Calorie Counting/How much

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SeeEmWOD
SeeEmWOD Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm sure this has been asked before, but i've been doing so much research, my head is spinning, and I could use some advice/opinions as far as what has worked for everyone else.

I'm relatively fit and I'm only really trying to lose a few pounds of fat (it likes to hang out right around my midsection, grr) and have been working out 5 days a week and at a higher intensity. I added an extra weight session, too. I strap on a heart rate monitor so I know for SURE what i'm burning. On a day like today, I'll be clocking around 1700 calories of consumption. And I'm going to spin class tonight, so I'll burn about 500 there. Am I eating too little? Should my "net" calorie intake be about 1200 or should I aim for more like 1400?

I've done the Jillian Michael's basal metabolic rate calculator and that estimates I need about 1600-1700/day, since I'm 25, 5'11" and have a sedentary job.

Thoughts?

Replies

  • missfluffyuk
    missfluffyuk Posts: 245
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    What does MFP recommend for you to eat? Start with that.

    Your BMR is what you would burn if you were in a coma. Multiply it by 1.2 to get your daily burn in a sedentary lifestyle. Subtract 500 to get a loss of 1lb per week.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    What does MFP recommend for you to eat? Start with that.

    Your BMR is what you would burn if you were in a coma. Multiply it by 1.2 to get your daily burn in a sedentary lifestyle. Subtract 500 to get a loss of 1lb per week.

    With a person that is only trying to lose the last few pounds and is really looking to do some body recomposition, you are better off with a smaller deficit. (250 calories or .5lb per week). As your body decrease it's body fat, it fights harder to hold onto the calories, so it's even more important to feed it properly so it doesn't work so hard to hold onto the fat. But I do agree, that understanding your BMR is an important step and then you need to multiply it by the factor that fits your lifestyle (see below). I have also found it useful to utilize the link below to concentrate on eliminating body fat.

    Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
    Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
    Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
    Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
    Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)


    http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm
  • JBorg039
    JBorg039 Posts: 24
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    Head over to http://www.fatcuda.com & check out how many calories you should be eating using the calorie calculator. In my opinion this is the best calorie calculator as it's highly customizable to every individual.
  • SeeEmWOD
    SeeEmWOD Posts: 8
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    Thank you, everyone!

    Ok, the new calculation says I need 1950 calories, thanks! For a week, it's 13,633 calories. If i want a 1 lb deficit, it's 10,133 calories/week, or 1450 calories/day. NET calories, aka not "eat 1600 calories, burn off 600".

    When i use the fatcuda calculator, it says I need nearly 2500 calories/day (!!!!!) on work out days and 1600 calories on non-work out days. That seems like an incredible amount of food!!!

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