5 weeks of eating more and need feedback please

skbarton

I stared eating more on 4/28/12 and I am hoping for some feedback. I've read, lurked, re-read and calculated many times. I told myself all day that I'd wait until the end of the 6th week but I just couldn't do it...

Just a little history - Started my weight loss journey with Weight Watchers At Work program in September of 2006. My starting weight was 219 pounds. By 11/20/10 I was down to 137 pounds for an 82 pound weight loss and I was within 5 pounds of goal weight (high end of the range but I so truly wanted that LIfetime Status). Then the holidays came and WW changed to the PointsPlus program. I went from 18 points a day (approximately 900 calories a day) to the new 29 pointsplus a day for an average of 1160 calories a day. In January of 1012 WW adjusted their PP program to allow a lower PP goal of 26 points a day (approximately 1040 calories a day). Between 11/10 and 2/11/12 I gained 15 pounds despite being 95% on plan.

I started on MFP in 2/12. I had my RMR tested by a dietician at Kaiser (my HMO) and it was determined to be 1280. I told the dietician I was sedentary and sat on my behind with no activity (which I thought was right but found later via Fitbit it wasn't). She told me to eat at 1036 for a 500 calorie deficit if I was really sedentary (which makes sense - 1280 RMR time 1.2 multiplier for sedentary = 1536. That would give a 500 calorie a day deficit) and to eat more if I was more active. I started this on 3/1 and I ate my exercise calories. After 3 weeks and still playing with the same few pounds up and down, I increased my calories to the MFP suggested 1200 and tried to net that amount (eating back exercise calories). I kept reading about eating more, fueling the body, don't go below BMR, etc... and about this group.

That brings us to now - On 4/28 I set my goal calories to 1400 with a ratio of 40/30/30. That was calulated on an estimated TDEE of 1750 based on a newly purchased Fitbit (heck of a lot higher TDEE than I imagined and what I told the dietician!) and a cut of 20% as I want to lose 20 or perhaps 30 pounds. As I am still playing with the same few pounds up and down, I re-crunched the numbers today at the various web sites and came up with this:

site ........................ BMR ............... Sed TDEE ..................... Light TDEE
Kaiser .................. 1280 ............... 1536 ............................... 1760
Scooby ................. 1353 ............... 1624 ............................... 1861
Fat2Fit .................. 1359 ............... 1631 ............................... 1869
ChooseMyPlate ............................ 1800 ............................... 2000

My Fitbit tells me I have averaged a burn of 1980 calories a day since the end of April. After subtracting out exercise calories the average was 1760.

I know this is a lot of information and numbers, but I'm starting to wonder if I need to increase my calories. I am 50 years old, 61 inches tall and these numbers are based on a weight of 150 (current weight 152.4). My goal is to do 30-45 minutes of cardio (Leslie Sansone Walk at Home tapes) M-W-F and some basic strength exercises for about 30 minutes on T-TH. I think I'm on the cusp of lightly active to moderately and I picked lightly active in case I don't get over 3 hours of exercise a week. This fits with a BMR of 1280 times 1.375 for lightly active = 1760 (see the "Fitbit" line).

Reduce the cut to 15%? Go to full maintenance eating for several weeks of 1760 calories? Does the TDEE of 1760 seem right? One last data input - Fat2Fit says my goal maintenance calories at 130 pounds will be 1526 at sedentary and 1749 at lightly active. Weight didn't go on overnight and it won't come off overnight (as I well know since I started my journey 5 years ago). But I would like to go ahead and make changes now instead of waiting up to 3 more weeks.....

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

*edited to get some spacing in those columns of numbers and to add that I have gained 3.8 pounds since 4/28 with an average calorie intake of 1565.

fiveohmike

Hey!

Welcome to the group.

Somethings I noticed. You are borderline moderate activity. 3 days of Cardio + 2 days of Strength is right at the cusp of Moderate activity.

Your fitbit wont show you calories for Strength training either.

Just some food for though. I calculated your numbers for moderate:

BMR - 1353
TDEE - 2097
TDEE - 15% - 1783

I know you have be cycling the same amount of weight for a month, you may think about a full TDEE Maintenance metabolism reset. There is a support group for this in the sticky section, but if you are coming from a VLCD it may be needed. This will repair your metabolism to a healthy state. After 6-8 weeks you would start your TDEE Cut target. This works like a champ but takes some dedication

Remember this way of lifestyle change is not a quick fix. It took a long time for most of us to gain weight and it takes time to get it off, bu this is a much more sustainable way to live the rest of our lives and keep the weight off

Thanks<

Mike

grimm1974

I would almost guarantee you are not actually sedentary. Most people think that just because they work a desk job, that automatically means they are sedentary. This was one of my first mistakes made on this journey. From what I have seen, pretty much anyone making a conscious effort to be active will fall under at least lightly active if not moderately active. I would take that average of 1980 and cut 15% from that number as long as you plan to stay at that level of activity. That would put you at a goal of 1683 calories.

I personally think the numbers at the scooby and fat2fit sites are pretty much right on. I've experimented a lot with my calories. I'm now using a Bodymedia Fit. It seems to match up with those 2 sites as well.

I'm not really sure what to tell you about the maintenance eating. i haven't really done it.

GoGoGadgetMum

I too was a fellow weight watcher that too dropped my weight on what probably was about 1000 cals a day but also at one stage burned 600 cals a day...arghhhhh what I know now!!!! My weight stalled for 18 months and I ate more but nothing like I should. For four weeks I have eaten 2000cals and have lost only .5kg (probably wouldn't have got a sticker for my book @ ww for that...lol) but lost 6.5 cm and down another % in body fat. I think weight watchers make us totally obsess on the scales as it is the only way we are measured. Anyway I'm now doing a maintenance week which is 2300 for me and as I am a daily weigher( thanks ww again) my weight has stayed the same. When I use a cut I'm only using 10%.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is eat them. I would read the stickies and go with what you are comfortable with. Use one calculator and stick to it, I use katch mcardle as it takes into account my body fat. I agree you definitely need to use moderate in your calculations.

You will find heaps of friends here to help and support you on your journey.

Rach

skbarton

Thanks for the responses!

Mike - I have enjoyed reading your previous posts. Your post today about helping over in the regular boards reminds me of the AT&T advertising campaign of "reach out and touch someone." LOL Regarding the Fitbit and Strength training - Fitbit may not do a true capture of the Walk at Home videos either as there is walking in place involved. For all exercise I have been using my HRM to accurately track calories burned.

Grimm - Nice suggestion on averaging between light and moderate. If I average the Fat2Fit light and moderate calorie requirements to maintain a weight of 150, it comes out to 1987 which is pretty close to my Fitbit calories burned including exercise. Those dang definitions of activity levels throw people off so easily and until I got the Fitbit I truly didn't think I burned as many calories with just basic day to day activities excluding purposeful exercise.

Kiwi - In fairness to WW - when you get to lower weights my leader advised many to eat their exercise calories which has the potential of adding 5 pointsplus/200 calories which would have raised my intake to 1360 and over my BMI - but I was caught up in the old "diet" mentality of eat less and move more (thank goodness for this group!) and wouldn't eat my activity points and tried to eat very few of my weekly points. But on the other hand as a poster said in another thread on the regular boards - WW is a for profit company and want people to continue paying their monthly fees. Don't get me wrong - they are excited when you make life but you won't hear a leader encouraging someone to eat 1700+ calories a day - a quick calculation of 29 pointsplus plus 7 weekly PP a day and then an average of 5 AP's come to about 1640 calories - that's eating all the weeklies and all activities. I would have said "Are you crazy?" before reading the posts here.