Help please

F1uffy123

Hi, I've read the very helpful thread by hiitsdan 'in place of a road map'

I was just wondering if someone wouldn't mind checking whether my calories in take is correct...

I'm female
5ft4
166lbs
37.1% body fat
Exercise 3 times a week
38" chest
42" hips
34" waist
13.5" neck

I'm consuming 1700 cals

Goal weight to start 140lbs

Many thanks in advance

michellekicks

Depending on how intense and how long your 3 workouts/week are, you should consume somewhere between 1700-1900 calories daily without adding workout calories to that. Your est BMR is 1481 and your est. TDEE is 2037-2296 (using 1-3 hours light exercise at the low end and 3-5 hours moderate exercise at the high end). That would give you 3-4 lbs weight loss in a month (at a 20% cut from TDEE).

So, if you want to lose 1 lb/week, you should aim for about 1500-1800 calories daily.

Another way I like to do it is take BMR and add 100 calories and then add in exercise calories. Most people will burn a few hundred calories daily with non-exercise activity to keep them at a modest deficit.

F1uffy123

Thank you, ideally I would like to lose 1-2 lbs a week so based on what you've advised it sounds as though I'm consuming about the right amount. I don't want to consume too little. I will assess again in a few weeks I guess.

I have a HR monitor, is it worth me wearing it 24/7 for a week to avg my daily burn? Will this give me a more accurate figure?

Thanks in advance

michellekicks

The lowest I recommend going is net BMR. So you could do about net 1480... though the Katch McArdle formula had you at about 1395 BMR... so do 1400 plus workout calories should give you the fastest loss in a healthy way. Make sure you get a good amount of protein though... about 100g daily. That will help preserve the lean mass you have already.

F1uffy123

Thank you again, most appreciated.

Yes I'm conscious of my protein, I am eating it daily but not confident it's enough.

Work outs have been mainly cardio up until now but I have just started to introduce resistance trainer with the help of PT to get me started so this should help too hopefully.