Serious about finishing this, and needing some advice.

brit__2006

First off my name is Brittany, I've lost 115 lbs already, but now I'm stuck. The numbers aren't making sense the weight loss is up and down don't correlate, and I'm not sure if I'm doing damage to my body for the long run. And if I am, how do I fix it.

25 yrs old
5'7
183 lbs
I have a large frame. (like as in 7'' wrist and 3'' elbow width)

Here's my problem, mfp says to eat 1540 cals a day to lose 1 lb per week. I don't plan on eating back all of my calories the way mfp wants you too, but I try to eat about 1540 on non work out days and 17-1800 on workout days, even if I'm going to burn more calories than that. I've looked at a few different sites and my bmr differs alot from each one. from 1390-1780. I also have a problem with eating 2000 calories no matter how many I burn during exercise, I still find that I gain. Which doesn't make sense to me because the numbers don't add up. I'm afraid that I'm doing damage to my body that I don't want. I would like to be able to eat more calories without the fear of gaining fat. Also I would like to be healthy because one day I would like a child. I do have hormone imbalance because of Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, but I'm not insulin resistant. (atleast by my glucose testings) I do not have any other problems or issues with my health. I know everyone says not to weigh daily because you get discouraged, but that's not the case for me. I like to know how my body reacts to what I'm doing to it. Especially when I'm losing my weight on non workout days and consistently gaining on workout days. I'm not really worried about the number of my weight because I'm still losing inches, I just want to be healthy once I do get to my goal.

I'm going to give you some info to see if that will help you help me.

Date-Daily weight- Calorie intake-Calories burned with heart rate monitor
8/2/13- 185.0-1445-287
8/3/13- 185.8-1864-1040
8/4/13- 185.4-2002-1399
8/5/13- 186.0-1553-1251
8/6/13- 186.8-1341-1065
8/7/13- 186.4-1201-456
8/8/13- 186.2-1510-210
Gained 1.2 lbs- ate 10916 cals- burned 5708- net 5208
8/9/13- 186.0-1521-350
8/10/13-185.4-1525-0
8/11/13-184.2-1691-449
8/12/13-182.8-1595-2353
8/13/13-183.8-1529-281
8/14/13-184.0-1470-630
8/15/13-182.6-1585-568
8/16/13-182.8
Lost 3.2 lbs- ate 10916 calories- burned 4631- net 6285

I need help because I'm not satisfied with the amount of calories I can eat without gaining.

Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

ferretwembley

Your body weight is naturally going to fluctuate day to day. There is nothing wrong with weighing everyday to understand this. A lot of the fluctuation is due to water retention. After exercising, your muscles demand extra water to recover, and you'll drop it later. That is natural and not damaging. Just don't get dehydrated.

However, you started out on 2 Aug at 185 and you finished 16 Aug at 182.8. In two weeks, you lost 2.2 pounds if you look at it that way. If you look at the values on the first week they are consistently higher than the second week. I would suggest focusing on the overall pattern than what your body does each day. Our bodies don't change instantly.

I'd say you're doing great!

crazorbaq

I do not know a lot about it, however, I have been seeing A LOT of comments on MFP about eating between your BMR (basic metabolic rate) and TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Many are having success with doing TDEE minus 20% I believe, kind of like a metabolic reset. Like I said, I know just about nothing about it other than this. Might google it. Hope it helps some.

brit__2006

Your body weight is naturally going to fluctuate day to day. There is nothing wrong with weighing everyday to understand this. A lot of the fluctuation is due to water retention. After exercising, your muscles demand extra water to recover, and you'll drop it later. That is natural and not damaging. Just don't get dehydrated.

However, you started out on 2 Aug at 185 and you finished 16 Aug at 182.8. In two weeks, you lost 2.2 pounds if you look at it that way. If you look at the values on the first week they are consistently higher than the second week. I would suggest focusing on the overall pattern than what your body does each day. Our bodies don't change instantly.

I'd say you're doing great!

Thank you, I just felt like I wasn't getting enough calories for my body in the long run. My bmr (depending on what site you look at is 1760 which would mean I would need atleast 12320 calories a week just to live. I'm eating less than that plus exercising is making that number even lower. That was my concern initially.

Thanks for the info.

Francl27

The 'gains' you see are gains from water weight and whatnot. It's normal for weight to fluctuate a lot. If you really burn 1500 calories working out some days (it might be overestimating maybe?), you got to eat at least some of those back.

Bottom line - don't pay attention to the scale every day. It will go up and down. It's normal. Weigh all your food and make sure you log properly, make sure your exercise calories are correct (what kind of HRM do you use? does it have a chest strap?), and try to NET at least 1200 calories a day. So if you're really burning 1500 a day, you got to eat at least 2700 calories those days. Or workout less.

Or switch to TDEE-20% so you don't have to eat a crazy amount when you workout but can eat a bit more when you don't.

AJ_G

Some BMR calculations do not take body fat percentage into account (very inaccurate), and some do (accurate). If you have any kind of estimation of your body fat percentage, I could calculate your BMR for you, and that would give you a good starting point.

brit__2006

I do not know a lot about it, however, I have been seeing A LOT of comments on MFP about eating between your BMR (basic metabolic rate) and TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Many are having success with doing TDEE minus 20% I believe, kind of like a metabolic reset. Like I said, I know just about nothing about it other than this. Might google it. Hope it helps some.

