Is 17 days long enough?

RosieRose7673

Hello everyone!

So I've been working at maintenance for 17 days. Trying to make sure I find out my correct TDEE. I don't like to do the NEAT method... I'd rather just eat the same everyday... Less complicated and my workout regime has been solid for a good 8 months.

Anyways, I worked out my TDEE to maintain my weight using scooby and IIFYM. IIFYM was a good amount lower than scooby. Scooby was projecting around 2450 and IIFYM was projecting a little less than 2100. I work out about 6ish days a week (running on non lifting days and 3x a week full body lifting. I run maybe a mile or two on lifting days. Or sometimes 20 minutes of intervals). I set the calculators to the 6-7 hours of strenuous activity a week.

So going on precaution and what not... I set my calorie goal at 2150 and jumped right up to eating that right out of the gate. My weight went up a lb and then dropped. Since then, I've lost almost 2 lb. 1.8 in 17 days. I checked the calorie averages and I was eating about 1950 a day. So a wee bit under.

Is this enough time to give it before jumping up a few hundred calories? Like say... Setting it to 2250 and really trying to hit that goal? I just don't want it be a falsely lower number and end up gaining weight.

To be honest, my body weight usually doesn't fluctuate more than a half pound in either direction. It rarely jumped up when I was losing. It's strange. I've weighed on multiple scales and it stays pretty constant. I'm thinking it may be because I run a good amount and it keeps the water weight at bay. Who knows.

Any who... Good time to jump up a couple hundred calories or wait a few more weeks to decide? I'm fine with either. I have no problem eating the amount I am now. My boyfriend told me that I'm looking a little bit too thin (he pointed out my spine sticking out). I don't want to be TOO thin.

Thanks for reading!

LivingtheLeanDream

yep its time to up them again...you're doing great
ps you're lucky with your lack of fluctuations, I go up and down by +/- 3 lbs in any week and I run too.

The_Enginerd

The first thing I would do is actually hit that 2150 number before making a decision based on actually eating 1950. That's a 300 calorie deficit, enough for 1/2 lb per week weight loss if 2150 is your actual maintenance.

RosieRose7673

Okay cool. I'll really make an effort to hit the 2150! Then I'll evaluate in another 2 weeks! Thank you!

Yeah! I'm thankful for the lack of fluctuations. even when I have a ton of sodium (I'm talking about 4000-5000+ mg a day), I don't fluctuate much the next day. I love buffalo sauce and it would really tick me off to feel all bloated the day after a buffalo sauce fest!

TR0berts

The_Enginerd wrote: »

The first thing I would do is actually hit that 2150 number before making a decision based on actually eating 1950. That's a 300 calorie deficit, enough for 1/2 lb per week weight loss if 2150 is your actual maintenance.

That's a 200 Cal deficit, not 300.


TheEnginerd, screwing up math since... I keed, I keed.




But, yeah. Do your best to hit that 2150 Cal mark, before doing anything else.

The_Enginerd

TR0berts wrote: »

The_Enginerd wrote: »

The first thing I would do is actually hit that 2150 number before making a decision based on actually eating 1950. That's a 300 calorie deficit, enough for 1/2 lb per week weight loss if 2150 is your actual maintenance.

That's a 200 Cal deficit, not 300.


TheEnginerd, screwing up math since... I keed, I keed.

That's what I get for trying to do math in my head. Engineers can't do arithmetic without our calculators

Rogstar

Oh wow, someone else has a TI-86!

I'm staring at mine on my desk. It's telling me that my batteries are low.

TR0berts

I hear you. I typically screw up basic math in my head. Give some differential calculus, and I may be fine - this fact baffles my wife.

And, since we're at it - I have a TI-83plus and a TI-89. I really don't like the TI-89. I only got it because it makes certain LaPlace transforms easier.

kdiamond

I think you're good at this point...wait it out a little bit (maybe a month or two). It actually took me 6 months to really know.

williams969

The_Enginerd wrote: »

TR0berts wrote: »

The_Enginerd wrote: »

The first thing I would do is actually hit that 2150 number before making a decision based on actually eating 1950. That's a 300 calorie deficit, enough for 1/2 lb per week weight loss if 2150 is your actual maintenance.

That's a 200 Cal deficit, not 300.


TheEnginerd, screwing up math since... I keed, I keed.

That's what I get for trying to do math in my head. Engineers can't do arithmetic without our calculators

LOL! I'm a mathematician, and I can't arithmetic, either. I keep a cheapo TI-30 in my purse and my ancient TI-82 (born in 1993 and still ticking) in my daypack. TI-86 lives on my desk.

But, yeah--200 or 300--still around a 1/2lb week loss. I can illustrate the statistical analysis on that to show you that 200 and 300 calorie deficits ARE essentially the same thing, if you'd like .

williams969

Oh, and OP--yep, up those calories. I'm up to 2250 myself, and even though I *know* that's where I need to be (or maybe MORE, still in the exploration phase, ha!), the cray cray voices speak up sometimes. In this case, the scale is NOT lying.

RosieRose7673

Haha thank you mathematicians!

I'm going to eat a little bit extra chicken jambalaya tonight to get to 2150-2200!

belimawr

Rogstar wrote: »

Oh wow, someone else has a TI-86!

