Could this be my issue? (Calorie Talk)

Marksman21

Hey folks,

I've been following "In Place of A Road Map 2.0" for my calorie calculations. So far, it brought success till these last few months where I hit a stable 235 lbs and didn't go anywhere. Wasn't bothered so much, but as time went on, I needed to find out why there was no progress.

Info I had was:
Current Weight - 235 lbs
Goal Weight - 200 lbs
Body Fat - 30%
BMR - 2184 (HB) / 1990 (KH)
TDEE - 2621 (Sedentary) [Acquired through Fat 2 Fit calculators]
Suggested Calorie Intake - 2097

Well last few months, I was eating at a steady 1800 calories a day, until recently, I had a craptastic weekend (out of the house, and was having a good time, so I ignored most of it), and ate garbage.... only to come home and find I had dropped to 234 lbs.

That's when it hit me. Am I eating too little? Should I be eating 2097 calories MINIMUM all this time? If so, I need to make some adjustments, but I wanted to know what you all thought.

tricksee

Sometimes, a day in which you fly through the kitchen like a hurricane can be a good thing, especially mentally!!

Marksman21

Don't get me wrong, I didn't REGRET eating a single bite of it.

Aaaand I was a sucker for trying the new McDonald's Dulce De Leche milkshake. Tasted great.

dsjohndrow

This happened to me a couple of times early on. However, in year two, as I was close to my goal weight, I had to be really careful of those kinds of splurges. What worked for me was eating the calories I needed to maintain my goal weight.

beelanc

Definitely sounds like you havent been eating enough. From what I got from the article you shouldnt drop too much below your BMR. (20-30% below from what I remember)

Marksman21

Definitely sounds like you havent been eating enough. From what I got from the article you shouldnt drop too much below your BMR. (20-30% below from what I remember)

There is some flexibility to that pending on your Body Fat. Though you are correct, it suggests eating at BMR, no lower, or to 20% lower than your TDEEE. (Those with higher rates of obesity can push it to 30%). 2097 is my TDEE - 20%. Just below BMR.

Klemy

I recently hit a month long plateau, and drove myself crazy trying to figure out why the scale wasn't budging. Finally the only thing I had left to try was increasing my calorie intake. ( I was eating an average of 200 calories below my suggested caloric intake per day) As soon as I increased my calories I started dropping steadily again. Sometimes the seemingly wrong thing is the right thing. If you try this and gain, you can always reduce again.

tinak33

Just and FYI, you should probably re calculate your BMR/TDEE numbers after every 5-10 lb loss.
The numbers will change.

rlmadrid

Definitely sounds like you havent been eating enough. From what I got from the article you shouldnt drop too much below your BMR. (20-30% below from what I remember)

20-30% applied to TDEE in the article. Your BMR is what you'd need in a coma with no activity... don't drop 30 % below that!

thesupremeforce

I believe that you're interpreting that information correctly. The rule around here seems to be "don't eat under your BMR." Try netting in the neighborhood of 2100 per day for a while and see if it works.

If it helps, I'm currently at 218, eating in that neighborhood and still losing every week.

If you've been eating 1800, bumping it up a little shouldn't stall you out all that much either (and if you're already stalled, you won't notice a difference).

rlmadrid

I believe that you're interpreting that information correctly. The rule around here seems to be "don't eat under your BMR." Try netting in the neighborhood of 2100 per day for a while and see if it works.

If it helps, I'm currently at 218, eating in that neighborhood and still losing every week.

If you've been eating 1800, bumping it up a little shouldn't stall you out all that much either (and if you're already stalled, you won't notice a difference).

I agree with this. I'm a 150 lb girl and I eat 1600-1800 and lose. That's the 'net' calories too. I use the spreadsheet from In Place of a Road Map to keep track over the course of the week and the month. Some days I can lift for an hour and follow it with a spin class and I'm just not hungry. I'll force a protein shake and let it go, because I know I'll likely be ravenous come breakfast at 6. Some days I skip breakfast because I'm not hungry but post-workout I could devour a whole cow.

I guess what I'm saying is you're right in listening to your body, and you're right that this probably means you should eat a bit more. Give it a try, at least 3 to 6 weeks for adjustment.

Marksman21

Just and FYI, you should probably re calculate your BMR/TDEE numbers after every 5-10 lb loss.
The numbers will change.

Learned that lesson a while back. The numbers you see are for 235 lbs. Once I reach 230, I'll be recalculating them.

beelanc

Definitely sounds like you havent been eating enough. From what I got from the article you shouldnt drop too much below your BMR. (20-30% below from what I remember)

20-30% applied to TDEE in the article. Your BMR is what you'd need in a coma with no activity... don't drop 30 % below that!

Thanks for clarifying...I need to read it again to refresh.

paintlisapurple

In my experience eating at a number above your bmr, but below your tdee and exercising your @zz off is the path to happiness. :flowerforyou:

Ready2Rock206

I've had that happen too - stall out while eating what you're supposed to - then have a "bad" day and bam the scale drops. Always good to shake things up now and again.

Marksman21

Definitely sounds like you havent been eating enough. From what I got from the article you shouldnt drop too much below your BMR. (20-30% below from what I remember)

20-30% applied to TDEE in the article. Your BMR is what you'd need in a coma with no activity... don't drop 30 % below that!

Thanks for clarifying...I need to read it again to refresh.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Its a good idea to give it a good read. Even if its not for you, its something to think about. Hate sounding like I'm advertising, but its because of the guidelines here, I boosted my weightloss to this point.