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

Options
1…457910…26

Replies

  • gg24
    gg24 Posts: 58
    Options
    Bump! Thank you!
  • stritte14
    stritte14 Posts: 52 Member
    Options
    Bump ;)
  • olivia3263
    olivia3263 Posts: 263 Member
    Options
    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.

    Ok, so set your mfp to 1911. Aim to eat at least 1450. So without exercise you're already creating a 461 deficit (almost 500 which is 1 pound a week). You can create a 1000 (2 pounds a week) calorie deficit by exercising and burning 539. Anything you burn on top of this should be eaten to keep the 1000 calorie deficit. So if you burn 1100 calories working out, you need to eat at least 2011 (this would give you a deficit of 1000). If you only want a 500 calorie deficit, you could eat another 500 calories.
  • RainbowPearl
    RainbowPearl Posts: 42 Member
    Options
    OK Olivia,

    Lets see if this is right?
    My BMR is 1086

    So: 1086 * 1.25 = 1358
    Maintenance : 1358
    1086 + 1000 - 1358 = 728

    I would eat 1086 regardless of whether I exercise or not everyday? I would only eat my calories if they exceeded 728. The problem I don't understand is that by doing this I get a net calorie of 630. Now doesn't that put me into starvation mode? Or am I misunderstanding this?
  • RainbowPearl
    RainbowPearl Posts: 42 Member
    Options
    Bumping to keep alive
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
    Options
    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!!
    Got it. Thanks so much! This thread is on fiiiire! LOL!
    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.

    Ok, so set your mfp to 1911. Aim to eat at least 1450. So without exercise you're already creating a 461 deficit (almost 500 which is 1 pound a week). You can create a 1000 (2 pounds a week) calorie deficit by exercising and burning 539. Anything you burn on top of this should be eaten to keep the 1000 calorie deficit. So if you burn 1100 calories working out, you need to eat at least 2011 (this would give you a deficit of 1000). If you only want a 500 calorie deficit, you could eat another 500 calories.
  • lauratws
    lauratws Posts: 27 Member
    Options
    bump
  • LuLuRunner1
    LuLuRunner1 Posts: 329 Member
    Options
    bump for later...definitely interested!
  • rosied915
    rosied915 Posts: 799 Member
    Options
    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:

    I DID it yesterday~ oh well, won't be the first time or the last! Onward........
  • cbu23
    cbu23 Posts: 280 Member
    Options
    Bump
  • brookelyn2030
    brookelyn2030 Posts: 84 Member
    Options
    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 :)

    Oh goodie!!! I was wanting to ask you to start a group or something, I'm curious to see everyone's progress...and share mine!
  • kikkipoo
    kikkipoo Posts: 292 Member
    Options
    Definitely like the sound of this....
    So, I for one started by calculating my BMR on the MFP Tools and got 1450.
    Then I set my goals to readjust using Maintain current weight setting at sedentary (yup, accurate...I live in a 5 ft cubicle) and and 0 exercise and 0 calorie burn for 1800 maintenance calories. A difference of 650 calories....so that means even with no exercise I should still lose 1.3 pounds a week eating my BMR cals, right? Exercise then makes the extra calorie burn icing on the cake.

    PS....I STILL DON'T AGREE WITH THE PERCENTAGES FOR MACRO-NUTRIENTS ON MFP. IF WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT MODIFYING THE SET-UP, CAN WE DISCUSS THE NEED TO INCREASE PROTEIN INTAKE TO A MINIMUM 30% BUT PREFERRED 40% SPREAD IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN AS MUCH LEAN MUSCLE MASS. MY TRAINER AND MANY BOOKS FITNESS ARTICLES I HAVE READ INDICATE 40% CARBS, 40% PROTEIN, 20% FAT IS IDEAL.
  • kikkipoo
    kikkipoo Posts: 292 Member
    Options
    I need to keep track of my macros so Olivia method would not work for me.

