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Old 02-21-2008, 07:52 AM
jessca jessca is offline
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Default confused about calorie intake

Hey,

Sorry if this have been talked about over and over again, but I couldn't find a post... maybe i suck at searching... lol

im really confused about how many calories I should be eating a day... and confused about BMR and what that means with the amount of calories I should be taking in. I know you should be burning more than u are taking in for fatloss, so should I eat less than my BMR? or should I just eat my BMR and going to the gym would be burning more than I'm eating?

GAH! so confused!!!

Any help would be appreciated!!!

btw. i'm 21, 5'8 and 160 and i think that means by BMR is 1549?
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Old 02-21-2008, 08:01 AM
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The Harris-Benedict formula (BMR based on total body weight)

Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in years)

Note: 1 inch = 2.54 cm.
1 kilogram = 2.2 lbs.

Example:
You are female
You are 30 yrs old
You are 5' 6 " tall (167.6 cm)
You weigh 120 lbs. (54.5 kilos)
Your BMR = 655 + 523 + 302 - 141 = 1339 calories/day

Activity Multiplier- If you are active-

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

Example:
Your BMR is 1339 calories per day
Your activity level is moderately active (work out 3-4 times per week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
Your TDEE = 1.55 X 1339 = 2075 calories/day

We have the mens formula on sticky, but here is the womens as well. You can take in less to loose or add more calories to gain.
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Old 02-21-2008, 08:02 AM
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And that BMR you posted seems low but I could be wrong..
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Old 02-21-2008, 08:47 AM
jessca jessca is offline
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according to the formula my BMR is 1437.22
with the activity multiplier it is 2227.69

so if i want to loose a pound a week i should take 500 cals off that, giving me a intake of 1727.69?

sorry for the retardness... I just don't really know what I should be doing lol...

Thanks for the help!
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Old 02-21-2008, 08:54 AM
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No it's not retarded.. I was just thinking that might be a little low.. Even if you were sedentary... You probably don't even need to take 500 off of that.. Try about 300 and go from there.. See if your weight goes down then keep doing so.. Till you find a good rate of loss.. Most people assume the more you take off the better, but that's not true. It will pull a lot of weight off at first.. But then your body will try to store fat because the deficit is so severe.. Good luck with your goals..
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Old 02-21-2008, 09:02 AM
jessca jessca is offline
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thanks so much!!
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Old 02-21-2008, 10:36 AM
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Calculators suck.... One of the best ways to find out would be to write everything that you are eating down. Do this for 3-5 days and see how many calories your taking in. Once you get that ( ie 2000 ) then ask yourself, are you losing weight(fat or muscle) or gaining weight(fat or muscle). Then go from there...add or remove... It may take longer, but you can't find a more accurate way.
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Old 02-21-2008, 02:21 PM
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Solid advice.
It sounds like you are about the same size as my gf, and she is on a diet of 1500 cals and is losing about 1 pound every 2 weeks. She only works out 2 times a week so that is her one problem we're trying to work on. I would stick to ~1700 cals. for 2 weeks and make sure you are consistent because that is the biggest thing in dieting. As soon as you stop losing weight for 1-2 weeks in a row, adjust you diet or how much cardio you do. Only adjust one so you know what is working.
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Old 02-21-2008, 07:01 PM
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All very good advice.. And yes would be better than a calculator.. considering everyone's metabolism varies greatly...
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