TDEE seems too high

DitchThis

Hi, I'm new to the group. I'm 5'5 and 160 lb. I lift heavy 6 days a week and do HIIT 5 days. I usually workout an hour per day.

I'm trying to lose the last 20 lbs of baby weight and the scale won't budge. Eating 1700 cals per day isn't cutting it.

I just calculated my TDEE @ ~2500 cals. Can that be right?!

Jennbecca33

Yes, that absolutely could be right with your amount of exercise. You have a very high activity level. Sounds like you need to increase your calories. Yay for more food! Try a 15% cut from that 2500 number for several weeks and you should see better results. Welcome to the group!

DitchThis

I'll try it! Thanks for responding

heybales

Soooooo,

Exercise when done right tears the body down.

It's the rest for recovery and repair that actually build it back up, stronger if diet allows.

And in a diet, recovery takes longer.

Do you actually have rest for muscles in that weekly routine?

Because a body unrecovered with exercise is just an extra stress that doesn't make near the improvements it could, it usually just turns in to a calorie burner.

Now, when you say lift weights, perhaps you mean it's gotten to the point of no progress, no improvements, so it's just maintenance lifting that requires no recovery.

And the HIIT, while it may be pushing as hard as you feel you can on the hard parts, isn't really that hard compared to when rested, so it's really not a hard workout either. Again not needing much recovery.

So like, do you put an intense load on muscles that are attempting to recovery in the 24-36 hrs after the workout?

Sounds like you heard of all the best fat-burning workouts and are attempting to just shove them altogether for maximum effect, which actually backfires.

Or perhaps you really do have a well laid out routine that does allow recovery - that's just rare to see.

And ya, way too low - you have no idea what your workouts are missing out on for progress with that much stress.

DitchThis

Thanks for the response! Right now I'm lifting in circuits with one really heavy day per week. I have an arm day, back day, chest day, leg day, and an ab/shoulder day. I do 5-6 exercises in a 10 rep circuit 3x. My leg day is heavy - squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc. I do everything to failure. I'm crazy sore after each workout (like hurting when I sit in the toilet, walk up stairs, take my bra off), so I don't know how I could work harder but maybe....

My hiit workouts are based on my heart rate for my age/weight. I get my rate up to where it should be, keep it there for 30-60 seconds and then cycle down to get it on the low side of my workout ( usually takes 90 seconds). I do 15-20 min hiit 5 days and 45 min 1 day per week.

I'm working with a trainer and my husband is also a trainer. I see my muscles growing despite my bad diet. I just know that it could be so much more.

nellyett

I would hazard a guess that your are burning a MINIMUM of 300 cals per workout, therefore NETTING a max of 1400 cals per day. This would be under your BMR.

I'm 5'5" and have a similar circuit to you minus all of the extra HIIT....I lift heavy and for strength M,T,T,F....Kickboxing or run for cardio on Wednesday and just light walking on Saturday or Sunday. One complete day of rest per week. I have a desk job so am sedentary for the better part of the rest of the day.

Through much trial and error, tracking and averaging weekly cals, my true TDEE is about 2300 per day. I'm 42.

My personal opinion is that you aren't eating enough by AT LEAST 200-300 cals per day. Yay for more food! OR.....you could eliminate a lot of those HIIT sessions and give your body a chance to recover a little more.

DitchThis

Thanks, nellynet! So do you eat or net 2300? Sorry if these questions are redundant

nellyett

After a very long "bulk" and a few months in maintenance, I am currently "cutting" to reduce my bf %. I was at maintenance for so long because I had a hard time staying consistent on less calories. lol

I am basically aiming to keep my gross calories between 1900-2000 per day. So far I've been relatively consistent for the past couple of weeks and have seen a drop in the scale. More importantly, I've seen a shift in body composition even while I was maintaining my scale weight. Now it's time to shed the "fluff"

husseycd

I'm 5'5" and 128 lbs. I've been trying to bulk but failing, and I'm eating 1900 calories/day during the week and more on the weekends. Your TDEE definitely sounds right to me.

husseycd

I'd also like to add that I was cutting for Halloween and eating 1600/day during the week. Three weeks later, I've actually lost weight even though I've been upping my calories each week. Now, it's possible I'm just consuming less during the weekend since I'm not as hungry come Friday/Saturday, when I purposefully cheat. Or maybe I'm more active. But honestly, this really makes me believe you can eat too little and have it count against your weight loss goals.

nellyett

^^ I eventually stall out with weight loss when I eat too little....my body freaks and holds onto every little thing it can. Even when I was only netting 1000 cals per day (waaaay back when). Was starving, frustrated, and not losing a thing! As soon as I upped my NET to 1500, the scale started moving immediately!