    Tracking macros should be by percentage of what you have eaten, not a set number of what you're allowed to eat. What if your goals are set at 1400 calories with an allowance of 140 carbs. What if you are running around crazy all day and don't get in all of your 1400 calories, and instead end up at 1180 calories for the day.....and you ate all 140 carbs. Do you feel like you are within goal? Not really. THat means you didn't balance as you were supposed to at all because instead of eating the 40% of carbs you were supposed to you ate nearly half your daily calories as carbs. The best best is to use your mobile if you have the app on it and watch the pie chart. Keep it around 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat and you are eating a fit/balanced and very lean diet. Or you can message me your email address and I will send you an excel sheet that I created that does the exact same thing.
  • kikkipoo
    kikkipoo Posts: 292 Member
    Options
    Hi Olivia, I've set mine up now. Just wondering, did you use the BMR calculation on here or from another site? Mine is 1403 on here and 1488 elsewhere. I know there's not a lot in it, but it's more food at the end of the day!

    I tested the BMR figures against several calculators out there. The one method I prefer the most is called Katch-McArdle because it actually uses your lean body mass (only useful if you are always up to date on your actual body fat percentage) instead of your weight. We all know the more muscular you are the faster you burn calories versus the higher level of fat percentage the slower you burn.....so it is my understanding that it is the most accurate......but with that being said for most who don't know their lean body mass....the difference in MFP's BMR figures and the Katch-McArdle for me was a matter of 11 calories whereas some of the others were hundreds difference.....so go with it. MFP is pretty top notch in figuring their calorie needs.
  • mamaDaisyJ
    mamaDaisyJ Posts: 395
    Options
    Definitely like the sound of this....
    So, I for one started by calculating my BMR on the MFP Tools and got 1450.
    Then I set my goals to readjust using Maintain current weight setting at sedentary (yup, accurate...I live in a 5 ft cubicle) and and 0 exercise and 0 calorie burn for 1800 maintenance calories. A difference of 650 calories....so that means even with no exercise I should still lose 1.3 pounds a week eating my BMR cals, right? Exercise then makes the extra calorie burn icing on the cake.

    1800-1450=350 deficit, to lose a pound a week, you would need to burn 150 calories per day, eating back anything after 650 burned.
  • olivia3263
    olivia3263 Posts: 263 Member
    Options


    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)

    Not half a pound a day - gosh, that would be amazing, wouldn't it? Amazing but not so safe. It takes 3500 calorie deficit to create 1 pound loss. If you average 500 calories a day, that equals 1 pound lost in a week (500 x 7). So if you create a 500 calorie average deficit everyday for 7 days, you'd lose a pound.
  • olivia3263
    olivia3263 Posts: 263 Member
    Options
    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

    Hmm, that's a tricky one.

    I'm not an expert on the fancy BMR tests. I've heard they're more accurate, but that's unfortunate that yours is so low. Did the people who did the test suggest what you should eat to lose weight?

    Do you have any guesses as to why it's so low? Have you gotten your thyroid checked? Have you been dieting for a while? Have you tried eating at maintenance for a little while? I've read prolonged dieting or crash diets can lower your BMR up to 30%.
    I've also heard about people fixing a lowered BMR by eating at their maintenance calories for a couple weeks. I actually tried such a thing about a month ago when I was training for my half marathon. I spent 2 weeks at maintenance, and I didn't gain anything and it made me feel really good. Sometimes breaks can do a world of good.

    But I don't know your situation, but I don't think someone who's 5'7 and 170 lbs should have a BMR under 1200. Hmm, you really have me stumped.

    If I were you, this is what I would do. The first week I would eat 1500 every day and take the whole week off of exercise. Then I would add in exercise the following week, still sticking to 1500 calories. The first week would be a little over maintenance if your bmr is 1200, but above the prescribed bmr for your age, height and weight. This might be good for your body anyway. Then the second week would be 1500 before exercise, and the exercise would create your deficit. If that still didn't work, I would go see a doctor.
  • kikkipoo
    kikkipoo Posts: 292 Member
    Options

    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.

    If you are going to do 1750 to be safe (which is what I did too) and not eat under 1400 (which you shouldn't because that is the baseline nutrients your body needs) you DO need to burn an AVERAGE of 650 calories a day to achieve a 2 pound per week weight loss. That's a Maximum amount of weekly weight loss to be considered healthy though, so you can reduce it to a pound if that is more realistic for you and then you would only need to average 150 calorie burn per day. As it stands, with zero exercise you should still be losing .7 pounds a week. The exercise is just an added bonus.
  • nursenelson
    nursenelson Posts: 295
    Options
    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


    I agree - Olivia you should set up a weekly update post :)
  • nursenelson
    nursenelson Posts: 295
    Options
    I set it up to The Olivia Method last night... :)
    I hope this works for me!!

Categories