Don't have a photo and OT I know... but I've got an HP 48 sitting on my desk at home. I do remember the 86 as well from my days in high school when they supplied one for use in class if you didn't already have.

earlnabby

I was told that a good way to figure out your TDEE was to weigh yourself, count every calorie you ate for a 2 or more week period, then weigh yourself again. If your weight changed, take that amount and multiply by 3500. If you lost, add it to the calorie total and if you gained, subtract it. Then divide that number by the number of days you recorded and that will give you your actual TDEE rather than using an estimate from a website. It will take in your actual activity.

sijomial

Agree with above - use you own data and not an online calculator.
Either very simply from your recent rate of weight loss (1lb a week loss means you need to eat 500 more a day). Or a little more effort of adding the last few weeks calorie intake, add 3500 for each pound lost and divide by the number of days.

But in the end if you are losing, and don't want to, then eat more.

In your position I wouldn't wait to increase calories - remember it takes serious and prolonged overeating to start gaining fat and it sounds like you are still running a substantial deficit.

SezxyStef

here is a formula to use with your own Data.

Total Calories consumer+(3500xlbs lost)/#days.

I use about 3-4 weeks worth of data to account for minor things like water retention due to weight lifting, or TOM etc.

RosieRose7673

Okay. So it's been exactly 4 weeks attempting to maintain. Still averaging about 1950 calories a day. Some high days.... Some lower. I'm down 4 lb since when I started trying to maintain. So that's basically a 500 calorie deficit a day on average... Correct? It just seems so funny because I was losing about 1.5 lb a week before but I was eating under 1500 calories total a day.

I get the feeing that I'm getting much more out of my workouts now that I have more food in me. I feel like the she-hulk when I'm lifting. Haha! It's still hard to wrap my mind around the amount of calories needed. I've lost a wee bit in inches also.

So anyways, I've got to stop being a big baby and bump up my calories. I definitely don't want to lose more weight. I'm already a size 0 now in my favorite jeans (express) and I don't think they carry any smaller sizes! I'm not giving them up!

RosieRose7673

One more thing... I've never weighed food in my life. I wonder if I am just one of the few people who actually overestimate their food intake. It makes me wonder.

sijomial

RosieRose7673 wrote: »

One more thing... I've never weighed food in my life. I wonder if I am just one of the few people who actually overestimate their food intake. It makes me wonder.

Funny enough that is one of the big advantages of using your own data rather than online calculators - your own data auto corrects for food logging inaccuracy as long as you are reasonably consistent. Numbers might be "wrong" but they give you the direction you need to follow.

And this is a good example of how calories in can affect calories out....

I get the feeing that I'm getting much more out of my workouts now that I have more food in me. I feel like the she-hulk when I'm lifting.

Sounds like you will enjoy maintenance.

RosieRose7673

sijomial wrote: »

RosieRose7673 wrote: »

One more thing... I've never weighed food in my life. I wonder if I am just one of the few people who actually overestimate their food intake. It makes me wonder.

Funny enough that is one of the big advantages of using your own data rather than online calculators - your own data auto corrects for food logging inaccuracy as long as you are reasonably consistent. Numbers might be "wrong" but they give you the direction you need to follow.

And this is a good example of how calories in can affect calories out....

I get the feeing that I'm getting much more out of my workouts now that I have more food in me. I feel like the she-hulk when I'm lifting.

Sounds like you will enjoy maintenance.

I absolutely do enjoy maintenance!

christopherlee147

RosieRose7673 wrote: »

One more thing... I've never weighed food in my life. I wonder if I am just one of the few people who actually overestimate their food intake. It makes me wonder.

That's a big secret you've been holding on to

You basically have two options... 1) start weighing everything... Even if you didn't keep it up, at least you can get a visual of what one tbsp/tsp/cup/100g's of something looks like. I measure/weigh everything I eat, with one exception, I won't always measure the peanut butter I put on my toast because after measuring so many table spoons of pb and seeing how it looks on a slice of toast, you get pretty good at eyeballing it. 2) If you're eyeballing your food, just eyeball a few more calories.

I'm in the same boat as you now, I started maintenance on April 1st but I already know my calories are currently too low, so I'm just planning on upping my daily intake by 100cal every week until I level out, but as I mentioned above my meals are very calculated and very much numbers based.

RosieRose7673

christopherlee147 wrote: »

RosieRose7673 wrote: »

One more thing... I've never weighed food in my life. I wonder if I am just one of the few people who actually overestimate their food intake. It makes me wonder.

That's a big secret you've been holding on to

You basically have two options... 1) start weighing everything... Even if you didn't keep it up, at least you can get a visual of what one tbsp/tsp/cup/100g's of something looks like. I measure/weigh everything I eat, with one exception, I won't always measure the peanut butter I put on my toast because after measuring so many table spoons of pb and seeing how it looks on a slice of toast, you get pretty good at eyeballing it. 2) If you're eyeballing your food, just eyeball a few more calories.

I'm in the same boat as you now, I started maintenance on April 1st but I already know my calories are currently too low, so I'm just planning on upping my daily intake by 100cal every week until I level out, but as I mentioned above my meals are very calculated and very much numbers based.

Yeah I think I'm just going to eyeball more calories. I just don't want to buy a food scale. I know their relatively cheap but I didn't need it to lose weight before so I figure I'm probably off on a pretty consistent basis. So I'll add more of my eyeballing calories!