These figures can't be right!
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I am 29, 5'4 and weigh 163 and consider myself extremely sedentary. I workout from a half hour to an hour a day 6x's a week but the other part of the day is spent mostly sitting with cooking meals and housework thrown in there for an hour or so a day.
Current weight(163) maintenance calories:2171
BMR:1521
Goal weight(135):1999
Here's how I broke it down:
Resting:9 hours
Very light:13.5
Light:1
Moderate: .5
Heavy:0
But mfp shows me that my maintenance calories for goal is 1790 and current was 1950. Why is there such a big gap in numbers...it's so confusing!
Can you explain what these numbers mean,if ya have the time!
Thanks so much
Why is MFP different?
Starters, MFP uses a BMR calc that is considered about 5% more accurate now a days for healthy weight folks. ExRx is still using an old one. My spreadsheet shows both.
Also MFP only has 4 broad activity levels to select from, compared to detailed view on ExRx, which is multiplied by your current BMR.
So current by ExRx detailed view is 2171, and MFP shows 1950, only about 220 off, which I've seen worse. So you must not have selected totally wrong activity level on MFP.
Using your info in the spreadsheet which uses the same BMR calc as MFP gives following figures. (but MFP uses rounded figures for converting to required kg first).
It appears you underestimated the workouts. If that 30-1hr workout 6 x week is more intensive than a 4mph walk, then it belongs under Heavy, which is still underestimating calorie burn on it. And it would be 0.64 daily avg, not .5, if you say 0.75 x 6 days / 7
So I'm going to put it where it belongs. Heavy - 0.64. Which makes Very Light - 13.36.
If it is really a walk at 4mph, let me know and I'll put it under Moderate correctly.
CW BMR - 1449
GW BMR - 1322
GW maintenance - 1985
So, if you ate at 1985 everyday, the workout days with 1 hr exercise, with perhaps 600-700 calorie burn, takes you below your current BMR by 164. On the 30 min days, with 300-350, slightly above at 186, and the one rest day, above 536. That does not include ALL your other daily activity.
So what is happening on almost 6 days a week is, you are feeding your workout, but all your daily non-exercise activity calories burned are not being replaced, and yet you are allowing your healthy estimated BMR to burn fully by feeding it.
Now, if you still want MFP to show you your daily encouragement after you log food, the "in 5 weeks you'll weigh ...", then do the following.
On diet/fitness profile, keeping current and goal weights correct.
Set activity level there to Very Active (this is still not as exact, but you are entering manual goal anyway).
Change exercise goals to whatever you want them to be, not used in any math anywhere, just visual encougarement.
Change What is your goal to Maintain weight (again, you are manually entering goal so this is meaningless)
Then on Goals screen for custom setup, change macro nutrients to whatever you want.
Change Exercise calories to 0 (remember, no more logging of exercise calories, it's included now).
Change Net Calories Consumed to 1985.
Ignore their estimate on the right, because they are not aware of your exercise nor true daily activity.
Now when you log your exercise, just the type and time, calories of 1.
If you have HRM and want to log more accurate estimate, put it in Food Diary Notes. That way you can visually see you ate 1985, but you burned 800 that day, or whatever it ends up being.
The only time you have to change something now, is if you really have a change to the schedule. Like you start making 3 days a week 1.5 hr all the time.
If you miss a workout, or add an extra one or extra time, every now and then, no need to worry about it. The weekly balance will take care of it.
And most importantly, you'll get the most out of that potential 1500 BMR burn you can get every day, notice how that is like 3x all your other daily activity added together. Really a bummer to lose that.0 -
For those without Excel.
Here is an online Google Spreadsheet version. Just be careful of the fields with formulas, stick to the yellow boxes.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGZlcmNCNmhJWFhtUGl0ZEk1RFd1c0E0 -
Heybales,
Thanks so much for all the help with this concept. I've been over it a few times and I'm ready to get started. Just want to make sure with you that I did it right. Do you mind??
According to your spreadsheet:
Current wt: 171.4 (current BMR: 1454)
Goal wt: 135 (Goal BMR: 1291)
Activity calories: 551
Total calories: 1842
Goal for calorie counting is to hit 1842 most days regardless of exercise, right...?
Under the Spot Check section, by the end of a week the "net above BMR" should be a negative number, right?
I'm getting a bit lost in the minutia0 -
No, net above BMR should be positive, showing that you are eating higher than your BMR. You don't want to be eating below it.0
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No, net above BMR should be positive, showing that you are eating higher than your BMR. You don't want to be eating below it.
