how many calories do you eat a day?

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Replies

  • jkemen
    jkemen Posts: 2 Member
    I'm 5'6", an active mom of two boys and CrossFit x 3-4 times/week burning 300-500 calories on those days.Right now I have MFP set at 1720, but I don't change that amount to adjust for workout days. A trainer once told me I should be getting more like 2200-2300/day or else my body won't lose anything because I'll be in starvation mode, but I can't quite get myself to eat that much. I mean I can and I would enjoy it thoroughly but I'm afraid I'd gain and not lose, like he suggested.
  • Starflight00
    Starflight00 Posts: 112 Member
    @jkemen, my nutritionist told me the same. I lowered intake to 1100 as I wasn't losing fast enough and just hit a plateau. She made me increase it to minimum 1300.

    I'd try what your trainer suggests...
  • Havanaohlala
    Havanaohlala Posts: 52 Member
    edited January 2018
    I would be careful with trainers. What matters for weight loss is cals in cals out. The trainer is not as reliable as a fitness smart watch for exmple. Wear it all day and see if you are burning 3000 cals to be sure you will lose on 2300...I know women who are eating like 2600 cals and dont know why they are NOT losing weight.

    On the other side too low is not good too. What I make to make sure I willl lose no matter what is I go to iifym.com, set TDEE for maintainance sedentary on my GOAL weight and eat that much at the most, but not less than 200 cals under this number. For example in order to stay at 170 cm, 52-3 kg I will have to eat around 1490 cals a day total (I dont log in exercise before I reach maintainance, it is too unprecise). SO even if I ate 1490 for a year I will continue dropping weight until I reach 52-3 kg. If I wanna go further, I will eat around 1250 at least. I will drop even more weight. Eating back some burned cals is a matter of mindset and a good HRM. If done right, it is a wise strategy to prevent binging. Otherwise it is a setback.

    Just my thoughts on it.... Trainers are not as reliable as math.
  • Havanaohlala
    Havanaohlala Posts: 52 Member
    And one more thing: I did a gut microbiome test for other reasons than weight loss. It showed I have very good bacteria, but also a bit more firmicutes. This bacteria are responsible for very efficient use of calories. The body needs up to 200 less than calculators say because of this bacteria and thats why they are believed to be responsible for obesity. I was never obese, nor even fat (max. 65 kg or 145 pounds..., 5 ft7 ), but I start to believe there is not just a pinch of truth to this.

    The test helped me overcome some problems, so I would go on the lower side of my losing cals in the range of 1250-1500.

    Not saying this test is a must or even good for you, just what I learned from it about extra factors sabbotaging weight loss.
  • Starflight00
    Starflight00 Posts: 112 Member
    Wow, you really researched this, some interesting points in your post!

    I agree on in vs. out, but I would think in should never be less than your BMR, right?
  • Havanaohlala
    Havanaohlala Posts: 52 Member
    It is in your power to decide whether or not you eat under BMR. If you search in the web, you will find different opinions on that. What matters most is your personal "how I feel on this and on that cals". I don't have problems eating under BMR. But I don't go that low either.

    What matters for me is not going a lot over maintainance cals for goal weight. This is a strategy I found it works, but it is just one strategy of many! What I wanted to say as most important is not to build your plan on solely other people's opinions. Do some math-fitness watch, see how you react, how you feel and how you lose. Don't be afraid of the BMR and going under.. a lot of people do it. See Rusty Moore's site.

  • southerngirllostinqueens
    southerngirllostinqueens Posts: 18 Member
    edited January 2018
    Historically my weight loss success and ability to maintain always centered around consistent time spent with cardio and strength training, at least 4-5 days per week. Calorie counting never really worked for me. But here I am now over 50, 5'5", 134 lbs and stuck yo-yoing about 15ish lbs above my fighting weight... grrrgh.

    So I am now re-committing to trying to stay around 1100-1200/day on average with my macros more weighted towards protein. This zigzagging concept (see the links below, is similar to what WallyAmadeus is doing) seems to make sense to me... i.e. I can take a break from the rigor 1-2 days a week, but keep up the average.
    I'm recommitting to making sure I get my H20 in and lift weights/strength train a couple of days a week.

    https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/blog/how-zigzag-dieting-can-break-your-weight-loss-plateau
    https://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
  • MzKrystle
    MzKrystle Posts: 74 Member
    I'm 5'7 weigh... well I don't know what my weight is..our scale is on the moving truck. I'm probably around 138. I started Intermittent Fasting (16/8) at the end of August and was doing that up until mid November. I started at 150 and got down to 132. My ultimate goal weight is 128. Anyway, when I am tracking I eat between 1200-1400 calories and I only eat between 11:00am and 7:00pm. I also cut out grains and dairy. Still had around 10-12oz of wine a night. :) Starting back at it today.
  • LW3380
    LW3380 Posts: 118 Member
    edited January 2018
    Hi, starting again...always watched my cals half heartedly but want to see how much I can lose (comfortably of course) while eating a relatively "normal" amount of calories. I'm 5'8", weighing in at 165lbs and on 1,500 cals a day.

