TDEE Question with BMF results

natini

I really believe in eating more, but I am not sure if I have figured out what my TDEE is. Here is what I know. I have worn my BMF 3 times since I have gotten it. I wore it each time for a week. My actual calories for those weeks were: 19,362 week 1, 18,829 week 2, and 18071 week 3. In week 1 I was doing more cardio. I think that is why I had a higher calorie burn.

I am 42 5'7" and weight 172. I work out 3 days a week heavy lifting for about 70 minutes each day. I was eating around 1800 prior to June mainly spinning 4-5 days a week. Then I upped to 2200 in June and started lifting heavy. The last four weeks I have been eating around 2500. I have seen a 5lb increase just in the last four weeks. I had a 5lb increase prior to that when I started lifting heavy in June. So I have seen a total of 10lbs increased since June.

My pants are getting tight. I can definately tell that I have gained muscle in the upper body, but I my stomach and rear have gained wieght! This is really bothering me. I know I can loose it if I drop calories and start up cardio again, but I dont want to go backwards. I havent been very good at taking my measurements, I have been going by how my clothes fit. I eat well. I dont eat processed foods. I love to cook. I have been really focusing on my protein. It was actually a struggle to eat at 2500 for the past 4 weeks.

I am wondering if I should go by the TDEE on my BMF or if that is some how inflated. Should I just stick to the online calculators that say my TDEE is 2059. I really hope someone can help me.

Greenrun99

I gotta say if the last 4 weeks you have been eating 2500 and seen an increase of 5lbs.. and you have already been lifting heavy with no huge sodium filled days.. you are probably overeating. Since you upped in June and seen an increase of 5lbs too, it sounds like thats when you started lifting heavy, do you remember being really sore when you started?
Soreness usually means water retention more than normal, I know from your BMF on you least active week you are at 2581 a day (if you wore it 7 days), BUT BMF can't really estimate lifting weights and some other exercises correctly..
Unfortunately I would say go back down to 2200, continue what your doing and see if the scale moves.. if it goes up (with no significant changes to eating/exercise) then you may need to cut again. Are you just lifting now or are you still doing spin classes? if you are how long are those?

Its all an experiment.

mmddwechanged

I agree with greenrun. I'm the same height as you and 44 and my ( inactive) TDEE is about 1950. But in the meantime celebrate your muscles! Be proud of yourself- bet you look awesome and the muscles are responsible for most of the weight gain. ( maybe you should reduce by only 200 calories and reevaluate in a month?) Keep up the awesome work:). I'm a little jealous because I'm just getting wrinkly flabby arms from lack of exercise.

natini

Thank you both! I am going to go back down to 2200 and see what happens. I thought I could rely on the BMF being accurate but I guess it is overstating. I am currently lifting 3 days a week and adding in HIIT for 20 minutes after two of the workouts. I haven't been spinning in a while.