Am I eating too much??

intothepavement

I've been on this site for over a year, so I know all about TDEE and everything.
I got a FitBit zip a few weeks ago, and have been using that as a gauge for my calories burned (I'm a server, so on the days that I do work, I burn WAY more than days when I don't, so I wanted to eat accordingly.)

I've set my MFP net to 1000 cal, BMR pretty much, and have been eating most if not all of the FitBit exercise calories back.

I've gained 4 pounds in two weeks.

My diary's open (and please excuse Thursday's entry, I had a bit of a "night out").. if anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it.

Mokey41

I doubt your BMR is 1000. I'm 55, 5'2" and 115 lbs and mine is just under 1200. I also really doubt that the FitBit is remotely correct. It's basing it's information on steps taken but when you do something as a job your body gets really used to the effort and becomes very efficient at doing it. You're either gaining because you really are eating too much or you've been eating so little up until now that your body is rebounding and refilling glycogen stores.

intothepavement

I doubt your BMR is 1000. I'm 55, 5'2" and 115 lbs and mine is just under 1200. I also really doubt that the FitBit is remotely correct. It's basing it's information on steps taken but when you do something as a job your body gets really used to the effort and becomes very efficient at doing it. You're either gaining because you really are eating too much or you've been eating so little up until now that your body is rebounding and refilling glycogen stores.

I know, I was shocked to see how many calories the FitBit said I burned during work, so it may be the case that I was under eating before.

intothepavement

Sorry, also, I'll add to that that most of the websites say my BMR is somewhere around 1300, but I lowered my MFP cal goal to 1000 because i had a feeling that the FitBit was giving me too many calories burned, so I was trying to even it out.

thisismeraw

According to your ticker you have 5lbs left to lose... Set your goal to 0.5lbs per week. You need to be eating A LOT more than 1000 calories a day. You should be netting above your BMR.

I would suggest recalculating your calories. Also, track your sodium. That could contribute to the weight gain. You don't seem to track much water so I would suggest getting more in as well especially on high sodium days and workout days. If you are working out your muscles may be retaining water for repair which can also show as a gain.

j6o4

According to your ticker you have 5lbs left to lose... Set your goal to 0.5lbs per week. You need to be eating A LOT more than 1000 calories a day. You should be netting above your BMR.

I would suggest recalculating your calories. Also, track your sodium. That could contribute to the weight gain. You don't seem to track much water so I would suggest getting more in as well especially on high sodium days and workout days. If you are working out your muscles may be retaining water for repair which can also show as a gain.

yes, set your goal to 0.5 pounds per week is you only have 5 pounds to lose

tiffanyraylene

1000 net is pretty low... it sounds weird but you need to eat more to lose weight. I eat about 1700 calories today and thats my TDEE (including my activity level in the calculations) MINUS 25%!

I would recommend calculating your body fat percentage here: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/
record this number.

Then, use the TDEE calculator found here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
select the Katch-McCardle (most accurate) method and enter your body fat percentage.
Calculate your BMR and your TDEE for your activity level.

This way you know the absolute minimum your body needs to function on a daily basis AND the amount of calories you should be aiming for each day when you are active. Compare numbers to what you got last time and there will *probably* be quite a difference!

keem88

i used to be a server, and for me i really didn't count it as any extra exercise because my body was used to it, i pretty much calculated it as my tdee and if i went to the gym, went on a run, went hiking i would count that as extra calories burned. i did wear a pedometer bc i was curious how many steps i took. i was always pretty thin as a server though because as you know it keeps you busy.

i agree with other posters who have said aim to lose less per week and start eating more. those last few pounds are the hardest and you may need to reset yourself and spike that metabolism.

bumblebums

From looking at your diary, I am gonna guess you are not using a food scale (entries often refer to volume measurements and not weights). If you are very close to your goal weight, it becomes increasingly important to track intake accurately, and to keep the deficit as small as possible.

Second, the only way to know your BMR and TDEE is by tracking your food and looking at what your weight does over time. The online calculators are only guesses; they cannot possibly know what your real energy expenditure is. Assuming your current intake is being tracked accurately (which I am not at all sure of, but for the sake of argument), if you gained real weight and not just water weight from increased novel exercises, you probably are eating at more than your TDEE. But there are a lot of assumptions in that, which you need to unpack separately.

sexymuffintop

Why buy and use a FitBit if you don't believe what it tells you? Seems very counter productive to me?

intothepavement

Why buy and use a FitBit if you don't believe what it tells you? Seems very counter productive to me?

I bought a FitBit because I was curious to see what I burned during my serving shifts, because I didn't know whether to put myself in the "midly active" or "moderately active" category as far as TDEE was concerned.