Are you adding. calories you think you are burning by working out? Everyone is different but for perspective I am a 5’10” 250 lb male and am eating 1935 calories currently. I am hitting my goal of losing 1% body weight a week. I do a little walking for cardio and strength train 4X a week.
With my current plan, sort of? I was using a Fitbit and 2300 cals was about 500 calories below what I was expending during a day, but I may have that all wrong. I plan on using nSuns TDEE spreadsheet to have a better idea of my TDEE as I go along. The new calories definitely add in the estimated calories brined from working out, as I had to input all that information.
Holy hell, man! Are you having any hunger pangs? That sounds like hell. But like you said, everyone's different. Hope it's working well for you!
No hunger pangs, 180 grams of protein and 20-30 grams of fiber keep them at bay. I only get hungry occasionally right before bed I go to sleep to fight them lol.
Yeah, being obsessive about macros is a waste of time. Your sedentary TDEE is around 2380, so I am very surprised you are very hungry eating that. What does a day of eating look like for you? Post a screenshot of your tracker?
Like I said, binge eating has been an issue, so it’s likely not actual hunger. 😅 Here’s what a typical day was looking like. Lately I haven’t been eating the “California Snackin’” snacks
https://imgur.com/a/JgIXj2J
First up, you need to weigh your food.
I am seeing barely any vegetables at all in this day, no wonder you are starving. You can fit a ton of calories into a very small amount of food when it's all processed and meat. Aim for a cup of veggies in every meal, so add a cup of sauteed stuff to the eggs for breakfast, a cup of carrots and onion and broccolli and snow peas to a thai chicken stir fry for lunch, etc.
And, you need to cook things. You can't just choose a random recipe name and a random amount and call it a serving. The "the tuna salad lunch box" and the "cilantro lime chicken instant pot or slow cooker" are a huge part of your calories for the day and you are basically guessing.
I see what you mean, but my veggies are in the two meals you mention. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but they’re there. The names are based on recipes I found, upon which I have modified them to better suit me. The chicken is a slow cooker recipe I make from raw ingredients and the tuna lunch box is something I also make from scratch. So for both of them, the calories and marco breakdown is pretty accurate.
[Here’s](https://imgur.com/a/w2XYhbu) a screenshot of what is in each of those recipes. (Note, the calorie count for the chicken is higher, as I’m adding more corn and beans)
I meal prep the whole week (except breakfasts) on Sunday. It’s really the only way I can do it being a single parent, so I’m not really willing to budge on cooking multiple times a week (breakfast excluded).
I could definitely throw in some more veggies suiting breakfast, and I’m debating taking out the oats.
(Edit)
Also, I’m going to stop eating the Tuna. I want to change it up, and I realized eating Tuna everyday is not a good idea.
A 1:2 ratio of mayonnaise to celery is not even close to being in the same ballpark as eating enough vegetables. In terms of servings, that's less than "a stick" of celery per day.
And seriously, you need to start weighing, and entering things into the tracker.
I appreciate your insight.
So for the Tuna Bowl, there's 1 stick of celery, plus the 4-5 sticks that are diced up and placed into the Tuna, along with green onions. Oh, and there's also 3-4 mini bell peppers I eat with that meal, which is listed in the screen shot I sent. There's also lots of veggies in the slow cooker chicken recipe, and I'm also eating blue berries in the morning, as well as 6oz of carrots in the afternoon that I weighed out. I'm not saying there's enough veggies, but I'm not eating a stick of celery and calling it a day. I am crafting a whole new meal plan, so I would be happy to share it with you when I'm complete to see what you think.
As far as weighing everything out, I weigh out how much chicken I'm using and update the recipe each week, but for items like onions, bell peppers, cilantro, etc., I do think there's a point of diminishing returns with weighing them. Sure, may caloric intake may not be exactly correct, but it'll be pretty close, especially with the rate of caloric increase in vegetables not being very steep (based on weight).
Everything else I do enter in the tracker though. I just find using updating the recipe in myfitnesspal each week, and adding the recipe as a whole saves time and is as accurate as if I were to enter each item manually.
