How much calories should I be eating
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arrowprayer
Posts: 77 Member
I’m female 33 do 100-200 cal exercises I’m currently eating 1500 calories a day and I’m constantly starving thinking about food.
Is it possible to go higher and still loose.
I don’t want to be hungry all the time
Is it possible to go higher and still loose.
I don’t want to be hungry all the time
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Replies
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We have no way of knowing. How tall are you,, current weight, how much are you trying to lose? What do you have MFP set at for rate of weightloss?
My guess is you set too aggressive rate of loss and can probably eat more.3 -
Making things so difficult such that failure becomes inevitable is a surefire way to.... end up giving up and failing.
The rate of loss is a decision you are making.
Slow enough, yet effective, loss is not even immediately visible on a scale. Given normal daily weight variation, a -250 deficit requires looking at your weight trend over a long(er) period of time to be seen.
Weight loss that is continuously visible on the scale without needing to look at your weight trend over time is actually FAST weight loss.
ANY true caloric deficit will result in weight loss over time. Same as a caloric surplus will result in a gradual weight increase.5 -
In addition to the excellent questions asked above are you just eating 1500 every day or are you eating 1500 + exercise calories?4
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I'm similar to you. 32/f and I'm set at 1520 a day. I go for a walk most days, which is about 200 calories, and then some days I do more of a workout.
Honestly, I'm similar to you and I do find that I am often a bit hungry and I want to eat more than my calorie allowance. But I'm not light headed or starving, so I think this is just me getting used to the lower intake. I'd previously been eating around 2000 a day or sometimes more, so my body is craving what it used to have, which isn't good for it! So I am needing a bit of willpower to overcome that.
So the question is do you think you are truly hungry or is your body just craving what it used to have? There is always going to be some willpower involved in weight loss.
You do need to make sure you're not going too low on the calories though - that depends on your weight, what your calories are calculated at on MFP, and also if you're eating back your exercise calories. The idea is that you can eat them all back and still lose weight. So if MFP says 1500 calories and you then have 200 calories from exercise, you can eat 1700.
Final thing to think about is what foods you are eating. Some foods are more filling than others for the same number of calories - for example, 100 calories worth of grapes will fill you up more than 100 calories worth of chocolate. Try to get more protein in your diet too as that will fill you up for longer.
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arrowprayer wrote: »Is it possible to go higher and still loose.
This calculator https://tdeecalculator.net/ might help you to figure out at what caloric deficit you'll still loose weight.
Regarding hunger. Everybody is obviously different. Intermittent fasting helps me. If I skip breakfast I actually feel less hungry in the morning then after a small breakfast that actually leaves me wishing for more.
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In general to feel satiated within calorie limits, increase the fat/protein ratio against carbs. You dont have to go all the way to keto but by putting in more fat/protein it should be easier to not feel hungry. Mind you it is hardly a rule that works for everyone, carbs are kind of addictive but if nothing else works it is worth a try.1
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arrowprayer wrote: »Is it possible to go higher and still loose.
This calculator https://tdeecalculator.net/ might help you to figure out at what caloric deficit you'll still loose weight.
Regarding hunger. Everybody is obviously different. Intermittent fasting helps me. If I skip breakfast I actually feel less hungry in the morning then after a small breakfast that actually leaves me wishing for more.
Just as an FYI though....
Myfitnesspal and TDEE calculators do not calculate using the same formula. MFP uses Mifflin St Jeor, which requires an Activity Level (daily routine) PLUS the user is expected to ADD exercise to the Exercise tab on MFP and eat more on days with purposeful exercise.
TDEE calculators factor in that exercise to their calculation, so you better be doing that projected exercise. I prefer the control with Myfitnesspal.
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-4 -
arrowprayer wrote: »I’m female 33 do 100-200 cal exercises I’m currently eating 1500 calories a day and I’m constantly starving thinking about food.
Is it possible to go higher and still loose.
