Am I doing this right?

grkathena82

Hi all,

I currently do 20-30 minutes on the elliptical 4-5 times a week along with 3 20-25 minutes sessions of a kettlebell circuit. I am also on my feet most of the day with my two daughters. Would this put me in the light or active category as far as exercise is concerned?

Also, would you guys mind looking at my diary for the past few days and tell me if I'm doing this right? According to Scooby my TDEE is 1900, BMR is 1400 and my deficit of 15% is 1600. I've been eating 1600 for the past few weeks, but I've had to eat back some of my exercise calories because I want to net my BMR. Should I be doing this? Or just eating 1600 everyday? I tend to go over on the carbs all the time and have leftover protein.

I have yet to see any change in inches, weight etc. I did a reset last May for 12 weeks, put on 10 pounds and have yet to lose them. I did go low-cal for a while before Christmas and managed to lose 3 pounds, but then put them back on during the holidays! I don't want to eat 1300 calories (even though that seems to be the only way I seem to lose weight!!) and want to believe that this method really works.

Thanks in advance!

Athena

HeidiHoMom

I would say you are in the moderate activity level.

Yes eat 1600 a day unless you have an unusually high burn day and then you can eat back cals to reach your BMR.

I went for 12 weeks without losing anything and then started losing again.

You need to be consistent and just stick with it.

Just curious if you have had your thyroid checked at all?

grkathena82

But it seems I almost never net my BMR and have to eat calories back. Does this make sense? I just log in "elliptical trainer" into myfitnesspal and I go by that number as my calories burned. I'm not exactly sure of how accurate that number is. I've considered getting a FitBit to get a more accurate number.

I haven't had my thyroid checked, but I did honestly consider it. My dad has hypothyroidism, but no other strong family history of thyroid issues is present in my family as far as I know.

heybales

But it seems I almost never net my BMR and have to eat calories back. Does this make sense? I just log in "elliptical trainer" into myfitnesspal and I go by that number as my calories burned. I'm not exactly sure of how accurate that number is. I've considered getting a FitBit to get a more accurate number.

I haven't had my thyroid checked, but I did honestly consider it. My dad has hypothyroidism, but no other strong family history of thyroid issues is present in my family as far as I know.

That's exactly the reason you can skip trying to net your BMR.

To actually accomplish that, you'd need a really accurate calorie burn estimate, and remove the calories already accounted for during that time, your BMR. So it's actually even less.

And I'd agree Moderately Active, rounded up to nearest 100 since your non-exercise daily activity already moves you into Lightly Active, your exercise just adds on more. Daily counts too.

So TDEE is 2170, 15% deficit is 1844 - 1900. Daily.

grkathena82

As ridiculous as this sounds (or maybe not!) i'm terrified of eating 1900 calories. That's what I ate when I did my reset (at a light activity level at the time) and gained the weight. I suppose now that I'm at a higher activity level I shouldn't gain eating this high, correct?

heybales

As ridiculous as this sounds (or maybe not!) i'm terrified of eating 1900 calories. That's what I ate when I did my reset (at a light activity level at the time) and gained the weight. I suppose now that I'm at a higher activity level I shouldn't gain eating this high, correct?

You have to learn that life lesson. Because you will get sick, you will have other activities come up with higher priority than exercise.

You eat correctly for your level of activity.

You are doing more. You eat more.

You do less, you eat less.

At least with a full burning metabolism and some good LBM, you are better able to absorb the impact of high calorie days when the activity maybe hasn't been the level to warrant that.

grkathena82

Thanks heybales! 1900 calories it is! I will keep you posted.

grkathena82

Ok, so here I am a month later. I've been eating 1900 calories daily. I've gotten sick 3 times in the past month, but I tried to stay as consistent as possible. Today the scale showed me about a pound heavier (but who really cares about the scale, anyway)...but I have lost 2.5 inches total from various parts of my body since January 6th. My body fat percentage has also stayed the same (around 30% and measured with an OMROM handheld BF machine). I'm pretty happy with the small reduction in inches.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

heybales

Ok, so here I am a month later. I've been eating 1900 calories daily. I've gotten sick 3 times in the past month, but I tried to stay as consistent as possible. Today the scale showed me about a pound heavier (but who really cares about the scale, anyway)...but I have lost 2.5 inches total from various parts of my body since January 6th. My body fat percentage has also stayed the same (around 30% and measured with an OMROM handheld BF machine). I'm pretty happy with the small reduction in inches.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Great results despite sickness knocking you out probably.

I wouldn't trust the handheld monitor at all. It's not even measuring the places where inches are usually lost first.

And you may be losing more inches than you measure.

Keep it up.

grkathena82

Thanks Heybales! I'm pretty happy with the progress so far and hope to see more inches lost in the coming months. I've decided to take a week and eat at TDEE since it's been a while at 15%. After that...back to 1900.

asitshouldbe

I just read this whole thing and am feeling I too am on the right track! Congtrats on the inches lost! :noway: I totally agree that the scale is no longer that important! WAY TO GO! I am new to this and just upped my cals to 1600, it's a little scary but I am so enjoying eating more and feeling better! lifting 3 days and cardio 2-3 days per week. I can't wait to see my first mo's results! Wish me luck! :bigsmile:

grkathena82

Just accepted your friend request! From my own experience it actually takes some effort to up your calories but after you get there you get used to eating more. Just be sure to pick the right activity level. Initially I chose "light activity" as opposed to "moderate" and I wasn't losing a thing...for months! Only when I started eating more did I start to see inches lost. The scale hasn't moved at all, but I have stopped focusing on that anyway. And I was one of those people who would do daily weigh-ins!

I also want to add that I have more energy now and feel much better overall. I'm so glad I found this group because otherwise I'd still be starving myself on 1350 a day and doing tons of cardio!!