How many calories a day??

[deanie]

Hi all

I started tracking my calories at Fitday last week. According to fitday, someone my age (43) and weight 122 and height 5'3" and activity level/workouts should be eating:
2531 calories on weight days
3001 calories on cardio days
they both seem VERY high!
I was eating about 1700ish each day, and I am a little hungry so I was going to bump it up to 2000. but 2531??!!! That seems so much.
Let me just add- , I am a size 0 or 2 petite, and I am not looking to lose weight. I also agree with the food ratios they gave me of:
carbs 45-65%
protein 10-35%
fat 20-35%
which I am within on a daily basis.
.

Does any one have any experience with fitday? Do those calories it is recommending seem really out of whack??? or is it just me? I've never counted calories before, I've never been overweight, just tried to eat right. I chose fitday over Cathe's nutrition report card because its free and $$ is tight.

 

[Sunshine1528]

Just a question: What is your reasoning behind tracking in the first place?

IMO, based upon your height and weight you seem to be at a good weight as you mention.

 

[fit_fairy]

Not a huge fan of tracking calories. However, I can see it being a useful tool at times. Also, I see more benefit in tracking the macro and micronutrients. I think if you are at 1700 cals and are hungry then I would up it by a couple of hundred cals and see how you do. JMO.

 

[deanie]

Jacque~ I am tracking to make sure I am eating well, getting all my nutrients. I also feel I have good muscle tone, but I would like it to be more pronounced- more muscle definition- so I wanted to "up my protein". Basically, using it as a tool, like Catherine mentions. I will probably only track for a few weeks so I know I'm on track.


Catherine ~ thanks, today I am at 1994calories, so we'll see how it goes. I would be interested in tracking my macro and micro nutrients, but I don't know how. Any websites you could suggest? or any advise on that?

TIA

 

[fit_fairy]

I just know the Cathe nutrition software does that. Maybe someone else knows somewhere else where you can do this.

 

[LaughingWater]

I use FitDay, but I don't rely on their caloric recommendation for the same reason ~ it seems so high. I figure the only way I'm going to know how much is right for me is by experimenting. I started at 1400 and have worked my way up to 1600, still playing with the numbers.

My FitDay program can track micros, but I have a program that I downloaded for free about 3 years ago. I'm not sure if the online program offers this feature.

 

[deanie]

thanks guys

I guess I will just have to play around and see where I'm at.

 

[cakebaker]

Seems way high to me

Hi all

I started tracking my calories at Fitday last week. According to fitday, someone my age (43) and weight 122 and height 5'3" and activity level/workouts should be eating:
2531 calories on weight days
3001 calories on cardio days
they both seem VERY high!
I was eating about 1700ish each day, and I am a little hungry so I was going to bump it up to 2000. but 2531??!!! That seems so much.
Let me just add- , I am a size 0 or 2 petite, and I am not looking to lose weight. I also agree with the food ratios they gave me of:
carbs 45-65%
protein 10-35%
fat 20-35%
which I am within on a daily basis.
.

Does any one have any experience with fitday? Do those calories it is recommending seem really out of whack??? or is it just me? I've never counted calories before, I've never been overweight, just tried to eat right. I chose fitday over Cathe's nutrition report card because its free and $$ is tight.

Fitday's calorie count for you seems WAAAAAAAY too high to me.