In place of a road map!

susannamarie

Understanding body fat and how you lose it will certainly keep you from hopping on the scale every day and probably have you running up to GNC for a handy set of calipers $20.

Mine are arriving from amazon tomorrow (actually excited because I've been wondering for a while)

Aspynmom

bump

Narisong

So it took a me a long to comprehend this but it does make a lot of sense... I use BodyMedia so I went back to Feb and did some figures based on what I was eating/burning then and got some "exact" figures.

Over 20 days:
I burned on average 2689
I consumed on average 1655
over those same 20 days I should have had an 8 lb loss ( 3500 = 1 lb) but in reality I only lost 5 lbs

Then I figured those same 20 days eating 2100 calories (this is a little below the actual chart figure of 2292 but I think my metabolism is a bit slow so I dropped it about 200 calories)
Over those 20 day I should have a loss of guess what.. 5 lbs...

So.. do I want to eat on average 1655 or 2100.. Hmm.. not a tough decision :-)

This last week I actually had already given my body a break because I wasn't losing and I attempted to eat 2300 calories a day. I actually ended up eating an average of 2226 calories for a deficit of 3911 and I did lose .7 of a lb.

Thanks for posting this again.. I saw another post that I think was yours and I just couldn't get it. I had to put it down on paper and see how it looked for it to make sense.. but it does now.

Static calories to eat a day 2100 (based on 1 - 3 days a week workout)
Never eat at or below Katch McGardle BRM number plus 200 for net 1542

hanniejong

Thanks so much for this, I have printed it out so I can read it more later and absorb it better.

broekte

bump

Helloitsdan

@sunrise any type of resistance works.
just stimulate the muscle and tear it down a bit.
Make it so it isn't protein in and protein out.
we want to shock it a bit to give your body a reason to try and overcompensate and want to build or maintain muscle.

MelKut

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




]

lisa28115

So to clarify, I should set cals at 1816 and never eat below BMR? If I set it at 1816 then I shouldn't eat my exercise cals back?? Thanks in advance!!

i have mine set at 1800 and don't worry about eating back the calories
this was per Dan's advice

paj315

Great post thanks!!

I started eating more (1943 goal cal/day) back at the beginning of February and my loss hasn't been stellar, averaging 1/3 pound per week.
I have been pretty loose about hitting my macros (set at 30-30-40) never over too far on the carbs but always over on the fat and under on the protein.

Can not hitting the macros alone cause my weight loss to be really slow or stall?

autumnk921

Bump....To save for recalculations after some weight loss...

I think that it is so simple it seems hard...People are making it harder to figure out than it really is....I am horrible at all of these numbers b/c you had to help me in the past but I finally have it figured out b/c of this post...Thanks Dan...


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

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!