So confused on calories per day

We have access to a nutrionist at work. She won't put anyone on diet of below 1300 calories a day (if female) or 1600 (if male). You should be consuming at least 1300 calories a day, which means eating back at least some of your workout calories. Otherwise your body will believe you are starving and it won't allow any weight loss. And when you do up your calorie intake, your body will store the calories all as fat because your metabolism will be so out-of-whack.

Hope this helps.

Also remember that if you have recenrly started running that you are probably gaining muscle which weighs more than fat.

Sounds like you're doing at least reasonably well (assuming your tracking accurately - very easy to mis-estimate calories burned and cals consumed). If you're sodium intake isn't that high and you are drinking a lot of water (which it sounds like you're doing), then I doubt you're retaining a ton of water, at least not due to your diet. You could be retaining water due to the increased muscle activity from running, but I'm not sure how you'd measure that.

You could probably stand to increase your protein a bit, but I doubt that's causing you problems.

I'd stick with your BRM for a couple of weeks and see what you see. My guess is that you aren't seeing results because it's only been a week. Patience is often the hardest part of all this.

As for MFP saying 1300 and your phone saying 1200, they are all just calculations to estimate your BMR. They generally use pretty similar formulas so they aren't usually that far off, but it's not unheard of by any means. I'd error on the side of caution and use the higher number to start with. After a month or so when you have a better feel for things you can start tweaking things as necessary.


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Also remember that if you have recenrly started running that you are probably gaining muscle which weighs more than fat.

more like your muscles are retaining water from the running..

Can someone please help me? I am trying to figure out what my calories per day should be. I have had people tell me to use RMR, BMR, 1200 per day and so on. My problem is that each time I try to figure out what my RMR or BMR is I get a different answer. I started my weight loss a week ago today and as of today I have offically gained 1lb. This is so frustrating.

This is what I have done so far. I cut my calorie intake to 1200 per day and I started running for 60 minutes a day. I have really stuck to this and thought it would be a sure fire way to lose weight. Here are my stats:

I am 32 year old female, 5'1" and currently 144lbs. I have a desk job and the only excersise I get is when I run. I have been running for 1 hour 5 days a week.

I have not been eating back my calories burned so I have been right around 800 calories per day after my run (burn about 450 calories). I went onto livestrong.com and it tells me to lose 2 lbs per week I should stay at 828 calories a day. If I do this and then eat back my calories that puts me back at the 1200 per day that I was at before.

So why is it that after a week I gained a pound? Can anyone help? Am I going into starvation mode? What calories should I stick to?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

However this personally works for me. I do little exercise as I am a student and I have a very slow metabolism...When I stick to a diet of 800 cals a day I can lose about a pound a week. So i think it should be done by how you feel. One week is not really enough time to tell.....
I eat lots of low calorie foods. so I tend to eat more but still stay at less calories.
Popcorn is a great snack

Like others have said, give it a month before you start worrying. When I first started, I dropped 2 pounds then "gained" it back the next week. I was up and down for three weeks before I started seeing a true downward trend. You just have to stick with it and not let the scale be your only source of encouragement or discouragement.

Also, it may be possible that you are already at a reasonable weight for your height and it may just take longer for your body to be willing to give up the little bit. I've heard people here talk about the last 10 pounds being hardest to lose, so you may be starting out near that point already.

But definitely don't let your total food intake go below your BMR calories and just be willing to give your body time to lose the weight. If you're eating around 1300 cals/day and you're exercising and you're eating healthy foods, then you're doing everything right. Give it time.

Eat more.

You shouldn't eat less than your BMR, and you should definitely NOT eat less than 1200 calories. Over the long term, this WILL screw with your body.

Google "BMR" or even "basal metabolic rate" for some calculators that will explain exactly what those numbers mean. Get familiar with the acronyms (BMR, RMR, TDEE, NEAT, etc.), as they will all explain how to more accurately evaluate what your body needs and how to come up with a more appropriate caloric deficit. MFP works great for those who have a ton of weight to lose. You don't. So you need to educate yourself and get smarter on how to lose your pounds.

Here is one BMR calculator to get you started:

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

(And according to that calculator, your BMR is ~1400, so you are definitely eating too little.)

If you insist on using MFP for recommendations, set your activity level to "lightly active". I also have a desk job, and "sedentary" is too low unless you're really tied to your desk for 12+ hours/day. There's tons of little activities like getting up and walking around (to talk to coworkers, take a break, go out to lunch) that don't get accounted for in the strictly "sedentary" activity level.

Also, there is no way in living hell you will be able to lose 2 lb./week at your current weight and still be healthy and treat your body right. Slow down, give this time (aim for 0.5 lb./week). You didn't gain all of this weight overnight. You won't drop it overnight, either.

For reference, I have similar stats as you (32 yo, 5'3", ~130 lbs.), and I can MAINTAIN my weight range (I fluctuate +/- 2 lbs. normally throughout the month) on 1800-2000 calories/day.

Just a quick note on the app vs BMR: I would say both are probably correct. You are trying to lose weight? BMR is your base. The app is showing you your calories needed to lose whatever your goal is, ie. you need a daily deficit of 100 cals to lose your goal per week. Example: My BMR is 2400 and I have a goal of losing 2 lbs per week (I'm much larger than you), so my app tells me I need a daily deficit of 900, or a net intake of 1500.

Hope that explains a little.

What about going by the MFP numbers for several weeks, then re-evaluating.

I can guarantee you that you're way, way off at 800 calories. Try doubling that.

i was sticking to the 1200 benchmark and working out and was noticing no changes. a friend encouraged me to increase my calories due to hard workouts. i am 46 years old and have always worked out and watched what i ate. over the past couple of years i felt like i was getting "soft" around the middle and i didn't like it! i have increased my calories to 1500 and then eat back at least half of my workout calories so i am usually eating 1600-1700 and am losing body fat. less is not always better!