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another question about nutrition

xidia
xidia Posts: 606 Member
edited January 15 in Social Groups
Please confirm or correct my math lovelyt ladies!

5.4", 136lbs, 30yrs, 10lbs to lose plus recomp by "swapping" another 6 to fat
BMR 1360-1400
Sedentary when not working out
Moderate activity including work outs (1750 cal/week, 4+ hrs)

I've been netting 1500 a day for the last 6 weeks and the only time I lose us when I do not exercise. So i think I need to increase.

TDEE 2120
TDEE - 500 = 1600
TDEE - 20% = 1700
TDEE -15% = 1800

MFP claims anything over 1600 will make me gain. It's wrong, isn't it? And if so, which number should i pick to try for the next month?

Replies

  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    If you "told" MFP that you are sedentary, it doesn't realize you are exercising, so it's going to assume you're going to lose weight. Plus, it's rather conservative with the amount of calories that it tells people. For example, when I eat all my calories, it tells me I'll lose 4-5 pounds in 5 weeks, but I've been pretty consistently losing more than that (because I'm more active than it knows). So, ignore what it tells you at the end of the day, and give 1800 a try. Give it 4-6 weeks, and then reassess. You may need to tweak it up or down since all the calculators are estimates.

    ETA: Just changed my recommendation to 1800 because you seem to only have about 10 lbs you want to lose. TDEE-15% is a good starting point I think.
  • xidia
    xidia Posts: 606 Member
    @Auddii - thanks

    I've also posted over in Eat Train Progress (remembered that after I'd posted here!) but I'm still looking for advice/reasoning cos I just don't understand what my body is doing at the moment.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    So you lost 3 lbs in about 5 weeks, total?


    I wouldn't take that to mean you're doing anything wrong, per se. And it looks like you're averaging about 1800/day anyway?

    its *really* normal to not lose from week to week, when you're a) a woman b) close to goal c) past the initial 'easy' early weight loss
  • xidia
    xidia Posts: 606 Member
    Maybe in the past I've only ever had a stone to lose, but I've always lost consistently from week to week with no exercise. Let me check my gross for a few weeks past and see what it comes to. It's also totally consistent that the weeks I lost weight were the weeks I didn't work out, which seems backwards.

    1500-1700 on rest days
    1800-2000 on workout days
    I balance over the course of a week because I'm not necessarily hungry on the day I work out. I don't seat back calories "because they're there" unless I need to increase my protein for the day.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    Can you do this - look at a week you exercised (and didn't lose) and do an average gross for that week (so add up all the totals from the week and divide by 7) then look at a week you didn't, and do the same.

    But, really, 3lbs for 6 weeks doesn't say 'eat more' or 'eat less' to me - even though you don't see consistent weekly loss. If you otherwise feel good eating that way, I'd just keep it up. At that rate, you'd be at goal in 18 weeks. Now lets say you go another 4-6 solid weeks and do not take a single rest week - if you haven't seen a loss at that point I think we could reevaluate. But right now you don't have a lot of data points to look at.
  • xidia
    xidia Posts: 606 Member
    Can you do this - look at a week you exercised (and didn't lose) and do an average gross for that week (so add up all the totals from the week and divide by 7) then look at a week you didn't, and do the same.

    But, really, 3lbs for 6 weeks doesn't say 'eat more' or 'eat less' to me - even though you don't see consistent weekly loss. If you otherwise feel good eating that way, I'd just keep it up. At that rate, you'd be at goal in 18 weeks. Now lets say you go another 4-6 solid weeks and do not take a single rest week - if you haven't seen a loss at that point I think we could reevaluate. But right now you don't have a lot of data points to look at.

    Thanks!

    date - eaten (exercised)
    Fri 25th Jan - 1879 (543)
    Sat 26th Jan - 1676 (202)
    Sun 27th Jan - 2118 (548)
    Mon 28th Jan - 1639 (195)
    Tue 29th Jan - 1597 (94)
    Wed 30th Jan - 2098 (649)
    Thu 31st Jan - 1774 (200)
    = 1825 per day average (no weight lost) and 2131 burned in exercise => daily net 1521 for no loss

    Mon 4th Feb - 1513 (92)
    Tue 5th Feb - 2047 (199)
    Wed 6th Feb - 1422
    Thu 7th Feb - 1495
    Fri 8th Feb - 1354
    Sat 9th Feb - 1661 (167)
    Sun 10th Feb - 1430 (165)
    = 1560 per day average and 623 burned in exerrcise => daily net 1471 for a 2lb loss
This discussion has been closed.