Eating more to lose weight - exercise motivation

omma_to_3

So, I've slowly increased my calories a bit, but I just can't buy into the eat 15% less than your TDEE for a couple reasons. First, I haven't had BMR or RMR testing to know what my BMR is specifically - and due to hypothyroidism, and my historical experience, my BMR is likely lower than average. And second, and more importantly, being able to eat more is a HUGE motivator to me to exercise.

So how do those of you following the TDEE - 15%, how do you truly motivate yourself to exercise everyday or on whatever schedule you've decided upon?

omma_to_3

Bump

googsgirl

I dont think we need to exercise every day. I believe one or two rest days is crucial to healing our bodies and encouraging fat metabolism.

I exercise about 4 days a week, sometimes 5 and I do it because I feel so good afterwards! I am also seeing great results from heavier strength training so that is a huge motivator to exercise and keep at it.

I eat 2000 calories a day and never dropped a pound until I increased by cals to that. BTW, 2000 is only about 89 calories less than my TDEE, so that, combined with my exercise provides a modest deficit for weight loss.
I only have a few pounds to go now, so that smaller deficit is important for healthy fat loss.

yarwell

isn't this just word play ?

Case 1 - 1400 calorie goal, exercise 400, eat 1800. BMR 1400, sedentary TDEE excluding exercise 1680, total TDEE 2080

Case 2 - TDEE of 2080 with exercise, -15% = eat 1768

OK it isn't an exact match 'cos I didn't fiddle to make it so, but the point is that in both cases the exercise is what allows you to eat about 1800. If you didn't exercise in case 2 the TDEE falls to 1680 and -15% is 1428

Establishedn1986

It's all about changing your body. I personally exercise 6 days a week. This was even before I started upping calories. So all I did was add more food and it was a breeze for me! It is not like we have to kill ourselves exercising either. Your activity level helps set your tdee. So its all figured within that number. My cut is 2290. I eat that amount daily and because my activity is already figured in, I always NET at or above my BMR. If you haven't already go to the EM2WL group and read the stickies! It is explained in great detail over there! Hope it helps!

omma_to_3

isn't this just word play ?

Case 1 - 1400 calorie goal, exercise 400, eat 1800. BMR 1400, sedentary TDEE excluding exercise 1680, total TDEE 2080

Case 2 - TDEE of 2080 with exercise, -15% = eat 1768

OK it isn't an exact match 'cos I didn't fiddle to make it so, but the point is that in both cases the exercise is what allows you to eat about 1800. If you didn't exercise in case 2 the TDEE falls to 1680 and -15% is 1428

So those using TDEE adjust it every day to what activity they've actually done? Everything I've seen said just go with a standard activity setting to calculate, and use that same amount every day.

I'm not saying exercise doesn't have other benefits besides allowing me to eat more, but for ME that is the biggest motivation I have. And eating TDEE - 15% seems to take away that motivation on a day to day basis. At least it's much less obvious since I would eat the same amount even on non-workout days (which obviously would lead to me not losing weight).

And I definitely do rest days. I usually run a day, walk a day, rest a day, though I've added in some other activity lately like biking and a little strength training. I'm currently resting two days because I think I've been over-doing it lately.

littlepinkhearts

So, I've slowly increased my calories a bit, but I just can't buy into the eat 15% less than your TDEE for a couple reasons. First, I haven't had BMR or RMR testing to know what my BMR is specifically - and due to hypothyroidism, and my historical experience, my BMR is likely lower than average. And second, and more importantly, being able to eat more is a HUGE motivator to me to exercise.

So how do those of you following the TDEE - 15%, how do you truly motivate yourself to exercise everyday or on whatever schedule you've decided upon?

