Okay, seriously, I don't get it.

Energizer06

There are a few varying ways to calculate your TDEE and BMR......ALL ARE Estimates

Your TDEE is approx 2000 ---- use this to take your 500 calories off of
Your BMR is approx 1400 --- don't eat less than this

There's only a 600 calorie difference, which is why they say a 1-2 lb loss is all a person should heathly lose per week.


Eat somewhere around 1500 calories and always eat back your exercise calories. You'll lose around 1 lb per week have tons of energy and be a happy camper. Your metabolism will pick up, you'll sleep better, and everyone will love you. If you eat less than your BMR in calories your body won't be as happy and will either stop losing fat or start storing it. So if you want a more toned physique stick with 1500 calories as your baseline and eat what you burn.....Good Luck

Oishii

If you're working, walking to and from the train, and going to classes at night, then you're not by any means sedentary. Why don't you get a pedometer and wear it for a few days to get an accurate idea of your activity level.

Sedentary = <5000 step
Lightly Active = 5000-7499 steps
Somewhat Active = 7500-9999 step
Active = 10000-12499 steps
Highly Active = 12500+ steps

I think you'll find you're at least lightly active. Then revisit the roadmap and recalculate your calories based on the new activity level.

I don't know that these are even close to the definitions mfp is using. I assume sedentary MEANS sedentary, ie, really not moving (sat at a desk/bedridden). This would be waaaay under 5000 steps. A day at home, packing for a holiday (so up and down stairs, lots of little bits of wandering around) is under 5000 steps for me. On the other end of the scale, on mfp highly active is compared to a bicycle courier. I can go over 12500 just by walking a couple of miles and teaching during the day, and I'm sure a bike courier would do the equivalent of far more than that. These definitions may be used by other calculators, but I don't think they line up with mfp's.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I'm just having a hard time figuring out what I'm supposed to do then.

I'm always still hungry throughout the day. I'd say I'm pretty sedentary though. Yes, I have a job, but it's at a law firm and the most walking I do is walking from the train to my desk and from my desk to my bosses office.

Yes, I go to school. But, I'm in law school. Again, the most walking I do is from one classroom to another for about a total of 20 feet).

Yes, I go to the gym. But I DO eat back my calories and I only average about 400 calories a session.

People say to up my calories, but should I really? I've only lost 3-5 lbs (not sure exactly, I didn't really weigh myself when I ACTUALLY started) but it has also been only a little over a month and I DO have cheat days (once or twice a week, a shame really, but I'm not trying to lose THAT much weight)


I just keep getting conflicting information and it's doing my head in.

I thought that I *must* be sedentary when I joined. Recently I went back and did the math to figure out exactly how many calories I was burning (based on how much I'd eaten and how much I'd lost so far) and it turned out that I was burning 1820, which is 200 calories more than the sedentary setting. I set MFP to lightly active and have been in maintenance for a month at 1760 plus exercise calories. Point is, you may not be as sedentary as you think.

It's not that MFP is *wrong*, it's just that MFP uses a formula. It can't apply common sense or make sure that you entered the correct settings. If you told it you're sedentary and want to lose 2 lbs per week, it's not going to know that you're not sedentary and that 2 lbs per week is too much.

Hope that helps.

Alta2000

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE#gid=14

This is the link for the excel form where you can plug in your numbers and will calculate everything for you about TDEE, etc.

wilsoje74

If you already cheat 2x per week you are eating over 1200 on average so you aren't just eating 1200 per day. If you've lost, keep doing what works