Question: TDEE with inconsistent activity

MandaLeigh123

Eating TDEE makes sense when your activity level is the same week to week but what if its not?
Mine was for 4 months and now its not. I dont know when it will be consistent again.
I'm disheartened bc I have been gaining weight. I think I had some unreliable numbers for awhile giving me a false low reading. My goal pants are too small again-- they have been slowly getting too tight over the last month. I can see the changes in my stomach, which was the spot I had begun to notice a loss.
I went for a long time increasing cals and my my weight stayed at 145. Now I wonder at the end if my scale was messing up. Now my pants dont fit and my weight is up to 152.
This wasnt over night. As I said my pants, have been slowly getting tighter over the past months and my last set of measurements was up.

How do you eat for your activity level when it changes all the time?
My calories were 2850 and I have dropped to 2,250-2,500 the last week and a half but I honestly think this might be eating too much for a cut with my change of activity. Its not gym time thats decreased... Its walking around carrying a 40lb bag for miles plus one 8 hour day of nursing gone.

I have been trying to "fake it til I make it" saying I feel strong... Which is true- I do feel strong but I am strong and gaining fat.

FRJM

How about using a lower end calorie goal but adding exercise cals back in?

Neonbeige

I was thinking the same. Then you were able to adjust your calories to your daily burn.

MandaLeigh123

Thx for the quick reaponse! I was thinking that too but whats my base for calories here? Its not BMR. Thats too low. On non-exercise days if I ate BMR that'd be like 1450 calories.

FitBit has not been helping me. When I first used it to calculate it said I was only burning average of 1700 a day and that was with easily over 10 hours of activity a week, a few of those being very some high intensity. I know there are people in this group will only get 3 to 4 hours of activity a week and eat over 2000. I adjusted the FitBit and it seems more accurate now. Wondering if I should try that and just eat FitBit calories per day as it has exercise added ? This honestly scares me a little too because I had to adjust my fitbit setting so much it that thinks I'm a 6 foot tall woman but when I had my height as 5'7" it was late underestimating my calories.
This is the first time I've ever felt the urge to drop my cals back down low. I am not going to do it- I promise. But just being honest here. I know that I'm more than just a number so it's not that so much that's freaking me out… It's that I'm actively trying to gain control of my health and not working at the moment.

MandaLeigh123

My stats as a reminder 5'7" 150 lbs 33yo
I put stats in scooby as sedentary and its 1570/day. So that would be my base then add the exercise on to that? Most of my gym exercise sessions burn 300-500. Then I need to somehow account for NEAT as well.

MandaLeigh123

Sorry that was with 10% cut.

FRJM

Sounds like a plan to me. Worth trying for a couple of weeks anyway x

ohiotubagal

What was your activity level before - light or moderate? From everything I've read I guess most people underestimate their activity level, and you are supposed to go up one level from what you think you are.

Maybe the folks over at the EM2WL site would be helpful?

MandaLeigh123

My activity level was maximum. My numbers were based off the mens calculator on scooby at 7-21 hours per week

tigerblue

This is why I consistently have to go back to the net calorie method. My daily activity is very varied. Some days I'm quite active, and some days I'm mostly at my desk (or on the couch!)

I have, with much record keeping, determined an average TDEE, but basically I have had to use trial and error to find the correct net calorie number. I also have to log some daily non exercise activity to make things work. For me I use a sedentary goal of 1/2 lb loss per week (adjusted slightly through experience) and then I log any daily non exercise activity that shows up on my misfit as lightly active or above. I also log exercise calories burned. Some days I will get no extra non exercise activity calories, but some days I get nearly 200, because my activity is so varied. Then there is exercise on top of that. Which can be variable also, depending on my workout for the day. I also look at a weekly goal, because on long run days I may not be able to eat all my calories back. Usually by the end of the week I have gone over on less active days, and it evens out.

I'm a bit anxious too about the summer, as my non exercise activity slows down considerably.