Thanks, glad to have that clarified...
Would it be accurate to say that one should try to consume a number of calories between their BMR and their Total Calories #?
In this case, I'd aim for between 1460-1800ish each day?0 -
That's what I am doing and some days and netting close to 2000 calories a day. I am mostly eating at my future goals maintenance calories. But it's only been a couple of days for me so I couldn't whether it has helped with weight loss just yet. 0
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You're supposed to eat the total calories for your goal weight. It's in cell B46, D56, and I61.0
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You're supposed to eat the total calories for your goal weight. It's in cell B46, D56, and I61.
OK. Thanks... It will take some getting used to because my brain is trained to go "Oh no! You're above X number stop eating!" It's an adjustment to think that some days will be over and some will be under... I don't know why this is so difficult to wrap my mind around. Too many years of believing that I have to be below 1400 cal/day I guess :ohwell:0 -
OK. Thanks... It will take some getting used to because my brain is trained to go "Oh no! You're above X number stop eating!" It's an adjustment to think that some days will be over and some will be under... I don't know why this is so difficult to wrap my mind around. Too many years of believing that I have to be below 1400 cal/day I guess :ohwell:
Just remember to only increase about 200 / day for a week, then another, until at goal.
You want your body to know this is not a gift to hold on to, but something regular so it can raise the metabolism.0 -
OK. Thanks... It will take some getting used to because my brain is trained to go "Oh no! You're above X number stop eating!" It's an adjustment to think that some days will be over and some will be under... I don't know why this is so difficult to wrap my mind around. Too many years of believing that I have to be below 1400 cal/day I guess :ohwell:
Just remember to only increase about 200 / day for a week, then another, until at goal.
You want your body to know this is not a gift to hold on to, but something regular so it can raise the metabolism.
Thanks!0 -
In case someone hasn't caught the inspiring thread about those eating at higher levels like this method causes you to do. It may take time to get burning, but it can happen.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/531086-before-and-after-pics-no-starvation?0 -
Okay I have a question. What if my activities often vary on a daily basis. Monday-Friday I am up at 4:30 a.m. to workout for about 60-90 minutes. I am currently doing the P90X program, so my workouts are intense. I work a desk job Monday-Friday from 8:30am-5:00pm. Then I go home and life is kind of hectic.
Making dinner and eating are first on the list, but then some days I have to take my kids to their baseball practice/games, and some days I clean or go shopping, and some days I watch t.v. or do homework. The weekends are even more hectic. For example, tomorrow (Saturday) I will waking up at 4am to workout, and then I will be out of the house most of the day. Sunday is my daughter's birthday, so I will be busy taking care of that most of the day. This is not going to be a typical weekend, but even typical weekends are hard to predict. Some weekends I sleep in late and some I'm up early. Some weekends I watch several hours of t.v., and some weekends I'm out of the house most of the time.
I am having a lot of difficulty deciding how many hours to enter into the spreadsheet for rest, t.v. time, shopping, cleaning, and other errands. I was going to journal my activities this week, but it has been a particularly crazy week because I have been sick, and this weekend will be extra crazy. Not sure what to do at this point. Please help!0 -
I would assume from your description that you are "very active".
I like having the FitBit to give me a more accurate reflection of how active I am from day to day. Then I can see if I'm tired and hungry from being so active, or just because I'm stressed out or PMS'ing.Okay I have a question. What if my activities often vary on a daily basis. Monday-Friday I am up at 4:30 a.m. to workout for about 60-90 minutes. I am currently doing the P90X program, so my workouts are intense. I work a desk job Monday-Friday from 8:30am-5:00pm. Then I go home and life is kind of hectic.
Making dinner and eating are first on the list, but then some days I have to take my kids to their baseball practice/games, and some days I clean or go shopping, and some days I watch t.v. or do homework. The weekends are even more hectic. For example, tomorrow (Saturday) I will waking up at 4am to workout, and then I will be out of the house most of the day. Sunday is my daughter's birthday, so I will be busy taking care of that most of the day. This is not going to be a typical weekend, but even typical weekends are hard to predict. Some weekends I sleep in late and some I'm up early. Some weekends I watch several hours of t.v., and some weekends I'm out of the house most of the time.
I am having a lot of difficulty deciding how many hours to enter into the spreadsheet for rest, t.v. time, shopping, cleaning, and other errands. I was going to journal my activities this week, but it has been a particularly crazy week because I have been sick, and this weekend will be extra crazy. Not sure what to do at this point. Please help!0 -
Okay I have a question. What if my activities often vary on a daily basis. Monday-Friday I am up at 4:30 a.m. to workout for about 60-90 minutes. I am currently doing the P90X program, so my workouts are intense. I work a desk job Monday-Friday from 8:30am-5:00pm. Then I go home and life is kind of hectic.
