In place of a road map!
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I'm confused, and a little skeptical, but I'm willing to try anything. I've been doing MFP's 1200 calories since January, and I've only lost 4ish pounds, when I'm trying to lose about a pound a week. My measurements really haven't been that much different, either. Maybe a half an inch difference.
I work out 5/6 times a week, burning 500 calories each session.
According to the links posted, these are my numbers:
Katch-McArdle: 1,430
Moderate activity level: 2,156
That just seems way high to me, and I'm afraid to start eating that much. I'm 5'3", 140 pounds with a goal weight of 125. Any help/insight is greatly appreciated.0 -
This is the best I can do!
I'll hand you the tools for a successful and sustainable diet that you can use and manipulate to achieve your goals.
If you are looking to lose weight, you just eat the calories given by doing the simple math and following the directions on the page.
If you are looking to maintain weight, you add 20% to the number given and youll know approximately what your TDEE is.
The link is at the bottom of this grand post!
I've said it several times here on this forum and i'll say it again and again:
True dieting needs the knowledge of 3 very important numbers.
1) TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
This is the amount of calories you burn all day.
From before you wake up in the morning and pee to the time you lay your head down at night to sleep and into the night.
One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a post on the forum or on someones Diary "Ugh! I feel sooo guilty because I went over calories today!" when the person went over a few cals over a 40% cut from TDEE.
Knowing TDEE allows you to understand that anything above TDEE is a surplus and you will "eventually" gain weight.
Anything at TDEE you maintain weight.
Anything below TDEE you lose weight to an extent. (see BMR)
2) BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate or RMR Resting Metabolic Rate.
If you were in a coma and in the hospital, the doctors would feed you your BMR in calories.
This ensures you have enough nutrients for vital organs to function.
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/science-homework-help/107443-ten-essential-organs-in-the-human-body/
This is just a small list of vital organs in the human body.
Eating at BMR and staying in bed should maintain things as long as you do nothing at all.
Most people who start using MFP dont really understand the importance of this BMR number.
They jump in with both feet thinking "I'm going to lose soooooo much weight and be fantastic!"
What they dont understand is by not eating back calories from working out, they are netting below BMR.
The only people who should be eating below BMR are folks who have had Gastric Bypass, 500-700 cals/day, or people who are morbidly obese and only for an extremely short time and only prescribed by their "Nutritionist".
Most people who eat at or below BMR will lose weight for a short time.
20-50% of most weight lost on a Very Low Calorie Diet is from Lean Mass.
This is the opposite of true dieting.
Most people who diet want to have better looking bodies and live a healthy life.
They want to reduce fat mass and raise lean mass.
Eating at BMR or lower actually maintains fat mass while dropping lean mass.
If the body does not get enough energy from calories in, it will seek ways to slow itself down.
Leptin levels drop, cortisol levels rise.
Anabolism stops and catabolism begins.
The body switches gears hormonally and tries to maintain fat, a non active tissue that stores energy, by burning lean mass, an active tissue that uses calories.
So in essence fat mass starts to stay the same while lean mass drops.
You can see how this can extend your dietary lifestyle right?
Eating at or below BMR with intentions to eat back calories from working out is a convoluted way of thinking.
We should be eating the proper amount of nutrients first, then creating a deficit with our workouts!
That way if you miss a workout, you still have the proper nutrients in your system.
Youll actually have more energy eating right and sleeping right than if you jumped into a VLCD.
This has been proven!
3) Body Fat%
So many people dont really know what their body fat% is.
I'm shocked every time I ask a member and they dont have a clue!
Some people dont even know what a safe BF% should be!
Athletes (6-13% for men, 16-20% for women)
Fitness (14-17% for men, 21-24% for women)
Acceptable (18-25% for men, 25-31% for women)
Obese (25%+ for men, 32%+ for women)
A good way to diet correctly is to set a body fat% goal as opposed to a weight goal.
The human body fluctuates up to 5lbs on average daily!
That would drive any person crazy who likes jumping on the scale every 30 mins!
Measuring body fat is a more sane approach to the diet.
Expecting a 2-5% change in a month is certainly acceptable in the lower ranges.
