maintenance calories my fitness pal default or online calculator???

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hugsareawesome
hugsareawesome Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Im gutted I have gained all the weight back on through binge eating in a short amount of time didnt have a huge amount to lose though previously Ive been 19stone. I think I put the calorie defecit too low classic mistake though this was stepping reduction over time 1341 rest days and 1615 on workout days . Planning to try maintenance for a while then maybe try a much smaller defecit if its a good idea. Online calculator makes that 2028 calories, my fitness pal default says 2376 which should I use????

Im 72.5kg 5ft 10, 38 years lift weight 3times a week and just go for walks otherwise.

I think for now it could be good to focus on maintaining the tracking and 3 times a week weight lifting habit.

Also should I carry on with intermittent fasting and eating non triggering foods. This seems to serve my brain function well and while making clean food choices it was working I had more energy and just felt so much better. Ive been able to maintain the Intermittent fasting dont know if its still useful but it does give my brain a break from thinking about food through the day

Replies

  • Une_Poire
    Une_Poire Posts: 58 Member
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    It seems like you have thought your plan through, dont beat yourself up for what's past but learn from it. I don't have any advice regarding the IF , haven't used that strategy myself. On the calories, maybe try the MFP one and see how it goes for a few weeks?
    Hope you find a good path forward!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,082 Member
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    Well, if you've never worked out your own Maintenance calories and you're at the end of some kind of prolonged binge event I would use the lower number. That would allow for a bit of weight loss: if I'm understanding that is your goal?

    Stick with one number or the other for a couple months until you work out what the effect of that number will be.

    As far as IF, it sounds like it is something that fits for you so if it is a workable strategy, why not?

    No one can answer this for you. It's your experiment to run.

  • hugsareawesome
    hugsareawesome Posts: 10 Member
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    Thank you both open to hearing any tips
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
    edited March 2023
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    hugsareawesome wrote: »
    Im gutted I have gained all the weight back on through binge eating in a short amount of time didnt have a huge amount to lose though previously Ive been 19stone. I think I put the calorie defecit too low classic mistake though this was stepping reduction over time 1341 rest days and 1615 on workout days . Planning to try maintenance for a while then maybe try a much smaller defecit if its a good idea. Online calculator makes that 2028 calories, my fitness pal default says 2376 which should I use????

    Im 72.5kg 5ft 10, 38 years lift weight 3times a week and just go for walks otherwise.

    I think for now it could be good to focus on maintaining the tracking and 3 times a week weight lifting habit.

    Also should I carry on with intermittent fasting and eating non triggering foods. This seems to serve my brain function well and while making clean food choices it was working I had more energy and just felt so much better. Ive been able to maintain the Intermittent fasting dont know if its still useful but it does give my brain a break from thinking about food through the day

    I'm confused. At 5'10", you are 72.5kg or 160 pounds, which is within the healthy BMI range. It seems like you either made a typo or are horribilizing a small weight gain from a recent binge, some of which could be temporary. If the binge was very recent, food could still be in your system, and/or if high sodium, you could still be retaining water.

    Are you male or female? If male, 1341 was definitely too low. If female, at your height 1341 was probably too low as well.

    The MFP maintenance calories are accurate for me. I believe in keeping things simple and sticking with the math in one app.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,564 Member
    edited March 2023
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    hugsareawesome wrote: »
    Online calculator makes that 2028 calories, my fitness pal default says 2376 which should I use????
    They're different because you're feeding different inputs into each one. You're probably looking at "sedentary" on one and "lightly/moderately active" on the other.
  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 851 Member
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    It took me a good few weeks to figure out my Maintenance calories. A bit of trial and error. Still figuring it out honestly. I've lost 7 pounds since I hit my Maintenance goal over a month ago (235 to 228). Losing weight I know. I've been trying to do that all my life. Maintenance is new to me.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,894 Member
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    Your plan to focus on maintaining and establishing good long term habits and only making small movements sounds really smart! Forgive the mini rant below. Protecting your weight loss from 19 stone should be the top priority! :smile:

    --original post--

    You were previously 19 stone = 266 lbs. You're currently 159.8 (less than 160 in any case). And you're 5ft 10".

    From the fact that you tried or are trying to lose weight at fairly low calories within normal bmi, I will assume (and hope it doesn't make me an *kitten*) that you're female. And you're at BMI 23. After the loss of more than 100lbs.

    https://www.smartbmicalculator.com/result.html?unit=1&hf=5&hi=10&wl=160&us=1&ua=38&ue=0&gl=

    First of all your current weight by population metrics is awesome. Why are you messing with it? :neutral:

    Second... how long ago was your 100+lbs loss? Are you well established for 5+ years at the weight reduced level? Or is the weight reduction a more recent thing?

    Regardless, I know what I would do if I was protecting a 100lb loss. I would STOP MESSING WITH IT! :wink:

    You my friend have no business applying LARGE calorie perturbations your life. ANY adjustment should be with a little feather... because the one thing you don't want to do is trigger something that puts you on the road of potential regain of the 100lbs you are protecting.

    I don't know how you got conflicting TDEE estimates from MFP and an outside calculator. If anything MFP is usually lower.

    "Just walking" doesn't mean you don't spend any calories. "Just walking" can be 2000 steps (in which case yes, it doesn't really need extra calories) to 20,000 steps in which case you better believe it needs calories to be fueled. Regardless of whether it is "just" walking.

    Do you not know what your maintenance pre 1300 cut was? Have you even been at maintenance since your loss? When you cut that low, what did you cut from?

    If you know your previous maintenance level please go to that: it is a better guess than a population level estimate from an online tool as it is based on both how you log and how your body reacts to estimated deficits. Your numbers are more relevant than estimates.

    If you have never been at maintenance but are at the tail end of the deficit that brought you down 100lbs and you then doubled down by pushing harder, then go to the lower of the two 2000 Cal figures and stabilize there for at least a full hormonal cycle and see what your weight trend app says about your weight changes at that level of calories.

    Actually why don't you look up sailrabbit + bmr and use the estimator there. If your walking is in the 10K step range consider values in the 1.55 to 1.6 range. If your walking is over 15K steps consider 1.75 to 1.8 -- then set MFP to whatever is closest to these. Given your height I would only look at the Mifflin Values -- which also happen to be what MFP uses

    The best predictor for continuing to be at a weight reduced state after a major loss is TIME at the weight reduced state. The longer the better! Small adjustments. Flat waves. Play for time.
  • cryonic_273
    cryonic_273 Posts: 81 Member
    edited March 2023
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    I dont think the issue is with your calorie targets - on over time 1341 rest days and 1615 on workout days - at 73kg you should lose weight on either.

    You said there was binge eating. Thats likely the problem. Try and stick to your IF times. Establishing patterns is more beneficial long term than cutting calories in the short term. Try and make the foods you eat in your times satisfying and filling. If you arent already doing so maybe up the protein content of meals to reduce cravings.

    The discrepancies in the maintainance calories is likely due to the activity multiplier over and above the body mass maintanance.

    Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): calories = BMR × 1.375;
    Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): calories = BMR × 1.55;
    Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): calories = BMR × 1.725; and
    If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & a physical job): calories = BMR × 1.9.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,763 Member
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    FWIW, there's a discussion of alternative ways of estimating maintenance calories (after loss) here:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level/p1

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