So confused on calories per day

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spendsitwell
spendsitwell Posts: 59 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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?
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Replies

  • hlandry6
    hlandry6 Posts: 230
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    You should lower your lb/week to 1lb a week...and you should eat your exercise calories back or at least some...800cal a day is way to little
  • swimcoach07
    swimcoach07 Posts: 31 Member
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    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.
  • emmyvera
    emmyvera Posts: 599 Member
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    There are so many topics on here that discuss your question. I'm sure you will get a variety of responses. . .

    Here's what I do and it works for me: We have similar stats, so I figured I should share :tongue:
    I'm a 31 female with a desk job. I workout 4-6 days a week. I am too on a 1200 calories per day allotment. I eat those calories AND my exercise calories back. This has been why I've lost weight consistently from week to week. Before the holidays, I weighed in at 139-140! I had gained weight back over the last several months of summer/fall. Since the holidays, I've lost 5-6 pounds already and I am gaining muscle definition and have more endurance. :wink:

    Following these personal guidelines keep me on track:
    1. Changing up my exercise routines so I'm using different parts of the body in different ways
    2. Eating back my exercise calories and keeping my body fueled
    3. Eating healthy (of course :smile: ) AND watching carbs and sodium in take
    4. Drink plenty of water
    5. and No. 2 again :laugh: - because I think this is so important. You must eat. I eat a lot and I keep losing.
  • Hazel_mck
    Hazel_mck Posts: 3
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    Also remember that if you have recenrly started running that you are probably gaining muscle which weighs more than fat.
  • jellybaby84
    jellybaby84 Posts: 583 Member
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    You are not going to have gained a pound of muscle in a week!

    You are also not going to have made your body shut down by netting 800 for a week.

    You really ought to have lost weight on what you have done but bodies aren't always reliable or obliging. If you go for another week without changing anything you'll probably lose some. However, you'll probably also lose some next week if you eat more this week. Or if you eat less this week. It's entirely up to you.

    Basically, as long as your calories out are more than your calories in you will lose weight at some point.
  • spendsitwell
    spendsitwell Posts: 59 Member
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    Thanks for the replys. I have really been eating pretty good and sticking to my running. I will try to add some additional activies to help change it up a bit. The BMR says 1300 calories so I am going to stick to the 1200 calories and start to eat back most of my burned calories. Its so strange to get into that mindset of "eat to lose weight".

    The only thing that I can think of that I did that might be "bad" was that I did have a few beers on saturday. I thought it would be okay since they were low calorie and I still stayed in my calorie intake for the day. Would drinking beer have that much of an affect on weight loss? I drink water all day long outside of that.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    First off... what's your diet been like? What are you eating? What does "eating pretty good" mean?

    Second, always base your calorie goal off your BMR. MFP has one, or you can google it. They are all pretty similar... do a handful of them then take the average if you aren't comfortable going by just one recommendation. If the BMR here says 1300, why are you going to 1200? Are you smarter than the calculator is? Is there some condition or circumstance we don't know about to warrant this?

    Next, you've been at this for a week... that's not long enough to know anything about what your body is doing. Give it a month before you evaluate anything.

    Also, the scale isn't the best way to guage progress - it's doesn't know when you're building muscle, retaining water, etc. Buy a tape measure and take your measurements, then compare those over a longer stretch of time.
  • spendsitwell
    spendsitwell Posts: 59 Member
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    By eating pretty good, I mean eating healthier and sticking to my calories. I am not out eating fast food or candy and junk food. I am eating alot more salads, fruits and veggies. So I consider that eating pretty good. Do I still have a piece of candy now and again, yes but I calculate that into my calories for the day. So I am not perfect but I'm doing pretty good.

    I am going off of 1200 calories instead of the 1300 because that is what the MFP app said to do for my info. No I have never claimed to be smarter than the calculator. So why would the app tell me 1200 but the BMR tell me 1300? I dont know. But I have been doing 1200 for the past week so I figure that is what I will stick with.

