BMR/ TDEE/Weight Loss

Ichbinceiling

Okay... I have to apologize and thank everyone that is about to read this..

I haven't lost weight in weeks. It seems like I'm stuck. I lost 40lbs without MFP just by cutting back and exercising. I started MFP in May and I have lost 11 lbs since. I went to a nutritionist and my BMR is 1928 through the BodPod test. However, I just started looking into the TDEE. According to my calculations, my TDEE is around 2999.

I workout almost 5-6 days a week and I burn anywhere from 400-800 calories. I tried eating back my calories, I lost no weight. I tried not to eat my calories, I lost no weight.

My only guess is that I'm not eating enough calories. Should I take 500 off my TDEE to create my deficit? Then, should I be eating my exercise calories back?

Thank you everyone.

sarah44254

That is a rather high BMR. Are you certain that you aren't mistaking it for your TDEE in the first place?

curlyclo

I am thinking that the TDEE may be high

pianokeyteeth

Yeah, really high BMR. Would definitely revise that.

rockerbabyy

is it really hard to believe its that high? according to the bmr calculator on here, mine is 1869..

rockerbabyy

My only guess is that I'm not eating enough calories. Should I take 500 off my TDEE to create my deficit? Then, should I be eating my exercise calories back?

Thank you everyone.

im no expert, and have only recently been looking into my own bmr/tdee/etc... and if it were me, id take 500 off your tdee to get your deficit and then not eat the calories back.

curlyclo

is it really hard to believe its that high? according to the bmr calculator on here, mine is 1869..

Assuming that is accurate, then you want to take 500 off of that (for 1lb/week) and eat back your exercise calories. The only other thing I can think of is that your activity level might be set wrong. If you set it too high you might be getting too high of a TDEE. You shouldn't count your formal exercise time as part of your base-line activity level.

Ichbinceiling

That is a rather high BMR. Are you certain that you aren't mistaking it for your TDEE in the first place?

Thats why MFP says as well as the BODPOD test.

Ichbinceiling

is it really hard to believe its that high? according to the bmr calculator on here, mine is 1869..

Assuming that is accurate, then you want to take 500 off of that (for 1lb/week) and eat back your exercise calories. The only other thing I can think of is that your activity level might be set wrong. If you set it too high you might be getting too high of a TDEE. You shouldn't count your formal exercise time as part of your base-line activity level.

What is a formal exercise time? I work out 5-6 times a week. Three times with a trainer and I burn a lot of calories with him. I don't count any walking as exercise.

curlyclo

is it really hard to believe its that high? according to the bmr calculator on here, mine is 1869..

Assuming that is accurate, then you want to take 500 off of that (for 1lb/week) and eat back your exercise calories. The only other thing I can think of is that your activity level might be set wrong. If you set it too high you might be getting too high of a TDEE. You shouldn't count your formal exercise time as part of your base-line activity level.

What is a formal exercise time? I work out 5-6 times a week. Three times with a trainer and I burn a lot of calories with him. I don't count any walking as exercise.

Sorry. By "formal exercise time" I meant anything outside of normal daily activities (whatever you do at work/home on a regular basis). What is your activity level set to now? What do you do daily as part of your job or at home activities, apart from your exercise?

rockerbabyy

i have mine set as lightly active. i walk my daughter to school and walk to pick her up on school days (which is only 1-3 days a week this year) and i walk to pick up my produce box once a week.
im a stay at home mom so i do housework and some yardwork in addition to my workouts.

Ichbinceiling

I actually lost my job in September, so I don't do much of anything. Before, I had a desk job at a hospital. So I'd say my life is very sedimentary unless I'm in the gym. I haven't changed my activity level on here. I just haven't seen any results and I've often wondered if I was eating under and my body was working against me.

curlyclo

Alright. So if you are sedentary and your BMR is 1869, then your TDEE would be 1869 x 1.2 = 2,242.8

This means to lose 1lb/week you should be eating 1742 cals per day. Then eat back whatever you burn.

If you are lightly active, your TDEE would be 1869 x 1.375 = 2,569. Then you would eat 2,069 cals per day.