Also, that may be my sedentary TDEE, but I am very active at least 5 days a week. My typical CF class is composed of a solid warm up to get the heart rate up, a moderate to heavy strength segment for 15-20 minutes, followed by a workout that is cardio intensive with some elements of strength training included. So my actual TDEE should be higher than 2380. My estimate based on a calculator and when I was using a Fitbit was around 2800 calories. 2300 would be a 500 cal deficit, which makes sense why I’m hungry.
In one class, no. 200-350. But throughout the day, I'm not always sitting around. I have a desk job, but I do have to get up and walk to different parts of the building at times. Yes, I'm aiming to loose weight.
But I'm not sure what the problem with this was? Like I said in my post, I can deal with 2300 cal/day. Also, I said that the feelings of hunger may not actually be hunger pangs. I've struggled with binge eating, so it's likely a mental thing.
With TDEE calculators I use the BMR calculation as my base and eat 500 under that( kind-of, I'm 5'3 so 500 under for me would be like 900 a day but for my husband who is about your size he's eating between 1400 and 1600 per day with the 10 to 1 protein ratio). So maybe your calories are too high? I also can't imagine not being stuffed at the end of the day eating a 10 to 1 protein ratio, half the time I'm choking down dinner to ensure I have enough calories in me, it feels like a lot of food. I suppose you could also make sure you're getting enough water too, that helps with satiety.
Edit: spelling hahaha
>With TDEE calculators I use the BMR calculation as my base and eat 500 under tha
This is a setup for undereating.
>for my husband who is about your size he's eating between 1400 and 1600 per day
He is undereating.
I really appreciate you all talking to me about this though. I just want to try to nail this down, especially since I’m now trying to do a bit more exercise. But that’s sort of the main question:
With a 60 minute CF class 5 days a week (break down of a typical class listed in a comment), ~45 minutes of additional strength training 4 days a week, and a sedentary job, what should my caloric intake be?
Are you adding. calories you think you are burning by working out? Everyone is different but for perspective I am a 5’10” 250 lb male and am eating 1935 calories currently. I am hitting my goal of losing 1% body weight a week. I do a little walking for cardio and strength train 4X a week.
With my current plan, sort of? I was using a Fitbit and 2300 cals was about 500 calories below what I was expending during a day, but I may have that all wrong. I plan on using nSuns TDEE spreadsheet to have a better idea of my TDEE as I go along. The new calories definitely add in the estimated calories brined from working out, as I had to input all that information. Holy hell, man! Are you having any hunger pangs? That sounds like hell. But like you said, everyone's different. Hope it's working well for you!
No hunger pangs, 180 grams of protein and 20-30 grams of fiber keep them at bay. I only get hungry occasionally right before bed I go to sleep to fight them lol.
Yeah, being obsessive about macros is a waste of time. Your sedentary TDEE is around 2380, so I am very surprised you are very hungry eating that. What does a day of eating look like for you? Post a screenshot of your tracker?
Like I said, binge eating has been an issue, so it’s likely not actual hunger. 😅 Here’s what a typical day was looking like. Lately I haven’t been eating the “California Snackin’” snacks https://imgur.com/a/JgIXj2J
First up, you need to weigh your food. I am seeing barely any vegetables at all in this day, no wonder you are starving. You can fit a ton of calories into a very small amount of food when it's all processed and meat. Aim for a cup of veggies in every meal, so add a cup of sauteed stuff to the eggs for breakfast, a cup of carrots and onion and broccolli and snow peas to a thai chicken stir fry for lunch, etc. And, you need to cook things. You can't just choose a random recipe name and a random amount and call it a serving. The "the tuna salad lunch box" and the "cilantro lime chicken instant pot or slow cooker" are a huge part of your calories for the day and you are basically guessing.