I also think that weight changes from diet come sometimes several weeks later, so perhaps the gain you are showing is from your increased eating a few weeks ago?? Not sure, but I do know our bodies don't exactly act like machines! It sure would be easier if they did.

MandaLeigh123

@tigerblue : So just to clarify. You set your calories to sedentary at 1/2lb lost per week... then you eat back some calories from non-exercise based activity that you add in yourself and you eat back your exercise calories as well. This is the method that MFP is set up with, right? I'm just trying to come up with some sort of plan of attack. Haha

I honestly don't know where the gain is coming from. Maybe 2800 was too high initially but because I wasn't gaining, I just kept upping and upping and upping. I didn't notice my weight start to slowly inch up until I was eating 3,000 a day, so then dropped back down to 2800.

I think there are a lot of factors that could be affecting my weight gain:
-nursing school finals the last two weeks so less sleep and increased stress increased cortisol
-eating out a lot so a lot of guessing as to my calories, I don't tend to overestimate calories eaten out but it's possible I have been underestimating them
-my NEAT has changed alot as well as spending less time in the gym the last two weeks

Now that I am done with school, my plan is to get back to my gym routine, but NEAT will still be decreased because I won't be walking around with a heavy back pack to and from the bus and around campus and to the hospital and back from campus... plus 8 hours of nursing activity thats eliminated.

Gym time will most likely get back to normal, which is still a lot of gym time because I like it.
NEAT calories that are changing, maybe losing... 3 hours a week walking with a 40 lbs bag and the 8 hours of nursing gone. I will be adding in mowing several times a week with a reel push mower and some light gardening and maybe hiking.

This is why I am so all over the place! Haha. I like to keep on the move if I can.

PS It's very possible I might have to cut back down to sedentary if I can't get this pinched nerve in my SI to ease up. Just started having problems after I posted this this morning. Been in touch with my docs already and have an appointment with my physical therapist tomorrow. I have ongoing joint problems, but this is a new one.

tigerblue

Yes pretty close. Actually, I do sedentary 1/2 lb loss + 50 more calories, because that way my goal is not as low on truly sedentary days. I might even could go up 100, but my logging can be a little sloppy, so 50 seems to be working. And I am losing about 0.4 per week.

On running days I will have more calories than I can eat sometimes (I like to run) so I just make sure and catch those later in the week. Not usually a problem!!

Basically I log any activity that has me on my feet moving for at least 20 minutes. And then I log all workouts. I use MFP estimate for strength, and an average between MFP, misfit, and log your run gps app for running and walking. I actually found MFP to be fairly accurate for me when I was wearing a heart rate monitor. It is just a little low for me, and misfit seems a little high for running, so all three estimates together seem to be pretty balanced. This is something I have come up with after watching my numbers pretty carefully for over two years.

As to the weight changes showing up slowly--for me at this point, it seems like it takes a long time for changes in diet to show on the scale (month to month is almost better than week to week). Maybe because I am always eating pretty close to maintenance. (Deficit about 200) Or maybe it is because I have been at this so long (well over 5 years) and I am already fairly fit. I know when I first started, the weight dropped quickly, but that is not how it is now. Now unless I do something pretty drastic, I don't see much change. While I guess I should be glad I'm not gaining, it sure takes patience to watch the scale go down so slowly too!

MandaLeigh123

Thanks so much for you input I really appreciate it when you all help a gal out!
Just got back from the doctors office where I had the chance to check my weight again on their scales, just for comparison and in February they had me at 149 and today I was at 153.6. I understand scale weight is not the best indicator, so I am keeping that in mind as well. I started EM2WL in March, not with weight loss on the mind but metabolism fixing being my first goal. I'd be happy to not be gaining fat at this point.
My first goal weight was 145 and then I was going to reassess my feelings about that. I made it down to that weight, though I don't know if I was ever TRULY that weight. Could've been anywhere from 142-148. If my weight is actually around 152 now, then I have roughly 17lbs, although I am less concerned with the weight on the scale going down and more focused on toning and losing inches. I'd really like to be losing 1/2 pound a week if possible. I've got some pull-up goals in mind and no way these arms are pulling this body up right now, because the body is too big and the arms are too small, haha.
I've looked at a lot of height and weight recommendations for myself and I think 135-140 is probably good for my small frame. I don't look very healthy when my weight starts creeping down to 130.
123-136 is recommended for a small frame but I don't think it looks good on me.

