Trying figure out activity level for TDEE

MamaRiss

Hi all, so here's a little about me first. I'm 5'4" (and a half!) currently 140 pounds ( SW was 186), 29 years old. Goal weight is 125lbs, so I'm 15 away.

I work out 4 days a week, two 30 minutes sessions of Yoga Inferno ( Jillian Michaels), and two sessions of Jillian Michaels for Beginners ( one 40 minute, and one 50 minute). 3 of the 4 days include dumbells(5 and 8 pounds), the 4th day is 30 minutes of pure hell (cardio/yoga-ish intervals). Plus about 30-40 minutes of walking every day, but I don't really count that as exercise.

I'm also still up in the air as to wheather I should be at TDEE -20% or what. Of course I would love to lose the weight quickly, but I understand, that isn't always the best idea.

Edita to add : of course I know I fall within the 1-3 hours of exercise, but it isn't exactly "light".

MamaRiss

Also sorry, I meant to put this under Fitness and exercise

williams969

Try this calculator: http://exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

What I do is take the total activity for the week (for each level) and divide by 7 to get a daily average. So, like this:

Resting: 8 hrs
Very light: 13 hrs
Light: 2 hr
Moderate: 1 hr

Total: Make sure it adds up to 24, or it won't calculate

You can use decimals, too, this is just an example. I find it very accurate for those with a varying schedule/mix up of activities. At only 15lbs away, a cut of 20% or 15% sounds about right. Good luck!

ETA: If your using a more general calculator like Scooby's Workshop, you're definitely more than 1-3 hours. Don't worry about the "light" and "moderate" labels, and choose the number of hours that sounds appropriate (tip: most of us with purposeful workouts fall under 3-5 hours or "moderate").

J72FIT

At your height, weight, age and activity level I would start out at 1500 calories per day and see where that takes you.

I would start your macros like this...

Macros:

Protein: 100 grams 400 calories (27%)
Fat: 50 grams 450 calories (30%)
Carbs: 160 grams 640 calories (43%)

So roughly a 30/30/40 split

Francl27

I'd go with 'light exercise', with maybe an extra 100 calories, and see from there.

JoRocka

Hi all, so here's a little about me first. I'm 5'4" (and a half!) currently 140 pounds ( SW was 186), 29 years old. Goal weight is 125lbs, so I'm 15 away.

I work out 4 days a week, two 30 minutes sessions of Yoga Inferno ( Jillian Michaels), and two sessions of Jillian Michaels for Beginners ( one 40 minute, and one 50 minute). 3 of the 4 days include dumbells(5 and 8 pounds), the 4th day is 30 minutes of pure hell (cardio/yoga-ish intervals). Plus about 30-40 minutes of walking every day, but I don't really count that as exercise.

I'm also still up in the air as to wheather I should be at TDEE -20% or what. Of course I would love to lose the weight quickly, but I understand, that isn't always the best idea.

Edita to add : of course I know I fall within the 1-3 hours of exercise, but it isn't exactly "light".

Knowing what I know about myself and the numbers I've been running- (I lift 3 times a week and I have dance class 3-4 times a week for 2-4 hours a pop)- I can't do anything other tahn 3 hours- which is like- what moderate to light? It just adds up to too many calories for me. I just switched to TDEE- and it's putting me a little lower than I'd like- but that's kind of the point - my goal is between 15-20%- ideally 20% but on certain days I'm willing to accept the 15%.

Usually it's a good idea to be more conservative about your workouts rather than assume you work crazy hard- that's a slippery slope justifying food consumption and you might not wind up with the results you want.

TeaBea

Hi all, so here's a little about me first. I'm 5'4" (and a half!) currently 140 pounds ( SW was 186), 29 years old. Goal weight is 125lbs, so I'm 15 away.

I work out 4 days a week, two 30 minutes sessions of Yoga Inferno ( Jillian Michaels), and two sessions of Jillian Michaels for Beginners ( one 40 minute, and one 50 minute). 3 of the 4 days include dumbells(5 and 8 pounds), the 4th day is 30 minutes of pure hell (cardio/yoga-ish intervals). Plus about 30-40 minutes of walking every day, but I don't really count that as exercise.

I'm also still up in the air as to wheather I should be at TDEE -20% or what. Of course I would love to lose the weight quickly, but I understand, that isn't always the best idea.

Edita to add : of course I know I fall within the 1-3 hours of exercise, but it isn't exactly "light".

Do what I do. Find the lower & upper calories....then split the difference. I use an average in case my real exercise doesn't live up to my "optimistic" goals.

Use that for awhile. If you are tired and run down....eat more. If weight isn't coming off....eat less. They are all estimates and ranges. You might have to tweak here & there.

With 15 pounds to go ....a 15% cut might be better.

MamaRiss

Ok. I think from all the variations I've looked at, I'm going to average it out, and try for 1500 a day. I'll give that about a week and see how I'm feeling as far as energy goes and how I do on my workouts. And I changed my maco goals to 40% carbs/ 30% Protien/30% fat. That puts my protien at 113g a day, which I think is doable.

This week has been really tough for me. My irrational brain is having a hard time catching up with the rational brain. I knew that as I got closer to goal it would be tougher to lose, but that damn irrational side of me is really upset that I finally reached that point that I'm not losing at the same rate I had been previously. And with that 1200 a day goal MFP set for me, I was feeling a bit hopeless. I'm hoping averaging out my goal, and not logging exercise calories will help me see this as more long term, and help set me up for success when I do finally reach my goal.