**READ THIS** Figuring out your calorie goals

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  • cafred
    cafred Posts: 27 Member
    This makes sense! I was eating 1200 calories at first but I was not losing and I was pretty cranky. Upped my calories to 1400-1500/day and have been consistently losing ever since! And I am not cranky anymore. It seemed weird at first since I am only 5' tall and started at 135 lbs, but now that I keep constantly losing, I am a believer!!

    @marissa - so good to hear! I am also short at 5'1" and have processed all this info but haven't been willing to go all the way up to the 1900 level it recommends. I have been trying to stay up around 1500 a day this week and have seen the scale move myself. Do you mind me asking what your specific numbers are? I'd like to compare to mine since we are similar in height and weight.
  • sheri02r
    sheri02r Posts: 486 Member
    bump
  • xMonroeMisfit
    xMonroeMisfit Posts: 411 Member
    so if my BMR is 1205, i am to be eating 200 more?
  • cafred
    cafred Posts: 27 Member
    so if my BMR is 1205, i am to be eating 200 more?

    Yes, 200 more would be the minimum you should eat but that is if you are sedentary. If you work out, you would need to eat your calories from working out back as well to make sure your NET (calories in-calories out) does not fall below this minimum number.
  • mollyquewl
    mollyquewl Posts: 24
    bump
  • MrsSassyPants
    MrsSassyPants Posts: 223 Member
    bump.
  • Jonahyona
    Jonahyona Posts: 108 Member
    Thanks for the info!
  • 2monthstogo
    2monthstogo Posts: 23
    Nicely put! Can you come and teach my students this. They won't listen to me! LOL
  • Happyoceangirl
    Happyoceangirl Posts: 1,993 Member
    Bumping to read later. Thank you!
  • MelV1
    MelV1 Posts: 31
    bump
  • StartingOver12
    StartingOver12 Posts: 40
    Bump
  • xMonroeMisfit
    xMonroeMisfit Posts: 411 Member
    so if my BMR is 1205, i am to be eating 200 more?

    Yes, 200 more would be the minimum you should eat but that is if you are sedentary. If you work out, you would need to eat your calories from working out back as well to make sure your NET (calories in-calories out) does not fall below this minimum number.

    ok so today i consumed 1611 calories; i burned 232. that gives me a net of 1379 and 61 remaining which i am not hungry enough to eat. Sorry for the redundancy but i want to be sure i am doing this right.
  • itschristine
    itschristine Posts: 44 Member
    bump for later. thanks :flowerforyou:
  • margie777mar
    margie777mar Posts: 20
    Thank you!!!
  • buckeye86
    buckeye86 Posts: 128 Member
    I was eating 1200 for over a year and lost a lot. I kind of plateaued, so I upped it to 1370 by switching my goal to lose 1 lb/week on mfp (I had forgotten it was still set on 2). But this website says my BMR is 1469 and I should eat ~2184/day? I would love that, but it kind of freaks me out since I've gained a bit in the past week. I gained weight in the first place by generally eating 1400 cals/day and eating things with crazy amounts of sugar and calories when I went out to eat once or twice a week without realizing it. I can't figure out where my body wants me to be? But increasing it even more worries me. I know I'll get responses saying I'm being silly and need to eat more, but I don't know if it'll work?
  • JensterPenster
    JensterPenster Posts: 21
    Bump
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    Bump
    Not sure I understand....
    I am a 33 year old female
    61 inches tall
    BF 26.1%
    Lean BM of 90.9lbs
    BMR 1263
    it said my caloric intake should be 1460 give or take 200-300 calories..that seems like a lot. :huh: confused


    Where did you get 1460? that seems very low if your BMR is 1263, doesnt give you much wiggle room for a deficit! Unless you do absoloutely no exercise, you should be at least lightly active which will give you more cals.
    The number in the table is what you should eat, according to your activity level, you dont need to create a further deifict from this.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    I was eating 1200 for over a year and lost a lot. I kind of plateaued, so I upped it to 1370 by switching my goal to lose 1 lb/week on mfp (I had forgotten it was still set on 2). But this website says my BMR is 1469 and I should eat ~2184/day? I would love that, but it kind of freaks me out since I've gained a bit in the past week. I gained weight in the first place by generally eating 1400 cals/day and eating things with crazy amounts of sugar and calories when I went out to eat once or twice a week without realizing it. I can't figure out where my body wants me to be? But increasing it even more worries me. I know I'll get responses saying I'm being silly and need to eat more, but I don't know if it'll work?

    what most people tend to forget is when they gained weight in the first place they were eating large amounts of junk food, its highly unlikely that you were only taking in 1400 cals before.
    Just make sure that you take in the extra cals from healthy foods not junk :-)
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    oh lord, wakeup call. anyways, I need help, im so confused. if anyone is still reading this.
    currently MFP has me on 1370 and eating back exercise calories of course.
    body fat %- 38.7
    BMR- 1352 (katch mcardle)
    suggested calories- sedentary- 1753; light active- 2009, moderate active- 2265
    tdee- ? dangit can't see the 1st post now to calculate.

    uh so how many calories should I eat? im exercising 5-6 days a week, so does that count me as moderately active? confused!


