Too high tdee? Advice?

cwolfman13

If your TDEE is truly 3800 ish calories, you should lose 2 Lbs eating 2800 calories (1,000 calorie deficit per day to lose 2 Lbs per week). If you're eating 1500 calories and your TDEE is indeed 3,800 calories I'd say you're not eating enough. But I think you've probably received enough support here in your quest to under-eat for my advice to be any use to you.

Carry on...

Matt_Wild

Sorry reread the 1500 being total. Short term I can't see much of a problem (eg a few weeks, if you have the body fat level to supply the energy).

Doing that long term (more than a few weeks), I would certainly advise upping the calories, maybe towards 1000-1500. Even at 2800 calories IF you are burning 3800 (most people use machine which suggest calories burnt which are so far off it isn't funny) you should burn off at least 2lb of fat a week AND get to eat more - win win - nothing to lose.

If at this point you start to GAIN weight, back off a couple of a hundred a time ONCE a week until you start dropping 1lb a week. Remember too fast will be lean body mass.

I wouldn't complain at eating 2800+ calories a day - much nicer to feel fuller and lose just fat not muscle... plus you hair, nails and skin etc with be healthier if you give the body the calorie it needs.

AlwaysWanderer

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/breastfeeding/a/more_myths.htm
Unless calorie level is critically low, I will not affect milk supply.
And I'm going to call an idiot anyone who calls me selfish based on my calorie
Bit more info...
I've only started 2 weeks ago.
My half-marathon training starts today, although I've been running few times in the past 2 weeks.so the question is more for the future intake, not the past.
I was concerned that I wasn't eating enough, which is why I calculated my tdee and asked for advice, not judgment.
My baby is the most important thing in the world to me, and I'd never do anything to hurt her. So people assuming that I want to is very upsetting.
Now is there anyone who could recommend how many calories I should actually be eating?
@bostonstrong6, thank you very much for your post, it has actually made me think. I've got no history of eating disorders, but I do tend to go to extremes with exercise. If you've got some advice for me as to how to do it properly, I'd appreciate it.

contingencyplan

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/breastfeeding/a/more_myths.htm
Unless calorie level is critically low, I will not affect milk supply.
And I'm going to call an idiot anyone who calls me selfish based on my calorie
Bit more info...
I've only started 2 weeks ago.
My half-marathon training starts today, although I've been running few times in the past 2 weeks.so the question is more for the future intake, not the past.
I was concerned that I wasn't eating enough, which is why I calculated my tdee and asked for advice, not judgment.
My baby is the most important thing in the world to me, and I'd never do anything to hurt her. So people assuming that I want to is very upsetting.
Now is there anyone who could recommend how many calories I should actually be eating?
@bostonstrong6, thank you very much for your post, it has actually made me think. I've got no history of eating disorders, but I do tend to go to extremes with exercise. If you've got some advice for me as to how to do it properly, I'd appreciate it.

At 1500 a day intake and almost 4000 calorie TDEE, that does say "critically low."

For half marathon training I would definitely drop Insanity. It'll interfere with time spend doing things more focused on your goals due to the need for recovery and rest between workouts. Being able to get sufficient rest between workouts is necessary for fitness gains. Also, eating at a deficit while training for a marathon is not recommended as you won't see the endurance gains needed to step up to that level while eating at a deficit. Endurance, just like strength, can't continue to see linear, significant gains beyond initial adaptation when eating at a calorie deficit. So, you should choose at this point whether you want to make functional gains (half marathon prep) or body recomposition (weight loss) your goal. Unfortunately, you cannot have it all.

moment_to_arise

Unless calorie level is critically low, I will not affect milk supply.

eating 1500 calories a day and doing all the exercise you are doing will make your calorie level critically low. you definitely should be logging all your exercise calories during this time period, that way you KNOW you are getting enough net calories. you should not be netting below 1700 calories again in my opinion if you are breastfeeding. my sister went through this when she had her son (my beautiful nephew!) 3 years ago. she dived into a lot of hardcore exercise and not eating enough and was completely wiped out by the time he was 6 months old.

