My turn to ask for advice

lvondy

I've been doing the eat more thing for about 2 weeks now. I'm not really expecting to see results just yet but I still feel confused and just wanted to get some advice.

I was one of the "Eat 1200 calories and binge on the weekends" girls so after finding my BMR and TDEE I went to around 1700 calories (20% cut). I just bumped up to 1800 calories (15% cut) a few days ago. I worry that I'm not eating enough but then I worry that I'm eating too much. I've been doing some different DVD workouts that focus on interval training with strength and cardio. I usually workout 5-6 days and I usually burn anywhere from 300-600 calories and I'm thinking now that maybe I shouldn't do as much? I only have a few inches to lose (mainly flab around the middle.) And while, yes, I would love to see about 5 more lbs come off on the scale, that isn't my main focus. I have the NROL4W book and plan to start in the summer (I'm a teacher).

I haven't felt the whole boost of energy thing or the feeling ravenous yet. I'm actually pretty exhausted by the time the afternoon rolls around but I'm getting a good nights sleep. I'm eating mostly clean, protein full foods.

Today was planned out beautifully then I forgot about a field trip to the local soup kitchen to serve lunch and ended up having to eat there.

Here are my stats:
5'9"
140
BMR 1411
TDEE 2117
15% cut 1799

I know it takes time and I'm not expecting overnight results, I just hate always questioning what I'm doing.

31prvrbs

So which part are you questioning? (which, btw, second guessing yourself the entire time is also a part of the process, lol)

are you wondering if you shouldn't have such high burns?

If you're doing strength *and* cardio 5-6 days/week, you could probably stand to cut back. Esp on the cardio while you're trying to build muscle. I know you said it was hard to get so much food in, so that would also help w/that. It's really not necessary to kill yourself w/the workouts

Kiki

lvondy

I'm questioning it all! LOL. Should I eat more? Less? Workout more? Less? More carbs? Less carbs? I guess my main question is if I need to go up in calories more or just hang tight where I am. I do enjoy working out, I can see my legs and arms changing a little. I will cut down on my just cardio and stick with the workout where weights are involved. I do like to sweat though, it's cleansing for me.

Thanks for responding! I think I just needed to write it down.

fiveohmike

I'm questioning it all! LOL. Should I eat more? Less? Workout more? Less? More carbs? Less carbs? I guess my main question is if I need to go up in calories more or just hang tight where I am. I do enjoy working out, I can see my legs and arms changing a little. I will cut down on my just cardio and stick with the workout where weights are involved. I do like to sweat though, it's cleansing for me.

Thanks for responding! I think I just needed to write it down.

Also note, if you have a very high caloric burn, make sure your TDEE cut - workout calories does NOT go below your BMR.

So basically its like this

TDEE 1799
BMR 1411

The difference being 388 calories. If you burn MORE than 388 calories you need to bump your caloric intake up to at least NET your BMR

So lets say you do cardio an weights for an hour and you burn 600 calories

TDEE - Workout calories
1799 - 600 = 1199 calories.

This is below your BMR, so you need to eat back the extra calories to hit your BMR.

1799 - 600 + 212 "extra" caories = 1411 (BMR)

Regardless of what you do, you never go below BMR, and if any workout brings you below this you need to eat back the calories.

Hope that makes sense

lvondy

Thanks Mike, I've been doing that and stuffing myself at night after my workouts. Last night it was hard to net my BMR because I changed up my workout at the last minute and had to eat back a lot more calories. I don't do long workouts, only 30 to 45 min but I end up with a high burn. I was having an emotionally tough day yesterday and needed a kick butt workout as therapy. I need to trust the process and myself more. I'm glad I've got the support system here!

fiveohmike

And this is all assuming you hit your TDEE cut target of 1799 calories daily (just replace TDEE with the amount of calories you ate that day, so if you hit 1900 calories, and did 600 calories worth of exercise, you would be at 1300 and only have to eat an extra 111 calories to NET your BMR)

fiveohmike

Thanks Mike, I've been doing that and stuffing myself at night after my workouts. Last night it was hard to net my BMR because I changed up my workout at the last minute and had to eat back a lot more calories. I don't do long workouts, only 30 to 45 min but I end up with a high burn. I was having an emotionally tough day yesterday and needed a kick butt workout as therapy. I need to trust the process and myself more. I'm glad I've got the support system here!

its awesome how working out helps with the emotionally tough days If you take the extra burn on those tough days, and need some extra comfort calories, get the Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches they are the bomb and you earn them with the extra burn heh (one of my dirty little secrets)

MoreBean13

You're my soul sister.

How many calories does it burn to obsess over details?

lvondy

Thanks Mike, I've been doing that and stuffing myself at night after my workouts. Last night it was hard to net my BMR because I changed up my workout at the last minute and had to eat back a lot more calories. I don't do long workouts, only 30 to 45 min but I end up with a high burn. I was having an emotionally tough day yesterday and needed a kick butt workout as therapy. I need to trust the process and myself more. I'm glad I've got the support system here!

its awesome how working out helps with the emotionally tough days If you take the extra burn on those tough days, and need some extra comfort calories, get the Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches they are the bomb and you earn them with the extra burn heh (one of my dirty little secrets)

Great idea! Ice cream always helps!

lvondy

You're my soul sister.

How many calories does it burn to obsess over details?

Im glad im not alone! Obsessed is definitely the word! Maybe it does burn calories and I've underestimated my activity level by a few THOUSAND calories!

cyreta

I am your shorter, fatter twin, lol! I'm 5'6", 192 lbs and I have a BMR of 1460 and a TDEE - 20% of 1720. I work out 6 days a week, 3 days of cardio only and 3 days of strength training/less cardio. I also am having a hard time getting all my calories in on days that I work out because I don't want to eat after working out. I plan out my meals religiously every night for the next day. Today I got derailed because I went to test coordinator training (I am a school psychologist who is in charge of testing for an alternative school program) and they had hot dogs and dairy queen blizzard for all. I was amazed that this was in my calorie and macronutrient "budget"! I am also questioning if I'm doing the right thing- whether I should stop running (even though I love it and it really relieves stress), and whether strength training alone can get me to my goal. Thank you for asking these questions. Thank you everyone for answering!!