I don’t want to be hungry all the time
I can't speak to your calorie target as you don't provide enough information...typically, 1500 for a female isn't considerably low, but it is the bottom of the barrel for a sedentary male. Without knowing your stats though, it is impossible to say whether or not that is an aggressive calorie target.
That said, calories in and of themselves are not a direct driver of hunger or fullness. What you eat matters, and it's likely going to be a matter of trial and error to figure out what keeps you satisfied. I can eat a couple of doughnuts for breakfast and be well over 500 calories and I'm not going to be satisfied in the least hunger wise. Conversely, I can eat a slice of whole grain toast with a pad of butter, a fried egg, an apple and a 5.5 oz V8 and be easily satisfied until lunch...that comes in under 500 calories.
I do best with plenty of fiber...I eat a lot of veg...some fruit...and things like oats, beans, lentils, etc are staples of my diet. Dietary fat does almost nothing for me hunger wise; I could plow through a block of cheese and still want more no problem.
Beyond that, hunger isn't always hunger...and frankly many of us were used to never being hungry at all...first pangs of any kind of hunger and eat. Being a bit hungry, particularly as meal time is approaching is far more normal than just staving off any kind of discomfort by continuously eating. Often "hunger" is really just habit or boredom. I was at the office yesterday and someone brought in homemade cookies...I wasn't really hungry after lunch, but those cookies looked delicious so I had a couple...wasn't hungry at all, just wanted a couple delicious cookies.1 -
musicfan68 wrote: »We have no way of knowing. How tall are you,, current weight, how much are you trying to lose? What do you have MFP set at for rate of weightloss?
My guess is you set too aggressive rate of loss and can probably eat more.
I’m 5’2
Current weight 195
Trying to loose 80lbs
Trying to loose 1 lb per week
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cmriverside wrote: »Myfitnesspal and TDEE calculators do not calculate using the same formula. MFP uses Mifflin St Jeor, [...]
This actually not correct.
The TDEE calculator uses the Mifflin St Jeor formula (same as MFP) when you can't provide your body fat %. But it will use the Katch-McArdle formula (which is more accurate) when you know your body fat %.
I prefer the TDEE calculator because it gives a clear overview of all values (incl. BMR and maintenance calories at any activity level) . Also I can play around with the parameters to see how my TDEE will change over time, when weight and body weight changes. (I like numbers)cmriverside wrote: »MFP uses Mifflin St Jeor, which requires an Activity Level (daily routine) PLUS the user is expected to ADD exercise to the Exercise tab on MFP and eat more on days with purposeful exercise.
TDEE calculators factor in that exercise to their calculation, so you better be doing that projected exercise. I prefer the control with Myfitnesspal.
I see it actually the other way round. The TDEE calculator gives me more control. I can see clearly where my BMR and my maintenance calories at sedentary level are. This gives me more control to see where I end up if I eat my exercise calories or not.
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arrowprayer wrote: »
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.
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
So start by eating back your exercise calories.
Also, run a report on Fiber and see how close you've been coming to hitting your goal for the last few weeks.
Furthermore, did you leave your Protein on the default of 20%? How close have you come to hitting that over the last few weeks?
Many people find fiber and protein filling, so if you've been low on that, eat more fiber and protein.4 -
arrowprayer wrote: »
So, straight away, that's an additional 200 cals that you SHOULD be eating. Start by eating your exercise cals.
Then play around with foods to determine whether having more fibre or more protein or more fat makes you feel fuller for longer. If that doesn't work, reduce your goal to lose at a rate of half a pound a week, which will give you another 250 cals a day.
As PAV8888 says, if you make it hard, you're likely to give up. Make it easy and, gradually, your weight will come down. Just remember to re-Save your Guided Set Up, maybe every 10lb lost, to recalculate your cals as you'll need fewer calories to fuel your body as you get lighter.2 -
In general to feel satiated within calorie limits, increase the fat/protein ratio against carbs. You dont have to go all the way to keto but by putting in more fat/protein it should be easier to not feel hungry. Mind you it is hardly a rule that works for everyone, carbs are kind of addictive but if nothing else works it is worth a try.
