**READ THIS** Figuring out your calorie goals
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Whip it good for later0
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Fantastic info!! Thank you for sharing!0
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great info! Thanks :-)0
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First question, at one point in the original post, Dan said to measure your waist 1" below the belly button but the Fat2 calculator states "Note: Women should measure the natural waist circumference at the point of minimal abdominal circumference, usually located about halfway between the navel and the lower end of the sternum (breast bone)." That's above the belly button at the smallest point. There is a a couple of inches difference between these two locations for me so I think it matters which one to use.
I still had the above question......does anyone know the right answer?
You should be using the minimum circumference for waist measurements, which is above the belly button a couple of inches or so. 1" below belly button is known as the Upper Hip (and is about 3" below your waist).
Thanks so much. I thought I was doing it right but questioned it when heloitsdan replied to someone else to measure 1" below the belly button.0 -
so if Im 135 pounds 5 ft 3 my bmi is 24 % i work out 6 days a week for an hour or longer on here it says i should eat 1540 cals is that right.0
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can you help me? what is bump?0
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Someone please help me with this...
I went to the site mentioned by the OP and used the calculators to figure out my BMR. Based on age 33, weight 210, height 76 in, and body fat 20.9, it says BMR should be 3086 since I work out 5 days a week. (MFP calculates BMR based on standard daily activity, not workout schedule.)
The way I understand the post, it says that I should never eat less than 3086 calories a day, no matter what my workout calories are. Is this correct?
Right now I'm trying to eat about 2500 because recommended MFP calories is 1500 (-2lbs/wk) and I exercise about 1,000 a day.
Which do I follow?
The chart on the site seems to include my exercise at 3,000, but this is contradictory to the post which would call that number TDEE.
Can anyone clear this up in simple language for me?
This is how I think the post says to do it:
BMR = 3000
Exercise = 1000
TDEE = 4000
Lose 2/wk = -1000
Total Calories to eat/day = 3000
This still seems really high to me.
My setting in MFP is sedentary because I sit all day at work, so right now this is how I see MFP calculating:
BMR = 2500
Lose 2/wk = -1000
Daily Allowance = 1500
Exercise = 1000
Total Allowance/day = 2500
Somebody help! I have an open diary if anyone wants to take a look. (Don't judge me for eating Smarties!)0 -
Thanks so much for posting and reposting this information. WAY under calorie-wise. I just ate some more chicken and peppers!0
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Okay, so my exercise varies, so would it work if I did this. My BMR is 1224, so what if I ate that much a day, and then ate back all the calories I burn during exercise in the day. Would that work? Or am I still eating too less? And how do you make your calorie goal without going over your "Fat" intake?
Just choose the one nearest to your overall activity level in the chart and eat that.
OR
Choose sedentary and eat back your exercise cals.
Not going over your fat intake is easy if you choose the right foods - lean meat, whole grains, fruit & veg, lower fat cheeses like mozzarella / feta / cottage cheese , skimmed milk etc.
Okay.. but I don't quite get it.. Because to Lose weight you need to take your TDEE and minus 500, right? so my TDEE is 1574, so i minus 500 and it is 1074. But my BMR is 1224 and I'm not suppose to eat under that, but I can't eat over 1074?
lol! I'm so confused!
Try running your numbers again sounds like something's gone wrong. Unless you are sedentary and do no activity / exercise at all, tdee should be a lot higher than that.
What are the numbers you put into fat2fit?
If the deficit puts you below bmr you need to go with a smaller deficit to stay above bmr.
Yah put it at sedentary becaus I have a desk job and was just playing on adding my exercise as i do it and then eating those calories back. I always plan my days ahead so that works for me, and my numbers were
Age: 22
Height: 5'0
Weight: 164
Goal: 110 (I have a small frame)
Fat per: 47
ah i see now.
your TDEE isnt 1574 thats your activity level, it would be 1574 PLUS exercise cals + 20%
(the figures in the table are the TDEE for your GOAL weight, not current weight. To get current TDEE you need to add 20% to the chart numbers.
with the amount you have to lose you should be aiming for around 1lb week. you could go 1-200 below the numbers below which would give you around 1.25, 1.5 would be too much and put you below BMR.
Say you exercise an average of 300 a day.
1574 + 300 exercise + 20% = 2248 TDEE
500 from TDEE = 1748 (1448 net / 300 exercise)
if you exercised more (500 a day)
1574 + 500 exercise + 20% = 2488
500 from TDEE = 1988 (1488 net / 500 exercise)
Its the same whether you log as total cals or 1448/1488 plus exercise, all depends if you prefer to eat more on exercise days (use eat back cals), or the same every day (use f2f).
hope this helps!0 -
First time posting here so bare with me. I have been following this thread and I think I have everything correct. just a few questions.
HB BMR: 1915 (This should not be important because I entered my body fat percentage using a tape measure. correct?)
KM BMR: 1656
So I need to multiply my KM BMR(1656) by 1.4 for something near moderately active to give me my suggested calorie intake? If thats correct I came up with 2318.
