Scoliosis and BMR

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DrMAvDPhD
DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a slightly different BMR/TDEE question. I have pretty severe scoliosis (40 degree curve in spine) that actually shrinks me about 2-3 inches. I have calculated my BMR, TDEE, and BF% using my actual height, 5'5", but consistently lost a lot more weight than predicted by those methods. Is it possible that I should be inputting my height to what I would be if my spine was straight?

To all you well informed people I see on here, what do you think I should be eating?

About me:
Female, 24, 5'5" (or I guess around 5'7"-8")
SW: 165
CW: 137
GW: 130-135
BF%: 24.5
BF% Goal: 21-22%

Started at 1200, discovered the boards, upped my calories after reading on here to my "calculated" BMR of 1400, then increased it a few weeks later to 1500. After about a week of 1500 I was soooo hungry all the time and starting to have light headed episodes, so I bumped it up to 1610 (which is the 0.5 lb/wk according to MFP). I have a scale that calculates weight, BF%, water weight, and lean mass. It tells me my maintenance calories are ~2200, which is much higher than MFP calculates and puts me still on a 600 calorie a day deficit. I am at the point in my weight loss that I am more concerned with BF% than scale numbers, and do 2-3 days of strength and 2-3 days of cardio (Zumba, bike, swimming) a week.

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,124 Member
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    You're already at a healthy weight and you want to lose another two to seven pounds?

    It is splitting hairs to worry about that two inches height issue. It is going to be slow going no matter what you do and is trial and error at this point.

    Work on resistance training at this point to lower body fat.


    ...
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
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    You're already at a healthy weight and you want to lose another two to seven pounds?

    It is splitting hairs to worry about that two inches height issue. It is going to be slow going no matter what you do and is trial and error at this point.

    Work on resistance training at this point to lower body fat.


    ...

    Mostly I am worried that I am so close to maintenance, that I would like to know WHAT maintenance will actually be.

    And it would be nice to know if anyone else on these boards is the same boat as me.

    And I thought we were supposed to be supportive of everyone's goals, not just those who need to lose a lot of weight.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,124 Member
    Options
    You're already at a healthy weight and you want to lose another two to seven pounds?

    It is splitting hairs to worry about that two inches height issue. It is going to be slow going no matter what you do and is trial and error at this point.

    Work on resistance training at this point to lower body fat.


    ...

    Mostly I am worried that I am so close to maintenance, that I would like to know WHAT maintenance will actually be.

    And it would be nice to know if anyone else on these boards is the same boat as me.

    And I thought we were supposed to be supportive of everyone's goals, not just those who need to lose a lot of weight.

    I was being supportive. I only have seven pounds left too. It is very slow going....it always is at the end. I gain and lose a few pounds in the winter/summer. It is a balancing act that changes all the time. I lost 55 lbs five years ago, but my body is a dynamic machine and its needs change. I am always trying to be vigilent, but really, it's a game of trial and error.

    Whatever you have been eating, add a couple hundred to it. Wait two weeks. If you maintain, that's it. If you keep losing, add a hundred more. What I'm saying is that the whole TDEE/BMR thing is an estimate, and for the rest of your life you will have to tweak it a little here and there. You won't always burn exactly the same amount of calories week in and week out.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,124 Member
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    With that said, my maintenance is 2000 and I'm quite a bit older than you, and 5'7". My estimated BMR is 1428. I don't have a job and I only walk (hills) 3-5 times a week. So I actually need 600 more than my BMR to maintain in a healthy weight range.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Do you realize how small of a difference 2 inches of height will make to your calorie goal? I just changed mine to see and it was a difference of 40 calories. I think you'd be better off to just do as cmriverside said above rather than worrying about what height to put in.
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
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    Do you realize how small of a difference 2 inches of height will make to your calorie goal? I just changed mine to see and it was a difference of 40 calories. I think you'd be better off to just do as cmriverside said above rather than worrying about what height to put in.

    No, I didn't realize that. All I know is that everything always asks. And that it makes a huge difference in terms of BMI. I was pretty much assuming that it would change all the calculations. Sadly, even my scale that measures BF% asked for my height, so I am not sure the accuracy of that.

    I have MFP's calculation telling me my TDEE is around 1800, and the scale's telling me it is 2200. That seems like such a large difference to me. I am at the point where I want to lose weight, but not a ton of muscle. From what I've read here, a difference between a 200 calorie deficit and a 600 calorie deficit will affect that a ton.

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