From reading lots of posts here, I've come to think that satiety is pretty individual.
What you say is true for you (and some others, I'm sure), but personally I don't find fat very filling at all. For me, protein tends to be satiating, but I also need volume, and that includes boatloads of veggies/fruits that do tend to have carb content. Beans (the dried/cooked type), for example, are very filling for me. I have no signs of "carb addiction", whatever that is, AFAIK.
In food satiety research, regular whole boiled white potatoes were found to be one of the most filling foods, across a range of people, and of course potatoes have carbs. For me, another filling food is oatmeal, also a pretty carb-y food.
OP, experimenting is a good idea. Try new macro distributions, or new food choices, or different timing of meals/snacks, individually for a couple of days at a time, see how things go. In general, even when not doing an intentional experiment, notice days or times when you feel relatively more full or more hungry, and look at your life patterns to see whether you can figure out the reason. It may be food choice or timing, but it can also be things like sleep quality, stress, boredom, social triggers, anxiety, hydration and more.
Understanding how your own body behaves is very powerful, when it comes to personalizing weight management and nutrition, making it more sustainable. Of course, getting ideas to try from other people can be helpful, but our experiences may not apply to you, and that's fine.
Research seems to support the idea that for many/most people, less-processed foods tend to be more filling than highly-processed foods; and that protein is filling for many.
This is a list of specific foods' "satiety index" from research (of people's subjective sense of fullness):
http://ernaehrungsdenkwerkstatt.de/fileadmin/user_upload/EDWText/TextElemente/Ernaehrungswissenschaft/Naehrstoffe/Saettigung_Lebensmittel_Satiety_Index.pdf
The link is in German, but the list is in English, and the PDF contains some information from the research study (in English and German).
This is not the only study of food choice and satiation, but it's the one I know of that rated a list of specific foods. Others have been more about comparing more/less processed foods, and that sort of thing.2 -
cmriverside wrote: »arrowprayer wrote: »Is it possible to go higher and still loose.
This calculator https://tdeecalculator.net/ might help you to figure out at what caloric deficit you'll still loose weight.
Regarding hunger. Everybody is obviously different. Intermittent fasting helps me. If I skip breakfast I actually feel less hungry in the morning then after a small breakfast that actually leaves me wishing for more.
Just as an FYI though....
Myfitnesspal and TDEE calculators do not calculate using the same formula. MFP uses Mifflin St Jeor, which requires an Activity Level (daily routine) PLUS the user is expected to ADD exercise to the Exercise tab on MFP and eat more on days with purposeful exercise.
TDEE calculators factor in that exercise to their calculation, so you better be doing that projected exercise. I prefer the control with Myfitnesspal.
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
I have a slightly different interpretation, though it's possible I'm wrong. In my mind, MFP gives you roughly the same #'s as tdeecalculator.net but you are simply excluding exercise, whereas in tdeecalculator.net you are ballparking your exercise cals in the form of pushing yourself up the Activity Level ladder.
So, for instance, you weigh X pounds and are Y inches tall and Z years old. MFP tells you that, at Sedentary, you should eat 1500 calories to lose a lb a week. Plus your exercise calories, of course.
Then you go to tdeecalculator.net and enter X and Y and Z. It tells you that Sedentary is 1500 calories and Lightly Active is 1700. Since your caloric target is going to be inclusive of exercise, and working out is not "sedentary", you say to yourself "Well, I do a half hr of cardio per day, so I'll go with Lightly Active". You've climbed one rung on the Activity Level ladder but all it's really done is bake the 200 extra cals you would've added in separately with the MFP system, right into the base calorie quota.
Either way, you are getting 1700 calories per day to eat.
The only significant difference being that MFP's NEAT system is more precise about it. If you do two hours of heavy duty exercise on Monday, you will get a lot more cals than on Tuesday, when you lay around all day on the couch watching TV. With TDEEcalculator.net, you are forced to ballpark an average of activity across time, and that's likely to be less accurate, with the upside that you can eat the same calories every day and not fuss with adjusting your calories-in target.2 -
arrowprayer wrote: »
Thanks for responding.