SUGGESTED CALORIE INTAKE: 2318
Then to get my TDEE I need to multiply my suggested calorie intake(2318) by 1.2 giving me 2782.
TDEE: 2782
So IF all the information I have entered is correct, then I need to eat about 2300 calories every day, even on days I work out and on my rest days? Or would it be better to eat around 2300-2500 calories on days I do work out and my rest days around 2000 calories?
Basically I need to eat under my TDEE(2782) and over my KM BMR(1656) and I think I read something about making sure your net calorie intake is at least 200 over your KM BMR making that 1856.
Is everything I listed above correct? Open to any corrections or helpful advice, thanks!
you got it spot on!!
using the fat2fit calcs, you would eat the same every day. That results in a 'zigzag' calorie pattern, with higher nets on rest days, lower on workout days.
Using MFP's eat back exercise, your net is the same every day.
Varying the net helps you avoid plateaus as your body cant adapt to the cal level as its always changing :-)0 -
Bumping. Thanks for posting.0
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so if Im 135 pounds 5 ft 3 my bmi is 24 % i work out 6 days a week for an hour or longer on here it says i should eat 1540 cals is that right.
what was the 1540??
if you post your age / goal weight / body fat % we can check your numbers.0 -
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Okay. I am epically confused.
My stats:
BMI 38.7
168 cm tall
103.8 kg atm
goal weight is 55ks
body fat = 56.3%
I put all my stats in and got :
BMR = 1352 (1552 if you add the recommended 200cal over)
TDEE = 2270 (lightly active)
I understand that these are the min and the max of what I should be eating to lose weight. I need to be in the middle somewhere.
What I dont understand is MFP has put me on 1510 daily max. Any exercise I do I should eat back the calories of -according to this site-? Or should I only eat back only enough calories to bring me up to the 1500 ish total?
Basically If I trust this site to know what I should eat, its not going to screw me up, is it?
I've only been here a couple of days and while It's brilliant, its confusing at the same time.
MFP doesnt include exercise cals, you have to log exercise and eat back the extra cals.
F2F they are already included, you just eat the total cals, same every day.
As an example:
MFP is 1500. say you exercise an average of 300 a day. that would put you at 1800 eaten, which is pretty much in the middle of your range.
your stats are pretty similar to mine, apart from your BF is a bit higher therefore BMR is lower. I eat 1950-2000 total (1650 net) and lose 1.5 most weeks, so around 1800/1500net should work for you x0 -
OK I just found all of this information this morning and I went to the fat2fitradio website and completed the calculations. The body fat calcs. were all different ranging from 14.5% to 30.7%. I used the 30.7% which was the military calc.
Age 26
Female
Weight 145
Goal Weight 135
Height 67 inches
Harris-Benedict Formula 1478
Katch-McArdle Forumla 1352
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1722
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1973
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2224
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2475
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2727
I have been at a base of 1280 on MFP and eating back 1/2 of my fitness calories, usually 100-150 each day. I work out 30 mins doing 30 day shred and shred it with weights by Jillian Michaels alternating DVDs 6 days per week plus I am doing the Couch 2 5k and I am in week 6 jogging/walking that 3 days per week. If I were to follow this I would need to eat 224 calories a day!
Today I attemepted to eat at the sedentary level (note: I decided this after I had packed breakfast and lunch for work today) and it was near impossible! I was forcing down food when I wasn't even hungry. Most days I am STARVING at my previous calorie intake and my weight loss has stopped for over a month and a half. I am just trying to figure out what I should be eating to lose these last 10 pounds and tone up!
Try eatling more calorie dense foods, then you dont feel like you are stuffing your face when you arent hungry!
nuts / peanut butter / olive oil in your cooking, whole milk, regular dressing etc, all add cals without bulk.0 -
Someone please help me with this...
I went to the site mentioned by the OP and used the calculators to figure out my BMR. Based on age 33, weight 210, height 76 in, and body fat 20.9, it says BMR should be 3086 since I work out 5 days a week. (MFP calculates BMR based on standard daily activity, not workout schedule.)
The way I understand the post, it says that I should never eat less than 3086 calories a day, no matter what my workout calories are. Is this correct?
Right now I'm trying to eat about 2500 because recommended MFP calories is 1500 (-2lbs/wk) and I exercise about 1,000 a day.
Which do I follow?
The chart on the site seems to include my exercise at 3,000, but this is contradictory to the post which would call that number TDEE.
Can anyone clear this up in simple language for me?
This is how I think the post says to do it:
BMR = 3000
Exercise = 1000
TDEE = 4000
Lose 2/wk = -1000
Total Calories to eat/day = 3000
This still seems really high to me.
My setting in MFP is sedentary because I sit all day at work, so right now this is how I see MFP calculating:
BMR = 2500
Lose 2/wk = -1000
Daily Allowance = 1500
Exercise = 1000
Total Allowance/day = 2500
Somebody help! I have an open diary if anyone wants to take a look. (Don't judge me for eating Smarties!)
looks like you got your BMR & TDEE confused so you are allowing for exercise twice!
