Bump UP cals if I've gained weight?

nothingwithoutHim

Hey there! A question that's sort of lingered in the back of my mind on this, week 6 of my reset :drinker: , is am I supposed to be eating more calories if I've gained weight because of reset?

Example: My starting weight was 145 . Gender female. Activity level moderate. My weight is now 166 :sad: , although my activity level is the same. My starting TDEE was 2350. Now scooby says mine is 2,500. (All numbers rounded for ease!)

Do I add 100 cals to my day, or leave it the same until cut? :huh:

Raynn1

Has the weight kept increasing up, or has the gains levelled off?

For me, when I hit TDEE after a few weeks, the gains levelled off and my weight basically maintained, so I was pretty sure I was where I needed to be. If your weight is increasing each week, its possible you are actually over TDEE, which at reset, is not neccessarily a bad thing. If your weight decreases, then you are not at your correct TDEE..

You can always increase your cals and see what happens. if the weight still keeps increasing, then I would venture a guess you are over TDEE.. If things level off there, then use that as TDEE.
Sine you are 6 weeks in, you can either go up, or stay the same:)

nothingwithoutHim

Has the weight kept increasing up, or has the gains levelled off?

Uhhhh...This whole week I've been at 166, but I can pretty much guarantee you that I'll be heavier next week, unless some miracle occurs or our scale breaks. So, the weight has pretty much been increasing. I'm pretty much SURE my activity level is right, so I guess I'll try out more cals for next week, and if I shoot up, I'll just lower them a tad?

Greenrun99

If you are on week 6 of your reset, I wouldn't change what your eating and weigh yourself each week, if you keep going up for the remainder of your reset, then you may be over your TDEE.. but if you level off then you should be good for a cut once your reset is done.
Also ( I know telling you to use a scale is bad and all that) you shouldn't be gaining more than a lb a week at this point, so if you are its probably not fat your gaining.. as you probably read you gotta eat in excess of like 3500 calories or something to gain a pound.. so..

Lastly make sure you are measuring everything and have a scale also make sure you are not using MFP for activity calories cause the estimate it gives you is usually way off (or any of the machines).. at this point you should just be eating your reset # and nothing added.

nothingwithoutHim

Lastly make sure you are measuring everything and have a scale also make sure you are not using MFP for activity calories cause the estimate it gives you is usually way off (or any of the machines).. at this point you should just be eating your reset # and nothing added.

If I don't use MFP for activity cals, what am I supposed to use? I have no HRM or fitbit - nothing, but at this point, it's not cals burned as much as time spent exercising, right? Moderate activity is exercise 3-5 hours a week, and mine usually falls in the 4 hour category, so I should be good to go, shouldn't I?

I wasn't eating 3,500 calories extra before reset (trust me, more like that as a deficit), but I was still gaining fat at least a pound a week. I do think I have gained a bit of muscle, but not a whole pound of it in a week!

I'm kinda thinking at least if I eat over, then I'll be adjusting my body to just more food? But then if I eat the same, that might be my true TDEE...I have no clue. I guess I'll see what happens at the end of two more weeks...

heybales

So you have hit the rub - if you keep gaining weight, your BMR and TDEE calcs will of course keep going up. Then you eat to that new level, and not hard to know what is going to happen.

If you were already gaining, that fact means you were eating above that level TDEE. Idea of course is metabolism is increasing. So it would be great to see less and less gain as it evens out.

But if you keep recalcing as weight goes up, then you would have to keep eating more - which isn't a smart idea either, as that is the original problem.

As mentioned, if amount of gain has leveled off, like 1 lb in 2 weeks, 1.5 before that, then you've nailed your TDEE for this level of activity. it would be 250 calories less than your avg daily eating level. 1/2 lb weekly, right.

So knock off 250 off and you should maintain if you are near the estimated TDEE already. That would imply a BMR about 161 below calculated.
And depends on what BMR calc you used. Harris and Mifflin based on age, weight, height are inflated if you are overweight, unless you somehow managed to keep your ratio of fat to fat-free mass the same as the healthy weight study participants that created the study formula. So that would be appropriate.
If using best Katch BMR calc, then that is still too far off, vast majority fall within 5% of estimated in that study.

Here is spreadsheet to allow you to nail those activity levels better and confirm the BMR calc by using bodyfat%, by actually putting in different levels of activity, in case some is walking, some strength, some cardio or gym classes, ect. or you work on your feet.

See how current eating level compares to that TDEE calc. And if the weight gain seems correct if over.
Meaning, if TDEE calc says 2100, and you've been eating 2350, then there is 250 cal surplus, no wonder gaining a lb every other week.
You might start with weight at beginning of reset too, just for comparison.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/750920-spreadsheet-for-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

And no you don't need HRM or means to estimate calorie burn, if you are using the workout routine right now you'll use later.