Getting Confused & Frustrated - TDEE & Caloric Requirement

bowlerae

Hello all,

I'm a little bit confused. I started my (mostly) clean eating lifestyle on May 1st. For the first month I lost 10 lbs. The first week I was following the Quick Weight Loss Center's meal plan and when I tracked my food I realized I was eating way too low; 800-1,050 calories at most AND I was working out burning up to 1,800 calories playing 3 hours of volleyball (the plan wasn't individualized and did not account for physical activity). I increased my calories to 1,200 and my macros were 47% carbs, 35% protein and 18% fat. I did this for the remaining of the month and lost approximately 1 lb per week.

With the suggestions of others (on various food tracking websites), I bumped my calories up to 1,500 so that I was eating at least my BMR. I also changed my macros to 40/40/20. It has been two weeks since I made this change and I have not lost a fraction of a pound.

I play volleyball 2 times a week and my HRM reads that I burn anywhere from 1,200-1,800 calories. I also go to the gym about 2-3 times per week and burn 600-900 calories each time.

I have used various BMR/TDEE calculators and I'm not sure if I'm inputting the information correctly. For example, on this website as well as livestrong.com you are NOT supposed to include your exercise in your calculation. Your level of activity is solely based on your daily job and chores. You receive a much lower caloric requirement, you track your fitness separately, and you are allowed/supposed to eat back your exercise calories. I sit at a desk all day so technically I'm considered sedentary. With that, my TDEE is 1,800 and to lose 1 lb per week my caloric requirement is calculated as 1,300 on both sites.

For other calculators such as Scooby's Workshop, IIFYM, MacroFit, FitnessFrog, and the FitGirl where you are supposed to calculate your weekly exercise amount my TDEE is around 2,100-2,300. My caloric requirement listed on these websites is around 1,700 and I'm NOT supposed to eat back my exercise calories as they've already been accounted for.

I'm 5'6", 25 year old female weighing 152.4 lbs (goal weight of 130). I have a BMR of about 1,500 and a TDEE ranging from about 1,800-2,300 depending on calculator as I mentioned. I have no idea which information to use and how many calories I should consume a day to lose 0.5-1.0 lb per week.

Since increasing my daily calories up to 1,500 I have not lost a fraction of a pound in two weeks. In addition to the calorie deficit created by consuming less calories, I also burned a total of 4,200 calories through exercise last week (I did not eat back those calories). Last week alone I should have lost well over 1 lb.

Part of me doesn't know if my NET calories are two low without eating back the exercise calories, therefore, my body is in starvation mode or if 1,500-1,750 calories per day is too high and I need to go back to 1,200.

StaciMarie1974

To lose 10 pounds in a month and then 0 for 2 weeks: you may just need some patience. Especially as a woman (judging from your image). Water weight from hormones, time of the month, sodium, changing your fitness routine, etc. can temporarily affect your scale weigh in.

For sake of comparison - I typically gain 2-3 pounds after my period starts. (Other women report a gain before - everyone is different.) Then 10-14 days later it starts to go back down. Over time I've learned the pattern. Its frustrating, but keep at it a while longer to find your patterns.

StaciMarie1974

Ps-I'm sure volleyball is a great workout. But the HRM reading may be inaccurate. HRMs are good for steady state cardio. And while playing you're moving alot, its not always constant/steady motion. That stopping & starting makes the HRM reading less reliable. Same for gym activity when you're not actually doing cardio.

Also, MFP does not use TDEE. (Where you mention your TDEE here is 1300.) If MFP gives you 1300, that assumes you're going to eat some additional to account for exercise. TDEE by definition includes all activity & exercise, MFP does not.

WalkingAlong

If you keep eating 1500 you will lose weight, if your tracking is anywhere near accurate, it just might take some patience after your big losses in May. If the volleyball is new to you, it might make the scale act wonky for a while, too. There isn't really a dangerously low eating level above 1000-1200 or so, so if it makes you less confused, you can put under-eating out of your mind. If you feel like you can't play volleyball at 1500, eat more those days. If you feel fine, at 1500, carry on. Good luck!

cwolfman13

You should be able to lose eating 1500 calories per day. How accurate are you? Do you weigh and measure or just eyeball portions? This issue is very often attributable to underestimation of intake.

