STILL confused....

barbcouperus

I just joined this group and have just started trying to eat this way, but I am so confused. I just read the very well written explanation of what the BMR/TDEE calcs are for and how to use them, but I am still not getting it.

I've tried to lose weight for years, have done so much research on it on the best way to do it and this seems to be the best. I've been stuck at this weight for about 5 years and I am SICK of no matter what I do, I can't get ahead. I seem to lose and gain the same 2-3 lbs every week.

I'm 37, femakle, 5'9", current weight is 199, goal weight is 175 (which seemed to be inline with one of these calulators for goal weight - it came in at 176). I figured my BMR was 1685, but my TDEE seems to be 2451 (desk job, work out 5 days/week). I was doing cardio 3 days and weights/strength 2 days, but just this week have decided to try flipping that = 3 days weights and 2 days cardio, weekends are rest days. I try to keep my protein intake high (usually it's higher than what MFP recommends), carbs are balanced, I think. Fats and sugars are also good, I cook 95% of my own food, so I'm aware of sodium intake etc etc...

I still don't know how many calories I am supposed to be eating. Today for example...my MFP goal is 1550, I exercised for 839 calories (according to MFP, but I think they overestimate the kickboxing calories burned - I don't have an HRM yet), I ate for 2000 calories, but the net shows that I haven't even reached 1200 yet, which I know isn't enough.

SO, all that to say...how many actual calories am I supposed to be eating???

I'm also not understanding what the cut values are? 15%? 20%?

I keep reading online about it, but I just.do.not.get.it.

Any help you could give would be great.

thanks so much and sorry for the long message....

mturgeon05

Welcome to the group...you are in good hands I just went to Scooby and ran some numbers for you. At moderate exercise level I got:

BMR- 1665
TDEE- 2581
Cut 15%- 2194

I am not sure you are at moderate level, however. You say you do cardio 2-3 days a week. If that is longer than an hour or is very intesnse you may consider moving up to the strenuous level.

Soo...you would eat 2194 calories EVERY day (even on your rest days). You would only eat back exercise calories if you are netting below your BMR of 1665.

I would also set your macros to 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. I think MFP's protein goals are way too low

Does that help at all?

barbcouperus

Welcome to the group...you are in good hands I just went to Scooby and ran some numbers for you. At moderate exercise level I got:

BMR- 1665
TDEE- 2581
Cut 15%- 2194

I am not sure you are at moderate level, however. You say you do cardio 2-3 days a week. If that is longer than an hour or is very intesnse you may consider moving up to the strenuous level.

Soo...you would eat 2194 calories EVERY day (even on your rest days). You would only eat back exercise calories if you are netting below your BMR of 1665.

I would also set your macros to 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. I think MFP's protein goals are way too low

Does that help at all?

Thank you! So the 2194 calories...is that my net calories or total calories for the day? Yesterday...I ate 1975, but because my exercise was so high, my net was 1136...I think that's what is confusing me so much. It's the net vs. actual food intake...if I'm reading what you wrote correctly, because I only ate a NET of 1136 yesterday, I still needed to eat another 529 calories? If that is the case, that is soooo much food...I don't think I can eat that much in a day!

mturgeon05

That 2194 is total calories for the day. But you are right: if you NET below your BMR you need to eat those calories back. If you think you won't be able to eat all that much is it possible to cut back on the cardio a bit? Cardio definitely creates a much bigger deficit for us EM2WLers so it can be hard to make up for that.

If you don't want to cut back on cardio, just give it a try (for a while!). Almost everyone thinks it is going to be way too much food, but after a while it is quite easy to hit those numbers.

barbcouperus

That 2194 is total calories for the day. But you are right: if you NET below your BMR you need to eat those calories back. If you think you won't be able to eat all that much is it possible to cut back on the cardio a bit? Cardio definitely creates a much bigger deficit for us EM2WLers so it can be hard to make up for that.

If you don't want to cut back on cardio, just give it a try (for a while!). Almost everyone thinks it is going to be way too much food, but after a while it is quite easy to hit those numbers.

thank you!!!!! I can't really cut back on the cardio, I'm training for a 5K. So I will give the higher cals a go, maybe add on them on slowly to start with.

Hopefully this works! I've been hearing about this forever and finally am willing to give it a go. thanks for the support.

Greenrun99

Everything sounds about right from what I was reading with what has been said previously.. but just want to mention that what MFP estimates your calorie burn at is usually higher than what it actually is... so you may want to just start eating at 1 # until you get a more accurate measure of your calories burn

barbcouperus

Everything sounds about right from what I was reading with what has been said previously.. but just want to mention that what MFP estimates your calorie burn at is usually higher than what it actually is... so you may want to just start eating at 1 # until you get a more accurate measure of your calories burn

Yeah, I'm always leary of the amount of calories they say I burn, so I even tend to downplay the length of time that I do an exercise..for my kickboxing, the class is actual an hour, but I usually input in MFP only for 45-50 minutes because it seems really high. I guess my next investment in the weight loss extravaganza is an HRM to better monitor actual calories burned.
Thanks so much everyone, this is completely clear to me now!!! I really appreciate it.

mturgeon05

My Fitbit has really helped me figure out my TDEE. Most people were surprised at how much more they were burning than they thought, but I was the opposite. I realized I was burning very few calories in my everyday life. I think the best thing to do is complete the reset and your cut with the numbers you are given, and then adjust if they are not working. Better to eat too much on the reset than too little.

Good luck!