In the higher ranges it really depends on your BF%, macronutrients and workout routine.
An interesting paper written by Martin Berkhan, creator of www.LeanGains.com talks about the amount of fat the human body can burn in a day. After reading it I started working out 3 times a week and had better results than working out 5 days a week.
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=160054937436250
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.
So now that I have given you the 3 most important numbers to always know while dieting, i'll give you a good source to figure all this information out on your own.
This was the first source I used to help myself and countless others to lose weight.
Once you have this link you can keep using it as you drop weight and body fat to recalculate your numbers.
Remember that as lean mass rises and fat mass drops, youll have different nutritional needs!
To truly benefit from a FAT BURNING program you will need to have some type of resistance training.
If you are not lifting weights or doing body weight workouts, you will have a very hard time maintaining lean mass while in a caloric deficit.
I always suggest for gym goers, the Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting Strength programs.
Both teach basic compound moves and can help catapult your strength.
I'm sure you can find many other lifting programs but do keep in mind, if you lift Minnie Mouse dumbbells youll have Minnie Mouse muscles. =D
Cardio is great for accelerated fat loss but if you are overweight or obese I would only recommend a brisk walk.
Every pound of fat on your stomach is 8 on the knees and 10 on the upper back.
Once you get down to an acceptable BF level then run to your hearts content.
So here is the link.
Use it in good health!
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%.
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.
Add 20% to suggested calories to know your TDEE.
Use the Katch McGardle BMR number to know your BMR.
Never eat at or below BMR.
For Fat loss plans set up macros at 30% Protein/Fat.
This % is only because MFP wont allow single %.
For more fine tuned macronutrients.....
1g Protein per lean body mass or total goal weight.
.35-.60g Fat per LBM or total goal weight.
Most of the time these numbers are close to 30% of total daily cals.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
If I missed something important please let me know.
Hugs!
=D
"Great bodies are built in the kitchen and while we sleep! Everything else is secondary."
Thank you so much! I really appreciate this help.0 -
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One more question.
Always eat above your BMR no matter what, correct?
My Stats:
F, 5'3" 147lbs
Exercise 6 days a week
BF 32.4%
Katch-McG BMR 1342
Mod Active = 2018
Very active = 2246
Yesterday my stats were:
1667 eaten
470 exercise cals burned (HRM)
Net of 1197.
This is below my BMR so I should have eaten at least 150 calories more to make sure the net was above my BMR number?
And I should be eating around 2000 cal a day Gross?
exercise consists of Chalean X/Turbofire, and jogging.
Thanks!0 -
When i did the military fat and bmr it said i should be eating 2509 for moderate activity... Therefore if i have this correct i should eat 1000 caliries less than this to lose 2 pounds a week ie. 1509 ? I hope i finally have this figured out
If you are using the link Dan gave, your deficit is already built in. If you read the blurb above the table it states:
Based on your goal weight, the following chart was generated. The chart shows the number of calories that you should eat on a daily basis to reach your goal weight. At Fat 2 Fit Radio we advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels you see in the chart are not extreme, but they do create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You'll never be on a diet again.
Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.0 -
Great info! thanks0
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Thank you for this! I'm really hoping this is the answer, because I am SOOOOOOO sick of working harder than anyone I know, being more disciplined with my eating (at 1200 cal/day) than anyone I know and losing MAYbe .5 lbs a week. I'm short (5'1.5" / 126 lbs) and I just figured that I was doomed to eat 2 lettuce leaves a day for the rest of my life.
Not to say I'm not freaking out a teeny bit about going from 1200 to 1900 calories/day - I feel like I have always had such a small room for error because of my size, but I'm going to try. Also... any good ideas on what healthy foods to add to my diet to increase my calories by 600/day?
Thanks again - very hopeful for the first time in forever!0 -
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Okay I see that now it is just an incredible amount of calories to eat - to lose !!!! - i understand now
Thank you0 -
bump for later0
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Thank you for this. I'm going to give it a shot.0
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bumping for later0
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Bump. To concentrate on later.0
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bump to review later.0
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One more question.
