How many calories should I be eating?

ashleyjefford
ashleyjefford Posts: 5 Member
edited December 21 in Health and Weight Loss
I am 5' 2" at 112 lbs (51kg), and am trying to lose weight. I am very confused as to how many calories I should be eating however. I am currently tracking 1400 a day, but I exercise 6 days a week, including cardio on 3 of those days. I work out for about an hour and a half and burn about 600 calories. Should I be eating back some/all/none of these calories? If i don't then am i only netting 800 calories? My BMR is 1336 so I would be below that. But i've found that i am not losing weight while eating 1400 calories, if anything i think i am putting on a little bit of weight! I am 100% sure i am tracking correctly as i weigh everything and do not binge. Is my body starving itself therefore not losing weight? Please answer! Should i be eating back some/all/none of my exercise calories if i am eating 1400 calories a day? thanks.

Replies

  • ashleyjefford
    ashleyjefford Posts: 5 Member
    I do include weighing sauces, oils, bread, everything. And I am confident in the DB entries I am using. If my TDEE is meant to be between 2070 - 2304 and 30% deficit puts me between 1400 - 1600. Why am I not losing weight? I am very confused. How much of my exercise calories should I be eating back?
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    We can't tell you why you're not losing weight unless you open your diary and let us take a look. You may be absolutely confident that you're doing everything right, but that doesn't mean you are!

    That seems like a very high TDEE for someone of your size; what activity level did you choose? What do you do with your days that is so intensive?
  • ashleyjefford
    ashleyjefford Posts: 5 Member
    moderate exercise 3-5 times a week puts me at 2070 kcal. Moderate exercise for me should get my heart rate to 140 but most of the time I am at 160/170 during. 6-7 days a week, (I work out 6) puts me at 2304. I use lifesum not mfp so cannot open my diary to you sorry!
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    how much are you trying to lose? you are already within a normal weight range so any weight loss is going to be super slow.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited May 2019
    agree with everything ceiswyn said.

    But how long have you been eatin 1400 with everything being weighed? at your weight you are looking at a 0.5lb/week rate of loss which is easily maked by water fluctuation. Do you use a weight trending app at all? it will be VERY slow going from this point on for weight loss. Also maybe consider recomposition.

    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

  • ashleyjefford
    ashleyjefford Posts: 5 Member
    thanks panini911, that article was useful, i think i need to stop worrying so much about weight and more how i look.
  • ashleyjefford
    ashleyjefford Posts: 5 Member
    although i am still wondering how much of my exercise calories i should be eating?
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    ashleyjefford wrote: »
    moderate exercise 3-5 times a week puts me at 2070 kcal. Moderate exercise for me should get my heart rate to 140 but most of the time I am at 160/170 during. 6-7 days a week, (I work out 6) puts me at 2304. I use lifesum not mfp so cannot open my diary to you sorry!

    Where did you get the 2070 and 2304 numbers from? Is that from a TDEE calculator?
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    ashleyjefford wrote: »
    although i am still wondering how much of my exercise calories i should be eating?

    Since you're not losing weight even without eating them back, none of them!
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited May 2019
    ashleyjefford wrote: »
    although i am still wondering how much of my exercise calories i should be eating?

    If you are doing TDEE method you don't eat back exercise cals. However, a cut of 30% is for someone with a lot to lose, so too high for you if everything else is right. You might want to try MFP for 0.5 lb per week and then logging back exercise.

    At a BMI of just over 20, any weight loss will be necessarily slow (and should be gradual to avoid losing muscle). Depending on your goals, I agree that recomp might be more what you want.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    OP, you are trying to lose vanity weight, so should be expecting to lose @ 0.5lbs per week, which can easily hide behind water weight fluctuations for weeks at a time. It's also possible your exercise calories are slightly overestimated.

    As others have mentioned, recomp may be your best bet, even if you decide to do it with a small deficit. The key to remember though is that with your stats, any changes will be SLOW and you need to patient and not living and dying by the scale :smile:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1
  • vegtolose10
    vegtolose10 Posts: 12 Member
    edited May 2019
    Panini911 wrote: »
    kteej wrote: »
    1400 seems high for someone that is 112lbs, with not a lot to lose. Perhaps you should cut back to 1000+ for a week or two and see what happens. You could even fluctuate your calories - 1000 a day during the week - and a bit higher on a couple of other days.

    an adult woman who is very short and sedentary should not eat below 1200 a day to ensure they get proper nutrition. much less an acitive woman.

    I am 5'1, 115 and lose at 1400 with a good number of steps in a day (no formal workout).

    Not true for every one. I am 5'1 115.5 and I can barely maintain at 1300. (about 10,000 steps avg per day). For me to lose weight I need to strictly be at or slightly less than 1200. Then I lose about 0.5lbs every two weeks.
    Edited to add : And yes I weigh every thing even spinach that goes into my smoothie LOL.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    ashleyjefford wrote: »
    moderate exercise 3-5 times a week puts me at 2070 kcal. Moderate exercise for me should get my heart rate to 140 but most of the time I am at 160/170 during. 6-7 days a week, (I work out 6) puts me at 2304. I use lifesum not mfp so cannot open my diary to you sorry!

    It sounds like you're double-counting your exercise both as part of your activity level and as additional exercise that you get more calories for.

    How long have you been tracking your food, consuming 1400 calories a day, and doing your current exercise routine? And what does "if anything, I'm putting on a little bit of weight" mean? (I'm just trying to determine whether your expectations are realistic, whether you're being too impatient, and whether this could be a case of normal weight fluctuations and/or water retention from new exercise masking fat loss.)
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