Calories and percentage confusion

eredithh
eredithh Posts: 6
edited December 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I have my meals planned to be 1100 calories, 60 carbs, 60-70 protein and 20 fats. According to the 1g protein = 4 calories, etc. rule, my calorie intake each day is only 660? But the total that i've worked out is 1100 each day. Is there a problem with the way i'm calculating it?

Pls advice, thanks.

Replies

  • stronglikebull
    stronglikebull Posts: 402
    60c x 4 cal = 240
    70p x 4 cal = 280
    20f x 9 cal = 180

    that's 700. what have you planned? if i can see it i can help you figure it out!
  • eredithh
    eredithh Posts: 6
    The nutrition facts i've gathered are from the food labels itself. Could that be the cause?

    I'm eating oats for my daily grain. 1 serving of veg, 1 serving of meat per meal. For snacks, i eat 1 oz of nuts or 1 fruit.
  • toriaenator
    toriaenator Posts: 423 Member
    why so low? eating 1100 calories will not be good. find your TDEE and subtract 15-20% and eat that much. and also eat back some exercise calories! without proper fuel your body will not want to lose weight after a while, and you'll end up losing muscle mass, feeling un-energized, etc etc...

    sorry that was super preachy ahaha but i tried the low cal thing and it was not a good idea, it ended up setting me back a lot and i wasted time i could have used to be eating more nutrient-dense healthy foods and building muscle mass!
  • icrant
    icrant Posts: 41 Member
    The nutrition facts i've gathered are from the food labels itself. Could that be the cause?

    I'm eating oats for my daily grain. 1 serving of veg, 1 serving of meat per meal. For snacks, i eat 1 oz of nuts or 1 fruit.

    If you are referring to the percentages on the food label, that refers to a diet of 2000 cal/day. In your case, if you are targeting 1100 cal/day, these percentages do not apply accurately! Use only the actual weights for carbs, proteins and fats and then apply the formulas mentioned by StrongLikeBul (see above).
  • eredithh
    eredithh Posts: 6
    Toriaenator, my TDEE would be about 1492. So 1300 would be ideal? I don't exercise because it never seem to work for me. I'm not trying to lose weight, just belly fats which doesn't seem to ever go away.
  • eredithh
    eredithh Posts: 6
    The nutrition facts i've gathered are from the food labels itself. Could that be the cause?

    I'm eating oats for my daily grain. 1 serving of veg, 1 serving of meat per meal. For snacks, i eat 1 oz of nuts or 1 fruit.

    If you are referring to the percentages on the food label, that refers to a diet of 2000 cal/day. In your case, if you are targeting 1100 cal/day, these percentages do not apply accurately! Use only the actual weights for carbs, proteins and fats and then apply the formulas mentioned by StrongLikeBul (see above).

    I've actually been counting wrongly? So i'm suppose to gather the carb, protein, fats from the labels and count my total calorie intake using StrongLikeBul's formula?
  • RandomMiranda
    RandomMiranda Posts: 298
    I don't know about all that calculating; I just use the calorie counts on food labels or the closest thing I find on MFP. But if you aren't trying to lose weight, just tone your belly that will be more of an exercise issue than a food issue. Eating so few calories will cause you to lose lean mass, not fat, and that may actually make your tummy flabbier because of lose skin and no muscle to hold it back. Do what you can to find time to work out your core and that will do a lot more for your tummy than eating so few calories. 1100 is actually too low for anyone's health. Your body literally cannot function on so few calories, that's not even enough to fuel your vital organs.
  • icrant
    icrant Posts: 41 Member
    I've actually been counting wrongly? So i'm suppose to gather the carb, protein, fats from the labels and count my total calorie intake using StrongLikeBul's formula?
    Correct!
  • eredithh
    eredithh Posts: 6
    I don't know about all that calculating; I just use the calorie counts on food labels or the closest thing I find on MFP. But if you aren't trying to lose weight, just tone your belly that will be more of an exercise issue than a food issue. Eating so few calories will cause you to lose lean mass, not fat, and that may actually make your tummy flabbier because of lose skin and no muscle to hold it back. Do what you can to find time to work out your core and that will do a lot more for your tummy than eating so few calories. 1100 is actually too low for anyone's health. Your body literally cannot function on so few calories, that's not even enough to fuel your vital organs.

    I've actually used many different calculators online and most of them indicate that my daily calorie intake should be around 1300-1500. So i thought of cutting back a few % to lose that extra belly fat. Previously i went for morning jogs on alternate days for around 20-30mins, but for 1 month my waist measurement did not go down and i gave up on exercising. That's why i decided to diet instead :/
  • eredithh
    eredithh Posts: 6
    I've actually been counting wrongly? So i'm suppose to gather the carb, protein, fats from the labels and count my total calorie intake using StrongLikeBul's formula?
    Correct!

    Thanks!
  • icrant
    icrant Posts: 41 Member
    Eredith, even for a total daily energy expenditure (or TDEE) of 1300-1500, your goal of 1100cal/day looks too low! You must have a really small body frame!! If you stick with this value, please consider that overall, you need to reach 1100 cal/day ...net! In other words, if you run 30min in the morning and you spend 300 calories by doing this, you'll have to eat 1400cal to reach 1100cal net! The last thing you want is to go on an 1100cal/day diet and in top of that to consume 300cal by running, leaving you with 800cal net. This is a recipe for long term health problems!

    Also consider a distribution of the calories coming from the main nutrients as follows:
    - 45% from carbs
    - 30% from proteins
    - 25% from fat

    These values are for a moderate diet, which works well for most people. Of course, in the day-to-day life, it is hard to hit these numbers! Try to be within +/-20% from these values.

    NB. 1. If you are consuming alcohol, there are 7 calories in each gram of pure alcohol.
    2. This site is quite good at tracking calories and setting goals (see percentages above). I strongly recommend to use it! This will make this "calorie counting" journey, much easier! The only thing is to find the right food in the crappy MFP database. There is no filter to what people put into this, but with little effort on your side, this can be worked out. You can even add your favourite foods into this database if you want!
  • lillebanon
    lillebanon Posts: 214 Member
    Please read my blog entry about eating more, why it is important to help you lose fat... it include all the resources you need to determine accurately how many calories you should be eating, for any activity level you chose to have.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/lillebanon/view/my-take-on-eating-more-to-weigh-less-254554

    And, visit the group Eat More to Weigh Less here on MFP for lots of support in your journey!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less
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