Making dinner and eating are first on the list, but then some days I have to take my kids to their baseball practice/games, and some days I clean or go shopping, and some days I watch t.v. or do homework. The weekends are even more hectic. For example, tomorrow (Saturday) I will waking up at 4am to workout, and then I will be out of the house most of the day. Sunday is my daughter's birthday, so I will be busy taking care of that most of the day. This is not going to be a typical weekend, but even typical weekends are hard to predict. Some weekends I sleep in late and some I'm up early. Some weekends I watch several hours of t.v., and some weekends I'm out of the house most of the time.
I am having a lot of difficulty deciding how many hours to enter into the spreadsheet for rest, t.v. time, shopping, cleaning, and other errands. I was going to journal my activities this week, but it has been a particularly crazy week because I have been sick, and this weekend will be extra crazy. Not sure what to do at this point. Please help!
Well, for the spreadsheet, you can get in known activities that even occur just weekly.
So if you know you are going to do 2 hrs worth of cleaning at some point in the week, perhaps 1 hr on 2 days, or sometimes it turns into 30 min on 4 days, but you know it takes 2 hrs to accomplish all that in a typical week, 2 hrs x 1 day under Light.
Or you know normal walking around for shopping takes 2hr trip every other week, and 30 min catchup on the other weeks, there's 1.5 hr x 1 day under Light. Add to cleaning.
Is TV time for you really the bump on a log style like resting? what with the kids around, or more getting up and being active and interrupted? That would fall under Lightly Active automatically then. But if you get most evenings 30 min always to yourself to watch TV on the couch finally at end of day, there is Rest. For weekends, split the difference for how much extra you may get.
The workouts is the main thing you seem to have nailed, so that is great.
And this is really a weekly balanced model. You eat to a certain number daily, but you know you are training eating at this level all the time. So special event where you will eat more, cut back on Sat and Mon by 200 cal, include extra time on workout on Monday, don't worry about the rest.
And the reason for nailing that Light and by default Very Light, is because some like you have massive amount of daily activity, plus incredible workouts. And you want to feed everything that should be, and get deficit from the rest.
Whatever goal number you come up with, do a pretend week under spot check.
Enter that goal eaten for each day, like you nailed it.
Do you know your exercise burns for those workouts? Or perhaps use P90X estimate they say.
Put that in the days it applies. If you have no Moderate activity of walking that fast, then nothing to add on.
Then enter the same current weight for start and end to the week.
How did the Net above BMR end up. Should be above, by 100-200 or more for that massive routine.
Then scroll down to where expected weight loss is shown. That's based on how much time fell into Light and Very Light, your daily activity.
Remember, no matter how shockingly high that number seems - no exercise eat back, hence the reason you want Net above BMR to be positive.0 -
Thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time to break that down for me. This is what I pretty much figured out in the spreadsheet, but I was having a hard time trying to figure out what I should put for rest/t.v. time. You made a good point about what kind of t.v. time I have. With 2 kids, I don't get a whole lot of straight time to sit and relax.
I have consumed around 2100 calories each day this week, except for yesterday because I was sick and could barely eat. After the first two days of eating over 2000 calories, I lost 1.4 pounds! I'm very excited to keep this going and see what happens.0 -
I would assume from your description that you are "very active".
I like having the FitBit to give me a more accurate reflection of how active I am from day to day. Then I can see if I'm tired and hungry from being so active, or just because I'm stressed out or PMS'ing.
Thanks for the tip. I was thinking about buying something like this, but I don't have the extra cash right now. I'm hoping to find a number that I'm comfortable with and that is going to keep my weight loss steady, and I really like how Heybales has broken down this system.
Does your FitBit tell you how many calories you burn throughout the day, or just during certain activities? Not really sure how it works.0 -
Throughout the day. It basically gives you your TDEE. When I calculated my TDEE using the spreadsheet, and averaged out two months worth of FitBit entries, the results were less than 50 calories apart.Does your FitBit tell you how many calories you burn throughout the day, or just during certain activities? Not really sure how it works.0
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Can you help me please? I've used the spreadsheet that you made and it suggests that I am very active and should eat around 1910 calories. I'd like to lose ideally another 7lbs but mostly I am happy at this weight and just want to get stronger and fitter. I am worrying that I do not eat enough calories.
