**READ THIS** Figuring out your calorie goals

1…1011131516…18

Replies

  • Pronoiac
    Pronoiac Posts: 304
    bump
  • stephie4111
    stephie4111 Posts: 118
    Reni thats what my beachbody coach told me just put in your actual calories dont log in exercise makes it easier for me.
  • Lattegurl
    Lattegurl Posts: 67 Member
    bump
  • Icandoit66
    Icandoit66 Posts: 74 Member
    bump for later
  • Micheetah
    Micheetah Posts: 184 Member
    bump
  • nekochanpurr
    nekochanpurr Posts: 14
    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.

    Thank you so much!!!!

    Another question, if thats okay... Should i change my numbers on mfp to reflect what i got from fat2fit? Or should i just use it as a base line and stick with 1690? Or should i be eating 1733?

    Are you saying when i reach my goal weight i should be eating 2079 (.6? lol). I'm really sorry.. I'm kind of really math dumb..

    there's not much difference between 1690 / 1733 so it doesnt really matter either way.

    The number in the chart is TDEE / maintenance for your goal weight.


    Thank you SOOOOO much! I know its kind of dumb but its like a light bulb went off. Thank you for taking the time to teach me. :)
  • ARMom8251
    ARMom8251 Posts: 194
    Love this info thanks
  • rachmass1
    rachmass1 Posts: 470 Member
    So I wore my "FT7 for 60 minutes just working and having lunch and it said I used up 79 calories (my heart rate was from 52-74 the entire time) and when I walk for the equivalent amount of time with my HR from 74-85 I use 100-120 calories depending on how I am feeling I guess. The walking therefore only adds 20-40 calories per hour over sitting on my duff. Interesting information. Guess I am going to have to call myself lightly active or buy one of those things that really measures your TDEE (any recommendations for which is the best and how accurate they actually are?).
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member

    Sorry to be daft, but is the BF related to BMI? If so, it is 31% right now (dang!!!!). I haven't really looked at BF yet. I am doing a comparison test on my HRM as to how many calories I burn not walking and just working compared to how many I do in the same period walking. Will be interesting to see the difference, because if it isn't much, that pretty much answers some of my questions as to how to count this.

    BMI is just calculated based on height & weight. It doesnt take into account body composition at all and a lot of super fit athletes are classed as obese by BMI standards!
    Its good to see if your BMI is going down, but dont worry about it too much, fat % is much more important as its carrying excess fat that causes health problems. Having a high BMI due to lean muscle mass is fine.
  • rotnkat
    rotnkat Posts: 393 Member
    I just got the F2F book and I have not started reading it yet, so I was wondering if I need to re-do the calculations again after I lose say 10 lbs?

    Or should I just keep eating the same calories that the chart on the F2F site says to eat for my goal weight?
  • lucymarie19
    lucymarie19 Posts: 25
    MFP says my bmr is1440 so puts me at a 1470 daily goal for calories. However fat2fit says my bmr is 1558, so at present I am eating less than that daily to stick to MFP goals, I have deficits with exercise and eat back the majority of those calories, what should I be doing?
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    I just got the F2F book and I have not started reading it yet, so I was wondering if I need to re-do the calculations again after I lose say 10 lbs?

    Or should I just keep eating the same calories that the chart on the F2F site says to eat for my goal weight?

    the calories in the chart should stay the same as they are based on your goal weight, but its worth checking say every 5-10lbs as your BMR & body fat will have changed as you lose.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    MFP says my bmr is1440 so puts me at a 1470 daily goal for calories. However fat2fit says my bmr is 1558, so at present I am eating less than that daily to stick to MFP goals, I have deficits with exercise and eat back the majority of those calories, what should I be doing?

    Which BMR calc is that on fat2fit?
    MFP uses Harris-Benedict which doesnt take into account body fat %.
    Katch-Mcardle does and is therefore more accurate.
  • cutethang1
    cutethang1 Posts: 239 Member
    bump
  • rotnkat
    rotnkat Posts: 393 Member
    I just got the F2F book and I have not started reading it yet, so I was wondering if I need to re-do the calculations again after I lose say 10 lbs?

    Or should I just keep eating the same calories that the chart on the F2F site says to eat for my goal weight?

    the calories in the chart should stay the same as they are based on your goal weight, but its worth checking say every 5-10lbs as your BMR & body fat will have changed as you lose.


    Thank you em9371!!!!! I will check it every 10 lbs just to be on the safe side!!!
  • lucymarie19
    lucymarie19 Posts: 25
    MFP says my bmr is1440 so puts me at a 1470 daily goal for calories. However fat2fit says my bmr is 1558, so at present I am eating less than that daily to stick to MFP goals, I have deficits with exercise and eat back the majority of those calories, what should I be doing?

