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

kandire

I'll have to think about trying this. I'm starting to hit plateaus frequently so maybe I need to change things up.

olivia3263

Olivia,
Forgive me if you have answered this already in either post as I've been reading back and forth in both....but I am curious how much you've lost since incorporating the "Olivia Method" (love the name btw) into your plan? I remember you mentioning something about losing well originally, then having a bumpy ride down throught the 160's, but wasn't sure on the rest of your story since then. I think you explained it really well! I've gotten my profile all set up and we'll see how it goes! Seems logical, motivating, and quite the healthy way to go. Once people have plugged the info into their settings it seems to be easy from there. You should (if you don't already) maybe think of having a weekly update post for all the people trying it, and they can log how well it's working for them...just a thought...thanks again...
Aspen

Great Idea on the weekly logs. I like to weigh in Sundays so I can readjust my goal numbers based on my figures. I'll start a weekly Olivia Method thread on Sunday and people can log their success there. I've been doing this for 2 weeks now and have lost 4 pounds so far

aspen1377

Olivia,

One more thing...do you eat the extra exercise calories back even if your deficit or "remaining" isn't at 1000 yet? For example, my BMR is 1411, so that times 1.3 is 1834 which is what I set MFP calories at. I'm going to aim to eat around 1450 on days I don't exercise and 1500 (up to 1600) on days when I workout. Most days I burn about 500 calories (the number I figured in step 3 was 577 calories...1411+1000=2411 then subtract 1834). However...say I have a day when I burn 615 calories....when I plug in a "hypothetical day" into MFP I come up with the following: Consumed, 1505, Exercise 615, Remaining 944....so...I know this is getting a little technical, but I'm a type "A" person, so would you eat the an extra 50 (above my 577) or so calories back (a small serving of something) and just go with a deficit of just under 900, OR since I haven't yet reached a deficit of a full 1000 not worry about eating them back if I am not hungry>

Thanks!

olivia3263

Ok..I love this and I want to try it...I'm HORRIBLE at math..so if you could create a little guidance for my situation. I'm a fitness instructor and this week I'll probably be burning over 1000 calories a day at the gym (crazy week). My maintenance according to this is 1911 calories. So If I burn 1100 calories today...how much could I eat and still create a 500 calorie deficit? Did I mention I SUCK at math? Thanks for your help!!

What is your BMR? I can't do the full calculations without that.

fitnessmonthly

Of the numerous diet and exercise books I have read I feel that the Olivia method might have some validity so here I am going to try it for a month. It makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing this with us.

bert16

Thanks for your post. Can you please explain the significance / source of the factor of 1.3 for "lightly active"? Where does that come from? Does it work for everyone, or is it not applicable for someone with a sedentary desk job? It seems the only element of your calculation that isn't at least somewhat deterministic.

Sure. BMR x 1.3 is how my nutritionist found my maintenance calories. MFP uses something similar - i think 1.2 for sedentary, 1.375 for lightly active, 1.5, 1.7 etc. It seemed the standard for her to use. You could just use MFP's activity setting and that would probably work out fine. I think you have to experiment and see what works for you. I lost a little more than I should've last week (not that i'm complaining), according to my average deficit. Might have something to do with my activity level - but we'll see how it goes as the weeks progress.

Thanks! I appreciate the extra info.

olivia3263

Olivia,

One more thing...do you eat the extra exercise calories back even if your deficit or "remaining" isn't at 1000 yet? For example, my BMR is 1411, so that times 1.3 is 1834 which is what I set MFP calories at. I'm going to aim to eat around 1450 on days I don't exercise and 1500 (up to 1600) on days when I workout. Most days I burn about 500 calories (the number I figured in step 3 was 577 calories...1411+1000=2411 then subtract 1834). However...say I have a day when I burn 615 calories....when I plug in a "hypothetical day" into MFP I come up with the following: Consumed, 1505, Exercise 615, Remaining 944....so...I know this is getting a little technical, but I'm a type "A" person, so would you eat the an extra 50 (above my 577) or so calories back (a small serving of something) and just go with a deficit of just under 900, OR since I haven't yet reached a deficit of a full 1000 not worry about eating them back if I am not hungry>

Thanks!