bonniejo

MandaLeigh123 wrote: »

My stats as a reminder 5'7" 150 lbs 33yo
I put stats in scooby as sedentary and its 1570/day. So that would be my base then add the exercise on to that? Most of my gym exercise sessions burn 300-500. Then I need to somehow account for NEAT as well.

Try this and then see what your body does. You are aiming for a 10% cut, so if it ends up being 15% it's not the end of the world and you can adjust. If it ends up being a 5% cut you can adjust that too.

losingitseattle

I don't have my copy of the NROLFW because I lent it out but I think it says another way to calculate your needs in a day's time is take your BMR x 1.2 for sedentary days, 1.4 for moderate days of activity and 1.6 for vigorous days of activity. I ran the numbers on myself and it's about right. I think that works out to about a 15% TDEE deficit for me overall.

losingitseattle

Do you truly have a small frame? 135 is pretty thin for 5 ft 7. I bet you look pretty good at 150!! Maybe you just need to modify your exercise program for the time you have available? Add Hiit or MRT to burn some fat? Add some heavier lifting? A lb of fat is the size of a 4 sticks of butter and a lb of muscle the size of a baseball. It could be that your body composition has changed because you have not modified or kept challenging workouts?

heybales

I'd agree with using the adjusted Fitbit since it seemed to be getting the TDEE closer to tested reality there at the higher activity levels.

But, couple of ways you could attempt this rather than using a block of calorie deficit, in case 250 isn't right.

Then again, for 10% deficit of TDEE around 2500 - it of course is - so that may be easier.

MFP profile set to Sedentary activity profile. Weight loss goal to 1/2 lb weekly. Exercise who cares.
When that is saved, customize your goals.
Macros to whatever, leave the eating goal alone.
Set to Sync Fitbit, and allow negative calorie adjustment.

Fitbit set to whatever fitness goals you want. Doesn't matter to what math MFP is going to do.
As long as you sync frequently.

Manually log the correct workouts in Fitbit - they have better database for lifting and non-step based like biking, rowing, elliptical, ect.

Then just eat to your daily goal.

After a couple days, you should get used to what the general adjustment is going to be, which could be large, but similar.

The other way of doing this if you want a 15% deficit, or indeed 10% off daily TDEE.
Set profile to maintain, all the other stuff the same.
Whatever the eating goal is - leave 15% in the green. There's your deficit.

heybales

Do you have some muscle imbalances that cause the SI to act up?
Or past injury?

MandaLeigh123

For my chronic joint pain: I have joint hypermobility syndrome and slight scoliosis. Left side of body slightly higher than right and joints are sloppy loose in the sockets. Chronic joint pain for past 8 years bc of that. This manifests mostly in my knees and left SI joint. Exercise does not affect it negatively. Its excerbated by sitting still (ie movie theater seats, long car rides, sitting in class) Treatment plan= strengthing muscles so much that they hold my joints in place. I have a chronic pain musculoskeletal doctor and a physical therapist.

This thing that happened yesterday is a totally new pain though. I woke up with it hurting more than usual Saturday morning but didnt have time to worry about and honestly my joints hurt all the time so if took it easy every time my joints hurt, I woukd never do anything. Went to the gym yesterday and tryied squatting and that put me over the edge. Thats how I know its different than my normal pain bc squats dont usually affect negatively. I am guessing a pinched nerve... Went to doc and suggestion was to keeo going to physical therapy so that was a waste of a co-pay- haha. It may have happened bc of my underlying issues but I dont know.

Diving into it everyone! Thanks for your feedback!