Gender: Female, Age: 22, GW: 119, CW: 126 for comparison, height: 5"5.4.
Activity levels: I workout at least once every day, my usual routine is 4 days of Jilian Micheals work out DVD's (one 20 minute and one 30 minute) and 3 days of running (currently following a 10k training plan that has one day of speed intervals of no more than 4 mins with jog/rest intervals, one day of longer tempo intervals of no longer than 15 minutes with a 5 minute jog interval and one long run day - currently my longest is 60mins and managed 8.5k but working my way up to the full 10k)
Rest - 7 hours sleep a night on average, 2 hours tv/reading on week nights and about 5/6 hours tv/reading on weekends.
Heavy - Running three times a week, usually 2 x 30 mins and long run of 60 mins
Moderate - Workout DVD's 3 x 22 mins and 4 x 30 mins
Light - 0.25hrs x 5 walking to and from office and 2 x 1hr cleaning/shopping a week
Very Light - the balance of the week probably (according to spreadsheet 12.95)
My question really is that if I eat between 1850 to 1910 calories per day, will I lose weight or maintain? I am happy with either of those I just really don't want to gain (unless it's due to muscles).
Thanks0 -
Can you help me please? I've used the spreadsheet that you made and it suggests that I am very active and should eat around 1910 calories. I'd like to lose ideally another 7lbs but mostly I am happy at this weight and just want to get stronger and fitter. I am worrying that I do not eat enough calories.
Gender: Female, Age: 22, GW: 119, CW: 126 for comparison, height: 5"5.4.
Activity levels: I workout at least once every day, my usual routine is 4 days of Jilian Micheals work out DVD's (one 20 minute and one 30 minute) and 3 days of running (currently following a 10k training plan that has one day of speed intervals of no more than 4 mins with jog/rest intervals, one day of longer tempo intervals of no longer than 15 minutes with a 5 minute jog interval and one long run day - currently my longest is 60mins and managed 8.5k but working my way up to the full 10k)
Rest - 7 hours sleep a night on average, 2 hours tv/reading on week nights and about 5/6 hours tv/reading on weekends.
Heavy - Running three times a week, usually 2 x 30 mins and long run of 60 mins
Moderate - Workout DVD's 3 x 22 mins and 4 x 30 mins
Light - 0.25hrs x 5 walking to and from office and 2 x 1hr cleaning/shopping a week
Very Light - the balance of the week probably (according to spreadsheet 12.95)
My question really is that if I eat between 1850 to 1910 calories per day, will I lose weight or maintain? I am happy with either of those I just really don't want to gain (unless it's due to muscles).
Thanks
Great workup. I used 5.5 for the 5/6 hr split. Used 20 min on DVD (sure those are no more intense than walking 4mph flat, and really belong under Heavy?).
I came up with 1869.
So, that would be a weight loss.
First, total is based on lighter you doing the activity. Second, calculator underestimates.
Using the section for Miss or Add a workout, you can see just what the calc is estimating the calorie burn at for those minutes of activity.
Heavy - 120 min - 759 cal
Mod - 120 min - 542 cal
If you use a HRM, does your 2 hrs of running actually burn more than 760 cal's? There is extra deficit.
Do the 2 hrs of DVD's burn more than 542 cal's? There is extra deficit.
Plus it's only calc'ing 395 cals for all other non-exercise daily activity (bottom section), you probably burn more than that, huh?
So you still have a deficit.
The problem still could be, too much? If you do a pretend week on that Weekly Spot Check section, and pretend you ate 1869 every day. Then put in your workout calories best estimate for normal week. You should still NET above BMR by some amount. Which means all your daily activity is creating a deficit. And that is underestimated, because you just can't nail that easily. But you can nail staying above your current BMR and feeding your workouts.
Since you have so little to lose, and want some more muscle, feeding the workouts properly is so important, or the body can't make those improvements. And you got nice routine there, I could see the runs getting faster.
Could also see the glucose/water getting stored more for those runs. So you are likely to see inches drop away as weight slowly inches down.
Only improvement would be to do the bodyfat estimate, and use that instead. If really lower right now, the goal will be less. But if you have pretty decent, it would be higher to support it not going down. And then keep doing the measurements in case bodyfat does change, and goal would change in that case.0 -
Thanks so I am doing the right thing? I've upped my calorie goal to 1850 (and I won't worry too much if it goes a little over) and I will just log the exercise as a way to keep track but not eat them back as they are already included in the calculation.
Thankyou so much for your help heybales, I'll keep you posted with how things are going in a few weeks! x0