As long as the deficit is under 1000 you're in the clear. When in doubt, listen to your body. If you're hungry, eat a small snack with some carbs and protein and see how you feel after that. If you're not hungry, and your deficit is under 1000 I'd say you're good with not eating those extra 50 calories. From my personal experience, if I spend too many days at a very large deficit (900 - 1000) I start to feel it in my legs during my runs. I just don't have enough energy. If i then have a day where I have a smaller deficit (say 500), I can then go back to the larger deficits and I'll have more energy.

People who like to zig zag their calories would do well setting things up like this, because you can zig zag your deficit very easily with this method. But again, your body is your best guide. If you're not losing, one of your calculations is off or you're not logging food properly. If you're hungry or lacking in energy, you probably need to eat more.

MelanieAG05

This is very confusing!!

I am 5'3", 38 years old, female and am currently 165lbs. My goal is 140lbs so only 25lbs to lose. MFP says my daily goal is 1500 to lose 0.5lb per week. I have been doing this for 30 days and so far have only lost 1lb so I need some more help. I exercise about 4 or 5 times per week burning 400-500 cals per workout. Sometimes I eat them and sometimes I dont. This last week my average net has been 1360 (highest being 1634 and lowest being 1063).

Step 1 - My BMR says 1398
Step 2 - 1.3. x 1398 = 1817 - is this maintenance?? MFP says my maintenance is 1750
Step 3 - 1398 + 1000 -1817 = 581 - what is this figure representing? Is this the amount I should burn off each day in exercise calories?

scotrunner

I havent tried this yet but I can see the benefits if you are near to goal and close to maintaining weight. I'm going to try for a few weeks after this weeks weigh in. Thanks Olivia, you have really started something here!

olivia3263

This is very confusing!!

I am 5'3", 38 years old, female and am currently 165lbs. My goal is 140lbs so only 25lbs to lose. MFP says my daily goal is 1500 to lose 0.5lb per week. I have been doing this for 30 days and so far have only lost 1lb so I need some more help. I exercise about 4 or 5 times per week burning 400-500 cals per workout. Sometimes I eat them and sometimes I dont. This last week my average net has been 1360 (highest being 1634 and lowest being 1063).

Step 1 - My BMR says 1398
Step 2 - 1.3. x 1398 = 1817 - is this maintenance?? MFP says my maintenance is 1750
Step 3 - 1398 + 1000 -1817 = 581 - what is this figure representing? Is this the amount I should burn off each day in exercise calories?

Ok, so 1.3 is a calculation to represent a bit of light activity in your daily life (not including exercise). I think MFP uses a slightly lower number for sedentary setting (1.25) and slightly higher for lightly active (1.375). I use 1.3 because that's what my nutritionist used for me - it seemed to be the standard calculation for her to use, so that's what I've been going off of. In the end, you know how active you are, so you'd be the best judge. If you think you're very sedentary, go with the 1750 figure, if you think that's a little low, go with lightly active. I like 1.3 because it's in the middle : )

so if you stick with 1.3 - you'd set calories to 1817, try to stick to around 1400 calories per day - not under. And if you want to create a 1000 calorie deficit, you'd need to burn 581 calories and not eat above 1400. Then if you burn anything above 581, you would eat the extra calories back to keep that 1000 calorie deficit. Make sense? And again, the easiest way is to just look at that green number (calories remaining). It shows you your deficit right there, so if the number is over 1000, eat until it gets to 1000 or under.

MelanieAG05

This is very confusing!!

I am 5'3", 38 years old, female and am currently 165lbs. My goal is 140lbs so only 25lbs to lose. MFP says my daily goal is 1500 to lose 0.5lb per week. I have been doing this for 30 days and so far have only lost 1lb so I need some more help. I exercise about 4 or 5 times per week burning 400-500 cals per workout. Sometimes I eat them and sometimes I dont. This last week my average net has been 1360 (highest being 1634 and lowest being 1063).

Step 1 - My BMR says 1398
Step 2 - 1.3. x 1398 = 1817 - is this maintenance?? MFP says my maintenance is 1750
Step 3 - 1398 + 1000 -1817 = 581 - what is this figure representing? Is this the amount I should burn off each day in exercise calories?

