So many numbers!!! I'm so confused!

MissTattoo

Okay, so I'm so confused on what I should be eating. I'm 5'11, 292 pounds, have a desk job. MFP says I should eat 2180 a day to lose a pound a week. Then I got a BodyMedia Fit Link. According to the sensor, I am burning about 2700-2800 on non work out days and about 3100-3200 on workout days. BFM's site says to lose a pound a week, I should be eating 2600 calories a day. O_O

I struggle to get 2100 calories in a day sometimes! I can't imagine doing 2600! Looking back through my diary, it seems like I am getting about 2200 a day.

The scale isn't moving, but the inches are coming off since I started to spend more time in the weight room than in the cardio room. 2600 just seems like a crap ton to me.

The BFM isn't 100% accurate either. I usually take off 10% (according to their website it's only 90% accurate) That's still only about 200-300 calories.

Ugh. I just think I'm doing this wrong. I'm definitely burning more than I eat, but is it too large of a gap?

Jorra

If you burn 2700 calories a day, consuming 2600 will definitely not lead to a one pound per week loss. 2180 sounds like a reasonable number to eat on non-workout days. When you do work out, you should eat more to maintain the same healthy deficit as your other days.

BigDaddyBRC

Stop over-thinking.

BMR is 2700-2800 - That is what your BodyMedia is telling.

500 Deficit per day = 1 pound in a week. Its spot on.

Muscle weighs more than fat.

You body is is moving in the right direction = "The scale isn't moving, but the inches are coming off"

MissTattoo

I just want to make sure because when I enter my food on BFM's site it says I always have like a 800 calorie deficit vs what MFP says.

I'm TRYING not to let the number on the scale rule me. It's hard. lol

Starlage

hey misstattoo! So, I think you need to decide whether you want to zigzag your calories (go by day to day deficit according to the day's burn) or go for a weekly average deficit and ignore the daily burn except once a week to eval things and make sure you're on track. Personally, I prefer the latter. I tried going day to day and didn't like zigzagging according to what the BMF tells me each day (but then again i don't have the link, so plugging in the dang thing daily got old QUICK) so I prefer to average out my week's calories and go for an average gross amount per day. Since you've got a good amount of data you could do this too if you want to try it.

As far as the amount? I'd take the BMF's advice. If you're choosing to take a margin of error off go for it (personally I KNOW that it underestimates my steps taken per day- i've compared with a pedometer so I take my BMF burn at face value). So. Let's say you get a week's data of three days 2700 and four days 3200. Add those up, take a 3500 deficit and divide the calories throughout the week. BE HAPPY you get to eat that much! That's really exciting! It may seem hard at first to get that high but it's a matter of WHAT your eating, not how much especially (meaning, choose higher calorie foods like whole grain pasta, avacado, cook with olive oil, stop getting low fat/low calorie/diet foods). Does that make sense? I'd be happy to help you. It took me a good month before I figure out what worked for me as far as how to use the bmf data. PM me if you want to talk about it!

Edit: there's also the matter of mostly ignoring MFP's advice about deficits/ burns/ eating calories back etc and just using MFP purely for it's massive food database/ excellent food diaryingness. In otherwords, whatever your calorie goal is for the day according to your BMF burn (whether you go day to day zigzagging taking a deficit off the day's projected burn or go for a gross average of the week's burn you should know what your day's goal is). For me this meant putting my MFP diary at my week's averaged out daily goal (2250 for me) and ignoring when it adds calories for exercise that I enter.

I feel like I'm rambling slightly. hopefully that made sense. :happy:

verdammtwenig

If you're eating a quality food, and you're feeling full at 2100, AND you're losing inches, I'd say stick with it. I would make sure you're eating more protein that MFP says since you're lifting weights. Other than that, I think you're doing great.

MissTattoo

Yeah, MFP only has me at like 113. I don't even know how to figure out my protein but I usually get like 120-125 a day. I think I should be eating at least 135 though if I do the 1gram for every pound of lean body mass.