MFP calorie calculation

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  • DeborahD1971
    DeborahD1971 Posts: 13 Member
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    So confused............
    I do 3 weight training sessions and up 2/3 Cardio sessions per week.

    If I select "Sedentary" (I sit at a desk all day at my job) with 5 workouts per week, I get 1390 cals.
    If I select "Active" (taking into account my gym life) but put no workouts per week, I get 1850 cals.
    I just don't know what to input in order to get my calorie deficit to lose 10lbs.
    :s:s:s:s
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    DeborahD1971 wrote: »
    So confused............
    I do 3 weight training sessions and up 2/3 Cardio sessions per week.

    If I select "Sedentary" (I sit at a desk all day at my job) with 5 workouts per week, I get 1390 cals.
    If I select "Active" (taking into account my gym life) but put no workouts per week, I get 1850 cals.
    I just don't know what to input in order to get my calorie deficit to lose 10lbs.
    :s:s:s:s

    What about other than work and exercise? Are you busy, on the go? Do you have a FitBit or other tracker? Most people aren’t truly Sedentary, I also have a desk job but I average 12k steps a day and that’s not just from exercise.

    I would probably choose lightly active, still log the exercise, and start with eating back 50-75% of the adjustment. Also with only 10 lbs to lose you should be aiming for 0.5 lbs/week which is only a 250 cal deficit, so logging needs to be tight.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
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    DeborahD1971 wrote: »
    So confused............
    I do 3 weight training sessions and up 2/3 Cardio sessions per week.

    If I select "Sedentary" (I sit at a desk all day at my job) with 5 workouts per week, I get 1390 cals.
    If I select "Active" (taking into account my gym life) but put no workouts per week, I get 1850 cals.
    I just don't know what to input in order to get my calorie deficit to lose 10lbs.
    :s:s:s:s

    Both options will probably get you to your goal. Not sure why you're concerned. The active level is simply taking your sedentary level and including calories burned through promised activity.

    I personally choose sedentary and eat back my exercise calories bc my work out schedule isn't consistent. And I work from home so I really don't move much outside of exercise.

    There's no right or wrong way, it's what works for you. A lot of this is trial and error also, maybe try active for a month and see how it goes.
  • DeborahD1971
    DeborahD1971 Posts: 13 Member
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    WinoGelato,
    I am on the go every day outside of work and gym when I include household stuff, food shopping, cleaning, walking etc.....
    I had my fitBit synced to MFP. It was adding calories that I'd earned through exercise (steps - I average 12k per day) to my basic calories. I didn't want to eat these earned calories so I removed the FitBit so it was less confusing for me.
    I will add by Fitbit back, set my status to Lightly Active and select 5 workouts per week. I will eat back 50% of earned cals and see how that goes for the next month.

    Thanks for the advice.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    DeborahD1971 wrote: »
    WinoGelato,
    I am on the go every day outside of work and gym when I include household stuff, food shopping, cleaning, walking etc.....
    I had my fitBit synced to MFP. It was adding calories that I'd earned through exercise (steps - I average 12k per day) to my basic calories. I didn't want to eat these earned calories so I removed the FitBit so it was less confusing for me.
    I will add by Fitbit back, set my status to Lightly Active and select 5 workouts per week. I will eat back 50% of earned cals and see how that goes for the next month.

    Thanks for the advice.

    Sometimes it’s hard to trust a device that seems to suggest that we actually burn more calories than we think we do, and that we can eat a decent amount of calories and still lose weight.

    I’m 5’2 and have a desk job and was initially set at Sedentary but when I got my FitBit and saw that I was averaging 10k steps a day and getting big adjustments I didn’t believe it - I got good advice on here that 10k steps a day isn’t Sedentary and so I raised my activity level, got a higher baseline calorie target, and the adjustments were then smaller and more representative of my actual workouts. I trusted it and ate back the calories, lost about 35 lbs eating 1600-1900 cals and am now maintaining with a TDEE of 2200, still trusting and eating back the cals.
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
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    I think it's important to add that when you "add" a number of workouts per week in the guided set up, this doesn't actually do anything in terms of calorie allowance. You are still expected to add individual workouts when you do them and eat (at least some of) those calories.

    So sedentary + 5 workouts per week in the set up is only giving you your sedentary calories, without any exercise.
  • elizawho48
    elizawho48 Posts: 10 Member
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    Thank you to all who posted such sage advice on this thread - you helped me a bunch. I’m fine tuning as I have roughly 15 lbs left to lose (down 36)... I just tweaked a few things after reading this thread. Many thanks!!!
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,172 Member
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    I set my goal to sedentary, then lightly active when I started moving around more. I always ate 50% to 75% of the exercise calories MFP said I'd expended. I lost weight. It sounds like you've made the right decision. I bet you'll see some progress pretty soon!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    You need to stop flitting from one method to another to another (MFP, TDEE, Fitbit) or you will be horribly confused.

    Pick one tool, select the appropriate activity level (that can't be sedentary with all your steps), account for your exercise the way the tool you select is designed for you to do.

    After a month you will know if you are losing at a sensible rate, you will know if your amount of food is sustainable, you will know how your energy levels are going. You can then adjust from good personal data if required.
  • sassy_gyrl1
    sassy_gyrl1 Posts: 7 Member
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    Just for clarity, fitness pal has me eating 1640 calories a day based on being lightly active. If I exercise I need to eat back at least 50% of those calories?
  • IRON4SLAYER
    IRON4SLAYER Posts: 38 Member
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    Based on your height and weight, you should be within the 1500-1800 range. I sent you a link to Calorie/macro nutrient excel spread sheet calculator. If you have any questions, feel free to message me. Good luck.

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