Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated

ngrabow80

I don't want to make this such a long question/post where no one will answer but I have to give a little background. About 5 years ago I felt my best around 130 pounds (5'4") at least I thought it was my best but I wasn't eating properly and I was skinny fat. Fast forward to today and I am hovering around 160 pounds and I still don't feel like I am eating properly (I don't know if I am truly hitting my calories). I have had MFP for a long time and I never truly use it for its purpose. But I have decided to make some changes as I am nearing my 40th birthday. I have calculated my BMR and TDEE. BMR=1463 and TDEE=1756.56. Should I aim for something in between these two numbers?

PAV8888

TDEE is what you burn for the day. It is quite likely an estimate, which means it is only a starting point.

If you eat AT your ACTUAL TDEE your weight will remain unchanged over the long term (think 4-6 weeks to equalize water weight variations).

If you eat LESS than your ACTUAL TDEE your weight trend will reduce over the aforementioned 4-6 week time period.

If you eat MORE than your ACTUAL TDEE your weight trend will increase as per above.

It is generally thought that a lb of weight represents ABOUT 3500 Cal of energy change. This is not an immutable number set in stone but it does work for many people and should allow you to make adjustments over time.

If the TDEE you indicate above is correct, I would keep my rate of loss/gain to the half a lb per week range. I would consider, in your case, a 500 Cal deficit to be verging on aggressive since it would be almost 28.5% of your TDEE. This presupposes that your TDEE is correctly estimated.

With such small changes a weight trend application to determine your change of weight over time is... strongly hinted at!

I would also re-evaluate whether you are truly as sedentary as you believe yourself to be. If you are, this may be something you can slowly re-evaluate and change.

Take care and best of luck.

age_is_just_a_number

Welcome!!!
Congratulations for taking your first steps toward a healthier you.

You’ve found a great app and community to improve or maintain your health and fitness. Whatever you’re goals are, there is a place for you here.

You are in the right place. Remember this is not a program or a diet, it is a lifestyle to a healthier you.

Building on the first response, consider starting with:
- make a small sustainable change eg., if you like to drink pop, then switch that out for water or sparkling water with lemon or lime in it.
- Once you’ve adjusted to that change then make another small sustainable change eg., if you like to eat rice, switch that out for brown rice
- Track what you eat
- Monitor your macros
- Monitor your metrics (weight and measurements)
- Then adjust as needed
- As you lose weight, your body is going to change, not only in appearance, but also in how it reacts to different foods.

Take care

zebasschick

TDEE and BMR are averages that have never applied to me. if you use MFP, it uses NEAT, and you might as well go with that - it will literally work as well as any other method. to do this, input your weight, amount (if any) you want to lose, your activity level. the weigh, measure and log all your food, measure what you drink and log it, and add any exercise - time you went for and the exercise. MFP does the rest.

cmriverside

Keeping it Simple...

Set your Goals here to "Lose 1/2 pound per week." Set your Activity Level to "Lightly Active." Almost no one who gets out of bed is actually "Sedentary" so don't use that.

Log your food as accurately as you can and weigh yourself regularly and record that.


If you exercise, add it to the Exercise tab and eat more as it tells you to do.


In 4-6 weeks adjust if necessary. You really need that 4-6 weeks of trending data to determine what's going on, so try to stick with it that long.

That is how this site is set up.

If you're going to use your own TDEE, then all bets are off.


Here, a great guide:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

nanastaci2020

What is your purpose?

Are you trying to lose weight? Or trying to improve muscle definition?

Dogmom1978

I set it at sedentary (desk job) and then log ALL of my exercise (dog walks, Weight lifting, cardio etc). I consistently lose over a lb a week (set to 1 lb).

Weigh and measure your food accurately, enter your exercise as you do it (I deduct 20% off as I assume all cardio machines are overestimating my calorie burn), eat back some or all of your exercise calories, and you will lose weight. Don’t try to lose too much in a week though or you will probably feel pretty lousy and quit.

ngrabow80

Thank you all for your responses. I have my weight loss goal to 0.5 a week and I will adjust as necessary. I love all of the advice and I hope that I will be able to lose the excess all the while working on improving muscle definition. Again thank you all!

ctdunkin

Dogmom78
If I set my activity level and weight loss goal (1 lb a week) then as the day goes on and my Fitbit counts my steps am I to eat as many calories as MFP says I have available or am I supposed to leave 500 calories per day left to allow for the 1lb a week goal?

ChickenKillerPuppy

I have similar stats as you - I’m 5’4, I’m in my 40s, and a few years back I got to 130 but was also “skinny fat.” After a few years I gained back to 160 (around where I had started), and this time I built in barre classes, which is strength training, to build muscle and cut back a little on the running. It has transformed my body - I am so much stronger and leaner and I can eat about 2000 calories a day to maintain (which I usually do as 1700-1800 during the week and 2500-2600 during the weekends). I have maintained between 119-124 for 6 months now - just the beginning of my maintenance journey, but counting calories and having a sense of how many calories I burn each day has taught me how to eat at a deficit or maintain.

My biggest piece of advice is (1) log everything and weigh everything - you can’t learn what works without accurate data, (2) remember your weight is a range, and it’s about trends. Someone on these boards compared it to the weather. The temperature at the end of June is warmer than the beginning of June, because the trend is moving in that direction, but during the month there will be warm days and cool days and even stretches. But as long as it’s moving in the direction you want (or maintaining within the range) you’re doing great.

Finally, I’d say to build in treats and indulgences big and small. I have dessert every day. I have chips with dinner once a week. I go out to brunch (outdoor seating) and have a mimosa. I just plan for it so I stay in my desired calorie range.

Good luck!

AnnPT77

ctdunkin wrote: »

Dogmom78
If I set my activity level and weight loss goal (1 lb a week) then as the day goes on and my Fitbit counts my steps am I to eat as many calories as MFP says I have available or am I supposed to leave 500 calories per day left to allow for the 1lb a week goal?

If you used MFP to estimate your calorie goal, and told it you wanted to lose a pound a week, it has your 500 calorie deficit already built in. You would eat back the Fitbit adjustments.

You may find that they vary over the day - like if you work out in the morning, it may act as if you were going to be more active all day. If you're not, that could be an issue. However, you'll get a feel for this, over a fairly short time period, and get a handle on how much to eat back when in order to end up in a good spot.

Dogmom1978

ctdunkin wrote: »

Dogmom78
If I set my activity level and weight loss goal (1 lb a week) then as the day goes on and my Fitbit counts my steps am I to eat as many calories as MFP says I have available or am I supposed to leave 500 calories per day left to allow for the 1lb a week goal?

For me, I need those calories burned to be in a deficit. If I were to eat those calories back, I would be over my allotted calories for the day most days.

So, it depends on what your needs are. If you have 500 calories left over for the day as a result of exercising, you should probably eat half of them back to start. If you are hungry, you can always eat them all. If you find that by eating them all you aren’t losing weight (meaning calorie burn or calorie counting is off somewhere) you could always eat fewer of them back.

In the beginning it is going to be some trial and error to see where the sweet spot is for you since every individual is different.