Hi there! New to the community and a little nervous!

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Hey folks. (: I'm Krystle and just joined this group today after several months of frustration on the scale. According to the calculations I did after reading all of the fabulous sticky threads here, my BMR is 1530 and my TDEE is a whopping 2640 (I lift three days a week and run four, and have one rest day--I'm a recent half-marathoner), which means my 15% cut value is around 2240 calories (my reaction to this was HOLY BALLS). I'm a 5'8" female, weight 152.2 pounds, and I'll be 21 on Monday.

I joined MFP over a year ago. Initially I lost a significant amount of weight over about a 6-month period (down from 161.8 to 143, March 2011 to September 2011). Then I got tired of calorie-counting and fell off the wagon for a while, didn't exercise as much, etcetera. And in barely two months I gained 13 pounds. Now, I know I was eating a lot...but I also know I wasn't eating THAT much! Not enough to gain nearly 2 pounds per week...

I decided to get back on the bandwagon and started training for a half-marathon on December 5, 2011, at 155.6 pounds. I trained for four months. (The 1/2 in question was on April 8th and I finished with a time of 2:11:02, which was exactly what I wanted--a ten-minute-mile pace. Yay!) During training I was eating net calories of 1370-ish (and as you can imagine, I burned a hell of a lot as the workouts started to increase in intensity, but I always ate those exercise calories back). And after getting down to 150 pounds in January, I was stuck. I floated between 150 and 152 for the next several months, even after four solid weeks of very clean, very strict eating where I only went over my calorie intake once or twice and didn't eat desserts of any sort. In preparation for my half-marathon, I went up to only 1/2 pound loss per week (1640 net) and then full-on maintenance (around 1900 net) for four weeks. And after all that, when I stepped on the scale yesterday, I had gained two pounds.

Don't get me wrong--I didn't eat perfectly during that time period by any means. But there was no way I ought to have GAINED two pounds. So yesterday, I started thinking. I started thinking I wasn't eating enough. I started thinking something was wrong. My weight loss last summer got stubborn at around 150 pounds, yes, but it didn't last for four freaking months.

So, I'm...hopeful...that this avenue will provide some answers. I have my net set at 1640 so that, on days I work out, I end up eating at around my "cut" amount for my TDEE once I add my exercise calories to MFP--today, since I burned 624 calories between a warm-up jog and lifting and walking (I have an HRM), MFP told me to eat 2260 calories. Does this sound about right? Just looking for a little reassurance. :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
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    Hey there, you are in the right place! Yes eat your 2260 every single day andon high burn days make sure to net your BMR. Make sure you get in a gr of protein per lb.

    Please be sure to read what to expect when upping cals. Take measurements because so many factors affect the scale, tom, heavy lift, sodium, long run...etc.
  • 31prvrbs
    31prvrbs Posts: 687 Member
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    Welcome to the group!

    Congrats on your 1/2 :wink:

    As for the cals, we recommend eating your TDEE -15% daily regardless of that day's activity. This way you establish a routine w/your body, and it learns to be dependent on a certain amount of cals. Your whole goal, right now, is to earn trust w/your body. Your TDEE has your entire weeks activities figured it, so there's no need for you to alter them day-to-day, really...


    ~Kiki
  • 31prvrbs
    31prvrbs Posts: 687 Member
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    LOL@Lucia and I posting at the same time.... At least you see we're on the same wavelength :tongue:
  • runningfromzombies
    runningfromzombies Posts: 386 Member
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    Okay, awesome. Glad I'm not totally off. It's going to be weird getting used to eating a flat number of calories every day...I've relied on doing the whole input-exercise-calories-and-eat-'em-back thing for so long, but I'm totally ready to give it a shot!
  • becky3277
    becky3277 Posts: 64 Member
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    I was nervous too, it really works. I've already lost weight my first week.
  • sonyachan
    sonyachan Posts: 518 Member
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    Don't know if it would work for you, but I have my daily calorie goal set just over BMR and I make sure to eat back exercise calories, so I'm always netting above my BMR, and almost always eat my TDEE -15%. I'm new to this, and it's making sense to me to do it that way. I gained several pounds the first week, then dropped just a bit of that water weight the 2nd week. Now after 2 weeks am finally feeling a loss coming on. Good luck! Add me if you need support! :)
  • runningfromzombies
    runningfromzombies Posts: 386 Member
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    All the reassurance is definitely appreciated. My first day of eating 2260 calories was HARD. I felt so incredibly full. Yesterday was better--I think part of the issue Saturday was that I woke up so late that my meals weren't spaced out enough. And now, today, I'm feeling pretty good so far, not yet too overfull. And I think I've got it pretty firmly in my mind that I won't mind seeing increases on the scale for the next few weeks (or more than that if it's required)...I just want to get my metabolism moving again!

    @sonyachan--Yep, I've got my calories for MFP set about 100 above my BMR. I figure that way I'll never come too close to it. And I'll add you! (: