Don't Understand!!!!

[SamiT16]

Hi 

I'm new to all this, I'm struggling to understand. I'm a 5"4 female who weighs 110 pounds. I work as a desk job. I've just joined the gym. 

I have my Fitbit linked with MFP, and to lose 1lb a week it's stating I need to eat 1,210 calories. Now my concern is my gym instructor did my BMR which is 1367. I did an online calculator which states my TDEE was around 1,600 so if I was to drop 500 calories below my TDEE it would be 1,000 calories which is even below my BMR. 

The gym instructor today said I shouldn't be eating that low. Now I won't always be able to get to the gym due to work etc so on some days I'm going to burn less than others. 

Im slightly confused as to how many calories I should be eating to lose weight. 

[JohnnyRow]

If you're wearing a Fitbit, there's no need to rely on an on-line TDEE calculator.

Fitbit measures and shows you how many calories you are burning, and it knows a lot more about what you are doing than an on-line calculator.

Losing a pound a week at 5'4" 110 pounds seems to me like an excessive goal.  If you just joined a gym and are just starting to exercise, there's a decent chance you will start losing some fat anyway without being too concerned about BMR, TDEE, calorie numbers.

[SamiT16]

Thanks for your response. So do I just eat slightly less than whatever calories I have burned in order to lose weight? 

[Bill_k]

Like   they said if you eat 500 less than you burn daily you theoretically should start losing weight although the fitbit is not entirely accurate so you might have to compensate by eating more or less until you get measurable results on a physical weight scale. .

Find out what your actual,not calculated,  energy expenditure is by checking your fitbit app history on your charts wherever you keep your app installed or looking at the fitbit itself daily as close as you can to the midnight end time before it starts a new day.

It might not be 1600 at all.

Then you can determine how much you can eat to lose weight.

You might have to accelerate you exercising or activity level so you can eat more if it ends up being the 1000 calories that you need to eat but it feels unhealthy. 

Get it up to 2000 or more calories burned and eat maybe 1500 calories/day if you can.

Make sure when you're at the gym that you do  cardio friendly exercises  like stationary bike,walking,etc or just walk more in daily life.Watch your fitbit screen to see that your heart rate is in the 'fat burning zone' or above to get benefits.

Lifting weights  might not do that for you.

Walking is excellent for calorie burn if you can't get to a gym.

After awhile you'll get a set of numbers for how much certain amounts of exercise  adds to your calories burned/day and how you can adjust your eating.

It's a matter of experimentation.The 500 deficit is just a starting point. If you could get up to 2500/day expended you could raise your deficit to 750 perhaps.

Hope this helps.

[WavyDavey]

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@SamiT16 wrote:

Thanks for your response. So do I just eat slightly less than whatever calories I have burned in order to lose weight? 

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Pretty much. Just make slight adjustments, maybe 2 per month, and use the scale as your guide. All the numbers--calories burned, tdee, etc are just guidelines. How your body handles calories may be different.

I tend to agree with your coach on this one.

[bikerhiker]

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@SamiT16 wrote:

Hi 

I'm new to all this, I'm struggling to understand. I'm a 5"4 female who weighs 110 pounds. I work as a desk job. I've just joined the gym. 

I have my Fitbit linked with MFP, and to lose 1lb a week it's stating I need to eat 1,210 calories. Now my concern is my gym instructor did my BMR which is 1367. I did an online calculator which states my TDEE was around 1,600 so if I was to drop 500 calories below my TDEE it would be 1,000 calories which is even below my BMR. 

The gym instructor today said I shouldn't be eating that low. Now I won't always be able to get to the gym due to work etc so on some days I'm going to burn less than others. 

Im slightly confused as to how many calories I should be eating to lose weight. 

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With you being 5" 4 and 110 lbs, your BMI is 18.9 and that is very close to being underweight.  So it's pretty clear at least to me that you're not losing weight due to obesity, but you are doing so for reasons that are not health related as dropping below BMI 18.5 can introduce more health related issues down the road that it is worth.  Also, your body will not allow you to do so because your body requires a certain level of body fat for survival.  Which is why it is impossible for you to cut further unless you decide to eat below your BMR.

Rather than going below BMR and strive for that thin look you see in magazines, you can tone your body with the right strength and resistance exercises.  

[SamiT16]

Sorry I have made a BIG typo I weigh 150lbs NOT 110lbs (I wish) so I'm actually overweight for my height.

[WavyDavey]

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@SamiT16 wrote:

Sorry I have made a BIG typo I weigh 150lbs NOT 110lbs (I wish) so I'm actually overweight for my height.

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Are you tracking your food/calories in?

[bikerhiker]

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@SamiT16 wrote:

Sorry I have made a BIG typo I weigh 150lbs NOT 110lbs (I wish) so I'm actually overweight for my height.

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Ok, thanks.  This is more like it.  

I would first look at your diet and see if you are getting full nutritional value for your body, meaning you are getting the full minerals, nutrients, vitamins and dietary fat that your body needs.  Lack thereof, your body will consume more calories that it needs be to satisfy the nutritional value.  Most people consume LESS nutritional value that the body needs, especially women.  Which is why, 50% of North American women suffers from Osteoporosis and other ailments.

Secondly, what you need is to encourage your body to burn your body fat in your caloric deficit.  Which means that after you finish exercising, your body should burn more of your body fat in your resting period.  It will only do so in the absence of insulin and Cortisol.  Which means stress free and good deep sleep.  Your body burns fat during your sleep and repairs your brain by removing the beta amyloids responsible for Alzheimer's Dementia.  Are you getting the full 7-8 hrs of deep sleep with at least 4 periods of delta 4 sleeps?

Most people fail to lose weight not because they didn't exercise to create a deficit or eat well and less.  It is the ability to create a stress free condition where the body believes that it is NOT in survival.  As long as the body and your mind believes you are in survival mode, you won't be losing weight that easily unless you eat below BMR.  But that would only be temporary as while you will lose weight, you will gain it back once you are eating at your BMR and above.

Hope this helps..  

[SamiT16]

Yes I'm tracking all my food.

[SunsetRunner]

The best way to know how many calories you should eat is to track how many calories you are currently eating for the next 7 days and calculate the average of those calories. The fact that you are now going to the gym means you are burning more calories than you were before so either way you are beginning the process of being in a calorie deficit. Use this opportunity to get used to exercising. If you are not used to exercising you will definitely need the energy to start. Once you have established a baseline of how much you are currently eating, then you can reduce calories. Do not eat below your BMR.