It just seems like you miscalculated the TDEE!


Are you setting your own calorie targets or letting MFP figure it out for you?

Ichbinceiling

Alright. So if you are sedentary and your BMR is 1869, then your TDEE would be 1869 x 1.2 = 2,242.8

This means to lose 1lb/week you should be eating 1742 cals per day. Then eat back whatever you burn.

If you are lightly active, your TDEE would be 2,569. Then you would eat 2,069 cals per day.

It just seems like you miscalculated the TDEE!

Okay... one last thing..... eating back what I burn.. whatever I burn on that given day... my NET should be the "1742" correct?

Ichbinceiling

Alright. So if you are sedentary and your BMR is 1869, then your TDEE would be 1869 x 1.2 = 2,242.8

This means to lose 1lb/week you should be eating 1742 cals per day. Then eat back whatever you burn.

If you are lightly active, your TDEE would be 2,569. Then you would eat 2,069 cals per day.

It just seems like you miscalculated the TDEE!

Okay, that makes much more sense. I was restricting myself to 1380 and I wasn't getting anywhere. Then when someone had mentioned to me that maybe I was eating too "little" I started doing some research.

I appreciate everyone's help. Thanks again!!! I'm gonna try to now figure out how to change my settings on MFP.

curlyclo

I appreciate everyone's help. Thanks again!!! I'm gonna try to now figure out how to change my settings on MFP.

Glad I could help! To change your settings go under "settings" --> "update diet/fitness profile" and put in your info. See if what it recommends once you put in everything is similar to what we figured out. I'm curious.

curlyclo

Alright. So if you are sedentary and your BMR is 1869, then your TDEE would be 1869 x 1.2 = 2,242.8

This means to lose 1lb/week you should be eating 1742 cals per day. Then eat back whatever you burn.

If you are lightly active, your TDEE would be 2,569. Then you would eat 2,069 cals per day.

It just seems like you miscalculated the TDEE!

Okay... one last thing..... eating back what I burn.. whatever I burn on that given day... my NET should be the "1742" correct?

Correct.

IvoryParchment

BMR depends on age, weight, height and gender. Someone who is still 60 lbs above her goal weight is going to have a high BMR. (Remember that even if she is sedentary, she has to carry 60 lbs of extra weight whenever she walks. You try it and see how many calories you burn.) If she is young and tall, even more so.

However, some people's BMR's just don't match the equations. I know I lose weight much faster than predicted by the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. You have to figure some people will lose weight more slowly. Now that you know how many calories you need to stay at your current weight, you just have to eat fewer to lose.

One other thing to keep in mind is that while exercise burns calories, the vast majority of the calories you use go just to maintain your body temperature. Turn down the thermostat, dress a little cooler than normal, try to move around to keep warm instead of keeping the house warm or bundling up, strip off layers when you exercise to try to keep from needing to sweat, use swimming as an exercise, use cooler water to shower -- all of those methods force your body to rewarm itself and raise your metabolic rate.

Ichbinceiling

I appreciate everyone's help. Thanks again!!! I'm gonna try to now figure out how to change my settings on MFP.

Glad I could help! To change your settings go under "settings" --> "update diet/fitness profile" and put in your info. See if what it recommends once you put in everything is similar to what we figured out. I'm curious.

It says 1360 for wanting to lose 2lbs a week at a sedentary lifestyle. I'm thinking I should just change it to 1700 calories a day and try it for a few weeks.

CMmrsfloyd

Yep, that's exactly why I have mine set at 'sedentary', b/c if I'm not working out or doing a massive cleaning on my house, I don't think I'm very active. If you're set to 'sedentary' and have your goal for weightless set on MFP so that it gives you a deficit, you should be fine to eat back at least part of your exercise calories. If you don't already have a HRM, you might want to consider getting one so that your exercise calories are as accurate as possible. Sometimes MFP super overestimates exercise calories which could inadvertently lead to you eating more 'back' than you are supposed to. :-)

Kkmama

Sorry, i think I am slow on the pick up... what is TDEE?
I have not lost any weight since June, well actually 4lbs and I have been wondering if I am eating enough calories or too many. How do I figure this out?