Hit goal weight, quit smoking, and then all hell broke loose. Now I focus more on the weight I put on the bar and not so much on the scale. :):)

mymodernbabylon

I'm 45, 5'6" and 145 lb and my TDEE is around 2300 - I lift 2-3x a week plus play field hockey 2x a week. So you might need an even higher amount of calories (especially if you are much younger than me).

DitchThis

Thanks for the responses. I'm excited to get started and EAT MORE FOOD

heybales

DitchThis wrote: »

Thanks for the response! Right now I'm lifting in circuits with one really heavy day per week. I have an arm day, back day, chest day, leg day, and an ab/shoulder day. I do 5-6 exercises in a 10 rep circuit 3x. My leg day is heavy - squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc. I do everything to failure. I'm crazy sore after each workout (like hurting when I sit in the toilet, walk up stairs, take my bra off), so I don't know how I could work harder but maybe....

My hiit workouts are based on my heart rate for my age/weight. I get my rate up to where it should be, keep it there for 30-60 seconds and then cycle down to get it on the low side of my workout ( usually takes 90 seconds). I do 15-20 min hiit 5 days and 45 min 1 day per week.

I'm working with a trainer and my husband is also a trainer. I see my muscles growing despite my bad diet. I just know that it could be so much more.

So is the HIIT working using the same muscles that are in repair state?
Meaning you did leg day, and for 24-36 hours they are trying to repair and recovery.
Do you then throw a HIIT routine at them during that repair time?
Because HIIT - if done correctly (all out effort, rest, repeat), mimics a lifting workout (all out set, rest, repeat), except doing some cardio exercise that could be done steady-state.
The HIIT label has become fad and mis-applied to a bunch of stuff lately where it doesn't apply.
But even an intense load on muscles trying to repair will prevent that from happening, while adding more damage that must be repaired.

That's a bad idea, and is going to cut in to progress except at the start, where you can do everything wrong and still see progress for a bit.
Much like weight loss at first, do it all wrong and you can lose at first.
Later though ......

DitchThis

heybales wrote: »

DitchThis wrote: »

Thanks for the response! Right now I'm lifting in circuits with one really heavy day per week. I have an arm day, back day, chest day, leg day, and an ab/shoulder day. I do 5-6 exercises in a 10 rep circuit 3x. My leg day is heavy - squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc. I do everything to failure. I'm crazy sore after each workout (like hurting when I sit in the toilet, walk up stairs, take my bra off), so I don't know how I could work harder but maybe....

My hiit workouts are based on my heart rate for my age/weight. I get my rate up to where it should be, keep it there for 30-60 seconds and then cycle down to get it on the low side of my workout ( usually takes 90 seconds). I do 15-20 min hiit 5 days and 45 min 1 day per week.

I'm working with a trainer and my husband is also a trainer. I see my muscles growing despite my bad diet. I just know that it could be so much more.

So is the HIIT working using the same muscles that are in repair state?
Meaning you did leg day, and for 24-36 hours they are trying to repair and recovery.
Do you then throw a HIIT routine at them during that repair time?
Because HIIT - if done correctly (all out effort, rest, repeat), mimics a lifting workout (all out set, rest, repeat), except doing some cardio exercise that could be done steady-state.
The HIIT label has become fad and mis-applied to a bunch of stuff lately where it doesn't apply.
But even an intense load on muscles trying to repair will prevent that from happening, while adding more damage that must be repaired.

That's a bad idea, and is going to cut in to progress except at the start, where you can do everything wrong and still see progress for a bit.
Much like weight loss at first, do it all wrong and you can lose at first.
Later though ......

Well, I have a full rest day between my leg workout and the next hiit or lifting session. But I get what you're saying.

heybales

DitchThis wrote: »

Well, I have a full rest day between my leg workout and the next hiit or lifting session. But I get what you're saying.

Ok, you are attempting the HIIT after the lifting workout it sounds like, with rest day between those big days.

That's better.

butterbear1980

OP, I think you'll like your result both working out less and eating more. Try both for a month.