Newbie - requesting help determining activity level

_Amy_Budd

Hi all,

Quick background - been on MFP for 1 year and 1 month, and have lost 148 pounds. This happened at a very quick rate, until about 2 months ago, when the weight loss slowed dramatically, and then stopped. I have at least another 15-20 pounds to go before I'm done.

I agree that I probably damaged my metabolism with low calorie eating (around 1,400 per day net, or lower) and lots of exercise.(Sidebar: I do eat incredibly clean - I'm Primal/Paleo and VERY strict about the quality of the foods and drinks that I put in my system.) I discovered this board (and this concept) recently, and now I'm totally on board with the "Eat More to Weigh Less" way of doing things. So I've been trying to up my calories for the past week or so, but am having trouble figuring out the correct TDEE.

My issue - figuring out the accurate multiplier for activity level. I have a desk job, so that part is definitely sedentary, but I'm very active in terms of exercise. I run 1-2 times a week, anywhere from 5K to 5 miles. I do sprint intervals once a week (HIIT), and end that session with a long walk. I strength train 1-2 times a week - I go to CrossFit, and if I can't make a class, I'll do a P90X strength training workout at home. I do Bikram hot yoga at least once a week. And I do long, leisurely walks or a bike ride 1-2 times a week. SO I pretty much workout every day - I try to take one rest day a week, but some weeks, my mind just needs the "me time" too much, and I end up going for a long walk or an easy run on a day that I had planned to rest.

The question is this - I know I exercise a lot, but not all of my working out is intense - so where do I fall on this scale?:
Sedentary (e.g., you do no exercising and have a desk job) = 1.2 - Not here, obviously
Lightly active (e.g., you participate in light exercise or sports 1 to 3 times per week) = 1.375 - Not here, either
Moderately active (e.g., you participate in moderate exercise or sports 3 to 5 times per week) = 1.55 - I think a bit more than here, but...
Very active (e.g., you train hard 6 to 7 per week in exercise and/or sports) = 1.725 - I don't think as much as here
Extremely Active (e.g., you exercise or play sports hard everyday & have physical job or 2X day training, i.e. marathon, contest etc.) - Definitely not as much as here

So am I moderately active, or very active? Or should I average those two numbers, and use a multiplier somewhere around 1.675?

I'll write another post later about the challenges of eating enough on my big workout days (like yesterday - CrossFit in the morning and hot yoga at night meant I burned over 1,300 calories - and I ate and ate and ate, but still only netted under 1,000) - but for now, any advice on how to find the most accurate TDEE would be most appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Amy

jyska

I had a hard time trying to decide between moderate and very active as well. What I did was go with Moderate and make sure to eat back calories to get me over BMR net. I watched how often my exercise dipped me under my BMR and found that EVERY DAY I had to eat back calories because my burn was too high. I then upped my calories by 200/day (which didn't really change how much I ate since I was already eating them to get back over BMR, it just made that TDEE cut number a little higher) I am watching again to see how often I have to eat back over BMR. If it's still quite often, then I know I should likely raise a bit more based on how far under BMR I always end up before eating back calories.

This method has helped me see what I do on a weekly basis without accidentally eating too much.

dawnemjh

I would say start with moderate and see how it goes. You probably will gain weight initially when you increase cals, but that should steady off after a few weeks.
I am not 100% familiar with Paleo, so I dont know what you can and cant eat, but to increase cals, one key thing is planning ahead of time when you know you are going to be having a big burn. Can you eat cheese? Dairy? Protein shakes? How about nuts/nut butter? I think you can do nuts and almond butter??? You may also want to consider a week or two of maintenance as well....hope this helps!

mjslazak

I'd say moderate. Do keep us posted on how it goes! I'm currently working on getting my macros in line, and I think upping the cals is next (though most days I tend to go over my target, but with good clean food).

_Amy_Budd

Thanks for the advice, all.

To answer your question, dawnemjh:

*snip* Can you eat cheese? Dairy? Protein shakes? How about nuts/nut butter? I think you can do nuts and almond butter??? *snip*

I do eat a small amount of dairy and cheese on Primal - about an ounce of raw milk cheese in a recipe, and I have a whey protein shake made with coconut milk almost every day. I also eat nuts and nut butter - I love almond butter, and macadamias (or crackadamias, as I like to call them) are always a good way to add calories.

But still, after over a year of serious caloric restriction, I've gotten so used to that level of eating and fullness that it's a challenge to up the amount of what I eat. Also, since I don't eat grains and sugars, many of the things that I do eat don't pack a big calorie punch, so to speak.

Crazy... in my former obese life, I could pound calories like it was an Olympic event. Amazing how things change... Though I'll totally take this problem over that one any day!

Thanks again for the feedback.


Amy