Strength training with calorie deficit

Idle_Moon

@sijomial I'm going to do the TDEE method, but I still want to know how much calories I burn. So I know how much I can lower my calorie intake on days I'm not going to work out. Or should I use the TDEE set at desk job? That would be 1696 calories.

@Gallowmere1984 Wow, that's awesome. Good job!

ogtmama

So is body recomp specific to after you have reached the healthy range?

heatherlewisis

I have learned so much from this thread!

erickirb

Idle_Moon wrote: »

@sijomial I'm going to do the TDEE method, but I still want to know how much calories I burn. So I know how much I can lower my calorie intake on days I'm not going to work out. Or should I use the TDEE set at desk job? That would be 1696 calories.

@Gallowmere1984 Wow, that's awesome. Good job!

That isn't how TDEE works. essentially it gives you a daily caloric goal based on total weekly cals expected to burn divided by 7. So on days you workout you burn above daily average TDEE and on days you 't workout you burn less, but for the week your average burn = TDEE.
Essentially lets say you TDEE is 2000/day on average 14000/week. Ssay you workout 5 days per week, on those days you may burn 2100, times by 5 gives you 10500, and 1750 on days you dont. 2100*5+1750*2 = 14000.

What you are saying is eat 2,000 for 5 days then 1650 the other two days (2100-1750), this would only give you 13,300, 700 short of your goal. the reason TDEE is 2,000 is that the extra 100 burned 5 days is made up for on the days you don't workout. It averages your exercise calories over the week.

sijomial

Idle_Moon wrote: »

@sijomial I'm going to do the TDEE method, but I still want to know how much calories I burn. So I know how much I can lower my calorie intake on days I'm not going to work out. Or should I use the TDEE set at desk job? That would be 1696 calories.

Use either method but don't mix up the two or you will be double counting.

TDEE is good for people who have a regular routine and/or want the simplicity of the same daily calorie goal.
MFP method is probably better if you have an irregular routine that's hard to find an average, or for exercise that needs to be fuelled on the day - endurance cardio for example.

You are over-complicating things really.

French_Peasant

Idle Moon, you can probably enter "Circuit Training, General" for your calorie burn, but it is extremely difficult to estimate the burn from resistance activities, so take it with a grain of salt. My trainer gave me a burn of just over 400 calories for 60+ minutes of freeweight training mixed with some cardio, as well as a goal of 155 g protein (my weight at the time) on a training day, although there is a lot of debate on the appropriate amount of protein and that is probably on the high end. This is for training with fairly short rest periods (maybe a minute between sets).

I've been lifting since end of January--I started noticing positive changes within a month, but it was 4-5 months before people started 'mirin. I just got "wow" compliments on my arms for the first time a week ago. Unfortunately I still have a little baby fat left on my belly, and it seems to be tenacious, but you might see quicker and easier results if you haven't had an actual baby reshaping your body. Also, my weight stopped falling as dramatically, but I've shed a couple of clothing sizes.

If you want to fit in an extra resistance workout or two per week, you might want to discuss bodyweight exercises you can do at home--pushups, planks, squats, etc. It might not have the punch that freeweights would have, but they can still be valuable exercises for building your core and providing a better foundation for lifting in general.

Just a little personal insight from another beginner, in addition to the excellent advice you are getting from the seasoned lifters here.

Idle_Moon

Thank you all so much! It's a lot of information and maybe I am over-complicating it. I'm going to need some time to let this sink in.

@jmbmilholland Wow, that's nice to hear! Really looking forward to see my own progress. I'll try to do some exercises at home.

Idle_Moon

A little update:

I've been doing strength training for 4 weeks now, 3x a week full body. I really enjoy it!
I decided to cut some more and then decide what to do if I'm at my goal weight. I think that if I want to do recomp, that it will be easier for me at a lower body fatpercentage.

Only two weeks left until my summer vacation ends. I'm planning to do running at Monday and Friday, strength training at Wednesday and Saturday and add boxing at Wednesday.