Calorie calculators - confused

No_Comply

For the last few weeks I've been doing a bit of running and bodyweight training. I used to go to the gym for a few years ago and since put on weight. I prefer bodyweight training and find it much more difficult than progressing with weights.

Anyway, I'm just wondering about calories. Some online calculators tell me I should above 2000kcal to lose, some say 1800 and one said. >2000 seems an awful lot for me. I'd say I eat about 1700kcal per day on average.

I'm finding it very difficult to lose weight though.

Typical day would be:

Breakfast: 30g oats, one scoop of whey, 10g nuts, banana, almond milk

Lunch: three slices of bread, 2 cans tuna, lettuce, tomato (sandwiches)

Dinner: two salmon fillets, 60g white rice, broccoli

Snacks: 50g mixed nuts

5'9" 90kg

Once and for all, how much do I really need to eat?

Thanks.

Alf Veedersane

They are difficult beasts and it is very difficult to find out what someone should be eating exactly by using a formula based on a couple of parameters.

The two I found to be best are this one from boards and this one from Scooby's workshop.

That gives you a starting point.

Then I would suggest using the MyFitnessPal app to get an idea of what you're eating across a week. You'll need weights etc but before long you'll get an appreciation of what you're getting from what you eat in terms of calories and the carb/protein/fat breakdown thereof. You'll know roughly by eye.

So work off the basis of what you're eating and the TDEE you've been given. See how you're going after a few weeks - you may need to tweak your intake accordingly.

Tl;dr Calorie calculators are not going to give accurate figures. It depends on the formulae used by different ones. I've linked two. Use those in conjunction with MyFitnessPal for a bit and see how it goes. Tweak diet accordingly.

No_Comply

Cheers I'll do that!

Edit:

Scooby says 2060 for 25% fat reduction so I'll aim for just under that for the next two weeks.

35%P 40%c 25%F

Alf Veedersane

It sounds like an onerous task (using MyFitnessPal) but it doesn't have to be.

Some people use it to ghet an idea of wha tthey're eating and will weight to see the difference between what they thought they were eating versus what they are eating. Cereal is a prime example.

"Sure my bowl looks like the one on the box. That's a serving"

The problem is that bowl belongs to Jiminy Cricket and is magnified by a factor of 100 for the box cover. A typical person's serving is a lot bigger than what the labels consider a serving. Usaing MFP just gives you an appreciation for how much you're eating and drinking and how far off the mark you are in terms of what you think you're getting on board.

But it works well if you're 100% honest.

Aside from that, see how it goes and if it looks like you're just staying as you are when you're eating, for example, 300 kcals below TDEE on a daily basis, then it's possible the TDEE you were given was a touch too high. That juist means you're still getting too many calories on board so just tweak your diet a little then. You don't necessarily even need to work out a change on MFP. Just have a little less and see how that goes after a few weeks.

Best of luck

No_Comply

Thanks again.

I'll religiously start using myfitnesspal!