Help with Figuring out Calories to Lose Weight
melissaboyd12
Posts: 6 Member
Hello,
I am so confused about calories and macros! I spent years following weight watchers and it worked the best for me. However, I'm sick of it. The newer ww plans don't work as well for me and I no longer find it convenient. I would much prefer just tracking calories through this app (and have been successfully doing it for 2 months). I have lost 11 pounds but feel like I'm starting to get "stuck." I feel very confused about calories. According to my gym my basil metabolic rate is 1305 calories. I am 5"3 and 150 pounds. I used to be 130 pounds before a recent injury caused me to give up exercise for a long time. I am active at least 5 days per week now with 3 days weight training and 2 days of cardio. I eat between 1300 - 1700 calories a day but is that right? I feel guilty when I go over the 1300 calories but often feel so tired and hungry... Help!!
I am so confused about calories and macros! I spent years following weight watchers and it worked the best for me. However, I'm sick of it. The newer ww plans don't work as well for me and I no longer find it convenient. I would much prefer just tracking calories through this app (and have been successfully doing it for 2 months). I have lost 11 pounds but feel like I'm starting to get "stuck." I feel very confused about calories. According to my gym my basil metabolic rate is 1305 calories. I am 5"3 and 150 pounds. I used to be 130 pounds before a recent injury caused me to give up exercise for a long time. I am active at least 5 days per week now with 3 days weight training and 2 days of cardio. I eat between 1300 - 1700 calories a day but is that right? I feel guilty when I go over the 1300 calories but often feel so tired and hungry... Help!!
2
Replies
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BMR is the amount of calories you need to maintain your current rate with zero activity (like in a coma). Eating more than your BMR is pretty typical, even when losing weight.
What calorie goal did this site give you? What did you choose for weekly weight loss (2 lbs, 1 lb)?
How long have you been using this site? How long have you been "stuck"?5 -
I can relate 100%. I am 5’4 150 lbs and feel guilty eating more then 1300 calories. Am still hungry a lot of the time.1
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If your bmr is really 1305, you shouldn’t be eating 1300 calories or less.
If you have lost 11 pounds in 2 months, want to lose only 20 more pounds, and are always tired and hungry—- are you losing too fast for you?
Maybe plan to take 6 months, or 8, or ? To lose the last 20 and feel good doing it?4 -
The above questions are spot on. I too wonder about what level of calories is the right number for either maintenance or weight loss. My biggest issue is not wanting to be hungry so it's finding the level that I can lose a little each week and still stay in control. As other threads have said on this site is you need to eat your exercise calories so back to "What did MFP recommend given your exercise level?" My recommendation is eat your exercise calories, track for a month and see what your results are for both hunger and weight loss. good luck.1
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Choosing your correct level of deficit is not a straightforward answer and depends on individual personality and what will allow them to sustain it long term. Some folks need more food as too high a deficit will leave them hungry and not able to sustain. Adding in exercise can help this as it gives more calories and acts as an appetite suppressant in some. Changing around macros can also help with satiety. Some people mentally need a sharp deficit at least the the begining to feel like they are doing something. This is not sustainable long term though without health effects and should be planned to taper in order to sustain the weight loss. Some people are not interested in tracking super precisely, so for them going a bit low on the calories gives them more wiggle room.
I would use the MFP setting for a 1- 1.5lb loss per week and see where that puts you. Adjust form there based on your own data about how well you stick to the allotted calories and how fast you are losing. 4-5 weeks is a good minimum time window to stick with a single plan before you start changing things around.3 -
corinasue1143 wrote: »If your bmr is really 1305, you shouldn’t be eating 1300 calories or less.
If you have lost 11 pounds in 2 months, want to lose only 20 more pounds, and are always tired and hungry—- are you losing too fast for you?
Maybe plan to take 6 months, or 8, or ? To lose the last 20 and feel good doing it?
According the MFP I should be eating only 1200 calories per day.0 -
melissaboyd12 wrote: »corinasue1143 wrote: »If your bmr is really 1305, you shouldn’t be eating 1300 calories or less.
If you have lost 11 pounds in 2 months, want to lose only 20 more pounds, and are always tired and hungry—- are you losing too fast for you?
Maybe plan to take 6 months, or 8, or ? To lose the last 20 and feel good doing it?
According the MFP I should be eating only 1200 calories per day.
Based on your inputs though
What rate of loss did you select? assuming 2lb/week?
what activity level did you select?
this is also assuming NO purposeful exercise, you would eat back exercise calories (a reasonable estimated of calories burned)
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Choosing your correct level of deficit is not a straightforward answer and depends on individual personality and what will allow them to sustain it long term. Some folks need more food as too high a deficit will leave them hungry and not able to sustain. Adding in exercise can help this as it gives more calories and acts as an appetite suppressant in some. Changing around macros can also help with satiety. Some people mentally need a sharp deficit at least the the begining to feel like they are doing something. This is not sustainable long term though without health effects and should be planned to taper in order to sustain the weight loss. Some people are not interested in tracking super precisely, so for them going a bit low on the calories gives them more wiggle room.
I would use the MFP setting for a 1- 1.5lb loss per week and see where that puts you. Adjust form there based on your own data about how well you stick to the allotted calories and how fast you are losing. 4-5 weeks is a good minimum time window to stick with a single plan before you start changing things around.
