Advice on daily calories please!

joclougherty
joclougherty Posts: 59 Member
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been using MFP since and it's been brilliant. I just want some input about what calories I should be eating. I am 5ft 7in and am now 163lbs. I was 190 when I started. If I use the guide for my goals it puts me at 1300 calories per day to lose 1lb per week and only puts my exercise at 1440 per week but I do at least 4/5 runs per week averaging about 25 miles per week so at least 2700 calories burned. I work in an office but have 3 young children so am quite active too, the 1300 cals is given when I put my activity at sedentary but if I put lightly active I get 1440 per day. I am struggling to keep the cals at 1300 but am a bit worried about changing it up to 1440 in case I stop losing..... I have looked at what a few other people are doing but it seems very varied, some people my height and similar weight are only having 1200 per day and some are having 1500!! Any suggestions on what would be best for me please? Thanks, Jo

Replies

  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    You might be better off logging your exercise separately. So if you're sedentary, put that in your goal setting, and then log your exercise as and when you do it. It will then 'give you back' the exercise calories for each day that you do them.
  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
    You might be better off logging your exercise separately. So if you're sedentary, put that in your goal setting, and then log your exercise as and when you do it. It will then 'give you back' the exercise calories for each day that you do them.

    This - this post explains it very well....

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics
  • joclougherty
    joclougherty Posts: 59 Member
    Thanks for your replies but to be honest I know all that already! I don't add any other exercise except my running (ie no housework etc.) I just want to know what people think my cals should be per day, or for people who are in a similar situation to tell me what theirs are. I have been using MFP for 3mths now and think it's great but I just feel that the sedentary and lightly active options are a bit vague. Thanks.
  • mandysjourney
    mandysjourney Posts: 260 Member
    at 5 foot 7 and 145 pound I would think you were in the healthy weight range. If that is the case and you still want to lose a little more maybe try dropping your amount to lose to 1/2 a pound a week.

    also at worst try the higher cals for a few weeks and if no good then drop tehm again. Find what works for you
  • joclougherty
    joclougherty Posts: 59 Member
    Hi, thanks for your post. I did initially log as sedentary and added my exercise, but now I've lost some weight my calorie allowance has gone right down. I was reading another post describing in more detail what the levels meant and I thought I should be on lightly active and then add my exercise running but I'm not sure? Jo
  • joclougherty
    joclougherty Posts: 59 Member
    Hi thanks for your post. I wish I was 145!! I'm 163 at the moment.......
  • mandysjourney
    mandysjourney Posts: 260 Member
    Hi thanks for your post. I wish I was 145!! I'm 163 at the moment.......

    oops sorry dont know where i pulled that number from. Wish I was too lol
  • missb92
    missb92 Posts: 200 Member
    Im 5''7 too and started off at 196! At the beginning i was sticking to 1200cals and eating most of my exercise cals back. I got down to about 163 by sticking to that and thought that I had to keep going at 1200cals to reach my goal weight! But then I was abroad for two months, I kept logging but didnt have access to a scale.. I ate between 1200 - 1500 and when I came home I was 9lbs lighter!! So I reckon 1400 or so it a perfectly good number to stick to and it means you rarely feel deprived or hungry :)
  • joclougherty
    joclougherty Posts: 59 Member
    Thanks for that, that's really cheered me up! So we are similar then except you are now 8lbs less than me :( (Sad for me, not you!) How long have you been using MFP to lose? Just wondering how much average you are losing and are you still working on 1400cals? I think the thing is with me that even on 1300-1400 I still feel like I'm being really good and not eating anywhere near what I used to, then I run 6 miles and think surely to God I must be getting thinner by the minute, but then I only lose 1lb per week or sometimes even 1/2 lb or nothing. I am eating most of my exercise cals back and usually end up within a 100 per day either way but sometimes at the weekends I have wine or pizza and that day goes up and others are a lot less. Not ideal I know, but I have to feel like I'm not dieting forever! Jo
This discussion has been closed.

Categories