Body fat % - a few questions!

hbunting86

Hi

So I just posted this on my MFP home page, after a body composition test this morning:

Ok - body composition done and looks something like this: Body fat is 28.8%, with lean body mass at 71.2%. Water is at 49.5% with total body water at 29.6 ltr. Estimated metabolic rate at rest is 1458kcal with estimated average energy required at 2188kcal and BMI of 22.5. If I want to lose, therefore a deficit of 500 would give me 1688 kcal per day - way more than my MFP kcal set at 1200 daily. I find it hard to believe 1688 would give me a loss... however I stepped on the scales at the gym today and it still hadn't budged!

I'm a bit confused whether or not I should be 'upping' my calories to nearer the composition test, or stick with the MFP 1200 daily goal.

I exercise a fair bit - training for a 17k run at the end of Feb, and another in March.

My goal is to get to under 20% body fat (my height is 163cm) and generally be much more toned, but the scales aren't shifting! Feel free to look at my food diary.... any advice is really welcome

Thanks!
H

hbunting86

Bump!

rileysowner

Yes, increase your calories. Most people are way to low at 1200 calories.

drivermarshy

if it helps it helps every time i have the same test done at the PT session every 6 weeks i up my cals accourdingly. my last one said i had a daily requirement of just over 2300 cals so i shoot for that figure and do at least 500 cal exercise 5 times a week. over the course of the year ive lost 48 pounds and gain a fair wack of muscle - so basically id say eat what the test says u should minus a sligh cal defisitt to allow for a slow fat loss but still allow u to buils some muscle. muscle is a great fat burner and tones everything up. i set MFP to maintain now as that works better with the figures im working with. i dont often see a scales movement but clothes get looser all the time x

withervein

MFP stops being "custom" the moment you put in that you want to lose two pounds per week. It just slaps everyone down at 1200 cal/day. It would likely be better if you moved to 1 or 1.5 pounds to lose per week to get more fuel in.

drivermarshy

you can change it... go into settings and have a snout about... to get up to 1700 cals i had to set mine to "maintain" even tho im still losing. i guess i just feel better when MFP doesnt tell me off for eating too much lol

Longbowgilly

So how can we customise it to more realistic targets?

If we change the calorie goal does it automatically calculate and change everything so its all in balance???

drivermarshy

just change it to a lb loss per week. u dont have to eat like a rabbit on 1200 cals a day. thats just plain scary im near double that!

iKristine

Hi

So I just posted this on my MFP home page, after a body composition test this morning:

Ok - body composition done and looks something like this: Body fat is 28.8%, with lean body mass at 71.2%. Water is at 49.5% with total body water at 29.6 ltr. Estimated metabolic rate at rest is 1458kcal with estimated average energy required at 2188kcal and BMI of 22.5. If I want to lose, therefore a deficit of 500 would give me 1688 kcal per day - way more than my MFP kcal set at 1200 daily. I find it hard to believe 1688 would give me a loss... however I stepped on the scales at the gym today and it still hadn't budged!

I'm a bit confused whether or not I should be 'upping' my calories to nearer the composition test, or stick with the MFP 1200 daily goal.

I exercise a fair bit - training for a 17k run at the end of Feb, and another in March.

My goal is to get to under 20% body fat (my height is 163cm) and generally be much more toned, but the scales aren't shifting! Feel free to look at my food diary.... any advice is really welcome

Thanks!
H

Your a truck out in the desert. You fill up to full on the gas before you head out, but you don't really know how far your going or how efficient your truck is with the gas you have. Not only that, but your performance can vary given different terrains you play in. You can chance the fact that you will return with enough fuel, or you can bring extra cans. If you run out, your stuck and could be there for days - weeks, which is counter productive. If you fuel up and/or plan your trip exactly (preferably daily) you could avoid that entirely.

Which do you do?

It sounds like you have one that is founded on science specific to your vehicle, or you can use the general one size fits all body types.

In other words, use the science. If you want more specific numbers throughout the day, then I suggest a BodyBugg/Body Media Fit band. Those in mine, and in alot of those I train with, best tool in weight management to date. But your first priority, should be health and maintaining your engine. Once you can manage that, then the weight will just fall off.

Jo2926

I have never had one of these tests, so does 'estimate average energy required' include your exercise?

drivermarshy

jodye2926 - on my next PT session wednesday im ganna ask my instructor what the test is called so i can let ya all know and can research it :)x

Jo2926

Thanks!

Back to the original question - I would personally try adding a few extra calories to your day. If you feel nervous about that how about half the difference?

Good luck!

taeliesyn

No it doesn't. When I started for a 2lb loss I was at 1360

MFP stops being "custom" the moment you put in that you want to lose two pounds per week. It just slaps everyone down at 1200 cal/day. It would likely be better if you moved to 1 or 1.5 pounds to lose per week to get more fuel in.

MaximalLife

Yes, increase your calories. Most people are way to low at 1200 calories.

Same old story - not eating enough and wondering why the scales stop moving....
Simply stated MFP has already figured out your total calories you need to eat per day to lose 1lb etc. a week.
That's WITHOUT exercise. You'll notice that when you actually add exercise in, the calorie limit goes up.
Why? Because it's telling you to eat your exercise calories.
Large deficits aren't really good to do because while you will lose weight, what kind of weight will it be?
In many cases you'll lose lean muscle tissue which LOWERS your metabolic rate even more.
Then you have to eat even less to compensate for less of a calorie burn to continue to lose the same amount
of weight each week.

Be efficient.
Exercise hard and eat back the calories. The hard exercise will RAISE your metabolic rate and burn more fat at rest.

hbunting86

Thanks for the advice - I'll be changing my goals and eating back exercise calories from now on!

H

withervein

MFP stops being "custom" the moment you put in that you want to lose two pounds per week. It just slaps everyone down at 1200 cal/day. It would likely be better if you moved to 1 or 1.5 pounds to lose per week to get more fuel in.

No it doesn't. When I started for a 2lb loss I was at 1360

Question: Are you surprisingly tall? or just male? I thought it was really odd how all the women on this site are talking about 1200 cal/day all the time, then I played around with my goal, activity and size settings just to see what it would spit out.

Almost every combination at "lose 2 lbs per week" was 1200. I literally spent an hour doing this because I was fascinated that it was always the same number.

hbunting86

I've played around with the numbers on here too - based on my height and weight even if I stick to 1200 my projected weight loss would be 0.8lb per week... so I've no idea where the 2lb figure comes from!!

3dogsrunning

MFP is based on generalizations. You have a specific test that measured your own body. I would trust that 1000 times over MFP (not that I don't love this site).

I would eat closer to those numbers and forget MFP and it's 1200 calories. I would also stay away from the scale for awhile. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw a small upward movement on the scale at first, however, I also wouldn't be surprised if you started losing inches. I went weeks without seeing movement on the scale, but saw a change in my body all the same. Use something else as a measuring stick, like measuring and photos.