I love weight liftiing and I love running and I just keep switchin things up till I get the right mix for myself. I have upped my cals from around 1000 up to 1800. If you're not confident in the number thingys, you could just try whichever ones you think might work for you and stay at it for a few weeks and see what happens. I have no clue whether my numbers are valid or not either. But i'm gonna sit at 1800 cals for at least a month (the suggested lengths vary, so I may do up to 2 months) with the exercise i'm comfortable with and see what happens.

omma_to_3

So, I've slowly increased my calories a bit, but I just can't buy into the eat 15% less than your TDEE for a couple reasons. First, I haven't had BMR or RMR testing to know what my BMR is specifically - and due to hypothyroidism, and my historical experience, my BMR is likely lower than average. And second, and more importantly, being able to eat more is a HUGE motivator to me to exercise.

So how do those of you following the TDEE - 15%, how do you truly motivate yourself to exercise everyday or on whatever schedule you've decided upon?

I love weight liftiing and I love running and I just keep switchin things up till I get the right mix for myself. I have upped my cals from around 1000 up to 1800. If you're not confident in the number thingys, you could just try whichever ones you think might work for you and stay at it for a few weeks and see what happens. I have no clue whether my numbers are valid or not either. But i'm gonna sit at 1800 cals for at least a month (the suggested lengths vary, so I may do up to 2 months) with the exercise i'm comfortable with and see what happens.

I was netting 1200 before. Once I started running (even though I eat back my exercise calories regardless) I upped it to 1300 for a month. Now I'm at 1410 (MFPs recommendation to lose 1 lb a week). I went from losing 4.5 to 5.5 lbs. a month to losing 2.5 to 3 lbs. a month over the last two months. At least one of those months though, I wasn't eating very well.

slkehl

I have an anxiety disorder, so I use exercise more as a mood regulator than anything. It makes me feel more stable, which is the best motivation. As I've gotten more consistent with exercising, it's gotten easier too. It used to be really tough for me to run a mile, and now I can do it easily, which doesn't take too long and is what I need on a busy day when I can't get to the gym.

littlepinkhearts

Here's the link for the "eat more to weigh less" group. There's a lot of reading info there that might help you? Hopefully you will find the answers to your questions there.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less

Duck_Puddle

isn't this just word play ?

Case 1 - 1400 calorie goal, exercise 400, eat 1800. BMR 1400, sedentary TDEE excluding exercise 1680, total TDEE 2080

Case 2 - TDEE of 2080 with exercise, -15% = eat 1768

OK it isn't an exact match 'cos I didn't fiddle to make it so, but the point is that in both cases the exercise is what allows you to eat about 1800. If you didn't exercise in case 2 the TDEE falls to 1680 and -15% is 1428

So those using TDEE adjust it every day to what activity they've actually done? Everything I've seen said just go with a standard activity setting to calculate, and use that same amount every day.

I'm not saying exercise doesn't have other benefits besides allowing me to eat more, but for ME that is the biggest motivation I have. And eating TDEE - 15% seems to take away that motivation on a day to day basis. At least it's much less obvious since I would eat the same amount even on non-workout days (which obviously would lead to me not losing weight).

And I definitely do rest days. I usually run a day, walk a day, rest a day, though I've added in some other activity lately like biking and a little strength training. I'm currently resting two days because I think I've been over-doing it lately.

Using a straight TDEE-% generally assumes using the TDEE that includes the exercise. Mfp uses a tdee that excludes exercise (which you then "earn back"). The TDEE that includes exercise is more of a daily average over a period of a week or whatever. So assuming you exercise 4 days a week, burning 400 calories each time (1600 per week), your average daily TDEE would include 1/7 of those 1600 calories. You'd be "earning" some exercise calories on your rest days, and less than your "actual" burn on days you do exercise.

My numbers are different than the example above-but I also come out at exactly the same number whether I use tdee-% or the mfp # plus exercise calories. For me, it's 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other as long as I eat my exercise calories. I am currently on the injured list and unable to exercise-so I personally like that I'm using the mfp # (I'd be eating way too much if I was aiming for tdee-% without manually recalculating the number for my non-activity-which coincidentally puts me exactly where mfp already has me).

I also like "seeing" that I can eat more when I exercise. And since the calorie #'s come out the same for me either way-I'll just stick with mfp and not overcomplicate things. That works for me-but to each their own.