Am I on the right track ?

adambarnes1971

Hello All,
I am pretty new to fat loss and want to make sure I'm not damaging myself.
I'm a 44 male @ 187 cm tall and my starting weight was around 113kg... about 45 days ago.
I went on a 1500 cal diet (I log everything) and do incline treadmill for 30min 3X a week. And do a minimum of 11,000 steps each day or around 14,000 on treadmill day. I don't eat back any workout/step calories. I am now at 99.5kg. I feel good...not tired or anything.
Any help would be great.
Thanks

lemonychild

Did u put in these stats into MFP? When u chose the rate of your loss MFP already adjusts the calories for you to create a 1lbs or more.. There for you should eat back your excercise calories, at least a large portion of them

loulamb7

Agree with the above poster. What does MFP recommend for 1 pound per week? Where did you come up with 1500? That may be a 1000 calorie deficit, made even larger by not eating any exercise calories back. Though you're losing weight the larger deficit may have you losing too much muscle also. Also doesn't leave you much wiggle room to cut any calories if you stall.

adambarnes1971

MFP only tracks my food. I use Gramin Connect and a Fenix 3 to track my steps/workout calories.
Based on Garmin I get around 300 cal/day from steps and around 300 to 500 for each workout (3 X Week).
For my workouts I try to keep my heat rate around 160 bpm.
I think I may increase my calories from 1500 to 1753. (Macros = P-176g / C-113g / F-66g).
Or should I go higher?
I'm pretty green at this stuff, so sorry in advance for any of my stupid questions.

loulamb7

How much have you been losing per week? I'd suggest a 500 calorie deficit for 1 lbs per week. 1750 to 1800 may be a good starting point, adjust based on personal experience.

Regarding macros, your carbs seem low. Go to http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ or http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ and calculate your calories and macros. If you use one of these calculators you should not eat back exercise calories.

I have no comments on using Garmin or Fenix since I don't use a fitness band. I use a Polar HRM but only to track my heart rate.

You should also look into adding some resistance training to your routine. When you lose weight you lose both fat and muscle. Resistance training will help minimize muscle loss.

adambarnes1971

Thank you for the info guys.
MFP still says 1500 cal/day to lose 1 kg per week. Macro P-75g / C-188g / F-50g
I went to scoobysworkshop and entered my info.
It said 1868 cal/day. Macro P-208g_45% / C-160g_35% / F-40g_20%.
Using 20% Calorie Reduction and Desk job with little exercise.
That sound better ? Gives me 368 more calories of food a day.
I am concerned about eating back activity calories due to +/- 20% error on food labels,
and not really knowing the true calories burnt from workouts and steps.

Marilyn0924

Keep in mind 1kg/week loss is quite aggressive as that's over 2 pounds per week. Initially you will lose quicker due to waterweight loss but you want to make sure your deficit isn't too low as you will lose muscle mass. Tighten up your calorie logging with the use of a digital scale to weigh in all solids and measure all liquids. If you are unsure of your exercise calories, only eat back half of them. MFP already calculates your deficit, so, if you're not eating back at least part of your exercise calories, you are increasing your deficit by even more which will become unsustainable over time. Your body needs fuel to run.

adambarnes1971

Thanks for all the input. I'll give it a try and see how things go for a few weeks.

loulamb7

adambarnes1971 wrote: »

T1868 cal/day. Macro P-208g_45% / C-160g_35% / F-40g_20%.
Using 20% Calorie Reduction and Desk job with little exercise.

1800 does sounds better. You can probably eat up to 2300 to lose 1 lb/week. I might still tweak the macros for P=160-180g, F=60-80g and the reminder in carbs. You may find 208g of protein difficult to hit.

If you do use these numbers do not eat back any exercise calories.

adambarnes1971

So I increased my calories by about 350 (1868 total) for a week now. Now I haven't lost anything. Didn't gain, but no loss. Should I drop a bit, workout more, or just wait it out a bit longer to see if anything happens ?

loulamb7

One week is not long enough to adjust. Give it 3-4 weeks.

adambarnes1971

Will do, thanks.