    Which BMR calc is that on fat2fit?
    MFP uses Harris-Benedict which doesnt take into account body fat %.
    Katch-Mcardle does and is therefore more accurate.

    Katch McArdle :)
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    MFP says my bmr is1440 so puts me at a 1470 daily goal for calories. However fat2fit says my bmr is 1558, so at present I am eating less than that daily to stick to MFP goals, I have deficits with exercise and eat back the majority of those calories, what should I be doing?

    Which BMR calc is that on fat2fit?
    MFP uses Harris-Benedict which doesnt take into account body fat %.
    Katch-Mcardle does and is therefore more accurate.

    Katch McArdle :)

    id alter your goals then as thats more accurate than MFP :-)
  • liz342
    liz342 Posts: 5
    Thank you for this information
  • lucymarie19
    lucymarie19 Posts: 25
    Okay thanks :)
  • northernshelly
    northernshelly Posts: 2
    BUMP
  • DesignGuy
    DesignGuy Posts: 457 Member
    Some great info (albeit confusing).

    I put in:

    39 years old
    278 lbs
    39% BF
    goal weight of 245 since it doesn't like me entering a weight too far off.


    Katch says my BMR is 2039.

    The chart says 2659 for Sedentary (I'm a graphic designer who sits at desk all day).

    Forgetting exercise for the moment, does this mean I should be eating at least 2039 and not more than 2659? So, if I want a 1k deficit daily, I'd need to eat say 2039 and workout for about 400 cals.
  • rotnkat
    rotnkat Posts: 393 Member
    Your BMR of 2039 is what you need to survive if you were basically in a coma and did nothing else. The chart already has your activity level built into it for your goal weight.

    So if you're sedentary I would eat the 2659 and if you start exercising I would go to the next level. And re-check the calculations again say after about a 10 lbs loss.

    HTH
  • DesignGuy
    DesignGuy Posts: 457 Member
    Thanks. I'm working out 2 hours a day (1600-1700 cals). Not sure how I can eat like 4k cals. LOL

    Might scale it back to an hour and try this out.

    I'd rather not lose the muscle I have. :)
  • Gemp2307
    Gemp2307 Posts: 22 Member
    Ok, some very good info here, but, im also a little confused. Fat2fit and mfp both give me my bmr in and around the 1400 mark, which is fine, but f2f tells me i should eat 1900 cals, while mfp set my goal at 1200! I frequently go over the 1200 mark but i exercise regularly to make up for it, also my scales havent budged since the first two weeks i joined when i lost my first five pounds. Is it possible that I am eating too few cals? i still have ten pounds to go to get to my ideal weight but im worried that I may be going into starvation mode. I never go hungry so I think Im eating enough, even though i eat few cals. WTF? I really dunno what to do!

    mfp goals are NET and expect you to eat back exercise cals so you should eat more than 1200.
    fat 2 fit already includes exercise - i take it if your BMR is 1400 and it gave you 1900 you are at least moderately active?

    yeah thats right. I still am not sure what I should eat. I dont think I can eat 1900 cals every day! I think maybe if I just aim to not go too high over my bmr I should be ok?
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    Thanks. I'm working out 2 hours a day (1600-1700 cals). Not sure how I can eat like 4k cals. LOL

    Might scale it back to an hour and try this out.

    I'd rather not lose the muscle I have. :)

    Rotnkat is right, 2659 is what you should eat assuming you are sedentary.

    However, If you are exercising that much you are at least mod active even with the desk job. Go for the mod active number, you can lower a bit more if needed as long as you don't net below bmr.

    An hour is plenty, unless you are training for a marathon or something there's no need for so much exercise, and make sure you get 1 or 2 rest days a week!
  • Gwoman2012
    Gwoman2012 Posts: 163 Member
    The part that I am confused about is that with all of the calculations/formulas on the other website why do you need to know your TDEE? Why can't you just use the chart # and leave it at that?
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    It's useful to know your tdee as that is the maximum you can eat without gaining.
    Also if you want to deficits more specific deficit you can take 500 cals per lb from tdee.
  • StarletteS
    StarletteS Posts: 28 Member
    I'm confused as well...

    Female
    31 years old
    65 inches tall
    161 pounds

    BMR: 1371
    Military BF: 36.8%

    Based on the chart it says I should eat 1656.

    So I should eat 1656 calories? Right now I am sedentary but am going to start working out. Once I start working I will use the more active numbers for calories, correct?
  • morkiemama
    morkiemama Posts: 894 Member
    Bump for sorting out later
  • ohtobe2
    ohtobe2 Posts: 43
    bump to read later.

Categories