Been EMtLW for a bit, but need some help please!

AmyLRed

Hi all!

I am 32, female, 5'1", around 32% BF (According to the hand-held thing-a-ma-jig my fitness instructor has)

I started out (in November) eating MFP's standard short woman calorie goal of 1200. Yeah, great, had some success for awhile. Short plateau in February or so, and upped to 1400 cals.

Now i am fluctuating in a 6lb range since early April. I increased my calories in May, but i could still really use some help. I am not sure if i am eating too much for me or not enough. My daily cal goal was set at 1800 and i recently dropped it down to 1680 for fear that i was eating too much. Yes, 1680 is basically a number i pulled out of the sky, thus why i need some guidance:)

Current weight is 146-150lbs. Goal weight is who knows what, ( I just want a lower BF%) but on the fat2fit site, i entered 120lbs.

Fat2Fit gives me a BMR of 1362-1449, depending on method used.

For lightly active, i should eat 1825, moderate 2057

My workouts are now 1.5 hours Tuesday (bootcamp/crossfit) and 1 hour on Thursday (Strength or cardio kickboxing class) 45 min Friday (bootcamp) and 30min-60min on Saturday (jog/walk) That is fairly consistent. My HRM seems to give me slightly lower cal burns than others think i should be getting for my workouts, i hit over 400 for Tuesday but otherwise it is more in the 300-350 range and 170 or so for strength class.

Can anyone help me out? I am so ready to bust through this plateau. I dont eat super clean, but i aim for 90grams of protein a day and try to make wise choices. I have not been logging consistently on weekends lately.

Thanks.

Edited to add, i made my diary open if you need to peek.

fiveohmike

Hello,

I would shoot for your moderate exercise calorie goal. You are just getting into the low end of the moderate scale with the workouts.

So I would shoot for the 2000 mark and be consistent with it.

Thanks!

AmyLRed

Thanks for your reply. I guess i have been being conservative because, while i do some strength training, i am not following NROLFW or anything at that level, and my cardio burns are not real high ( i have friends who regularly post burns 600-1300 range)

trosewine

One thing to note is that if you aren't logging consistently on the weekends, is it because your cals are getting off track? You can easily wipe out a 15% deficit with one day or one meal on the weekends. I've done it plenty. I actually have stopped logging overall for the most part since the only time I didn't log my food in the last several months was when I was off track. I needed a mental adjustment to feel okay about eating and not logging. Obsessive, much? LOL

AmyLRed

One thing to note is that if you aren't logging consistently on the weekends, is it because your cals are getting off track? You can easily wipe out a 15% deficit with one day or one meal on the weekends. I've done it plenty. I actually have stopped logging overall for the most part since the only time I didn't log my food in the last several months was when I was off track. I needed a mental adjustment to feel okay about eating and not logging. Obsessive, much? LOL

Yes, somewhat. Weekends have been busy and hectic, camping, not home a lot, etc and logging has been tough. Also eating at BBQs where i may have a bite of this, a little spoon of that ,etc. I would guess that yes, i have been over my calories on weekends a bit, though only for the last 3 weeks. My plateau has been since April. Because my weekends have been so hectic, i decreased my calories from 1800 to 1680 so that my weekdays would be a bit lower and perhaps make up for my weekends. I do realize thats not the greatest plan, and i am ready to eat more consistently, just looking for some guidance as to if i should be at 1500, 1600, 1800, 2000, etc. Working out 3-4 times per week, some strength training but not "heavy" lifting (i use 8-15lb dumbbells) and not real high cal burns with my cardio i do.

trosewine

I do realize thats not the greatest plan, and i am ready to eat more consistently, just looking for some guidance as to if i should be at 1500, 1600, 1800, 2000, etc. Working out 3-4 times per week, some strength training but not "heavy" lifting (i use 8-15lb dumbbells) and not real high cal burns with my cardio i do.

You've done the calcs and 2000 seems right on with your amount of exercise. Go for it!

Daymia

I third the increase to 2000 calories. From what you gave us, you seem to average around 4 hours of exercise per week, so stick with the moderate level.

Let us know how it goes for you!

AmyLRed

ahh! Thanks. I guess that makes me nervous, as it does so many in this group to start. I felt like i was increasing a ton when i went up to 1800 and then i was sort of overeating on weekends so i went down a bit on my daily goal, 2000 seems high but i guess its worth a shot at this point! I am ready for some changes (scale, BF%, clothing size, whatever that may be as long as some numbers are going down for a change!)

kazzsjourney

Yes I'd definitely go by moderate activity level too

AmyLRed

thank you!