Happy, yet confused....
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tabi26
Posts: 535 Member
I've recently come back to MFP and decided this time around to use the approach where I don't starve myself lol. So I went to a few different websites figured out my TDEE on those sites and came up with these numbers (rounded to make the math easier):
BMR 1500
Sedentary/ desk job 1800
Moderate 2200
Strenuous 2500
Anyway, I just took the lowest number (1800) and plugged it in to MFP so that on days where I sit around and do nothing I can plan my meals/snacks accordingly and on days where I do something, I can log the exercise calories and eat them back and not have to stare at those ugly red numbers. Lol.
So here's the thing, I only started doing this on Sunday. I know six days is not that long BUT I've lost 2.9 pounds in those six days! YAY! My average daily intake is 2100.
And now my question.....
How on earth am I losing nearly half a pound a day if I'm basically eating AT my TDEE? As I understand it TDEE takes into account everything you do, including exercise. So eating 2100 calories a day I should be close to maintaining if not losing (but should be alot slower than .5lbs/day!) And so, I am confused. Have I calculated my TDEE completely wrong?? I'm a stay at home mom, with a VERY part time job working with horses. When I'm at work, I am on my feet, but there's no running around or sweating or anything really that involves any sort of physical strength or endurance. I work an average of maybe 15hrs/week.
Here's my stats:
28 years old
146.8 lbs (as of this morning!)
5'5"
And a stay at home mom, with no exercise routine, no going for walks, I work my couple of hours here and there and I clean my house.....that is the extent of my "exercise" lol.
Side note: I weigh/measure all of my food. And if anything, I'm under-reporting my calorie intake as there are times I have a few bites of the kids snacks and don't log it, so my intake could be anywhere from 50-150 more calories/day depending on what's for snack
. Lol.
BMR 1500
Sedentary/ desk job 1800
Moderate 2200
Strenuous 2500
Anyway, I just took the lowest number (1800) and plugged it in to MFP so that on days where I sit around and do nothing I can plan my meals/snacks accordingly and on days where I do something, I can log the exercise calories and eat them back and not have to stare at those ugly red numbers. Lol.
So here's the thing, I only started doing this on Sunday. I know six days is not that long BUT I've lost 2.9 pounds in those six days! YAY! My average daily intake is 2100.
And now my question.....
How on earth am I losing nearly half a pound a day if I'm basically eating AT my TDEE? As I understand it TDEE takes into account everything you do, including exercise. So eating 2100 calories a day I should be close to maintaining if not losing (but should be alot slower than .5lbs/day!) And so, I am confused. Have I calculated my TDEE completely wrong?? I'm a stay at home mom, with a VERY part time job working with horses. When I'm at work, I am on my feet, but there's no running around or sweating or anything really that involves any sort of physical strength or endurance. I work an average of maybe 15hrs/week.
Here's my stats:
28 years old
146.8 lbs (as of this morning!)
5'5"
And a stay at home mom, with no exercise routine, no going for walks, I work my couple of hours here and there and I clean my house.....that is the extent of my "exercise" lol.
Side note: I weigh/measure all of my food. And if anything, I'm under-reporting my calorie intake as there are times I have a few bites of the kids snacks and don't log it, so my intake could be anywhere from 50-150 more calories/day depending on what's for snack
. Lol. 0
Replies
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Welcome back! Have you changed what you're eating in the last week? TDEE or not, if you're eating cleaner (especially lower sodium), you start to shed some water weight. It'll happen for a week or two and then your body should regulate.0
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Welcome back! Have you changed what you're eating in the last week? TDEE or not, if you're eating cleaner (especially lower sodium), you start to shed some water weight. It'll happen for a week or two and then your body should regulate.
Thanks for welcoming me back! And no, I haven't changed the way I eat at all lol. That's why this is confusing me. I eat 2100 calories/day. And those calories are coming from whatever I feel like eating. So still eating cereal, still eating pizza (twice this week in fact lol), cookies (daily), gold fish crackers.....seriously, whatever I feel like eating/whatever's laying around. Hahaha! My diary is open (don't judge on yesterday, I wasn't feeling very good). Feel free to have a look!
I decided this time around not to even look at my macros unless/when I stall/gain. But I can only imagine what they look like! Lol.0 -
Wish i had this question. I am not losing at all!! In fact I'm frustrated. I don't know what your doing, but keep it up! Except if you want to maintain.
If somebody wants to tell me what she is doing right, so I can lose let me know.0 -
Wish i had this question. I am not losing at all!! In fact I'm frustrated. I don't know what your doing, but keep it up! Except if you want to maintain.
If somebody wants to tell me what she is doing right, so I can lose let me know.
Aw!!! Hang in there! There are a few reasons why I think this is happening for me:
1. It's been quite a while since I've tracked my calories, and in that time, I was probably averaging around 2800-3000/daily....which would mean that my body (metabolism) is used to having an excess and, yes, I did gain! But now I think because my body is used to having excess, it deals with calories better (?? Could be wrong here lol)
2. I only just started tracking again, so this is what I like to call the "honeymoon stage" haha! Will I keep losing at this rate? Maybe....but probably not. There will likely have to be adjustments made.
3. I may have calculated my TDEE wrong....hopefully someone with some experience/info will comment and clear this up.
All I'm confused about is that there has been no change in WHAT I eat only the AMOUNT has changed. And since I'm averaging soooo close to my TDEE I have no idea why the weight is dropping. What I wanted to accomplish was weight loss, but slow, so I can maintain it.....I'm giving this eight more days (so that would be two weeks) then re-evaluating. If the weight is still coming off relatively quickly, I'll be upping my calories. If it slows/stops I'll give it another week or so and see if I need to drop calories.0 -
UPDATE!!!
It's been 28 days since I decided to try this out, and here's my numbers:
Average total daily intake for the last 28 days: 1942
Average daily NET for the last 28 days: 1780
Start weight: 149.7
Weight as of this morning: 144.1
A loss of 5.6 pounds!! Wahoo!
I did have to change it up a bit. My diary is now set to 1700...but I'm still netting over that lol. I didn't "exercise" at all the last 28 days. I did however log calories burned on days that I worked or did something out of the ordinary. Anyway, I'm not hungry, and I'm netting well over 1200/day and still losing. The best part?? I really feel like this is something I can stick too! Yay!0 -
Great job! Your Tree is probably higher than you think. Keep doing what you doing.0
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That is fantastic!!! Good for you and I'm glad you posted an update. Have you thought about adding some weights to your day to day schedule? It makes you feel super strong!0
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That is fantastic!!! Good for you and I'm glad you posted an update. Have you thought about adding some weights to your day to day schedule? It makes you feel super strong!
Thanks! And yes, I've done weights before and I LOVED the feeling it gave me! I'm just trying this all out a different way this time. I may slowly add some exercise in, but it might be awhile before I incorporate any sort of routine. Lol.
Slow and steady! Lol.0
