could really use some insight/advice

hecham

Hi, I'm hecham and I'm slowly buying into this EM2WL thing. I am 26 yrs old, female, 5'3 and my current weight is 135.

My BMR is about 1350. My sedentary tdee is 1600, but I burn about 1800-1900 with normal daily activity (like work and errands). I have worn a bodybugg in the past and about 1800 was what I registered on days I did normal activity with no workouts. On days I do workouts my tdee is more like 2100-2400. I workout almost everyday even if its just a long walk.

I tried eating at maintenace over the holidays but I made very bad food quality choices (chocolate, sodium-filled junk, etc...) and I know i ate OVER tdee many days during the holidy season that could have contributed to gain. I have gained about 4 lbs since the beginning of December.

In the past, I have (not intentionally, but because of stress and work demands) lost a lot of weight very quickly. I weighed 116 about a year and a half ago. I looked sickly. 125-128 seems like a reasonable goal, but really I want to be strong and fit most of all.

In the past month, I have started lifting weights again 3-4x per week and also do cardio everyday (walking, zumba classes, strength/cardio combination group classes at the gym).

So my question is basically this: What should my calorie goal be? Should I eat at mainteance to do a metabolism re-set or should I eat at a 10-20% deficit from tdee? Is there anyone with similar stats that could give me some insight into what my daily calorie goal should be?

I should also add that I love love love food. Especially good homemade, non-processed food. I love veggies, homemade bread, lean meats and fruit. My diary is open. The past few days have been pretty good (I think?), but if you go back into the holidays you will see some of my bad food choices on display.

Any advice is welcome and appreciated!
Thanks,
Hailey

deksgrl

This is a really awesome spreadsheet where you can look at your numbers and figure out how many cals to eat. There are different methods you can use, like eating different amounts on different days depending on how much you worked out, or using an average and eating the same every day.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

heybales

In the past month, I have started lifting weights again 3-4x per week and also do cardio everyday (walking, zumba classes, strength/cardio combination group classes at the gym).

That's a lot of unnecessary stress on your body if the purpose of all that exercise is for weight loss. Even if it's for body improvement and cardio heart health, you are going to get an effect of jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none effect.

Lift weights 3 x weekly for full body (that's better than 2 split routines of 4 x weekly), which will provide the most body improvements, which is usually the reason for doing it. It will also help the fat burn because you can take better deficit when doing resistance training compared to none or cardio-only.

Except for the walking, unless that cardio is being done very easily, it's just making the ability to get the most out of your lifts more difficult.

Finding it hard to lift heavy weights doesn't always mean you are causing a load on your body that requires improvement of the muscles.
If your muscles are tired from the cardio, you'll find it hard too, but it's not an actual load on the muscles.
And if the cardio is too intense the day after, you are killing the repair process and not getting the max out of it, meaning you are wasting some or most of the lifting the day before.

Too much stress - diet, exercise, lack of sleep, other, all conspire to make fat and weight loss more difficult.

I'd suggest a balanced routine of cardio for heart health to support the lifting routines to get the most out of them. This close to goal weight, you may find your goals changing once the fat drops and your body can improve.

As to reset, depends on how long you think you were badly under-eating, though it sounds like you got out of it with weight gain lately here, so probably don't need one.

Just need best estimates to BMR the foundation of everything, your activity that you'll really end up with, and a decent deficit since you have little left to lose. You have less margin for error now.

Try this for the above, and to log your stats for comparing, in case measurements change and weight doesn't.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

edit - ha, beat me to it!

hecham

I actually really enjoy my cardio workouts. The group classes at the gym are so motivating. I also have a new puppy that needs lots of walks and runs for her exercise. Perhaps I could tone back the intensity and the frequency to once a day instead of twice? I need my runs and gym time for my sanity. But I also don't want to put too much stress on my body either.
I took at look at the spreadsheet and it seems really complicated but I'm going to try to sift through it tonight. Any other advice is very welcomed.
Thanks!

Gapwedge01

I actually really enjoy my cardio workouts. The group classes at the gym are so motivating. I also have a new puppy that needs lots of walks and runs for her exercise. Perhaps I could tone back the intensity and the frequency to once a day instead of twice? I need my runs and gym time for my sanity. But I also don't want to put too much stress on my body either.
I took at look at the spreadsheet and it seems really complicated but I'm going to try to sift through it tonight. Any other advice is very welcomed.
Thanks!

Read and study about HR zone training. If you like your cardio then training in the correct zones will go a long way in not over-training. Obviously, you will need a HRM watch/chest strap. Keeping your heart elevated every day will effect your overall fitness level. Just a thought.

heybales

I actually really enjoy my cardio workouts. The group classes at the gym are so motivating. I also have a new puppy that needs lots of walks and runs for her exercise. Perhaps I could tone back the intensity and the frequency to once a day instead of twice? I need my runs and gym time for my sanity. But I also don't want to put too much stress on my body either.
I took at look at the spreadsheet and it seems really complicated but I'm going to try to sift through it tonight. Any other advice is very welcomed.
Thanks!

You only need the Simple Setup tab, the others are informational with other options if desired and knowledgeable about it.
Well, and Progress tab for tracking stats.

As mentioned, not only lining up the days when things are done, but the ones you have ability to hold yourself back on, hitting the right HR zone which will help see the muscles aren't being worked too intense.
Now, the HRM tab in the spreadsheet will help there too, so another one to use.

You may want to think of just 2 days of lifting then.

What is your schedule for the classes that are mostly set? Like Zumba you can make is only this night, ect.
And puppy jogging isn't that bad at all, that's good recovery type cardio even on rest day from lifting.
And then what are the days something can't happen, because of other schedule conflicts?