Eat More 2 Weigh Less

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Checking in with my numbers. Thoughts?

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  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Ok, that is slow walking for exercise then.
    So TDEE 1881 is what I get, which sounds about right.

    Be aware that upper section for increases to daily activity is in hours a week.

    Slow walking really doesn't burn much.
    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs.html


    But as soon as you start jogging a decent amount instead of that walking, you can play with numbers now, you'll see how TDEE is going to go right up.
  • nineateseven
    nineateseven Posts: 65 Member
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    Using the calculator you linked to, 20 minutes per mile (3 miles per hour), the numbers do line up with the estimates from My Fitness Pal. MFP actually underestimates a bit.

    60 minutes of 3mph walking on MFP = 207 calories
    60 minutes of 3mph walking on ExRun.net = 219 calories

    As far as speed goes, my fastest walking speed is only 17 minutes per mile. At just under 5'3", I can't really go any faster than that :) Effort is probably a function of height. I know my husband is 6'2", and his "casual" pace has me speed walking to keep up. He's carrying on a conversation and nowhere near breaking a sweat, and I'm sweating bullets even though I'm in much better shape than he is. When I walk 20 minutes per mile at the mall, I've got people giving me dirty looks because I'm weaving through the crowds and people think I'm trying to run them over.

    My biggest concern is that it looks like I've been eating above 1881 all along, but earlier this month I was getting daily migraines triggered by hunger. That's when I was logging my exercise in MFP and to make sure I would net above my BMR. Once I upped my calories, the migraines stopped. On any given day, if I let myself get too hungry, the migraines come back. That's actually what prompted me to try to figure out my EM2WL numbers. Even now, eating over 2100 calories, I'm still hungry at the end of the day and at regular points throughout the day.

    Not really sure what to do. :\
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
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    Are you gaining at 2100 calories? If you aren't, then I'd stick with that for the moment and see if your body allows you to maintain that high - worksheets are great but they aren't always right. I filled out a few worksheets and they didn't give me as many calories as I actually needed (which I found out by eating more and more until I finally did gain a bunch of weight in a month). Then I knew what I had to do for a cut (which I'm currently doing and only 10%).
  • nineateseven
    nineateseven Posts: 65 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Looking back at my food diaries, I've averaged between 1850-2200 calories for a month while logging exercises and eating to net above my BMR. Mostly, I was hovering around the 1900-2100 calorie range.

    I lost 17.5 pounds from late December to mid January and have stayed between 137.5-140.5 with fluctuations for the past few weeks. No actual gains. The two times I've seen 140.5, the numbers have gone back down by the next day. I'm fine with the fluctuations and staying in that zone for a while because I know my body needs to adjust to being 17 pounds lighter in such a short period of time. Overall, I don't really care if the scale weight stays the same so long as my body composition is getting healthier.

    I don't know the exact calories for what I ate the last two weeks of December when I dropped the first 10 pounds, but we had Christmas, my husband's birthday, and New Years Eve. I was eating things like scratch-made cake with homemade Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting (absolutely loaded with butter and sugar)... pistachio gelato... homemade meatloaf with bacon and plenty of bacon fat (it's how I cook the veggies that go in the meatloaf)... beef stew, kielbasa, cheese, Christmas cookies, Reese's peanut butter cups, Hershey's kisses... :smiley: So while I can't say for sure, I think my caloric intake was on the higher end when those first 10 pounds came off.

    It was actually a complete surprise when I saw the loss because I hadn't been trying to lose weight yet. The only thing that changed was that I was moving more.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
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    Then it sounds like you are in a sweet spot of maintenance eating how you are eating. I'd just keep eating this amount if you are okay with sticking with this weight for the time being.
  • nineateseven
    nineateseven Posts: 65 Member
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    Thanks :) If I feel stuck with the scale and tape measure after 6-8 weeks, I'll reassess. By then my training will have changed significantly (from aerobic base training with a lot of low intensity work to spring training with a focus on strength and high intensity work), so I'll need to reassess my numbers anyway.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited January 2015
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    You need to make sure hubby carries all the water for your walking and a few hidden rocks. And the kid!

    And very true on the results based TDEE trumps the estimated, no matter how good an estimate you attempt to get.
    That's why the Progress tab has a TDEE calculator based on results and eating level, and that corrects the Activity calculator.
    That should be done monthly, so as TDEE changes per season or circumstances, there are no delayed surprises.

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