Help Im confused about how many calories to eat per day?

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Persevere230
Persevere230 Posts: 53 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So according to MFP I should eat 1280 per day but according to other sites I have googled, the number is way higher like double what this site is saying. Any suggestions? I excersise like at least 5 days a week for usually an hour and a half. My main excersise is walking and Bikram yoga and the occasional work out at home on my Excersise Tv

Replies

  • dancingj2
    dancingj2 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    I suspect the 1280 per day is based on a sedantary lifestyl. When add back your exercise everyday, it will add in those additional calories.
  • Kilter
    Kilter Posts: 188 Member
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    Is that 1280 net (after exercise) and taking into account your weight loss goals?

    If the goal is to lose weight over time, the site will suggest an amount of calories that will help you achieve your goal.

    S
  • 1smemae94
    1smemae94 Posts: 365 Member
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    How many pounds a week do you have it set to lose? Try lowering it to 1 pound a week for more calories.
  • meka2206
    meka2206 Posts: 101 Member
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    I do the exact same thing and I made a goal to eat under my calorie intake for a couple of months since I work out 5 times a week to lose the weight a little quicker. I am not starving myself, I'm still eating 5 small, but healthy meals a day. I use about 950 calories a day.
  • Edestiny7
    Edestiny7 Posts: 730 Member
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    MFP is telling you how many to eat to lose weight. So 1280 is 500 less then what you would need to eat to maintain your current weight. And any exercise calories you burn, you will need to eat on top of that 1280, otherwise you would have a deficit and could slow your metabolism.
  • KristinC4
    KristinC4 Posts: 81
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    I say go with what you feel comfortable with. MFP tells me I should eat no more than 1260 calories a day because I have decided that I want to lose 2 pounds a week while working out 3 times for 30 minutes.

    When I stay at or under my calorie goal I have found that I do lose that weight.

    However, if you feel that you should be eating more, you can edit your setting to the amount of calories per day that you prefer.

    Good luck with whatever you decide!
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    You want to NET 1280 per day. That means eat your exercise calories. MFP factors in a deficit FOR YOU. Other sites DO NOT. So if you burn off, say, 400 calories with exercise, eat a total of 1680 for the day. Hope this helps! :drinker:
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    Yes MFP gives you a number to help you reach your goal that does not take exercise into account. If you workout one day and burn 200 calories, once you log that 200 calories burned in your exercise log, MFP will adjust your calorie goal up and tell you to eat 200 more calories. Basically MFP wants you to be at that goal number after adding all food and subtracting all exercise for the day. It's great motivation to workout b/c that means you get to eat more. LOL
  • Persevere230
    Persevere230 Posts: 53 Member
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    I suspect the 1280 per day is based on a sedantary lifestyl. When add back your exercise everyday, it will add in those additional calories.

    True!!
  • Persevere230
    Persevere230 Posts: 53 Member
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    Yes MFP gives you a number to help you reach your goal that does not take exercise into account. If you workout one day and burn 200 calories, once you log that 200 calories burned in your exercise log, MFP will adjust your calorie goal up and tell you to eat 200 more calories. Basically MFP wants you to be at that goal number after adding all food and subtracting all exercise for the day. It's great motivation to workout b/c that means you get to eat more. LOL

    word I know!! This has been a major motivator for me to excersise cause 1280 is hardly nothing. If I didnt excersise that would be really hard to do.
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
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    The base amount of calories MFP gives you is the amount it takes to maintain your current weight a weight loss deficit (-500 calories to lose 1 lb a week, -250 for 1/2 lb a week, -1000 for 2 lbs a week) this includes anything you burn during your daily activities of living.

    Set your activity level at sedentary and then track ALL of your exercise.

    Since the base amount of calories MFP gives you includes a deficit for weight loss, it will give you more calories to compensate for those you've burned during exercise and you will still maintain a deficit and lose weight. You need to fuel your body according to how much work you want it to do.

