HELP! How many calories should I eat in a day?

I'm 5'9 and 160lbs. I work out 5x a week doing a combination of weight training and cardio. Goal weight, 147.

I always hear 'dont eat back your exercise calories' or 'eat 500 calories less that you would if your were maintaining'. Well, which one is it?

To maintain my currect weight I would need to consume 1900 per day (this is with NO exercise). So, do I eat the 500 less and consume only 1400 per day?

What happenes when I work out? (Each workout averages around 800 calories burned.) So now im up to 2700 calories a day.... do I eat 500 less than that?

How the heck am I supposed to know how many calories I should be eating and should I or should I not eat back my exercise calories??

It depends on how much you're looking to lose. If you want to lose at a rate of 1 lb/week go with 2200 calories. If you're looking for 2 lb/week go with 1700, etc. I think the "dont eat back your exercise calories" is basically just saying "what's the point of the exercise if you're going to eat to negate it anyway?", but that's ludicrous anyway. Exercise has a lot more benefits than just what the scale shows

I'm in the same boat as you and trying to figure this whole balance thing out as well! I'll be interested to see what some of the veterans respond :)

I'm no expert but for losing weight, you'd want to eat 500-1000 calories less than maintenance, depending on how extreme you want to be. You should still be eating healthy things though.

Google "Calorie Maintenance" and click the first link, it should help you out.

There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat, if you do 500 less then you will have a deficit of 3500 a week. I never count exercise in when counting calories but with what you burn in exercise it will make you lose more. Thats why it is said to be healthy weight loss if you lose 1-2 pounds a week. Cutting 1000 is WAY to much to cut out. Stick with 500 below your reccomended caloric intake.

[QUOTE=Anewton401;795845623]To maintain my currect weight I would need to consume 1900 per day (this is with NO exercise). So, do I eat the 500 less and consume only 1400 per day?[/QUOTE]

Yes

I lift 3 times a week and do HIIT on alternate 3 days a week.

On my HIIT days (20 mins) I eat 500-700 less than maintenance.

Drink lots of water and eat lots of proteins.

[Quote]What happens when I work out? (Each workout averages around 800 calories burned.) So now im up to 2700 calories a day.... do I eat 500 less than that?[/QUOTE]

Yes - 500 less than maintenance.

Workout days I eat (need) more calories and about 50 grams more carbs than on my HIIT days.

No sugar, no juice, no pasta, etc... drink lots of water.

I stop eating at 7pm.

Using this method I lose about 2-3 pounds per week.

I have tons of energy and feel really strong when I work out.

It's awesome!

[quote=kboylecdn;811171981]yes

i lift 3 times a week and do hiit on alternate 3 days a week.

On my hiit days (20 mins) i eat 500-700 less than maintenance.

Drink lots of water and eat lots of proteins.



Yes - 500 less than maintenance.

Workout days i eat (need) more calories and about 50 grams more carbs than on my hiit days.

No sugar, no juice, no pasta, etc... Drink lots of water.

I stop eating at 7pm.

Using this method i lose about 2-3 pounds per week.

I have tons of energy and feel really strong when i work out.

It's awesome![/quote]


thank you!! :)

honestly - you just need to count and track what you are eating and what the results are and adjust from there...you don't KNOW you are burning 800 calories per workout...your BMR, TDEE that are given by formulas are just estimates. the only way to know is to track it and adjust to get the results you want.