Ok, so 1.3 is a calculation to represent a bit of light activity in your daily life (not including exercise). I think MFP uses a slightly lower number for sedentary setting (1.25) and slightly higher for lightly active (1.375). I use 1.3 because that's what my nutritionist used for me - it seemed to be the standard calculation for her to use, so that's what I've been going off of. In the end, you know how active you are, so you'd be the best judge. If you think you're very sedentary, go with the 1750 figure, if you think that's a little low, go with lightly active. I like 1.3 because it's in the middle : )

so if you stick with 1.3 - you'd set calories to 1817, try to stick to around 1400 calories per day - not under. And if you want to create a 1000 calorie deficit, you'd need to burn 581 calories and not eat above 1400. Then if you burn anything above 581, you would eat the extra calories back to keep that 1000 calorie deficit. Make sense? And again, the easiest way is to just look at that green number (calories remaining). It shows you your deficit right there, so if the number is over 1000, eat until it gets to 1000 or under.

Thanks Olivia - I think I get it now. MY MFP thing is set to sedentary so I might go for 1750 instead to be on the safe side - so I would set that as my goal then? And not eat under 1400? And make sure deficit is under 1000 each day? Do I need to burn the 581 cals every day - this isn't really feasible for me as I am a working mother.

Yori1

Hi Olivia, I'm still confused - sorry!

I'm 5'3, 154lbs and my goal is 140lbs. My BMR on MFP is 1325 and i exercise 2 x weekly burning btw 400 - 500 cals. And 1 x weekly burning another 200- 250cals.

Do i figure maintenance on Sedentary or Lightly active?

Any chance of figuring this for me please.

Time2LoseWeightNOW

OneFitMom_

Bump

melinda6569

changing it now

melinda6569

So what if we just ate 1500 calories a day and exercised? But if we burn over 600 calories eat the extra.. is it the same thing? I am afraid if i change my settings i will see oh i have 1770 each day to eat and i will eat them :-(

MelanieAG05

So what if we just ate 1500 calories a day and exercised? But if we burn over 600 calories eat the extra.. is it the same thing? I am afraid if i change my settings i will see oh i have 1770 each day to eat and i will eat them :-(

Me too :laugh:

olivia3263

Hi Olivia, I'm still confused - sorry!

I'm 5'3, 154lbs and my goal is 140lbs. My BMR on MFP is 1325 and i exercise 2 x weekly burning btw 400 - 500 cals. And 1 x weekly burning another 200- 250cals.

Do i figure maintenance on Sedentary or Lightly active?

Any chance of figuring this for me please.

So set your MFP goal to 1723 (I used 1.3 - in the middle of sedentary and lightly active)
Aim to eat around 1350, so you have at least a 373 deficit on your days off from exercise, but make sure not to go below 1350.
To reach a maximum deficit of 1000 you'd need to burn 627 calories exercising. Since your not reaching that, don't eat any of your workout calories. With your 500 calorie burns, you'll be creating a nice deficit of 873, so you'll still get nice results.

olivia3263

So what if we just ate 1500 calories a day and exercised? But if we burn over 600 calories eat the extra.. is it the same thing? I am afraid if i change my settings i will see oh i have 1770 each day to eat and i will eat them :-(

Me too :laugh:

You'd have to see how you like it. I thought I would think that too, but now that I have been relating that green number to my deficit I no longer aim to get it to 0. It really makes me aware of the control I have - I could eat more, but I would be decreasing the deficit. The option is there, but I give myself more power by deciding what's more important - having the extra snack and losing less that week, or skipping the extra calories because I'm not really that hungry and going for a greater loss. I do both depending on how I feel that day, but it puts me more in control, I think. But everyone's different. I just like doing it this way

olivia3263

Thanks Olivia - I think I get it now. MY MFP thing is set to sedentary so I might go for 1750 instead to be on the safe side - so I would set that as my goal then? And not eat under 1400? And make sure deficit is under 1000 each day? Do I need to burn the 581 cals every day - this isn't really feasible for me as I am a working mother.

