44yo needs to lose 22kg - how many cals do I eat?

heybales

I'm still in it to win it!!
Today, my BMI has finally hit the "normal" range. I'm looking good and feeling great.

Blog is here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/SkimFlatWhite68/view/progress-pics-23kg-down-553291 - with progress photos taken yesterday if anyone is interested.

Update of Stats as per HeyBales spreadsheet as follows:

Date of stats Weight Height Avg BF% Navy % Covert % LBM FM BMR TDEE TDEG Avg eaten daily
26-Sep-12 89.0 166 40.36 44.70 36.02 53.1 35.9 1,517 1,958 1,517 2300
26-Dec-12 86.0 166 38.84 42.24 35.43 52.6 33.4 1,506 2,234 1,629 1655
11-Jan-13 82.0 166 38.34 42.24 34.45 50.6 31.4 1,462 2,271 1,698 1593
10-Feb-13 82.0 166 36.46 39.26 33.66 52.1 29.9 1,495 2,218 1,637 1734
13-Mar-13 80.0 166 34.58 37.27 31.89 52.3 27.7 1,500 2,131 1,514 1550
13-Apr-13 77.0 166 32.66 35.00 30.31 51.9 25.1 1,490 2,292 1,732 1590
10-May-13 73.8 166 31.33 33.13 29.53 50.7 23.1 1,465 2,233 1,692 1,637.
15-Jun-13 70.7 166. 29.73 30.72 28.74 49.7 21.0 1,443 2,220 1,703 1,426.
14-Jul-13 68.7 166. 27.24 27.71 26.77 50.0 18.7 1,450 2,230 1,730 1,574.

Why does it look formatted correctly in the entry screen, but displays so bad? oh well, readable now when quoting.

Great milestone to hit.

Excellent, dropped it appears 2.3 lbs of fat, I'm guessing some nice measurements have gone down too.
And LBM holding pretty steady in there.

Are the inches where you wanted them?

And how are workouts, have you reached performance plateau from being in deficit, or still progressing?

So you thinking the TDEE estimate is inflated?

johnelwell

Hi
I can really see why you are frustrated with all this, i was just the same a few weeks ago. I started looking at the calories and also got several different answers from different sites. I am not a techno expert but let me tell you what I found and it worked for me - might do the same for you.
My first conclusion was too much emphasis was placed on averages on these sites, I am not an average I am me! So I had to find my way. The starting point of BMR I thought I would take as a true fact and start from there.
The various Harris Benedict Formula gives only a few different "mark up" values to use. Now based on the fact that 3500 calories equals 1 pound of fat if this is worked out wrong then I am on a loser before I start.
e.g. For simple maths sake I will just use these numbers to show the point ( they are not my goals)
Lets say BMR of 1000
Quoted Harris Benedicts are 1.2,1.375,1.55,1.725 and 1.9. So daily goals could be either;
1200
1375
1550
1725
1900
Which one is for me? If I pick the wrong one I will lose or gain weight. I experimented with several friends as well and most people overestimate their activity level and are eating more calories than they need. So , I weighed myself at the start of the week, picked a figure I thought was mine and led that week as normal, training and eating as outlined in these calculations. At the end of the week I weighed myself again and used the information of 3500 cals per pound to adjust this Harris Benedict formula to get my figure.
after doing all this and putting it into MFP i found that sticking to their spread of protein mix to carbs etc I was losing weight - both fat but sadly muscle mass as well, so i went for calories X 0.2 then divide by 4 to give a protein requirement and over ride MFP with a custom setting and this stopped the muscle loss but keeps the fat loss albeit it at a slower pace.
It worked for me, don't know if it helps - hope it does, good luck with it.
Please feel free to add me as a friend if you wish

SkimFlatWhite68

Hi John, thank you so much for that, I'm not frustrated at all, I have progressed really well in the last 7 months and even though it has been slower than expected, I am doing awesome!! I mainly keep this thread going so that HeyBales can see how I'm progressing, as he has helped me work out my eating/calorie goals.

Thanks HeyBales! Yeah, not sure what's up with the table of figures, but it's all correct.

Measurements - great, lost 25cm from my waist. Higher up in the thread (last post) I put a link to photos from the weekend that I put in my blog. You can see how much fat I've lost. I feel fantastic! LBM holding well, I'm still weight training.

I have stalled with some lifting, but then not in others. Had a couple of silly injuries earlier in the year, but yes, I am slowly progressing. Last week I went up in weights on chest press and legs, I'm pretty happy with how I'm going.

I think that the TDEE is a bit high, but this could be due to my YEARS of abuse and yo-yo dieting to my poor body. I have a FitBit One and that tells me my TDEE average is about 2200 per day (over the week). I've been generally trying to eat 600 less than that a day, and average it out at the end of the week. I usually do a bit of calorie cycling and end up with a low day and it bring the average down a bit. Again, not unhappy with the way things are going.

I've pretty much averaged a loss of 3kg a month, and I've extended my goal out to the end of the year. I'm going with BF% now rather than the scale and I have every reason to think I will succeed. I'm going to start reverse dieting in about September until I get to the sweet spot of maintenance.

