What am I doing wrong?

stacibuk

Hi guys,

So, 4 weeks I had a job for 2 weeks. It entailed standing on my feet from 9-6 with a 1 hour break. I was burning over 3,000 calories per day (if I went to the gym after work) and 2800 calories (if I didn't go to the gym afterwards). I was able to eat a lot (about 1800-2000 calories per day) and I lost 3.5lbs the first week and 2lbs the second week. Then I stopped work and went back to sitting down all day and working out at the gym. I have now gained 4lbs in the last 3 weeks. I burn at least 2,500-2800 calories a day and eat 1800 calories a day. There is a deficit so this should mean weight loss but it's not happening.

My TDEE according to my fitbit is 2184 calories. And according to scooby calculator it's 2141 with no exercise. So it's roughly the same.

Now my question is, should I eat at my TDEE for 4 weeks. Am I allowed to exercise as well. Because I enjoy my exercises at the gym and I also try to walk 10000 steps per day. Because it's been 3 weeks and I look like I'm adding fat as well in the mirror.

editorgrrl

TDEE is your maintenance calories. It includes exercise, so you can't eat back any exercise calories when using TDEE.

If you eat TDEE minus a deficit, you will lose weight. If your Fitbit burn is 2,184, then eating 1,684 calories should result in a loss of 1 lb. per week, and 1,934 calories should result in a loss of .5 lb. per week.

I say "should" because you must log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Weigh all your food, and measure all caloric drinks. Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

stacibuk

But, my BMR is 1750. I can't eat 1600 calories as that would be lower than my BMR. I burn 2500 calories some days with exercise. My TDEE without exercise is 2184. So what should I do?

SezxyStef

But, my BMR is 1750. I can't eat 1600 calories as that would be lower than my BMR. I burn 2500 calories some days with exercise. My TDEE without exercise is 2184. So what should I do?

You can eat below your BMR
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr


As well TDEE includes exercise so the statement TDEE without exercise is your maintenance.

If you want to use TDEE-x% then figure it out but typically if you are doing consistent exercise it is best to eat maintenance calories -x% and eat back your exercise calories when you do exercise.

So appx 1800 calories is maintenance - 15% and when you exercise eat back a portion of those.

Mischievous_Rascal

My fitbit underestimates my TDEE, but my body fat % is low. The number you're getting from that is based on your BMI, which is an (not great and very outdated) average. If your body fat % is higher than the "average", it will be overestimating your TDEE. Scoobys gets me the closest number actually, so maybe take a 10-15% deficit from that number, and on exercise days eat back those calories. (Exercise burns can be overestimated, too, so maybe start with eating back 50-75%. I also log my weight and calories daily on a spreadsheet, so that's how I know what MY true TDEE is.)

DebbieLyn63

But, my BMR is 1750. I can't eat 1600 calories as that would be lower than my BMR. I burn 2500 calories some days with exercise. My TDEE without exercise is 2184. So what should I do?

For one thing, your BMR may not be 1750. If you are going by an online calculator to get that number, it could be wrong. Those numbers are just estimates. They do not take into account all the factors that go into your BMR, i.e BF%, hormone levels, medications, medical issues, etc.

What is your height and weight? and do you know your body fat %? If you are considerably overweight, then your BF% is likely higher than average. This will cause you to not burn calories as quickly as someone your weight that is more muscular. Look up Katch McCardle BMR calculator and use that to figure your BMR. You will need to know your body fat % to use that, so if you don't know that number, look up Military Body Fat calculator and it will tell you how to figure it out using measurements of your neck and waist.

Also, if you are considerably overweight, it is perfectly fine to eat a bit below your BMR. You have excess fat stores to use for energy that will keep your body from going into the horror of 'starvation mode'. That will only happen if you are already at or below a healthy BF%.

So bottom line-
Try eating at 1600 and see if you start losing again. You went from an active job to a sedentary job. That makes a big difference.

ETA- And YES, continue to exercise, especially now that you are sedentary at work. Do not eat back those calories, tho.

editorgrrl

But, my BMR is 1750. I can't eat 1600 calories as that would be lower than my BMR. I burn 2500 calories some days with exercise. My TDEE without exercise is 2184. So what should I do?

Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE—including exercise. Average your Fitbit burns for the last 7–10 days. That number is your maintenance calories—including exercise.

If you eat 500 calories less than TDEE and do not eat back any exercise calories, then you will lose 1 lb. per week, if (and only if) you log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly.

zoeysasha37

I think you got really good advice already, so it looks like all the bases are already covered :-) but I think your calculations must be off somewhere, cuz if you where truly at a deficit, then you should be losing. Play around with your numbers and see what happens

DebbieLyn63

But, my BMR is 1750. I can't eat 1600 calories as that would be lower than my BMR. I burn 2500 calories some days with exercise. My TDEE without exercise is 2184. So what should I do?

Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE—including exercise. Average your Fitbit burns for the last 7–10 days. That number is your maintenance calories—including exercise.

If you eat 500 calories less than TDEE and do not eat back any exercise calories, then you will lose 1 lb. per week, if (and only if) you log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly.

Yes, in theory this will work. However, if you are eating 1800 calories and are GAINING, then either the Fitbit is overestimating your burns, (TDEE), or you are underestimating how much you are actually eating.

Francl27

Could be water weight. Could be your cycle. Is your period due?

And do you weigh your food? If not, start there. Calculate your TDEE with exercise, and eat at a 20% deficit. If you really burn 2800 a day with exercise, eating 1600 would be way too little.

DebbieLyn63

But, my BMR is 1750. I can't eat 1600 calories as that would be lower than my BMR. I burn 2500 calories some days with exercise. My TDEE without exercise is 2184. So what should I do?

You can eat below your BMR
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr

That link is fantastic and should be stickied so everyone can read it! It is going on my wall now. Sara is SO smart!:happy:

mumblemagic

I agree with most of what people are saying - all these are good points and from what I know pretty accurate too. TDEE calculators are just an estimation, and TDEE measurement devices are not necessarily accurate either.

The one thing I disagree with is that you need to worry about the precision of your TDEE:
If you get a 5% error in measuring how much you eat, that works out at about 100 calories per day. This is easy to do even if you are pretty precise in weighing everything, so worrying if your TDEE is 2100 or 2200 or even 2300 is kind of irrelevant when you take into account these errors.

I suggest rather than stressing over this, listen to what your body is telling you. It is saying that what you are eating at the moment is too much for you to lose weight. This could be either because fitbit is overestimating your TDEE or you are underestimating your intake, or more likely a bit of both. Cut your calories by about 200 and see how it goes. If you're still not losing, cut it a bit further. Aim for 1 lb per week. Averaging out your calories over the week is ok too - i.e. eating less one day and more the next, providing you don't feel hungry on your lower cal day. Don't go too extreme - if you're hungry all the time you'll fall off the wagon!

DebbieLyn63

Could be water weight. Could be your cycle. Is your period due?

And do you weigh your food? If not, start there. Calculate your TDEE with exercise, and eat at a 20% deficit. If you really burn 2800 a day with exercise, eating 1600 would be way too little.

But if she is GAINING consistently at 1800, then 1600 is NOT way too little. We have to pay attention to our bodies, NOT just follow random online calculator numbers. Either she is burning less than expected, or eating more than she thinks.

stacibuk

But, my BMR is 1750. I can't eat 1600 calories as that would be lower than my BMR. I burn 2500 calories some days with exercise. My TDEE without exercise is 2184. So what should I do?

For one thing, your BMR may not be 1750. If you are going by an online calculator to get that number, it could be wrong. Those numbers are just estimates. They do not take into account all the factors that go into your BMR, i.e BF%, hormone levels, medications, medical issues, etc.

What is your height and weight? and do you know your body fat %? If you are considerably overweight, then your BF% is likely higher than average. This will cause you to not burn calories as quickly as someone your weight that is more muscular. Look up Katch McCardle BMR calculator[\b] and use that to figure your BMR. You will need to know your body fat % to use that, so if you don't know that number, look up Military Body Fat calculator and it will tell you how to figure it out using measurements of your neck and waist.

Also, if you are considerably overweight, it is perfectly fine to eat a bit below your BMR. You have excess fat stores to use for energy that will keep your body from going into the horror of 'starvation mode'. That will only happen if you are already at or below a healthy BF%.

