's your tail-of-the-bell-curve body or metabolic efficiency or zenlike motionless when not doing a specific task, and your logging obviously doesn't take that into account, those things aren't likely to change.

    So you don't need to know exactly what is throwing you off from the predictions of the formulas, and by how much each thing is throwing you off.

    Consistency is more important than accuracy. And for practical purposes, your own data is better than any calculator or formula.
  • zek19
    zek19 Posts: 4 Member
    edited November 2017
    Athena98501 wrote: »
    zek19 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If you've been keeping track of your intake for a year now, you should know what you're eating per day while you're maintaining.

    I would use your real life data and results to set your calorie goal, not a calorie calculator.

    So what are you eating now and how long have you been maintaining?

    Right now I'm 5months into keto. I have been playing around with my cals to find the optimal number. I'm not necessarily trying to maintain, it's the outcome of my current experiment. My data says that I burn a little over 3200 a day, average. Even if I adjust for accuracy and take a 400 cals deficit I would get about 2700. But I am currently at 2450 cals, 39 carbs 189 protien and 180 fat haven't seen progress.

    Your protein is awfully high for keto. That burn estimate might be a bit high too, unless you're quite heavy, or very active. What tracker do you use? What's your actual activity level? If you're comfortable sharing your stats, that could be helpful.

    ETA: Those macros actually come out to 2532 calories.

    I'm 210lbs 23yrd male. I am using a Fitbit AltaHr , as for my activity level... About every hr I do some sort of activity..a small walk or a set of either squats, push ups or an quick ab work out. After work I go for a 1mile run with a break about half way in to do a 3sets of pull ups and handstands. I am also renovating my home right now so I can't quite get a regular schedule. But the renovation includes painting cabinets, tiling, cleaning, getting lost at lowes, etc. I measure out my foods, but I don't add anything to my exercise diary.


  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    zek19 wrote: »
    @janejellyroll awesomeness. I didn't realize that. But I wonder my current maintain and the number I get from my data are so different. Oh well. Thank you so much.

    It could be several things -- one possibility is that you aren't accurately measuring your calories in (you're using generic/incorrect database entries, you aren't logging some foods with calories, you're estimating portion size or using measuring cups for solid food, etc). Another possibility is that you aren't accurately measuring the calories you're burning. A Fitbit calorie burn rate is just an estimate and sometimes people find that it is giving them an estimate that is too high or too low. Your real life results are always going to be the source of truth.
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