In place of a road map!

Sarauk2sf

21 year old female, pretty athletic. I'm 5'8" about 158 lbs and my goal is at 150ish

visit http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/
Do the Military Body Fat Calc first, then the BMR tool.
The Military BF calc is accurate up to about 2%.

got 26.6%

The BMR tool will give EXACT calories to eat on a daily basis.
This number is static and I only recommend eating back so your NET is at least 200 above BMR.

I got 1509.... I don't really understand what you mean in the second line? Is that if you set your daily goal to 1509?

Add 20% to suggested calories to know your TDEE.

do I multiply 1509*1.2=1810.8
OR
activity level moderately active: 2368*1.2=2841.6
? I'm really sorry, but there is so many numbers and acronyms and I'm not very clear with what these all mean





]

THe BMR tool will give you the number - see section "How Many Calories Should I Eat?" and eat what it says for your activity level. From what you have stated - it looks like your activity level is moderate which gives you calories to eat of 2,368. The 2,842 number is how much energy you are expending. 2,842 - 2,368 = 474 is your deficit (approx 1lb per week).

glassyo

Bump

MelKut

THe BMR tool will give you the number - see section "How Many Calories Should I Eat?" and eat what it says for your activity level. From what you have stated - it looks like your activity level is moderate which gives you calories to eat of 2,368. The 2,842 number is how much energy you are expending. 2,842 - 2,368 = 474 is your deficit (approx 1lb per week).

Ok it makes more sense now after I took a break from it lol....

So have other people just set their "How Many Calories Should I Eat?" number and just forget about counting exercise calories? Or do you guys still count just to keep track of how much you do? It'll probably save me a ton of time, not worrying about exactly how much I'm burning when running outside (and not knowing my exact mph and all that).


EDIT: alsooo lets say this Saturday I was going to be running 9 miles and that it would probably take me 80-90 minutes. That would probably burn more calories than a normal session. Would you just suggest that I increase my calories a little for days like that, or its fine because they would balance out the days when I do less exercise? (I'm thinking the second...)

yogibella

It really is pretty simple if you follow the info on the site he provided. First calculate your BF% unless you know it. Then just calculate your BMR number using the link he provided and set MFP to the number on the chart that correlates to the amount of exercise you do. You never eat back your exercise calories unless your net goes under your BMR. You need to always net at least BMR. As long as you eat between BMR and the amount on the chart you will have enough of a deficit to lose weight and body fat steadily.

Some of you have done it and the number is higher than you expected but that is okay. You will lose if you follow that formula. Try it for a month and see what happens. What do you have to lose?

thanks for this^^^ got so many things stuck in my mind, got all confused!

I have to ask then, what would be the difference between eating by the chart VS eating at BMR + eating back all your exercise calories? The reason I ask is, some weeks we workout hard and some weeks we take a break or do lighter exercise. So we should be eating & adjusting ourselves according to our activity level....right? Not that I'm varying much but just wondering....:D




@helloitsdan - thanks! I finally got it now :laugh: got confused on the "deficit" concept. so how long does it take typically to adjust to higher cals? (assuming you do it gradually, of course).

lisa28115

THe BMR tool will give you the number - see section "How Many Calories Should I Eat?" and eat what it says for your activity level. From what you have stated - it looks like your activity level is moderate which gives you calories to eat of 2,368. The 2,842 number is how much energy you are expending. 2,842 - 2,368 = 474 is your deficit (approx 1lb per week).

Ok it makes more sense now after I took a break from it lol....

So have other people just set their "How Many Calories Should I Eat?" number and just forget about counting exercise calories? Or do you guys still count just to keep track of how much you do? It'll probably save me a ton of time, not worrying about exactly how much I'm burning when running outside (and not knowing my exact mph and all that).


EDIT: alsooo lets say this Saturday I was going to be running 9 miles and that it would probably take me 80-90 minutes. That would probably burn more calories than a normal session. Would you just suggest that I increase my calories a little for days like that, or its fine because they would balance out the days when I do less exercise? (I'm thinking the second...)

Dan set me at 1800 calories per day no matter what
i don't worry about eating back calories
on days that i have done alot i may eat up to 1900:bigsmile:

ChristineDiet

thank you Dan - finally an article that is clear to understand. I've now discovered how to customise my own diary and changed it.

