Struggling with calorie goals

RRRobynnn

I've posted about this before, but continue to have the same issue of climbing weight. (I know that scale measurement isn't very accurate, but my inches haven't changed since the 1st stage and I'm actually finding my clothes getting a bit tighter.)

I'm 39, 5'6", 175ish. I'm new to strength training and am currently mid-way through Stage 3. I've had some great strength gains and can tell that my muscles are responding well. (Yea, newbie gains!) Unfortunately, I'm not experiencing much fat loss and I'm even seeing parts (my thighs, especially) looking bulkier.

I've set my daily calories to 1475 based on the Scooby TDEE calculator. I have it set to sedentary, then add back in exercise calories burned. (I use MFP's suggested calories for most cardio, and manually enter my lifting at 270 for 40min of NROL). I lift 3 days a week and do cardio 3 days (running, swimming, tennis, etc.) Looking back over the last 90 days, I've only hit 1500 net calories a handful of times. I've gained ~7lbs since starting NROL4W.

I just don't know what to change at this point to see optimal results. Eat more? Eat less? Give it more time? Help!

siany01

I think your exercise cals are off. MFP is really bad for cardio cals as it over estimates them hugely. I did 45 mins on the elliptical and MFP put it at 520 where my actual calories burn was around 330. For lifting I get about 170 cals for 40 mins not 270. So, if you are eating back all the exercise cals then you are probably eating too much.

Thats the only thing I can think of. Stage 4 is the next fat burning stage so hopefully you will see some changes in there.

Good luck.

BarbellCowgirl

I think your lifting cals are probably fine. I'd say 270 is pretty close to what you'd burn (including afterburn).
However, like siany said, the MFP calculations for cardio are somewhat ridiculous. If your exercise schudule is pretty consistent, you might try eating per the very active setting on Scooby for a few weeks (or at least compare it to what you've been eating). His calculator is VERY very close to what my BodyMedia tells me I burn.

Also, just as a reminder, if you're not weighing every little bite, you can be eating more than you realize.
Hope you can get it figured out. I know it's frustrating trying to find that perfect number of cals to eat.

wibutterflymagic

I actually changed my calculations to include my exercise and it makes things to much easier. You might want to try changing your exercise to the medium activity or high activity level and then you don't need to worry about figuring out the calories for your exercise. When you log the activity you change the calorie burn to 1 since it's already calculated into your calorie goals.

RRRobynnn

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to switch to the 3-5 hours of moderate exercise from Scooby (1905) and give it a month. I've always liked doing it the other way because it motivates me to get off my butt. It's hard to say if my cardio calories are accurate or not. Most of the activities that I do often are based on my HRM calculations. I don't doubt that some of them are crazy high, though. I try to use common sense when it seems like they're way too high. (I logged a couple of hours of leisure swimming and kayaking and MFP gave me almost 700 cal. I wish!!)

I'll be extra careful with weighing and measuring, too. I use my kitchen scale for just about everything, but I am guilty of grabbing a handful of something that slips my memory when I sit down and track.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I love NROL4W and can't wait to start seeing the results of my hard work.