Trying to get started, confused about calories

kxZyle

Hi there. A couple days ago I've hit my five-month milestone, and for the most part, I've been losing weight alright - hit a few plateaus here and there, but nothing serious. However, it's becoming harder for me to adhere to my calorie goal. My cravings are getting worse, and I even sometimes binge, which never happened to me during my earlier days (except for that one time... had an incident with a bag of pistachios). I'd like to try out EM2WL for a while to see if it works better for me, but I'm not sure how to get started, or if EM2WL is even appropriate for a guy my size.

Here are my current measurements:

Age: 23
Height: 186cm
Weight: 146kg
Waist: 115cm
Neck: 45cm
Body Fat: 30%
Calories eaten: 2200 + exercise cals/day

and here's my BMR:

BMR (Katch-McArdle): 2577.52 kcal/day
BMR (Revised Harris-Benedict): 2806.367 kcal/day
BMR (Orig. Harris-Benedict): 2849.4554 kcal/day

What I'm having trouble with is my TDEE. Currently I do 40-45 minutes of cardio a day, and I plan to introduce an additional 15-20 minutes of resistance training a day starting next week. The advanced calculator at http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced gives me the following numbers (settings are 7h sleep, 40min intense exercise, 20min moderate exercise, 30min standing/walking):

BMR: 2915 kcal
TDEE: 5117 kcal

Even if I substitute the BMR with the lower (and, in my case, probably more accurate) Katch-McArdle value, after subtracting 20%, I still end up with 3824 calories to eat per day, which seems like a huge amount. Could this really be correct?

Another thing I'd like help with is my activity multiplier (the activity level other TDEE calculators ask for; sedentary, lightly active etc.). I've read about several different approaches to finding out what it is, so I'm a bit confused about that as well. It's summer, so I don't leave the house on a regular basis - meaning that my only guaranteed daily activities are the cardio (40-45 minutes) and the resistance training (15-20 minutes).

TonyaBtrfly

The EM2WL website/ group reccomends the scooby calculator. I used it when i started out. then i bought a fitbt. Turns out scoobys site was dead on. Ive seen lots of other people say the same. 3824 could definately be right. I would go with a 10 - 15 % cut though. Its easier to maintain. Takes alot of the bingeing / craving problem out of the equation. Im a 5'1 female im eating at maintenance this week 2000.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Also you might want to do a full metabolic reset (eat at TDEE for 4-8 weeks) if you've been on a low cal diet for a while.

kxZyle

Even if I use my Katch-McArdle BMR, Scooby's numbers are still very high (I haven't decided to go with 20%, I'm just using it for illustration purposes):

Scooby's BMR: 2839
Katch-McArdle BMR: 2577.52

Scooby:

3-5hrs/week (*1.55): 4401 TDEE, 3521 cut (20%)
5-6hrs/week (*1.725): 4898 TDEE, 3918 cut (20%)
7-21hrs/week (*1.9): 5395 TDEE, 4316 cut (20%)

K-McA:

3-5hrs/week (*1.55): 3955.15 TDEE, 3164.13 cut (20%)
5-6hrs/week (*1.725): 4446.22 TDEE, 3556.98 cut (20%)
7-21hrs/week (*1.9): 4897.28 TDEE, 3917.83 cut (20%)

Which one do I pick?

PLUMSGRL

I believe you're over thinking this, so let's keep it simple:
Based on your current numbers of age 23,Ht 186 cm, and weight 146Kg, with 7 days of 45 min exercise (5.25 hrs)

BMR= 2840
TDEE=4400
TDEE-15% (cut)= 3740


To decrease the amount of calories, decrease the amount of cardio. Do a 20 min HIIT program 2-3 times a week, much more productive in fat loss and start a weight lifting program. Here's a good one for beginners, uses mostly body weight, and yes it does work:

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

Do on alternating days, 2-3 times a week (should take about 30 min each time). If you do HITT for 2x wk and body weight work out 3x wk it will change your numbers to:

BMR=2840 (this number won't change until you lose about 3 kg, then re-do your numbers for each 3kg loss)
TDEE=3900
TDEE-15%=3320

HIIT routines:http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/wotw40.htm


For the food part, eat full fat foods, nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, unprocessed meat, lower sodium cheeses, whole grains, fruit, veggies...unprocessed is best, frozen is fine, alcohol in moderation is ok too (a glass of wine or beer a night) as are the occasional treat.

When you get stronger (the program is to easy to do), try a weight lifting program that you like, keeping the HIIT to 2-3x wk.

Both of the sites have some good ones or if you like a DVD, Cathe Friedrich has some really good ones.

Here's the link to the EM2WL official site:

http://eatmore2weighless.com/faqs/

What ever you do, stay consistent for 4 weeks before changing what you choose as your numbers and exercise. Good luck!

kxZyle

Wow, that's a lot to process. Thanks for all the info.