Most people select a goal weight, and that determines their calories. Has anyone tried it the other

mmmpork

I calculated sedentary TDEE for my target weight, that came to about 1600 cals. By making that my target, I'll know how much I'll need to eat to maintain once I get there. It does mean that weight loss will really slow down for me as I get closer, but I'd rather do that than feel like I'm on a diet. Also, the idea of "exercise calories" is a myth. Most things grossly overestimate how many calories you actually burn, and research has shown our bodies have an upper limit on how many calories you can burn from exercise. Your body starts compensating to prevent you from crossing that limit. That's with cardio though, I haven't seen similar studies done on strength training. Also be aware, a lot of the BMR formulas out there tend to overestimate your calories as well. It's really tricky so you just have to experiment. I'm currently 210 lbs, down from 225. Jan-March I did 1600 calories per day. April, I bumped up to 1800 and stalled. So far this month, I went back to 1600 and have started seeing weight loss so that's my magic number right now. I'm 5'6 for what it's worth, and my target is 145-150 lbs. Once I can hit that and maintain it, I can decide if I want to try for lower.

positivepowers

shell1005 wrote: »

aDivingBelle wrote: »

It isn't just getting older lowering your BMR that makes you put on weight. If you think back to how active you were in your teens and twenties ( if you weren't overweight or sedentary ) and how active you are now, there is often a difference. I have issues with my feet and legs so I move less now. I also own a car and my kids are finally old enough that they don't need me chasing them 24/7. You also tend to move toward more sedentary jobs as you get older and more sedentary past times. People just don't think about this stuff, they just think their metabolism alone dropped off the planet. It drops slowly as you lose muscle mass due to aging.

Mine is the opposite. I was overweight and not all that active in my teens and 20s. I am now pushing 40 and am the most active I have been my whole life. My TDEE is significantly higher now than it was 10 years ago. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

At 53 I'm much more active than I was in my 20s and 30s, but that's because I gained weight in my 20s and 30s and now I have to move around - a lot - to mitigate the damage. If I weren't concentrating on moving my *kitten*, it would be widening even faster than it did in my 20s and 30s.

Francl27

GaleHawkins wrote: »

When I decided to never diet again to lose weight I did change my macro that cut out off of my cravings and just eat until I feel stuffed. Over time I am down from my peak 250 pounds to 200 pounds eating all I want to eat and have maintained there for the last year.

So I did neither way but just adjusted my macro and let the weight and number of calories be self adjusting after my self regulated eating order returned.

From my understanding unless we have developed an eating disorder for some reason CICO is automatically managed to yield the best human health.

One could argue that overweight/obese people have ALL developed some kind of eating disorder.

Also, unless you're very tall and/or muscular, 200 pounds is on the high side for most people, so your reasoning is flawed.

robininfl

On the original question - yes sort of. I generally do trust my body to stay at a healthy weight if I eat moderately and work out vigorously, so I try to live the lifestyle I want and let that determine my weight.

But I do adjust if I get "out of spec". Life throws things at you, right? So a couple years back intense stress, I didn't eat enough, weight drops below healthy, I work to get it back up some, or on the other side, this year, a string of injuries and surgery had me on my *kitten* more than usual, weight went up, I work to get it back down gently. So I do have limits on that, a goal range that I try to maintain. I do not want to be over ten stone or under nine, basically. When I get close to those outside boundaries I get worried and do work to stay a particular size.

This really doesn't happen often, though. I go years and years just sort of living healthy and letting my weight fall where it will. As long as it falls where I want it, LOL.

And I don't think I would ever want to maintain an uncomfortable lifestyle just to be a particular size, but haven't had to do that so I am not sure.

she_lived_wholly_forevermore

I'm actually attempting that now but working with what my Fitbit charge hr gives me. Focusing on netting 1200 so I'll eat anywhere between 1390 and 2300 depending on the day. Been losing the last 2 weeks so my body must like what I'm doing.

*sorry if I misunderstood the post but this is what I'm personally doing rather than sticking to a set range like I was doing no matter activity level**