I need a seasoned veteran to figure this out for me

loriq41

I have researched and researched with so many different answers that I hope that a seasoned pro can help me out. I need to know how much to exactly eat taking into account my exercise 4- 5 days per week burning approx 300 calories per session. Here are my stats: 5 ft, 41 years old, 150 lbs, wanting to lose between 20 and 30 more pounds at a sensible rate. I have looked up brm calulators, tdee calculators...and they just all seem to differ. As of right now, with exercise I am only netting approximately 900 cals and I know it is not enough but I need someone to instruct me how much I should bump it up before I start going into starvation mode and possibly gaining and not losing more weight. I would appreciate the help!

jacksonpt

No one can give you an exact number.

Pick a number. Pull one out of the air if you want, or use one of the zillion calculators out there. Log as consistently and as accurately as you can FOR AT LEAST A MONTH. If you're losing weight and feeling good, keep going. If you're losing weight but feeling lethargic, eat little more. If you're not losing weight, eat less.

auddii

Start here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

There's also a spreadsheet if you don't want to deal with all of the calculations:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

kmcosgrove115

I just asked a similar question yesterday and had a LONG and very eye opening reply reg TDEE - I was way undereating and took the time to properly calculate out my TDEE - I now am at a readjusted 1600 a day as my loss stalled and I was way under eating - I suspect you might be the same - go here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/917111-seeking-help-to-adjust-calorie-intake

and read all that I learned - seriously I think your total per day has absolutely stalled your metabolism - you need to eat more to get the fat loss to happen...........

That link I attached is the post I put up yesterday and got so much info from it - hardest thing to wrap your head around is allowing yourself to eat and not feel guilty - there is a true science and logic when you undereat how your body stops the metabolism entirely to keep your body alive and working - it knows when it is not getting enough nutrition and is smart enough to essentially say ok, you gave me 1300 calories, I need AT LEAST that to keep your heart pumping and your brain working so I will stop other systems to do that - i.e. metabolism - I really encourage you all to read that post, print it like I did, go and calculate your military BF and then the TDEE - then less out anywhere from 10-30% off that # and THAT is calorie per day - you have to eat to make that metabolism move and burn and psychologically we all fear the higher calorie - don't - a friend on that post said to me seriously, eat and the weight loss will come.................

I switched to all plant based so no meat, no dairy and no oil as there is no nutritional value in any of that and it is loaded with fat and impacts health in so many ways - so I KNOW logically I am eating so amazing - and I need to say to myself it's ok, you are hungry for a snack, have the Wasa crispbread and organic peanut butter on it or have the fruit - it's that pychological bump in my mind that says too many calories but reality is, it is not too many, much of my stall for 2 weeks when you see my diary I was always UNDER 1200 - NOT GOOD!

Another friend of mine decided BRAVELY to do her actual TDEE at 2250 a day - WOW! - for 6-8 weeks to jump start the body and then she will less out a % ...................she noted it is a little scary but the logic behind it holds - and hey, if you go over a 100 no sweat - just eat well, small portions but at a higher calorie - hope this helps some of you as it really helped me yesterday and the amount of detail in the replies was exactly what I needed to read!

loriq41

Well i have been doing it for two months...just trying to prevent any future issues from not eating enough.

loriq41

Thanks kmcosgrove115...I will read this and make sense of it!

jacksonpt

I doubt you've done any serious damage to your metabolism/hormones in 2 months.

tonyrocks922

If weight loss is your goal, don't eat back your exercise calories if you can help it. Starvation mode is a myth.

loriq41

I dont think I have done damage yet either...just trying to avoid it in the future.

loriq41

Start here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

There's also a spreadsheet if you don't want to deal with all of the calculations:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm
[/quote
Thanks Auddi!]

jacksonpt

If weight loss is your goal, don't eat back your exercise calories if you can help it. Starvation mode is a myth.

While, in a vacuum, I agree with this... I don't think this is the best course to healthy and sustainable weight loss when you're already on a pretty low intake.

JessHealthKick

If weight loss is your goal, don't eat back your exercise calories if you can help it. Starvation mode is a myth.

While, in a vacuum, I agree with this... I don't think this is the best course to healthy and sustainable weight loss when you're already on a pretty low intake.

Until a week ago I was on 1200 a day and not seeing much weight loss at all (still ate back when I exercised). For the past week I have been snowboarding so doing cardio + muscle training, eating closer to 2000 a day (HRM tells me I burn more than 1000 a day on the slopes) and I can see that I have lost for sure, as well as toned up on my arms, legs, butt (hells yeah).

I have decided to up my intake to 1400, as I've been at this for 6 weeks and seen little change at 1200.... I'm 5"7 and about 145lb. I think eating more in my case was the key, so you should try it too. That being said, I'm still scared to eat 1400 a day once I am back in the real world and not exercising all day!

loriq41

If the calculators are fairly accurate..I am figuring my BMR is 1391 and my TDEE is 1913. So if I minus 25% of my TDEE I should be at around 1435? Does that sound sensible? I calculated it saying I have "light activity" as I probably burn between 1200-1500 in exercise in a given week.

auddii

If the calculators are fairly accurate..I am figuring my BMR is 1391 and my TDEE is 1913. So if I minus 25% of my TDEE I should be at around 1435? Does that sound sensible? I calculated it saying I have "light activity" as I probably burn between 1200-1500 in exercise in a given week.

You don't have that much weight to lose, so don't used TDEE-25% (that's what I'm eating at, and I still have 63 pounds left to lose). I would set it at TDEE-15% or TDEE-20%.