How many calories should I be eating? Help me!

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Motivationn92
Motivationn92 Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I’m so confused to how many calories I should be eating to lose weight. I would like to weigh 150 for now, then eventually be 130. However, I am 163 lbs right now. I am a female, I’m 26 years old, and I’m 5’1”. When I put it in mfp it says to eat 1200 calories. When I calculated it using the mifflin st jeor equation it said to be eating 1694 calories to lose 1 pound a week. To lose 2 lbs a week I need to eat 1,194 calories. Is this right? .. I also workout 3-5 times a week. I either jump rope for 30 minutes, use the elliptical for 25 minutes and stair master for 20, and I use a 15 lb kettlebell and a 25 lb kettlebell at times depending on the exercise.... and so far I haven’t been losing weight.. so can someone tell me what I’m doing wrong?.. thanks in advance!!

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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Set MFP to lose 1lb per week, then eat back your exercise calories. Also, you probably aren't actually sedentary so make sure you pick an appropriate activity level.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Motivationn92 wrote: »
    I’m so confused to how many calories I should be eating to lose weight. I would like to weigh 150 for now, then eventually be 130. However, I am 163 lbs right now. I am a female, I’m 26 years old, and I’m 5’1”. When I put it in mfp it says to eat 1200 calories. When I calculated it using the mifflin st jeor equation it said to be eating 1694 calories to lose 1 pound a week. To lose 2 lbs a week I need to eat 1,194 calories. Is this right? .. I also workout 3-5 times a week. I either jump rope for 30 minutes, use the elliptical for 25 minutes and stair master for 20, and I use a 15 lb kettlebell and a 25 lb kettlebell at times depending on the exercise.... and so far I haven’t been losing weight.. so can someone tell me what I’m doing wrong?.. thanks in advance!!

    First, considering your stats, 2 lbs per week is too aggressive. Go for 1 lb per week.

    MFP gives you a calorie goal expecting you to log your exercise and eat back those calories as well. A TDEE calculator already includes your exercise. In a perfect world, MFP+exercise would = TDEE.

    Also check out these threads. Logging is a skill that requires practice and it took many of us some time to get it right:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
  • Motivationn92
    Motivationn92 Posts: 7 Member
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    Okay thank you guys! I’ll change it lose 1lb and I’ll eat the calories I worked out cause I never did that. And thanks for the threads too!

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