    I would count that as moderately active and use the 2265 calories.

    TDEE is the number in the table (which is TDEE for your goal weight) x 1.2, so on mod active you would be 2718. You can calculate your deficit from this @ 500 cals / lb, as long as you net above BMR.
  • TammyW18
    TammyW18 Posts: 244 Member
    Bump
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    Do I have this right?

    My BMR by Katch-McCardle is 1421
    My average calorie burn is 675 so
    My TDEE is 1421*1.2+675 = 2380.2

    Since I want to aggressively lose weight, I set my calorie goal to TDEE - 750 = 1630 and plan NOT to eat back any of my exercise calories but will watch my exercise tab to ensure that I am on track with averaging a 675 burn.

    Did I get it right?

    Nope, 'aggressively lose weight' is usually counter productive as you dont give your body enough fuel. You will lose weight at first, but eventually your body will stop releasing fat, or will burn muscle and you will end up 'skinnyfat'.

    Eating 1630 and burning 675 will net you 955 which is waaay below BMR and not leaving your body enough fuel for essential processes. At a very minimum you should eat 1421 plus exercise cals so 2096. With the amount you have to lose, you should be aiming for a maximum of 1lb per week.

    Put your numbers into the calculator, the number in the table is the TDEE for yout goal weight and the number of cals you should eat - based on your exercise burns i would assume your are moderately active.
    To get your current TDEE, multiply the number in the chart by 1.2. You can create your deficit from this @ 500cals / lbs but make sure you dont NET below your BMR.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member


    ok so today i consumed 1611 calories; i burned 232. that gives me a net of 1379 and 61 remaining which i am not hungry enough to eat. Sorry for the redundancy but i want to be sure i am doing this right.

    that sounds good :-)
  • abbybean11
    abbybean11 Posts: 122 Member
    bump
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    I think this all very interesting, and I hope it works. I'm sure my calories dipped and/or stayed below BMR a lot over the past years of trying to get weight off!

    I upped calories almost two weeks ago and am getting nervous. After the first week, I lost a total of 5.5" (assuming I measured the same way both times...) and I gained about 3 pounds, which is gone now. As of this morning, I haven't lost pounds or inches. I guess my question is, should I keep going as is, cut back on calories, or up them some? I work out 3-4 days a week, but my workouts don't burn a lot of calories. I walk and am adding in strength workouts (not heavy lifting though). I have a desk job so I'm not up a lot during the day.

    My stats"
    56 years (female)
    5 ft 6 in
    203 pounds
    TDEE: 2172
    BF (military formula) 49.9% (yikes!)
    BMR (Katch McArdle) 1371
    lightly active: 1922 cal/day

    I upped my calories to 1780 which I thought a compromise between using a 20%cut from my TDEE and using the f2f calculation of 1922 day.

    Any insight or suggestions would be appreciated.

    Well done on the inch loss, thats amazing in only 2 weeks! It takes a while for your body to adjust to a new cal level, so you need to stick with it 3-4 weeks before adjusting - its quite normal to get a bigger loss one week, then nothing rather than the same every week. Really you have had a result this week, although you were just relosing the 3lbs you gained, its still a loss!

    My stats are pretty simliar - 5'5, 204lbs, bf 40%, BMR 1574. I eat 1950 (this is higher than yours due to the difference in BF / BMR), and I lose 1.5 most weeks now ive been on a steady cal level for a few months.
    As your BF reduces, your lean body mass % increases so your BMR will be higher, so its ideal to rerun your numbers say every 10lbs.
  • BaliRun
    BaliRun Posts: 114 Member
    bump:flowerforyou:
  • LittleMissRainey
    LittleMissRainey Posts: 440 Member
    bumping for later reads :)
  • darlingkaya
    darlingkaya Posts: 37
    Where is the article you read that made you workout 3 times instead of 5? .. is it the facebook one? then i dont get where you got that from. Can you explane? :)
  • darlingkaya
    darlingkaya Posts: 37
    I did this Milatary one ... and it says im 103lbs lean body mass and have body fat of 30% ...
    When i Really am 119lbs lean body mass and have 20% of body fat... so its not a 100% you guys dont forget that ;)
  • sjcply
    sjcply Posts: 817 Member
    BUMP
    Thanks!
  • PopePopsicleIV
    PopePopsicleIV Posts: 34
    Awesome Info! thanks! Will be using later
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