calories for sedentary work + activity

Hi David, what does MFP give you when you set your goals to maintain and select either sedentary or lightly active? I would start with lightly active, monitor for a few weeks, then increase or reduce calories slightly as needed. Continue to log and eat back your exercise calories.

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 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-

it makes sense to eat more on days you use more energy.

every calculator gives me different amounts to eat for my goals, so take any number you get with a grain of salt. the calculator you linked to doesn't even include height as a factor, and men who are 6'7" are going to need to eat more calories than men who are 5'8". if you aren't losing weight eating the MFP recommended calories, that works, and if you do continue to lose weight, you can set your calories higher or change your activity setting to a higher level.

what works for me is that i set my activity level to sedentary and add exercise on bike, treadmill, etc.

Your best ccalorie needs estimates come from you own experience data. If you've logged your eating carefully, and weighed in fairly often, you can estimate that yourself.

There's a whole thread over in the Maintaining Weight part of the Community, in the Most Helpful Posts there, where people talk about how to determine maintenance calories. It has details about the "use your own data" method, so I won't repeat that here. Here's a direct link to the thread:

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

Your variable exercise does have an impact on what may be best for you, but so does personal preference.

My schedule is similarly variable most of the year (on-water rowing, cycling). I chose to do the base calories + exercise approach (and have done for over 8 years now, loss then 7+ years maintaining). I admit I don't run a structured training plan anymore that gives me specific athletic goals, but I haven't noticed any problems related to eating more on exercise days, less on other days. YMMV. I haven't sought out any research relevant to this question, but I haven't stumbled over anything suggesting it's a problem, FWIW.

One observation: You probably have a long run average level of estimated exercise calories (calculated over many weeks to months, if you have the data). You could use that to estimate your typical TDEE, and monitor the scale to watch the long run (multi-week) results, using those results to adjust if necessary. As another option, you could set your goal calories based on your sedentary estimates, log your exercise, and strive to hit your exercise-adjusted calorie goal over a week-ish. (MFP's phone/tablet app will let you look at 7-day average calories, either gross or net.)

For sure, if you have some occasional ultra-high exercise calories (from riding centuries or something), there's absolutely no need to eat every single one of those calories the same day. You can bank some of them, eat them during the recovery days (or whenever).

It's your plan: Make it work for you.

Myself, I actually eat slightly (100-150) under my estimated maintenance calories most days, because I like to indulge occasionally. I haven't noticed any ill effects on performance from those under days. (I do notice a little higher resting heart rate, and maybe a little next-AM sluggish feeling after a super-indulgent day/meal . . . but I'm OK with that, and this one is my plan .) I do see my scale weight jump after indulgences, and drop in between (mostly water weight effects). Some people would dislike that. I don't care: I watch my weight trend.

My point is that you can try variations, see how you feel, and find your best plan, the one that keeps you happy, in the weight range where you want to be, and performing athletically in the way you'd like. There's no cookie-cutter universal right method, because we're all individuals with different preferences, strengths, limitations, etc.

P.S. I agree that 1770 seems low. One person's experience tells us nothing about the next person's, but the demographic differences between you and me are pretty major, so I'd expect a similarly significant difference in calorie needs. I'm female, age 67, 5'5" (165 cm), around 130 pounds (59kg) lately, retired/sedentary (or close to it) outside of intentional exercise because retired, and my "slight deficit" base calories are 1850/day. With exercise, actual average TDEE seems to be somewhere in the lower 2000s, maybe 2200 or so. (That's at least 300-500 above most calorie calculators' estimates for my demographic. One reason is estimated body fat percent around mid-twenties, when average for my bodyweight in my demographic would be more like mid-30s percents.)

I'd also emphasize the importance of good overall nutrition, including but not exclusively adequate protein. Fats, micronutrients, phytochemicals and pro/prebiotics can also affect performance and health.

You can figure this out. It may not be instant, but as long as you don't let your weight increase lots, or let weight/energy level get too low, you'll be fine. Just keep moving the dials until you find your best approach.

Best wishes!

You've lost weight and now you want to maintain. How many calories on average were you consuming or scheduled daily to accomplish that? Why not just increase the amount you consumed incrementally, until your weight stable, am I missing something here?