Always eat above your BMR no matter what, correct?
My Stats:
F, 5'3" 147lbs
Exercise 6 days a week
BF 32.4%
Katch-McG BMR 1342
Mod Active = 2018
Very active = 2246
Yesterday my stats were:
1667 eaten
470 exercise cals burned (HRM)
Net of 1197.
This is below my BMR so I should have eaten at least 150 calories more to make sure the net was above my BMR number?
And I should be eating around 2000 cal a day Gross?
exercise consists of Chalean X/Turbofire, and jogging.
Thanks!
Yes!
=D0 -
This isn't in place of a road map - it IS my road map.
I am not trying to get to my destination by taking the fast lane and all the risks associated with trying to get there too quickly, I am happy to take the safer scenic road, and arrive at my destination happy and healthy.
youve lost what....3% body fat eating about 1600 daily with 1 or 2 spike days of 3k in 5 weeks?
Amirite?
Yep - you are correct.
I'm a very happy bunny.
This is a typical loss in my group BTW.
For those who are in the higher body fat% you can lose even more if you are smart about what you eat and how you rest. Working out is a secondary thing.
Its all about eating and getting the proper sleep.
People who successfully diet down quickly are those who are working out 305 times a week with 2 full rest days and get 6-9 hours sleep.
Calories are high and carbs are premium fuel.0 -
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This is soooooo confusing. I can accept the confusion though because I am usually one to overthink things instead of just reading what the boxes say at the bottom. I also tend to get caught up in other posts and then my brain starts to hurt O_O
I have to keep looking at the top of the page of my Fat 2 Fit Radio Custom BMR Calculation to remind myself that the tool IS taking into account that I eventually want to weigh 135 lbs. I'm just going to throw it out there....it DOES NOT feel comfortable to know that with the calculations telling me that on the 4-5 days a week i'm moderately active (crossfit, jogging and weight training) I will need to eat 2065 calories, and 1598 on the days I have little or no exercise. I'm only saying this so I can get it out into the open so maybe my fear will dispel a little.
I'm eating 1300-1400 a day now. I train in the AM. By the time I get to work I AM TIRED. I don't want to do much and get a little irritated when asked to get up and participate in moving stuff, or carrying equipment (i'm in IT so it's usually computers, monitors, etc). I have also been one to stick to a super strict clean low calorie, high protein, lose a few pounds, then blow it all, carb it up and abandon the eating/workout plan for 3-4-5-6 months, come back and go through the entire cycle. AGAIN.
I'm going to try this way and trust the process. I'm tired of yo-yo'ing and stopping/starting over and over again. I really want a lifestyle change, something that I can stick with and not feel like i am just waiting for the next "blowout" lol
thanks for this post, and i'm so glad i found this site!
Melissa0 -
This is soooooo confusing. I can accept the confusion though because I am usually one to overthink things instead of just reading what the boxes say at the bottom. I also tend to get caught up in other posts and then my brain starts to hurt O_O
I have to keep looking at the top of the page of my Fat 2 Fit Radio Custom BMR Calculation to remind myself that the tool IS taking into account that I eventually want to weigh 135 lbs. I'm just going to throw it out there....it DOES NOT feel comfortable to know that with the calculations telling me that on the 4-5 days a week i'm moderately active (crossfit, jogging and weight training) I will need to eat 2065 calories, and 1598 on the days I have little or no exercise. I'm only saying this so I can get it out into the open so maybe my fear will dispel a little.
I'm eating 1300-1400 a day now. I train in the AM. By the time I get to work I AM TIRED. I don't want to do much and get a little irritated when asked to get up and participate in moving stuff, or carrying equipment (i'm in IT so it's usually computers, monitors, etc). I have also been one to stick to a super strict clean low calorie, high protein, lose a few pounds, then blow it all, carb it up and abandon the eating/workout plan for 3-4-5-6 months, come back and go through the entire cycle. AGAIN.
I'm going to try this way and trust the process. I'm tired of yo-yo'ing and stopping/starting over and over again. I really want a lifestyle change, something that I can stick with and not feel like i am just waiting for the next "blowout" lol
thanks for this post, and i'm so glad i found this site!
