Trying to make a decision…..any thoughts are welcome!

kbhmmom

I have been monitoring this group for several weeks with interest, and am open to any suggestions on what would be the best thing for me to do. I have been overweight to some degree all of my life and spent a fair amount of my teens and 20’s eating very low calorie with decent results. I am 53, 5’2”, and my current weight fluctuates between 212-216. I have never been a “small” person – probably the least I have weighed in my adult life has been 145, and that was a struggle to get to! I am mainly sedentary during the day with a desk job. I do step-based low impact aerobic workouts (usually 3 miles, sometimes 5) with resistance bands and hand weights to increase intensity. Depending on the weather, I usually alternate those workouts with walking with some running interspersed, usually 3 – 4 miles. I generally fit in 4-5 sessions total per week, averaging around 45 minutes per workout. I have additional activity in the form of yard work and some farming chores. I have had a Fitbit Flex since January, and have a pretty solid daily calorie burn average in the low 2400’s. I rarely go under that, but sometimes am in the upper 2300’s. One year ago I was diagnosed with gastric ulcers, and after a gradual weight loss down to 198 I have rebounded and slowly climbed to where I am currently, 4 pounds of which have been in the last 3 weeks (yikes!). I am perimenopausal, and am on medication for hypertension, along with an antacid. I have followed MFP’s calorie recommendations for a half pound per week weight loss, which gave me roughly 1350 calories per day, with no real weight or inches lost. I rarely ate back my exercise calories. In the months prior to my ulcer diagnosis, I was essentially eating whatever I wanted, not tracking and losing around half a pound per week. I suspect quantities were probably not normal due to the nature of the illness, and obviously that trend has stopped. (I should have known something was up – I have never lost weight that easily!) Should I just go straight for a cut since I have my TDEE from my Fitbit? I guess I question the necessity of a reset since I had illness issues, but maybe that just strengthens the case for a reset. Ideas?? Thanks!

heybales

Since that 1350 was only supposed to be non-exercise days but you ate it all the time, and even that goal was probably based on sedentary daily life (not just job), that might have started lower than reality too - you likely had a bigger deficit than you think.

Does the Fitbit estimate of TDEE include corrections for non-step based workouts - like lifting straight out?
It could be higher.

Eating at TDEE given by Fitbit, at least long enough for water fluctuations to stop on valid weigh-in days - would be useful. May not be that long since you've already been up there in eating goal which is good.

Then you'll have to decide if you prefer a static eating goal you can plan daily on, or will you be able to meet a dynamic goal with Fitbit synced to MFP?

kbhmmom

Yes, I log any non-step based activity, although that type of activity is relatively rare for me with the exception of chore-related things (carrying feed buckets, square hay bales, etc.) and then we're only talking about carrying and dumping 3-4, 20 lb buckets of feed twice a day, max, and moving hay even less than that. I never thought much about logging that activity since I'm walking to the feed troughs, and those are relatively short distances at that. I know things are different for everyone, but I wonder how much impact the hand weights and resistance bands have on the burn from the workout. The bands are not used all the time, but I do use the hand weights (2 lbs each) from start to finish during my step workouts, but not my walk/runs. I have no clue how to account for the hand weight usage, or if I should.

Just for clarification, I have been trying to up my calorie consumption to around 1800-1900 calories per day, but have not gone much higher than that for the most part. It's definitely a mental thing, after years of at least thinking about calorie consumption, if not actively dieting. I avoid sugar, and try to focus on lower carb options, which seems to make a higher calorie day challenging, for me at least.

heybales

If the lower carb has proved useful and you can maintain that lifestyle - then add more fat if protein is correct already.

Resistance bands and handweights and short trips with extra weight - Fitbit will see enough of that, increase calorie burn even if not enough, and that should be close enough.

If you had 8 hrs daily that would be one thing, yours is different.

Keep on getting it up there, pay attention to how the body benefits from eating at maintenance with perhaps better diet than it had before, and watch the water fluctuations for a tad.

kbhmmom

Thanks for your input. It should be interesting!