The number you should never eat below is your BMR. Eat between BMR & TDEE and you will lose.
the numbers in the chart are the TDEE for the GOAL weight you entered, not your current weight. You need to muliply the chart number by 1.2 to get your current TDEE.
The chart numbers are what the site recommended you should actually eat - choose the one that matches your activity level.
I just ran your numbers with a goal of 190 and got BMR 2115 Harris-Benedict / 2000 Katch Mcardle and the following activity cals:
Activity Level Daily Calories
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 2389
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2738
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 3086
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 3434
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3783
You mentioned 3086, there is no way you are only mod active with 1000 cals/day exercise, Id go with Very active and eat 3434. Dont net below 2000.
BTW - what exercise do you do?? 1000 a day seems a lot, its not necessary to do so much every day, rest days are important too, maybe scaling down to mod active would be good :-)
With the amount you have to lose, you shouldn't be aiming for 2lb loss, change to 0.5-1lbs. Thats partly why the MFP numbers are so low, 1500 net is VERY low for a tall male, I net more than that as a 5'5 female!
Ive got a feeling the rest of the difference between MFP / F2F is becuase you have quite low BF and do huge amounts of exercise, it takes a lot more calories to maintain muscle than it does fat, and MFP doesnt know this as it doesnt ask for BF.
Maybe someone else or Dan would know if this is correct? I'd be interested to know as usually numbers are pretty similar either way.0 -
So does this mean i shouldnt follow my fitness pal calorie guide because my bmr is 1810 but my daily calorie intake with mfp is 1260....
I weight 228, 5'5 and exercise only 3 times a week for a hour....
Does this mean I am stopping my body from functioning correctly...0 -
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So does this mean i shouldnt follow my fitness pal calorie guide because my bmr is 1810 but my daily calorie intake with mfp is 1260....
I weight 228, 5'5 and exercise only 3 times a week for a hour....
Does this mean I am stopping my body from functioning correctly...
That BMR doesnt take into account body fat %, which can make a big difference to your calorie needs. Id suggest getting your BF checked and rerun the numbers.
Mine comes out almost 200 lower when I add in body fat%.
1260 seems low, Im the same height as you and was your weight back in January. At that time I was eating 1650 net and doing NO exercise, lost between 1.5-3lbs a week.(MFP said i would lose 1lb/week at this).
The calorie intake with MFP is NET so you should be eating back exercise on top of the 1260, maybe try reducing your goal slightly on MFP for now to 1.5 or 1lb, see how that works.0 -
My first post here. I hope its okay. o.o; (lurker)
First off i'd like to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this!!! Numbers are usually so confusing and evil for me, but this all kind of makes sense...
Question though (and this probably has been asked over and over and.. SORRY >.< )
So i eat over my BMR but under my calories per day goal thing? Mfp usually tells me to eat 1690 and i usually average about 1300/1400...
Heres the stuff from fat2fit
Neck 15
Waist 39
Hips 49
Body fat # 55.7%
My BMR - 1224
Goal Body Weight- 110 (i thought i had to aim higher? o.o;)
I am lightly active so it gave me 1733....
But lightly active because i work as a cashier at a grocery store.. So i am walking back and forth to get ciggerattes, put away back stock... Moving by ringing up customers and cleaning. That's the right one, right? I am only part time, so its only about 4 times a week (sometimes five) and thats anywhere between 4-8 hours a day.. Depending on the day/week everything changes. >.< I try and do work out during the week but i kind of suck at that.
...Help? Sorry, i am needy.0 -
My first post here. I hope its okay. o.o; (lurker)
First off i'd like to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this!!! Numbers are usually so confusing and evil for me, but this all kind of makes sense...
Question though (and this probably has been asked over and over and.. SORRY >.< )
So i eat over my BMR but under my calories per day goal thing? Mfp usually tells me to eat 1690 and i usually average about 1300/1400...
Heres the stuff from fat2fit
Neck 15
Waist 39
Hips 49
Body fat # 55.7%
My BMR - 1224
Goal Body Weight- 110 (i thought i had to aim higher? o.o;)
I am lightly active so it gave me 1733....
But lightly active because i work as a cashier at a grocery store.. So i am walking back and forth to get ciggerattes, put away back stock... Moving by ringing up customers and cleaning. That's the right one, right? I am only part time, so its only about 4 times a week (sometimes five) and thats anywhere between 4-8 hours a day.. Depending on the day/week everything changes. >.< I try and do work out during the week but i kind of suck at that.
...Help? Sorry, i am needy.
the number the chart gives you on fat2fit is what you should eat. this is the TDEE for your GOAL weight, to get your current TDEE, multiply by 1.2.
Eat between your BMR & current TDEE, ideally at the level on the chart.
just based on your job with no official exercise, go for lightly active.
If you exercise as well, go for next one up.0
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