I've been googling ang googling, and it's starting to drive me crazy lol.
My bmr is 1760
My tdee is 2112, so minus 20% should be 1689. Which is below my bmr. All this stuff is confusing. It's easy to lose it pretty much by just a deficit until you get closer to the end.

Thanks for the advice though.

brit__2006

Some BMR calculations do not take body fat percentage into account (very inaccurate), and some do (accurate). If you have any kind of estimation of your body fat percentage, I could calculate your BMR for you, and that would give you a good starting point.

I wish I knew for sure. I want to get a dexa scan or get the bod pod thing done, but I can't find one anywhere. I do have a lot of muscle mass in some areas. Mainly legs

If this helps any.

Large frame
neck 14.25''
chest 43''
below bust 36.5''
waist 34''
hips 39''
butt 40''
thighs 25'' each
calves 16'' each
arms 12.5''

brit__2006

The 'gains' you see are gains from water weight and whatnot. It's normal for weight to fluctuate a lot. If you really burn 1500 calories working out some days (it might be overestimating maybe?), you got to eat at least some of those back.

Bottom line - don't pay attention to the scale every day. It will go up and down. It's normal. Weigh all your food and make sure you log properly, make sure your exercise calories are correct (what kind of HRM do you use? does it have a chest strap?), and try to NET at least 1200 calories a day. So if you're really burning 1500 a day, you got to eat at least 2700 calories those days. Or workout less.

Or switch to TDEE-20% so you don't have to eat a crazy amount when you workout but can eat a bit more when you don't.

I weigh everything that I eat if it's not labeled, I log every single thing I eat (good or bad). My hrm is a polar ft7 with chest strap. My tdee - 20% is below my bmr. Is that ok?

AJ_G

So your estimated body fat percentage is 31%, that's just an estimate from weight and measurements, a bod pod would be much more accurate, but we'll work off of that for now. Based on that and your weight, your BMR is 1608 calories. To get your TDEE from this, multiply your BMR by an activity factor that best describes you:

1.2 = Sedentary (Desk job, & Little Formal Exercise)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Light daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately daily Activity & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.2 = Extremely Active (Athlete in ENDURANCE training or VERY HARD physical job)

Hope that helps

brit__2006

So your estimated body fat percentage is 31%, that's just an estimate from weight and measurements, a bod pod would be much more accurate, but we'll work off of that for now. Based on that and your weight, your BMR is 1608 calories. To get your TDEE from this, multiply your BMR by an activity factor that best describes you:

1.2 = Sedentary (Desk job, & Little Formal Exercise)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Light daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately daily Activity & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.2 = Extremely Active (Athlete in ENDURANCE training or VERY HARD physical job)

Hope that helps

I usually workout daily but ill say moderate just in case I don't do much so if that's the case to lose weight I should be eating 1912 calories daily with exercise? When increasing my calories should I take that slowly? Or just do it?

AJ_G

So your estimated body fat percentage is 31%, that's just an estimate from weight and measurements, a bod pod would be much more accurate, but we'll work off of that for now. Based on that and your weight, your BMR is 1608 calories. To get your TDEE from this, multiply your BMR by an activity factor that best describes you:

1.2 = Sedentary (Desk job, & Little Formal Exercise)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Light daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately daily Activity & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.2 = Extremely Active (Athlete in ENDURANCE training or VERY HARD physical job)

Hope that helps

I usually workout daily but ill say moderate just in case I don't do much so if that's the case to lose weight I should be eating 1912 calories daily with exercise? When increasing my calories should I take that slowly? Or just do it?

Shoot for 1900 calories a day, and don't log exercise because it's already factored in. I'm not sure what you're current calorie intake is, but I'd say add 100 to 200 calories a day per week until you're up to 1900, it might take 2 or 3 weeks, but it's better than doing it all at once.

brit__2006

So your estimated body fat percentage is 31%, that's just an estimate from weight and measurements, a bod pod would be much more accurate, but we'll work off of that for now. Based on that and your weight, your BMR is 1608 calories. To get your TDEE from this, multiply your BMR by an activity factor that best describes you:

1.2 = Sedentary (Desk job, & Little Formal Exercise)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Light daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately daily Activity & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.2 = Extremely Active (Athlete in ENDURANCE training or VERY HARD physical job)

Hope that helps

I usually workout daily but ill say moderate just in case I don't do much so if that's the case to lose weight I should be eating 1912 calories daily with exercise? When increasing my calories should I take that slowly? Or just do it?

Shoot for 1900 calories a day, and don't log exercise because it's already factored in. I'm not sure what you're current calorie intake is, but I'd say add 100 to 200 calories a day per week until you're up to 1900, it might take 2 or 3 weeks, but it's better than doing it all at once.

Thanks, that's what I've heard, and way just afraid upping them would make me gain quickly. my mfp i'm suppose to be eating 1540 and exercise calories, but I haven't been able to eat that much. I think I will try a slow approach to that number and see if it helps.

Thanks again.

brit__2006

Should anything change if I am starting a lifting program or does it matter?