    I have taken measurements as well and I am gauging my progress on both weight and inches. I know a week is not a long time but I thought for sure I would see some results even if it was only a half pound.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    If the app told you 1200, what are you referring to when you say the BMR told you 1300?

    Are you eating any protein? How's your sodium intake? Are you drinking enough water?

    It's very possible that you have lost a little weight but are retaining water so the scale doesn't reflect it.
  • spendsitwell
    spendsitwell Posts: 59 Member
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    The app on my phone told me 1200 but when I go under tools and do the BMR it says 1300. So I dont know what the difference is.

    I am eating protein, mostly grilled chicken and turkey and usually this is at lunch or dinner. I really dont eat any protein before that. I have also been eating sweet potatoes and cauliflower. I have been drinking about 5 bottles of water a day. I dont drink anything else usually. On occasion I like a diet coke. I try to stay away from alot of sodium but I really havent focused on that alot. Should I monitor that better?

    How can I tell if I am retaining water? I pee alot so I dont know.

    Also I have a hard time eating in the morning. I usually get my run in at about 9-10am and I dont eat anything until after my run. I have coffee in the morning then run, then shower, eat lunch and continue on with my day. I feel sick if I eat before I run.
  • Bubs05
    Bubs05 Posts: 182 Member
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    What is your water intake/day? Are you drinking enough?
    You mentioned you are running 1 hours 5 days a week. Have you just started this schedule? Your body may be retaining water in order to repair your muscles.
    Tracking your calories...are you weighing and measuring your food? A common mistake is under estimating food calories and over estimating exercise calories.
    Also, you may technically be doing everything right but sometimes it takes a little experimenting with your calorie count to find your groove.
    Stick with it though!

    * EDIT: I didn't see your post about water before I posted my reply
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    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.


    .
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    I think the MFP tracker is a good place to start, and either 1lb or 0.5lb a week loss is a sensible option. It already gives you your calorie defiicit so you should always eat up to this level.

    If you exercise you then need to enter that in the tracker and eat those calories too, due to that pre-programmed deficit.

    Your net calories should never be UNDER 1200 / day.

    Follow this for two weeks and if you haven't lost anything you should then think about deviating from the basic strategy. Try upping your calories for example, or, double check that you are entering everything on the tracker Every drizzle of olive oil, every cup of coffee etc. things can easily slip by. They can slip by me anyway!

    I took a look at your blog and am not sure which of the two you are from the photo, but you both look slim already - its the last 10lbs that are hardest to lose and so if you dn't have much to go in the first place it might take a little longer to see results.

    Keep at it!

    :-)
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
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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..
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
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    Eat your exercise calories. You NEED those calories to fuel your runs.

    Sorry. I missed the point of your post.

    Let MFP do it's job. It works if you let it. Set your goal to lose 1 lb per week. MFP will tell you how much to eat. and how much you have left to eat.

    Do that for a couple of weeks and then reassess once you have figured out how your body is behaving.
  • karinaes
    karinaes Posts: 570 Member
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    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
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
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    You are losing at that intake along with your exercise it's just not showing up yet.
  • spendsitwell
    spendsitwell Posts: 59 Member
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    Okay I am going to stick with it. I know its only been a week and I just thought maybe I was doing something wrong to not see any results. We will see where we are next week. :)

    Thanks for all the great advise.

    And I am the one on the left in my photo and it was when I was skinny. LOL That is my motivation to get down to that weight again. My "FAT" picture in in the blog under the first day. :)

    Thanks again for the encouragement.
  • happinessawaits
    happinessawaits Posts: 35
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    What Ive learned is its different for each person, What works for someboday may not work for you... you have to play around with your calories etc and see what works for you... of had mine at different levels on and off and things finally are moving again.
  • kellicarter11
    kellicarter11 Posts: 178 Member
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    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

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