make sure you log your exercise calories accurately (do you have a heart rate monitor? i have a polar ft7 and i LOVE it) and keep your NET (not total intake) above 1500-1700 (if you really want to keep your calories that low) otherwise your body could do into starvation mode and start holding on to any fat it can and you won't be losing inches. this is a HUGE mistake that a lot of people trying to slim down can make. and make sure you are concentrating more on losing inches and toning than losing weight. losing weight can include losing muscle as well and is not good. instead of weighing yourself, take measurements.

and i don't think contingencyplan meant to imply that you were HURTING your baby. just that you might unknowingly be depriving both your baby and yourself of being as healthy as possible. i know the urge to get back into your pre-baby body is huge, but just make sure you ARE eating enough so both of you can be be beautiful strong women!

i hope all anger is gone? people are honestly just trying to help, some people can be more blunt than others but it is all just advice. take everything people say in these threads with a grain of salt. good luck and congratulations on your baby girl!

AlwaysWanderer

i hope all anger is gone? people are honestly just trying to help, some people can be more blunt than others but it is all just advice. take everything people say in these threads with a grain of salt. good luck and congratulations on your baby girl!

It is. I've just got this blockage in my mind telling me that at my hight (5'1") there is no way I can eat 2500 cals and still lose weight, no matter how much I exercise. Need to work on that.
I'm thinking of getting a hrm, it might be a good investment.
@contingency plan, apologies for calling you an idiot, but you did wind me up lol
Would you recommend doing insanity as cross training? My training schedule recommends 3 days a week of cross training or weightlifting. Since I don't go to a gym, would that be an option?
Thanks or the input

moment_to_arise

i hope all anger is gone? people are honestly just trying to help, some people can be more blunt than others but it is all just advice. take everything people say in these threads with a grain of salt. good luck and congratulations on your baby girl!

It is. I've just got this blockage in my mind telling me that at my hight (5'1") there is no way I can eat 2500 cals and still lose weight, no matter how much I exercise. Need to work on that.
I'm thinking of getting a hrm, it might be a good investment.
@contingency plan, apologies for calling you an idiot, but you did wind me up lol
Would you recommend doing insanity as cross training? My training schedule recommends 3 days a week of cross training or weightlifting. Since I don't go to a gym, would that be an option?
Thanks or the input

it is that blockage in people's minds that is usually the hardest to get over. but think about it. if you eat 2500 calories, workout for an hour and burn 800 calories, then you are only netting 1700 calories. so even though you might think, "WOAH 2500 calories i just at a ton!" in reality you are only saving 1700 of that for your body's use. that is why it is SO important to accurately log your exercise calories. in fact, just to show you something, go to the goals settings here in MFP and change your goal to maintenance, which would be how many calories you should be eating a day to keep yourself at the same weight you are now. it's probably a lot higher than you think. i know mine is around... 2600 i think? so ANYTHING UNDER THAT AMOUNT and you will be losing weight. without exercise. food for thought, no?

i have no experience with insanity personally, i don't usually do video workouts. then again, i have a gym membership and i don't really know what i would do without it. other people would be able to contribute more on that front.

good luck!

contingencyplan

i hope all anger is gone? people are honestly just trying to help, some people can be more blunt than others but it is all just advice. take everything people say in these threads with a grain of salt. good luck and congratulations on your baby girl!

It is. I've just got this blockage in my mind telling me that at my hight (5'1") there is no way I can eat 2500 cals and still lose weight, no matter how much I exercise. Need to work on that.
I'm thinking of getting a hrm, it might be a good investment.
@contingency plan, apologies for calling you an idiot, but you did wind me up lol
Would you recommend doing insanity as cross training? My training schedule recommends 3 days a week of cross training or weightlifting. Since I don't go to a gym, would that be an option?
Thanks or the input

It's cool, no worries Anyway, for Cross Training I would instead recommend doing a more basic circuit training regimen based on timed set intervals. The workouts in Insanity are too intense to be able to supplement the kind of training you're already going through as a result of half marathon prep. Whatever you do you're going to want to dial down the intensity somewhat. If you have a pullup bar at your house that's really all you need. Pushups, pullups, mountain climbers, bodyweight squats & lunges and squat jumps. 8-count bodybuilders! =D

GuybrushThreepw00d

Track exercise calories in MFP (ideally using a HRM).
Let MFP manage the number of calories you should eat.

I initially said 1500 net would be OK, and I still reckon it would be.. You NEED to eat back your exercise calories.