    At the end of the day you should come in someplace near 1280 NET Calories

    WHAT YOU EAT - WHAT YOU BURN = NET CALORIES
  • Persevere230
    Persevere230 Posts: 53 Member
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    I do the exact same thing and I made a goal to eat under my calorie intake for a couple of months since I work out 5 times a week to lose the weight a little quicker. I am not starving myself, I'm still eating 5 small, but healthy meals a day. I use about 950 calories a day.

    wow! thats pretty cool
  • Persevere230
    Persevere230 Posts: 53 Member
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    Is that 1280 net (after exercise) and taking into account your weight loss goals?

    If the goal is to lose weight over time, the site will suggest an amount of calories that will help you achieve your goal.

    S

    No its before excersise so I do have the extra calories to consume after I workout thank god!!
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Not really - unless you're really tiny 950 isn't going to be enough.
  • Persevere230
    Persevere230 Posts: 53 Member
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    The base amount of calories MFP gives you is the amount it takes to maintain your current weight a weight loss deficit (-500 calories to lose 1 lb a week, -250 for 1/2 lb a week, -1000 for 2 lbs a week) this includes anything you burn during your daily activities of living.

    Set your activity level at sedentary and then track ALL of your exercise.

    Since the base amount of calories MFP gives you includes a deficit for weight loss, it will give you more calories to compensate for those you've burned during exercise and you will still maintain a deficit and lose weight. You need to fuel your body according to how much work you want it to do.

    At the end of the day you should come in someplace near 1280 NET Calories

    WHAT YOU EAT - WHAT YOU BURN = NET CALORIES
  • Persevere230
    Persevere230 Posts: 53 Member
    Options
    The base amount of calories MFP gives you is the amount it takes to maintain your current weight a weight loss deficit (-500 calories to lose 1 lb a week, -250 for 1/2 lb a week, -1000 for 2 lbs a week) this includes anything you burn during your daily activities of living.

    Set your activity level at sedentary and then track ALL of your exercise.

    Since the base amount of calories MFP gives you includes a deficit for weight loss, it will give you more calories to compensate for those you've burned during exercise and you will still maintain a deficit and lose weight. You need to fuel your body according to how much work you want it to do.

    At the end of the day you should come in someplace near 1280 NET Calories

    WHAT YOU EAT - WHAT YOU BURN = NET CALORIES

    Thanks for the tip I reset it to sedentary. Yikes now its lower!! Oh well gotta excersise more then:smile:
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
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    I'm kind of lazy about tracking generally. Tracking my exercise calories along with my food would just drive me nuts. Instead, I put my activity level to light (instead of sedentary) because I'm in the gym 6days/week. Then I just eat 80% of my calculated maintenance cals.

    So far it's working fairly well. Lately I've been losing between 1 and 2 lbs /week. I also upped the protein a fair bit
  • Persevere230
    Persevere230 Posts: 53 Member
    Options
    I'm kind of lazy about tracking generally. Tracking my exercise calories along with my food would just drive me nuts. Instead, I put my activity level to light (instead of sedentary) because I'm in the gym 6days/week. Then I just eat 80% of my calculated maintenance cals.

    So far it's working fairly well. Lately I've been losing between 1 and 2 lbs /week. I also upped the protein a fair bit

    Thanks for the tip. Logging calories suprisingly doesnt bother me much as Im pretty used to it now. Question if you dont count calories how do you not go over? I wish I could be that diciplined so I have to count otherwise forget it.
  • xunsungxherox
    xunsungxherox Posts: 45
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    950 isnt really enough for any human lol. It isn't healthy.
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
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    I'm kind of lazy about tracking generally. Tracking my exercise calories along with my food would just drive me nuts. Instead, I put my activity level to light (instead of sedentary) because I'm in the gym 6days/week. Then I just eat 80% of my calculated maintenance cals.

    So far it's working fairly well. Lately I've been losing between 1 and 2 lbs /week. I also upped the protein a fair bit

    Thanks for the tip. Logging calories suprisingly doesnt bother me much as Im pretty used to it now. Question if you dont count calories how do you not go over? I wish I could be that diciplined so I have to count otherwise forget it.

    I don't track my exercise calories. I track my food intake. Well mostly. I usually don't track my dinner. Instead I'll see how much I have leftover for the day and eat to that.

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