Yet another TDEE/BMR calorie question...

felcandy

Okay so I thought I was doing good eating 1300 calories a day, but doing that has lost me 4 lbs in FOUR MONTHS. Not good.

So i figured hey that isnt working. I need to eat more because everyone recommends it and I see people with awesome results etc etc...

I went onto the scooby's workshop site and plugged in my numbers. I work at a bakery where I run around and wait tables and lift heavy things for 6 hours a day and I also try to work out 30 minutes to 1 hour a day, so I put in my daily activity as 3-5 hrs of moderate exercise a week. Seems reasonable right?

Well it said my BMR is 1648 calories! I am eating on average 300 calories less than that?! and for 4 months?! crazysauce, right?

Shocked, I read further that with work and exercise, my TDEE is 2554. Such a high number for maintenance!!! I only ever ate that much when i went to dinner at olive garden!

Then at the recommended 20% reduction for weight loss, I was floored to see that I am supposed to eat 2043 calories to lose a healthy 1 lb per week...

TWO THOUSAND AND FORTY THREE CALORIES!?!?!?!?!

Okay, i was fine with setting my calories at 1648 for a month to test out the higher calorie, but 2043 would surely have me gain....right?


I am a 5'2" female needing to lose 70 lbs.... I do strength training 3 days a week and JM's 30DS starting today every day.


If anyone could message me or just respond to this topic, that would be incredible. I am just overwhelmed with these numbers...

CloverCreeper

You want to give your body about 6-8 weeks to adjust to the higher calories.
You may gain a bit, but after it adjusts you should start losing. (:

felcandy

Also, im too poor to join a gym and cant find a weight set cheap enough, but if anyone could give me good strength training advice, that would be appreciated. Wanting to do NROL4W and 5X5 eventually, but for now I have to use my very small selection of free weights.

Havent yet figured out how to use the weight machine at my condo's gym yet. I'll post a picture of that sometime and see if i can get tips later >.>

felcandy

With your job it's hard to tell.

What you should do is eat 1,500 for a month and see how that goes. If you're losing weight at a good pace, then increase them a bit more. See how many calories you can eat while losing weight at a good pace, find your sweet spot.

so eat 1500 a month and also my exercise calories? im just worried that continuing to eat below my actual bmr would hurt more than help

Sabine_Stroehm

With your job it's hard to tell.

What you should do is eat 1,500 for a month and see how that goes. If you're losing weight at a good pace, then increase them a bit more. See how many calories you can eat while losing weight at a good pace, find your sweet spot.

so eat 1500 a month and also my exercise calories? im just worried that continuing to eat below my actual bmr would hurt more than help

It depends what you told scooby about your activity level. Did you tell it what you really do? What your ACTUAL activity level is. Then I, personally, wouldn't "eat back".

felcandy

i told it 3-5 hours of moderate activity a week because i work out about 30min sun/tues/thurs/sat (2 hours) and 1hr mon/wed/tues (3 hours) which makes 5 hours of moderate exercise (not sure what moderate is... heart rate ranges 130-170 for each exercise)

i didnt bump it higher for work because some days i might work harder than others....

CoraGregoryCPA

I'd recommend trying the 1648 and see what happens. I'd be hesitant to increase to the 2k. I like how you wrote that out too-made me chuckle. Although, I recommend not eating exercise calories too.

es2189

If you're eating your BMR, you should definitely eat back exercise calories. I say move to BMR for a week, then up your calories by 100 each week until you reach your TDEE - 500.

felcandy

No, don't eat them back on scoobys method. Don't worry about that BMR stuff, it won't hurt.

Okay what I will do is up my calories to 1500, not eat back my HRM calories burnt, then see how it goes for a month or two.... im worried, got a big trip to Florida in May and i want to lose as much as i can before then.

my original goal was 30 lbs by may 25th... is that attainable?

felcandy

thanks I really appreciate all your help!

Vini9

I have been having these same questions, glad you asked

sabichu

Wow, these are the exact questions I had along with the same workouts, same height, same goal weight loss and same lack of free weights! Looool. So glad you asked and got it covered.