Melissa
Not wanting to confuse your more - but the table gives you what you should eat every day (it averages out your activity level). So just pick the activity that most suits you and the calories next to that is what you should be eating on average.0 -
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This isn't in place of a road map - it IS my road map.
I am not trying to get to my destination by taking the fast lane and all the risks associated with trying to get there too quickly, I am happy to take the safer scenic road, and arrive at my destination happy and healthy.
youve lost what....3% body fat eating about 1600 daily with 1 or 2 spike days of 3k in 5 weeks?
Amirite?
Yep - you are correct.
I'm a very happy bunny.
This is a typical loss in my group BTW.
For those who are in the higher body fat% you can lose even more if you are smart about what you eat and how you rest. Working out is a secondary thing.
Its all about eating and getting the proper sleep.
People who successfully diet down quickly are those who are working out 305 times a week with 2 full rest days and get 6-9 hours sleep.
Calories are high and carbs are premium fuel.
I'm not sure if I measured wrong the first time, but I've just been working out my fat% and rather than just look at the fat, I also worked out the lbm too.
When I started my BF% was approx 49% which gave me 92.61lb of fat, 96.31lb of Lbm
When I measured last Friday, my BF was 43.6% which gave me 75.8lb of fat , and 98.02lb of lbm.
I know it's only 1.71lb, but is it possible for my lbm to have increased?
I haven't been doing any heavy lifting, just bodyweight exercises. Squats, lunges, crunches burpees,planks, pushups ( I could just about manage a single push up when I started, I can knock out 15+ with no problem now) etc.
if it is really a lbm gain, my total weight loss is 15.2lb, but my total fat loss is 16.83lb.0 -
Great info!!0
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Not to add too much confusion to it, but wouldn't it be more accurate (and perhaps easier for people to log on MFP) to use the "sedentary" number and then log exercise using a heart rate monitor, and then eat those calories? I mean, I can say I exercise 3-5 days/week, which I do, but if I only exercise for 30 minutes versus 1 hour, obviously I'm burning fewer calories.
Again, not to make it too complicated, but just wondering if you think that might be easier for some/more accurate for calorie tracking?0 -
bump0
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This isn't in place of a road map - it IS my road map.
I am not trying to get to my destination by taking the fast lane and all the risks associated with trying to get there too quickly, I am happy to take the safer scenic road, and arrive at my destination happy and healthy.
youve lost what....3% body fat eating about 1600 daily with 1 or 2 spike days of 3k in 5 weeks?
Amirite?
Yep - you are correct.
I'm a very happy bunny.
This is a typical loss in my group BTW.
For those who are in the higher body fat% you can lose even more if you are smart about what you eat and how you rest. Working out is a secondary thing.
Its all about eating and getting the proper sleep.
People who successfully diet down quickly are those who are working out 305 times a week with 2 full rest days and get 6-9 hours sleep.
Calories are high and carbs are premium fuel.
I wanted to comment on the "rest/sleep" part of this post. I've always heard if you want to lose weight you better make sure you are getting enough sleep. This is so true! Your body has to have some kind of energy store to keep it awake...it's either going to be rest or food. So if you want to eat right and lose weight, make sure you are getting enough sleep! I didn't get enough sleep last night (5 hours) and I've been hungry all day (like I can't eat enough to keep my body going hungry). Sorry if this didn't make sense...I'm really tired/hungry and I can't think straight when I don't get enough sleep
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Not to add too much confusion to it, but wouldn't it be more accurate (and perhaps easier for people to log on MFP) to use the "sedentary" number and then log exercise using a heart rate monitor, and then eat those calories? I mean, I can say I exercise 3-5 days/week, which I do, but if I only exercise for 30 minutes versus 1 hour, obviously I'm burning fewer calories.
Again, not to make it too complicated, but just wondering if you think that might be easier for some/more accurate for calorie tracking?
It really depends on your preference. I do it the way you suggested, but some people really do not like to log their calories - they like to eat a consistent amount each day.
Not sure if there is some 'biology/science' reason for doing it that way either - I am sure others will weigh in if there are.0
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