That's really not a great idea. If you picked 1lb/week weight loss that's set assuming you will eat those calories.
There's a good chance that as you progress in terms of weight loss and fitness your exercise volume will go up and with it those unaccounted for calories.
What MFP is trying to show people is twofold:
Exercise is for health and fitness for life, not to boost weight loss for a relatively short period of time.
Do more, eat more and its evil twin (!!!) - eat less and you get to eat less.
As you are already "constantly starving thinking about food" I would strongly suggest you start to use this tool as designed.
By the way TDEE calculators and also wearable trackers take your exercise into account, MFP is not weird, it's just presenting the same good idea in a different way4 -
I think you also have to consider what you are eating. Are you eating enough protein and carbs? Are your carbs low or high on the glycemic index? Low glycemic index choices (heavy mixed grain breads, sweet potato, parboiled rice, al dente pasta, fruit, dairy products like yogurt and milk) will help you to feel full for longer. Slow carbs give you energy which helps you get more out of your workouts so don’t restrict them too much (a mistake I first made when I started trying to lose weight).
Here's a good resource for Glycemic Index Food Guide:
http://guidelines.diabetes.ca/docs/patient-resources/glycemic-index-food-guide.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0MAcKLK_JJCuQjb4uBN9PPo5Md40amxydcS130ht0f8uJLm47YdbUrz7Q1 -
I think the answer lies somewhere between the last two responses. Eating back exercise calories is definitely a good idea (and using MFP the way it's designed).
There is also some good sense in finding what is satiating within your calorie goal, too, though. I often use the example that if I eat eggs with cheese and potatoes at breakfast, most days I can either stay full until almost dinnertime, or get by at lunch on a light meal or snack. I also notice that if I include a good amount of protein with every meal, I'm not so inclined to hit the candy jar at random intervals. Are you a volume eater? Maybe it's a good idea to include a lot of low calorie steamed veggies sides or lowfat cottage cheese or something along with your meals so that you feel like you're eating a lot more without going overboard on calories.
Definitely eat back exercise calories though. Thats a nice added benefit to exercise...you get to eat more!1 -
The only significant difference being that MFP's NEAT system is more precise about it. If you do two hours of heavy duty exercise on Monday, you will get a lot more cals than on Tuesday, when you lay around all day on the couch watching TV. With TDEEcalculator.net, you are forced to ballpark an average of activity across time, and that's likely to be less accurate, with the upside that you can eat the same calories every day and not fuss with adjusting your calories-in target.
I don't see MFP and TDEE calculator as mutually exclusive. I can calculate my calorie needs with TDEE calculator. Which will give me either the exact same number as MFP because it uses the same formula (Mifflin St Jeor). Or it gives me an even more exact number when I can provide my body fat % (Katch-McArdle). Then I put that number from my TDEE calculation as a goal in MFP. Now I can use MFP's NEAT system with a more precise base line.
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The only significant difference being that MFP's NEAT system is more precise about it. If you do two hours of heavy duty exercise on Monday, you will get a lot more cals than on Tuesday, when you lay around all day on the couch watching TV. With TDEEcalculator.net, you are forced to ballpark an average of activity across time, and that's likely to be less accurate, with the upside that you can eat the same calories every day and not fuss with adjusting your calories-in target.
I don't see MFP and TDEE calculator as mutually exclusive. I can calculate my calorie needs with TDEE calculator. Which will give me either the exact same number as MFP because it uses the same formula (Mifflin St Jeor). Or it gives me an even more exact number when I can provide my body fat % (Katch-McArdle). Then I put that number from my TDEE calculation as a goal in MFP. Now I can use MFP's NEAT system with a more precise base line.
You're mixing up the two systems. You will only get the same number if you don't do exercise, otherwise it will not give you the same number (or it shouldn't) since one includes exercise in the activity level, and the other doesn't. Or are you using the TDEE calculator to calculate your NEAT (not including exercise)?
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