Thanks for this. x

kendrafallon

Cheers m'dear!! An extremely useful and informative post :drinker:

khigg14

bump

ResetJen

Bump

tbresina

I have only been here a short time (85 days) and it is very confusing to me-I have tried it with higher calories and lower calories and the only way I seem to drop even 1 lb is through the lower calorie way. I just can't wrap my head around eating more calories to lose weight, isn't that how most of us gained the weight to begin with? I exercise a lot and I am trying to eat as healthy as I can but some of the stubborn weight is just refusing to leave!

Spence_

That first military thing said I had 12.2% body fat percentage.. I don't thinnnnk so


Where abouts are you supposed to measure your waist? Narrowest part? Or near the belly button?

ladyraven68

I have only been here a short time (85 days) and it is very confusing to me-I have tried it with higher calories and lower calories and the only way I seem to drop even 1 lb is through the lower calorie way. I just can't wrap my head around eating more calories to lose weight, isn't that how most of us gained the weight to begin with? I exercise a lot and I am trying to eat as healthy as I can but some of the stubborn weight is just refusing to leave!

It's not about eating more then you need, it's about eating more than your BMR.

if you are eating below your maintenance calories you will still lose weight, but it's all a matter of percentages.
TDEE - 15/20% will give a safe loss, TDEE - 50% won't, so it's all about knowing your energy requirements.

mukamom

Good post. I thought I wasn't eating enough, and weight loss has been stagnant for a couple of weeks...Upping my cals a few hundred starting today. It will be nice, too, not trying to figure out how many calories I burned on the arc trainer. :laugh:


Thanks for making it a bit easier to wrap my head around the concept. I'm sure my stomach will thank you too! :drinker:

anndunkley

bump :-)

cattracy0829

BUMP - Thanks for posting.

Helloitsdan

That first military thing said I had 12.2% body fat percentage.. I don't thinnnnk so


Where abouts are you supposed to measure your waist? Narrowest part? Or near the belly button?

1 inch below the belly button!
=D

Helloitsdan

I have only been here a short time (85 days) and it is very confusing to me-I have tried it with higher calories and lower calories and the only way I seem to drop even 1 lb is through the lower calorie way. I just can't wrap my head around eating more calories to lose weight, isn't that how most of us gained the weight to begin with? I exercise a lot and I am trying to eat as healthy as I can but some of the stubborn weight is just refusing to leave!

Where are you on your journey?
How tall are you?
Weight?
Body Fat%?
How often do you work out?

ZabrinaB

Bump

runbyme

Thank you Dan for taking the time to post this information!

Even though you ran my numbers and I have found success eating this way, I still like to read about the hows and whys to reaffirm what I'm doing!

You are EXTRAORDINARY! Thank you again!

Amy_Lynn74

Bump

TundraTed

Saving for later! Thanks Dan!

MelKut

That first military thing said I had 12.2% body fat percentage.. I don't thinnnnk so


Where abouts are you supposed to measure your waist? Narrowest part? Or near the belly button?

1 inch below the belly button!
=D

ooooooh I did it at the narrowest part/1 inch ABOVE belly button.... (got 26.6)

then I did the inch below and got 29.9 :noway:

(I also did the "original body fat calculator" and got 26.2, and they even specify 'Waist measurement (at the naval)')

Lukazetta

That first military thing said I had 12.2% body fat percentage.. I don't thinnnnk so


Where abouts are you supposed to measure your waist? Narrowest part? Or near the belly button?

1 inch below the belly button!
=D

ooooooh I did it at the narrowest part/1 inch ABOVE belly button.... (got 26.6)

then I did the inch below and got 29.9 :noway:

(I also did the "original body fat calculator" and got 26.2, and they even specify 'Waist measurement (at the naval)')

According to the OP's post: The Military BF calc is accurate up to about 2%.

You are most likely in the 26% zone. I also did a different BF calculation and got different results from the military BF.

farmgirlsuz

Bump

Kelekat

I've had some success raising my caloric intake after weeks of no movement. I'm going to take an even closer look though after reading this.

twinmomtwice4

bump

poison_masquerade

Bump

justfungrandma

I am going to give this a try!

Healthyby30

Bump

MrsKosal

I am still lost. If I set my goal on here as TDEE amounts indicated with what you posted, it has me only losing .30 per week.