    Exercise is normally cardio and weights at the gym for 60 mins, 3-4 times a week. Ideally would like to be 159lbs...not a massive amount to lose but it's still a challenge.
  • ssurvivor
    ssurvivor Posts: 142 Member
    I usually consume around 1500. Sometimes, it's as low as 1000. But when I go out with friends, it's around 2100-2400 depending on where we go.
  • kirstie723
    kirstie723 Posts: 5 Member
    Between 1000-1200. I'm 5'1. Doing the Keto plan and am down 2% body fat in 11 days. Happy with the results and enjoying how energized I feel!
  • theknitpicker
    theknitpicker Posts: 63 Member
    ssurvivor wrote: »
    I usually consume around 1500. Sometimes, it's as low as 1000. But when I go out with friends, it's around 2100-2400 depending on where we go.

    Going out with friends is the hardest for staying on track! Because I’m so short (5ft) I can’t eat/drink as much as a normal person, and restaurants and bars only cater to more-than-average people portions! While I’m totally satisfied with 1100-1300 on my own, when I’m out, my brain isn’t happy when it can only have a fraction of what everyone else is having... that’s the only time that my diet feels like a deprivation.
  • ssurvivor
    ssurvivor Posts: 142 Member
    edited January 2018
    I don't eat that much when I go out but you'd be surprised by the calorie counts for some of these foods! The other day, I met a friend at Starbucks for breakfast. I got a breakfast sandwich and an almond milk latte. 960 calories (even without the whipped cream)! Fortunately, I'm taller so my BMR is ~1600 calories and I'm pretty active, so I can handle the extra calories even though I don't like it.
  • ssurvivor
    ssurvivor Posts: 142 Member
    edited January 2018
    LW3380 wrote: »
    Hi, starting again...always watched my cals half heartedly but want to see how much I can lose (comfortably of course) while eating a relatively "normal" amount of calories. I'm 5'8", weighing in at 165lbs and on 1,500 cals a day.

    Exercise is normally cardio and weights at the gym for 60 mins, 3-4 times a week. Ideally would like to be 159lbs...not a massive amount to lose but it's still a challenge.

    Sometimes I feel like it's harder to lose 5-10 pounds than 50-100.

    But then again, I've never tried to lose 50-100 pounds so feel free take my comment with a grain of salt.
  • LW3380
    LW3380 Posts: 118 Member

    ssurvivor wrote: »
    Sometimes I feel like it's harder to lose 5-10 pounds than 50-100.

    But then again, I've never tried to lose 50-100 pounds so feel free take my comment with a grain of salt.

    I completely agree! It's the eternal 7lbs that I'm constantly trying to shift, once it goes I can begin to see the results from weight training and my clothes feel better, which in turn boosts my confidence. My boyfriend has 4 stone (56 lbs) to lose and it comes of pretty easy for him (so far).
  • Starflight00
    Starflight00 Posts: 112 Member
    Seriously, those prepared foods are evil...

    I ate out at lunch today, a thought crossed my mind that I should look for portable scales to take with me to a restaurant lol
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    I'm 5'4.5"

    I try to avg around 2000 calories a day for weight loss. It works for me. I dropped 4 lbs and 2.1% BF* in the first week back into my cut. I know that a chunk of that was water weight since I am not even overweight by BMI standards.

    * BF% change is from Skulpt Scanner. Unlike a scale it measures 3 to 22 different spots on the body. You have to scan at least tricep, abdomen and quad on dominant side to get an estimated BF reading. I did a full body scan on the 8th and was 35.2% BF then on the 15th had a result of 33.1%.
  • ifabulocitygirl
    ifabulocitygirl Posts: 20 Member
    Hi, I'm 5'7, 140 lbs and since Dec. I've been eating between 1100-1600 cals, usually around 1400 on most days. I'm trying from this day on to eat 1300 a day, b/c I'm trying to lose 20 lbs before June. Currently a freshie in college, trying to live off of prepackaged foods and protein shakes, but I'm ready for it! Seems like everyone here exercises moderately, I'm a couch potato, but the size of my campus forces me to run around like a headless chicken to get to my classes. So my TDEE is around 1740, and I'm regularly burning 400 calories a day (on non-cheat days)
  • britbarr1
    britbarr1 Posts: 4 Member
    I suppose to eat 1000 calories a day but I am ranging between 500 to 700 calories a day. I want to lose 60 lbs and I am on a vegan keto diet. So, Yeah getting calories and staying at my 50g carb level is becoming a challenge for me.