The "Olivia Method" - the cool new way to set up your MFP go

mamapuddin17

I am confused. My BMR is 1357 I x that by 1.2 to get my maintenance? That would give me 1628 for maintenance calories. Now what do I do?

kikkipoo

Ok, thanks. Would it be better if I left my settings to lightly active instead of sedentary? If I left it at lightly active it gives me a net calorie of 1690... Or with this method are we supposed to put it to sedentary?

That's a personal decision. You know your body better than anyone. I know I work all day, and when I go home, I'm more likely to kick my feet back on the couch than start jamming out to my ipod cleaning house. So, for me...sedentary was more accurate. If you prefer lightly active, and believe you ARE lightly active, then run with it!

kikkipoo

I am confused. My BMR is 1357 I x that by 1.2 to get my maintenance? That would give me 1628 for maintenance calories. Now what do I do?

Change your MFP goals to 1628....(BUT DON'T EAT that many every day) Your goal is to eat 1357. You have to eat that number minimum because that is what your body needs to function and prevent starvation mode. The difference will be your daily deficit. So, the number in green at the end of the day is how many calories you have contributed that day to losing 1 or 2 pounds per week. 1000 puts you on track for a 2 pound a week loss and 500 is 1 pound. It's a lot more encouraging to see a number that is productive rather than a number telling you to eat.

Sd0510

bump

krista896

Ok so I think I get this but have a question about exercise.

My number as as follows: BMR - 1273 Maintenance - 1526
Height - 5'2" Weight - 125

So 1273+1000-1527= 746

So i can exercise for 254 calories before I should eat back any correct? and if i burn any calories over that I would need to eat them back if I only ate 1273 that day?

I guess the main question is as long as the total deficit is under 1000 I wouldn't have to eat back the calories?

parys1

I need to come back and check this out when I'm not on my phone.

mamapuddin17

Thank you kikkipoo for that explanation!

kikkipoo

Ok so I think I get this but have a question about exercise.

My number as as follows: BMR - 1273 Maintenance - 1526
Height - 5'2" Weight - 125

So 1273+1000-1527= 746

So i can exercise for 254 calories before I should eat back any correct? and if i burn any calories over that I would need to eat them back if I only ate 1273 that day?

I guess the main question is as long as the total deficit is under 1000 I wouldn't have to eat back the calories?

No, actually you would need to exercise for the 746 before you would eat any calories back. You just don't want to create a deficit higher than a 1,000 before you start to deprive your body of what it needs. So, eat 1273, exercise 746, and your green number should be 1,000. The 254 is the deficit you create automatically without any exercise. So, even if you didn't exercise at all, you should still lose a half of a pound a week. Go for a 30 minute brisk walk every day and you should be up to a pound. Hit the gym a few days a week, and you're about a 1.5 a week, and exercise daily to hit your 2 pound mark.

lilsassymom

So this is what my home page says now:
Goal: 1690 (lightly active, maintain my current weight)
Food: 1293
Exercise: -229
Net: = 1064

So my BMR is 1252. Does the net have to be at least 1252? Or is it ok since I took in 1293 in food?

kikkipoo

So this is what my home page says now:
Goal: 1570 (sedentary maintain my current weight)
Food: 1293
Exercise: -229
Net: = 1064

So my BMR is 1252. Does the net have to be at least 1252? Or is it ok since I took in 1293 in food?

Over is fine, just not under. The only thing over does is hurt your deficit.

TahliS

Trying this out today. Love seeing what i have left as aposed to my "restriction". I was hungry all day.. so admittedly ate more than my BMR of 1757.. so this is what it ending up looking like

Totals 1,933 225 53 110
Your Daily Goal 3,006 300 82 263
Remaining 1,073 75 29 153
Calories Carbs Fat Protein
*You've earned 722 extra calories from exercise today

Please tell me that is right??

blueviolet20

I'm going to try this....maybe it will help!

JeSuisPrest

After holding steady for a few weeks, I have dropped two pounds. Wondering what will happen next week!