You don't have to burn the 581 calories everyday. If you eat 1400 and don't workout, you're still creating a deficit of 350, which if you did this every day for a week you'd lose a little over half a pound. If you want to lose more in a week (up to 2 pounds safely) you'd have to add exercise. To get the maximum deficit of 1000 calories, you need to burn 581. You can certainly burn somewhere in between and still reap the benefits. It depends how long much you want to push yourself.

getsveltEagain

I'll use myself as an example for the calculations:

Step 1: BMR = 1480
Step 2: BMR x 1.3 (1480 x1.3) = 1924
Step 3: (BMR + 1000) - maintenance/ 1480 + 1000 - 1924 = 556.

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.

Good luck and happy deficit creating!

So my numbers would be:
BMR = 1580
1580 * 1.3 = 2054
(1580 + 1000) - 2054 = 526

So I would set my calorie goal to 2054 and then eat about 1554 a day to lose half a pound. But that is a half a pound a day right?

With the exercise I would do something like this.... If I burn more than 526 on a given day I would eat the surplus. For example, if I burn 750 calories I would eat 224 making my day total 1778.

edit: I am currently 170 lbs, 5'3.5", female, and 30yrs old. On an average day (according to my Bodybugg) I burn 2000/2100 calories (24hr day/midnight-to-midnight)

Yori1

Thanks - much appreciated.

ratsyroo

~bump

mrsskinny629

Just so I'm clear...

My BMR is 1670 .. but in order for me to lose 1.5/lbs a week..I need to have a net of 1340. So I need to burn 330 calories a day assuming I eat 1670? .. if I don't plan on working out that day, then just consume 1340? or..in order for me to lose 2 lbs a week, I need 1200 cals, so I'd need to work off 470 calories?

UnderConstructionJ

Question Olivia. Do you have to make any changes to the Fitness goes? I've changed my setting to Maintenance.

lloydmel

bump

graysmom2005

Ok..I love this and I want to try it...I'm HORRIBLE at math..so if you could create a little guidance for my situation. I'm a fitness instructor and this week I'll probably be burning over 1000 calories a day at the gym (crazy week). My maintenance according to this is 1911 calories. So If I burn 1100 calories today...how much could I eat and still create a 500 calorie deficit? Did I mention I SUCK at math? Thanks for your help!!

What is your BMR? I can't do the full calculations without that.

I'm sorry. Aren't you glad you started this thread? LOL!!! My BMR is 1470. Maintenance is 1911. :-)

graysmom2005

Ok..I love this and I want to try it...I'm HORRIBLE at math..so if you could create a little guidance for my situation. I'm a fitness instructor and this week I'll probably be burning over 1000 calories a day at the gym (crazy week). My maintenance according to this is 1911 calories. So If I burn 1100 calories today...how much could I eat and still create a 500 calorie deficit? Did I mention I SUCK at math? Thanks for your help!!

What is your BMR? I can't do the full calculations without that.

I'm sorry. Aren't you glad you started this thread? LOL!!! My BMR is 1470. Maintenance is 1911. :-)

Sorry...wrong. BMI is 1427.

boyslie72487

figure i'll give this a try, thanks!

kg6blue

Hi Olivia,

Which do you suggest I use from below options...

1. I'm 5'7" 170 lbs 40 yrs old... the calculater here says my BMR is 1474, office job so Maint would be(1474x1.2)= 1768... so set goal to 1768 and my workout calorie goal is 2474-1768=706. Eat no less than 1474, no exercise my daily defecit would be only 294. Which means I need to log at least 300-400 exercise calories daily to get the the 600-700 defecit daily.

2. I took a true BMR test at a gym with the face mask hooked up to computer etc... very technical... that said my BMR was below 1200 which the don't recommend anyone going below 1200...
If I use that... 1200 BMR, Maint (1200x1.2)=1440... set goal to 1440 and workout calorie goal is 2200-1440=760. Eating no less than 1200, again with no exercise my daily defecit would only be 240. Then I'd have to exercise 400-500 calories a day go get to the right defecit to lose even at least 1 lb a week.

UGH... Do I have this right? I've been doing the current setting which MFP has me at 1200 calories and I add the exercise I do... most times stay within that range.... and the scale is not budging.

I'm also doing p90x workouts and exercising 6 days a week, ranging from 250-600 calories burned each day...

Not sure what to change things to... to get the scale to budge!

Anything you could suggest as it seems you got the equation right!
Thanks!
Karla