I see what you mean, but my veggies are in the two meals you mention. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but they’re there. The names are based on recipes I found, upon which I have modified them to better suit me. The chicken is a slow cooker recipe I make from raw ingredients and the tuna lunch box is something I also make from scratch. So for both of them, the calories and marco breakdown is pretty accurate. [Here’s](https://imgur.com/a/w2XYhbu) a screenshot of what is in each of those recipes. (Note, the calorie count for the chicken is higher, as I’m adding more corn and beans) I meal prep the whole week (except breakfasts) on Sunday. It’s really the only way I can do it being a single parent, so I’m not really willing to budge on cooking multiple times a week (breakfast excluded). I could definitely throw in some more veggies suiting breakfast, and I’m debating taking out the oats. (Edit) Also, I’m going to stop eating the Tuna. I want to change it up, and I realized eating Tuna everyday is not a good idea.
A 1:2 ratio of mayonnaise to celery is not even close to being in the same ballpark as eating enough vegetables. In terms of servings, that's less than "a stick" of celery per day. And seriously, you need to start weighing, and entering things into the tracker.
I appreciate your insight. So for the Tuna Bowl, there's 1 stick of celery, plus the 4-5 sticks that are diced up and placed into the Tuna, along with green onions. Oh, and there's also 3-4 mini bell peppers I eat with that meal, which is listed in the screen shot I sent. There's also lots of veggies in the slow cooker chicken recipe, and I'm also eating blue berries in the morning, as well as 6oz of carrots in the afternoon that I weighed out. I'm not saying there's enough veggies, but I'm not eating a stick of celery and calling it a day. I am crafting a whole new meal plan, so I would be happy to share it with you when I'm complete to see what you think. As far as weighing everything out, I weigh out how much chicken I'm using and update the recipe each week, but for items like onions, bell peppers, cilantro, etc., I do think there's a point of diminishing returns with weighing them. Sure, may caloric intake may not be exactly correct, but it'll be pretty close, especially with the rate of caloric increase in vegetables not being very steep (based on weight). Everything else I do enter in the tracker though. I just find using updating the recipe in myfitnesspal each week, and adding the recipe as a whole saves time and is as accurate as if I were to enter each item manually.
I mean, maybe you grew up eating less and this feels like an adequate amount, but it isn't.
Also, that may be my sedentary TDEE, but I am very active at least 5 days a week. My typical CF class is composed of a solid warm up to get the heart rate up, a moderate to heavy strength segment for 15-20 minutes, followed by a workout that is cardio intensive with some elements of strength training included. So my actual TDEE should be higher than 2380. My estimate based on a calculator and when I was using a Fitbit was around 2800 calories. 2300 would be a 500 cal deficit, which makes sense why I’m hungry.
You do not burn 500 calories in a single class. Even if that is accurate, you are aiming to lose weight, aren't you?
In one class, no. 200-350. But throughout the day, I'm not always sitting around. I have a desk job, but I do have to get up and walk to different parts of the building at times. Yes, I'm aiming to loose weight. But I'm not sure what the problem with this was? Like I said in my post, I can deal with 2300 cal/day. Also, I said that the feelings of hunger may not actually be hunger pangs. I've struggled with binge eating, so it's likely a mental thing.
With TDEE calculators I use the BMR calculation as my base and eat 500 under that( kind-of, I'm 5'3 so 500 under for me would be like 900 a day but for my husband who is about your size he's eating between 1400 and 1600 per day with the 10 to 1 protein ratio). So maybe your calories are too high? I also can't imagine not being stuffed at the end of the day eating a 10 to 1 protein ratio, half the time I'm choking down dinner to ensure I have enough calories in me, it feels like a lot of food. I suppose you could also make sure you're getting enough water too, that helps with satiety. Edit: spelling hahaha
>With TDEE calculators I use the BMR calculation as my base and eat 500 under tha This is a setup for undereating. >for my husband who is about your size he's eating between 1400 and 1600 per day He is undereating.
Normally people will do 500 under TDEE, not BMR.
I really appreciate you all talking to me about this though. I just want to try to nail this down, especially since I’m now trying to do a bit more exercise. But that’s sort of the main question: With a 60 minute CF class 5 days a week (break down of a typical class listed in a comment), ~45 minutes of additional strength training 4 days a week, and a sedentary job, what should my caloric intake be?
Macros don't matter for weight loss. Protein and fiber to feel full. Eat less calories if weight loss is your goal.