Lupiemomma30

I think I'm going to try this......

ingfit

gonna try it - thanks!

flamegirl72

bump

kamoira23

bump

youngmomtaz

bump

holyguacamole37

I actually really love this - I'm going to have to try it!! Thanks for sharing.

Yougonan

Bump

jmjones66

Bump

flamegirl72

I have been struggling a lot lately and think this could really help. I love the idea of seeing the deficit every day and knowing exactly where I stand. Thanks for sharing.....gonna give this a try

Brookelee30

Bump

sweetxsour35

Thanks for the tip! I've been going at 1200 cals/day for a while now and haven't been losing much (rarely ever over half a pound a week for the past few weeks!) so I think I'm gonna change it up and eat a little more ;]

StartingAnewDay

To Much to read everything but I thought this would help some!!

English BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Metric BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )


Harris Benedict Formula
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

•If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
•If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
•If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
•If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
•If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9


I hope this helps someone...

shydaisi

Trying this out today. Love seeing what i have left as aposed to my "restriction". I was hungry all day.. so admittedly ate more than my BMR of 1757.. so this is what it ending up looking like

Totals 1,933 225 53 110
Your Daily Goal 3,006 300 82 263
Remaining 1,073 75 29 153
Calories Carbs Fat Protein
*You've earned 722 extra calories from exercise today

Please tell me that is right??

Close, but you really should keep the "remaining" calories to at or below 1,000.

StartingAnewDay

So I set my MFP calorie goal to 1924.
I aim to eat at least 1500 - 1600 calories per day, regardless of exercise, but definitely no less than 1480.
If I burn more than 556 through exercise on a given day, I should eat at least the surplus calories. So if I burn 800 calories through exercise, I would want to eat at least 244 calories above my goal of 1500 - so at least 1744.

This is the part that confuses me.. I understand it all EXCEPT how you came up with the number you figure to eat.. I subtracted and did all kinds of math and could not understand how you decided to eat 1500-1600 a day... Please try to explain this part in more detail..

CMmrsfloyd

So I set my MFP calorie goal to 1924.
I aim to eat at least 1500 - 1600 calories per day, regardless of exercise, but definitely no less than 1480.
If I burn more than 556 through exercise on a given day, I should eat at least the surplus calories. So if I burn 800 calories through exercise, I would want to eat at least 244 calories above my goal of 1500 - so at least 1744.

This is the part that confuses me.. I understand it all EXCEPT how you came up with the number you figure to eat.. I subtracted and did all kinds of math and could not understand how you decided to eat 1500-1600 a day... Please try to explain this part in more detail..

This part I actually understand LOL - in Step 1 she figured out her BMR is 1480, and she uses that as a bare minimum to always eat at least that amount to keep her body happy basically. She shoots for 1500-1600 but absolutely never goes under the 1480 BMR.

heaven_511

Help please!

I'd like to give this a try. I'm 40 yrs old, 5'3" and I've been yoyo-ing b/t 160-162 for the past couple weeks. I'm wondering if this will work for me if. I'm pretty sedentary at work, but I work out 4-5 days a week and I try to average 1000 calories burned/workout. I don't usually eat over 1500 calories a day and on days that I don't work out I try not to exceed the 1200 calories given by MFP.

I've done the calculations, but what do I do with them? Should I make any other adjustments due to my exercise?

Here are my numbers:
BMR: 1374
Maintainance: 1786
Exercise Calories: 588

gg24

Olivia, Thank you so much for sharing this. I've been doing this for over almost 2 weeks now and I've finally broke a plateau I've had for over 2 months. I think just having a set number of calories is best for me. While I do exercise everyday, I rarely get to the point where I need to eat back the calories. Eating within a 100 (1400-1500) calorie point range of my BMR is perfect for me. Before I was at 1290 and given my job and commute and family life I was never sure if I could get all my exercise in during the day, which meant I wasn't sure what I could have for dinner until the last minute (eating back calories). Now I just plan on the set amount.