So bottom line-
Try eating at 1600 and see if you start losing again. You went from an active job to a sedentary job. That makes a big difference.

ETA- And YES, continue to exercise, especially now that you are sedentary at work. Do not eat back those calories, tho.

I calculated that and it says that my BMR is 1,579 calories.

I feel like I have gained fat and not water because I feel fat and when I measured my body fat % it had also increased. To be honest, I'm just going to go back to WW because all this calorie counting is just too much headache.

editorgrrl

Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE—way more accurate than any online calculator.

When you connect your accounts at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps/show/30 MFP uses your Fitbit burn instead of your MFP activity level to calculate your calorie goal.

MFP has a Fitbit Users group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

lemurcat12

I calculated that and it says that my BMR is 1,579 calories.

I feel like I have gained fat and not water because I feel fat and when I measured my body fat % it had also increased. To be honest, I'm just going to go back to WW because all this calorie counting is just too much headache.

I think you should do what feels most helpful to you, and if it's WW instead of MFP, that's fine.

But if you want to try MFP to see how it compares, it's actually not that much of a headache and I think you are overcomplicating it with all the TDEE stuff, especially if you have a fitbit. Getting into TDEE and BMR and the calculators and so on probably works best for those who enjoy messing about with the math stuff and detailed tracking (like me). But really all you have to do is (1) put in your information into MFP, plus your weekly weightloss goal (you haven't said how much you need to lose, and what's reasonable depends on that, but maybe start with 1 lb a week to see what you get); (2) link MFP to your fitbit; and (3) make sure you put your exercise information that the fitbit doesn't track well into the fitbit (swimming, biking) and use the correct times. Then, whatever the supposed goal MFP gives you at first, the daily goals will be adjusted to go with what your fitbit measures. If that doesn't work you will want to see if the fitbit is overcounting exercise calories and be more conservative about them, but that's simply an adjustment based on results. If you do it this way, don't worry about exercise calories or not, just go with the daily goal (it will be adjusted upward throughout the day depending on how active you are).

Of course the biggest issue is not setting the goal, as it can always be adjusted depending on results, but properly logging what you are eating. You didn't talk about that bit.

stacibuk

I use a hrm to determine the calories burned in non-step workouts. I want to lose 60lbs so I want to lose 2lbs per week. I was doing fine when active but now I'm not so active with just daily workouts, I can't seem to eat 1800+ calories. I still burn a lot according to the fitbit at the end of each day so it doesn't make sense that I'm putting on weight.

PS I already know about the fitbit group..thanks!

editorgrrl

I use a hrm to determine the calories burned in non-step workouts. I want to lose 60lbs so I want to lose 2lbs per week. I was doing fine when active but now I'm not so active with just daily workouts, I can't seem to eat 1800+ calories. I still burn a lot according to the fitbit at the end of each day so it doesn't make sense that I'm putting on weight.

If you're gaining weight, you're eating above your maintenance calories. You're underestimating your food & or overestimating your burns. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Weigh your food, and measure your caloric drinks.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

_Zardoz_

I agree with what other say about TDEE etc. If your not losing weight your not eating at a defecit. Also I really think your calorie burns are incredibly over estimated, Those figures don't add up considering the amount I'm guessing you weigh.

If your not weighing your food in reality you have no idea what your really eating

LKArgh

If you are gaining, you are not burning what you think you are burning, simple as this. Calculators can say whatever they like, reality proved them wrong for you

stacibuk

I use a hrm to determine the calories burned in non-step workouts. I want to lose 60lbs so I want to lose 2lbs per week. I was doing fine when active but now I'm not so active with just daily workouts, I can't seem to eat 1800+ calories. I still burn a lot according to the fitbit at the end of each day so it doesn't make sense that I'm putting on weight.

If you're gaining weight, you're eating above your maintenance calories. You're underestimating your food & or overestimating your burns. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Weigh your food, and measure your caloric drinks.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

My dear, I weigh everything I eat and I try to overestimate rather than underestimate my calorie intake. I don't drink anything but water. I just don't get why I'm gaining fat.