Thank you HeyBales, I appreciate your input and feedback every month.

SkimFlatWhite68

HUGE WIN!!

It is my 45th birthday today. 25/7 and I have lost 25.7kg (since last September). I'm a size 10 (USA6) and look and more importantly FEEL amazing!! I've made it to my intermediate goal, and am so proud of myself.

I'm now about 26% body fat, and on Monday I am starting a 12 week challenge through Maxine's Shape Up Challenge, its an Aussie thing. My goal for the 12 weeks will be to get down to 20-22% body fat and then maintain from there.

To anyone reading this, if you feel despondent at times, and the road is tough.... Just keep going. You WILL get there.

So happy with myself!!

heybales

I love how so many don't read the post right above theirs before posting, and miss HUGE WIN.

Great work, this progress will be interesting for the program, that's for sure.

SkimFlatWhite68

Hi Heybales, here is my latest update..

I am 34 weeks into "the new me" and although the last month my weight loss has slowed, measurements are still decreasing and I am into Australian size 10 (which was my goal) and looking and feeling great. Changing my weights routine a bit from this week, and I'm pretty much dropping out my HIIT workouts and just walking. Reason being is that I was getting really tired and last week hit a major (emotional) wall - I think I was exhausted.

So - here are the numbers - I know you will be able to translate them, even though they come out so jumbled!!

Log stats from above Body Fat
Date of stats Weight Height Avg BF% Navy % Covert % LBM FM BMR TDEE TDEG Avg eaten daily
26-Sep-12 89.0 166 40.36 44.70 36.02 53.1 35.9 1,517 1,958 1,517 2,300.
26-Dec-12 86.0 166 38.84 42.24 35.43 52.6 33.4 1,506 2,234 1,629 1,655.
11-Jan-13 82.0 166 38.34 42.24 34.45 50.6 31.4 1,462 2,271 1,698 1,593.
10-Feb-13 82.0 166 36.46 39.26 33.66 52.1 29.9 1,495 2,218 1,637 1,734.
13-Mar-13 80.0 166 34.58 37.27 31.89 52.3 27.7 1,500 2,131 1,514 1,550.
13-Apr-13 77.0 166 32.66 35.00 30.31 51.9 25.1 1,490 2,292 1,732 1,590.
10-May-13 73.8 166 31.33 33.13 29.53 50.7 23.1 1,465 2,233 1,692 1,637.
15-Jun-13 70.7 166. 29.73 30.72 28.74 49.7 21.0 1,443 2,220 1,703 1,426.
14-Jul-13 68.7 166. 27.24 27.71 26.77 50.0 18.7 1,450 2,230 1,730 1,574.
26-Jul-13 66.8 166. 26.79 27.20 26.38 48.9 17.9 1,426 2,194 1,711 1,570.
25-Aug-13 65.5 166. 24.89 24.58 25.20 49.2 16.3 1,433 2,271 1,821 1,725.

I'm disappointed that my LBM has dropped below 50, but I know it had to happen sooner or later. I think it is really good that I have managed to keep as much of it as I can, just goes to show what lifting weights can do for you!!

On the plus side - wow - look at that change in FM!!! Of course, I can see it in the mirror, but the numbers are amazing!

I have eaten more the last month, still keeping protein to 150g per day, carbs 100g per day and fat 50g per day. Seems to be working well and I have noticed that all my Insulin Resistance and PCOS symptoms seem to have gone. The dr wanted to do a 3 day carb loading and IR test on me, but I declined as I don't see the point of putting myself through that just for "the record". I am really happy with my health now, no need to upset the balance!!

My goals are to still reduce to 20-22% body fat, am now working on my glutes and arms/shoulders more in the gym and I guess I'll just keep on keeping on until I get there!

Thanks for keeping up with my thread. I am really really happy with the way that I have progressed over the last 8 months.

heybales

Concerned on the tired aspect - have some other stresses come up in life?

Great results. Indeed it's bummer when LBM goes down, but your's didn't go down first, you held on to it to end.

And really, if you've dropped HIIT, then your body no longer needs those big glucose stores to power that anaerobic carb burning workout.
Same thing happens when I stop doing endurance cardio for a while, drop some extra carbs and water. And that is considered LBM. And indeed, it is lower metabolism then, but oh well.

SkimFlatWhite68

Thanks Heybales. Yes, have had some stressful stuff the last month. Good point about the HIIT etc...

I've decided NOT to weigh myself for the next 4 weeks and just concentrate on my Nutrition and Training plan, take measurements every week and weigh myself in 4 weeks. Size and body composition is the goal now, so weight really shouldn't matter and although it should come down a bit, I don't want to make it my focus anymore.

Thanks for keeping in touch

SkimFlatWhite68

One year ago I was 92.5kg and I am now 62.5kg!! I think we can call this a success story

Weight: 62.5kg
Bodyfat is 23.21% (average calc)

My ultimate goal is 60kg and 20-22%, but when I look in the mirror now I am happy and looking good.

Thanks Heybales, you have really helped me and I appreciate your support.

heybales

Well, when you go throwing a timespan in there with a such a difference, great results.

Brings it all home seeing great numbers, seeing how little in change you still desire.