The MFP setting tells me 1200 no matter what I choose as my weight loss goal which is what confuses me as the machine at the gym that can tell percentage of muscle, fat, etc. says that my basal metabolic rate is 1305. So which one do I go with?? And do you eat the calories you burn? Or no? I'm afraid I'm not going to lose if I eat the calories that I burn. Or, even worse that I will gain.0 -
If you get 1200 even if you select 0.5 lb/week rate of loss that means MFP thinks your NEAT calorie burn with no exercise is 1450 or less. You can verify this by choosing “maintain my weight” as your goal and then see what calorie target it spits out.
Did you select Sedentary as your activity level? Are you really? Besides the exercise at the gym, do you move a lot? Do you think you get more than 7,500 steps/day? If so, that’s not Sedentary.
Regardless, you’re supposed to eat back your exercise cals, at least a portion of them if you are hesitant to trust the estimates from the machines at the gym.
How accurate is your logging? Are you using a food scale for all solids?
Have you read the stickied most helpful forum posts in the getting started section? A lot of the answers to the questions you have and concerns you are expressing are there...5 -
melissaboyd12 wrote: »Choosing your correct level of deficit is not a straightforward answer and depends on individual personality and what will allow them to sustain it long term. Some folks need more food as too high a deficit will leave them hungry and not able to sustain. Adding in exercise can help this as it gives more calories and acts as an appetite suppressant in some. Changing around macros can also help with satiety. Some people mentally need a sharp deficit at least the the begining to feel like they are doing something. This is not sustainable long term though without health effects and should be planned to taper in order to sustain the weight loss. Some people are not interested in tracking super precisely, so for them going a bit low on the calories gives them more wiggle room.
I would use the MFP setting for a 1- 1.5lb loss per week and see where that puts you. Adjust form there based on your own data about how well you stick to the allotted calories and how fast you are losing. 4-5 weeks is a good minimum time window to stick with a single plan before you start changing things around.
The MFP setting tells me 1200 no matter what I choose as my weight loss goal which is what confuses me as the machine at the gym that can tell percentage of muscle, fat, etc. says that my basal metabolic rate is 1305. So which one do I go with?? And do you eat the calories you burn? Or no? I'm afraid I'm not going to lose if I eat the calories that I burn. Or, even worse that I will gain.
Do you still only get 1200 calories when you tell MFP you want to lose a half pound per week?0 -
melissaboyd12 wrote: »Choosing your correct level of deficit is not a straightforward answer and depends on individual personality and what will allow them to sustain it long term. Some folks need more food as too high a deficit will leave them hungry and not able to sustain. Adding in exercise can help this as it gives more calories and acts as an appetite suppressant in some. Changing around macros can also help with satiety. Some people mentally need a sharp deficit at least the the begining to feel like they are doing something. This is not sustainable long term though without health effects and should be planned to taper in order to sustain the weight loss. Some people are not interested in tracking super precisely, so for them going a bit low on the calories gives them more wiggle room.
I would use the MFP setting for a 1- 1.5lb loss per week and see where that puts you. Adjust form there based on your own data about how well you stick to the allotted calories and how fast you are losing. 4-5 weeks is a good minimum time window to stick with a single plan before you start changing things around.
The MFP setting tells me 1200 no matter what I choose as my weight loss goal which is what confuses me as the machine at the gym that can tell percentage of muscle, fat, etc. says that my basal metabolic rate is 1305. So which one do I go with?? And do you eat the calories you burn? Or no? I'm afraid I'm not going to lose if I eat the calories that I burn. Or, even worse that I will gain.
Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated for them and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
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I can relate - MFP had me at 1200 no matter what I put in. I am under 5' (4' 11'') so many of the calculators for BMR think my BMR is much lower than the the value I got from testing at the gym and to lose at 2 lbs per week they would actually need to go below 1200 calories a day if I were sedentary! I started off at 1200 for the first month before testing and did lose quite a bit of weight, but felt hungry and would have insomnia.
Since testing and working with a nutritionist I have upped my calories over the MFP recommendation and have continued to lose weight at about 1-2 pounds per month (we set a target and macros as I also have to limit carbs due to being pre-diabetic). Personally I do very well with a lowish carb diet (about 35-40 % carbs) and higher protein/fat as that helps curb hunger for me and I enjoy what I am eating. Carbs are mainly greens/low GI vegetables & fruits, but will eat pasta, rice/grains, bread, drink wine, etc within my calorie limits (i.e I am eating all of the things that I would like to eat normally, and through a combination of portion control (pasta :-) and exercise (primarily) create the necessary deficit. I set my own macro and calorie targets for MFP and do not eat back exercise calories. It has been hard to get my mind around the idea of eating more than 1200 calories as earlier diets I tried back in the 80's were at that level or at even 900 calories to break out of plateaus, but will say that I do not have problems with hunger and am happy with the rate of weight loss.
I will add that I do weight training (separate workouts for legs twice a week and upper body twice a week) in addition to cardio, so my weight loss might be slower due to building muscle, but by tracking body measurements (waist, hips, chest, arms legs) I have seen loss of inches even if the scale is not always moving as fast as it would seem it should based on calories in/calories out. I had been meeting with the nutritionist monthly since I started in February to tweak what the goals should be, but as things have stabilized I will check back in in August with her. Key point is that with weight training the scale may not reflect your losses and that you may need to eat more than 1300 calorie diet. (my current plan allows me to have recommended protein levels for weight training for my goal weight, and then I work out the other macros around that)1
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