You also have to realize that your losses aren't going to be linear...you're going to have stalls and weeks with bigger losses and weeks with smaller losses and weeks with water weight gains, etc. You really have to keep at it for a long time and understand that it's all about the trend, not the exact weigh in to weigh in number that matters.

bowlerae

Thank you @WalkingAlong. To address some of your points...

Volleyball is not new to me, I play at a competitive level. MFP fitness tracker says 2.5 hours of play is 1,388 calories, my HRM reads out the same amount (obviously some days I put more/less effort in)...I realize HRM may not be reliable for this activity and perhaps maybe MFP is inaccurate as well. I feel fine before/after playing all week long. I feel, no matter how wrong my HRM may be, I should burn at least 600 calories in 2.5 hours based on my perceived exertion of energy.

I was worried about under-eating. I wasn't sure if I eat 1,500 calories and exercise 600 calories if my NET calories of 900 would be too low. Also wasn't sure if eating those 600 calories back would be detrimental or beneficial.

Also, I track ALL of my food down to the gram. I weigh everything I eat and have been using livestrong.com. However, I entered today's meal plan on both livestrong and MFP and the nutritional info (primarily for fruits and veggies, items with no nutritional label when you purchase them) vary between the two sites. Not off by much but I have noticed.

I also drink 78 ounces or more of water (not including water during exercise), get plenty of sleep, eat breakfast every day, eat 3-5 times a day, and eat primarily fruit, veggies, greek yogurt, egg whites, raw almonds, chicken breast, tilapia, and whey protein. I do have occasional cheat meals maybe once a week but nothing too crazy.

bowlerae

thanks @cwolfman, great reminder

WalkingAlong

I was worried about under-eating. I wasn't sure if I eat 1,500 calories and exercise 600 calories if my NET calories of 900 would be too low. Also wasn't sure if eating those 600 calories back would be detrimental or beneficial.

In my opinion, which many users of this site won't share, your minimum daily requirement is about nutrients and food volume, not 'net calories'. That is a phrase you don't see outside of this site. At 1500 of FOOD, you're getting adequate daily nutrients. If you feel like you'd be more comfy eating more, do so, of course. But eating more will mean slower weight loss, not faster. But slower is fine, too.

I agree that you're probably burning a lot of calories at volleyball. If you feel fine eating at 1500 and not 'eating back', and you're not losing more than 2 lbs/week, I think your diet is fine.

Zara11

Perhaps give your body another 2 weeks to adjust? I'm around your measurements, eat anywhere from 1300-1800 a day depending on activity & hunger, and I'm steadily losing weight. (Though I burn 400-700 a day, not as much as you.)

stephe1987

I think you shouldn't worry unless you're stuck for more than 2-3 weeks. Then that means you've been eating at maintenance and need to lower your calorie intake. Weigh/measure your food for more a more accurate count. Or exercise more. Most people tend to underestimate how much they eat and overestimate the burn. A portion is smaller than people think and people generally are lucky if they burn 7-10 calories per minute (the higher range is obviously for the people with more weight to lose).

Mischievous_Rascal

HRMs are only good for steady state cardio, which volleyball is not, so those burns are probably way overestimated. (MFP tends to overestimate most exercise calories, for everything, I've found) I quickly ran your numbers on Scoobys site with 3-5 hours of moderate activity, which is probably low btw, with a slight deficit of 10% since you have only 20ish to lose, and it came out with 2100. And that equals your BMR plus what would be a really good guess at your exercise expenditure. Why not give that give that a try for a month and see how that works out? You really need to give it more than a week or two for your body to get used to the new amount.

Before I started to maintain, I was losing slowly at 2300ish a day, and I'm older, shorter and incredibly less active than you, so don't be afraid to eat enough to fuel those awesome workouts!

Edit: Just saw your post on netting 900. Please don't! That will eventually lead to a whole lot of problems, the least of which would be a very detrimental effect on your performance levels during competition.