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I am so confused!

bossymomd
bossymomd Posts: 38 Member
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I'm really confused....I see these girls at em2wl eating upwards of 2000 calories a day, they must really be working out hard! I went back to scoobysworkshop to redo my calories because I am working out 2-3 x/week. 2 cardio/weights and 1 cardio...I put 1-3 hours of light exercise because I can't imagine that I am working out as hard as these ladies and it seems I've been eating my tdee (1700) so that's probably why I am stuck at this weight for so long....but now it says to lose I'd need to lower my calories to 1500....they say to eat more but that program says to eat less...uugghh...going to try to do 1500 for a while but 1700 was hard! we'll see...somethings gotta give and soon please!

Replies

  • bossymomd
    bossymomd Posts: 38 Member
    The cardio/weight days are Cathe Friedrich Muscle Max - I'm not making it through an entire set yet but I am doing some of each set....just for clarification
  • linski24
    linski24 Posts: 155 Member
    I am led to believe that unless you're in bed permanently mst people are lightly active ...
    What are your stats ..???? Your numbers seem vey low ..!
    Mine are higher and I choose lightly active although. Should be moderate I believe ..!!! Coz I lift weights or an hour and Half each week and do 2 hours cardio each week 2..!!! And I do 3 shifts as a busy in my feet emergency nurse ... X
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
    I'm been trying to figure out what my activity level is too and one site I looked at said light activity is typically listed as any activity where you don't break a sweat and can carry on normal conversations. If you break a sweat and can talk relatively easy but not sing then it's moderate.

    If you are doing a cardio workout dvd then I would have to say that's moderate.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I'm been trying to figure out what my activity level is too and one site I looked at said light activity is typically listed as any activity where you don't break a sweat and can carry on normal conversations. If you break a sweat and can talk relatively easy but not sing then it's moderate.

    If you are doing a cardio workout dvd then I would have to say that's moderate.

    That would be more of a per workout method of gauging intensity. But has nothing to do with those weekly TDEE estimates.

    Is 5 hrs of light the same as 2 hrs of moderate?

    Those levels aren't referring to 1-3 hrs of light activity, and then 3-5 hrs of moderate activity. It's saying 1-3 hrs of exercise is called Lightly Active in the table, 3-5 hrs is called Moderately Active in the table.

    And as mentioned above, your normal non-exercise daily activity may easily have you at the top of the Lightly Active level already, exercise would then push you even higher even if not 3-5 hrs.

    Just wanted you to have the method of those tables right.
  • bossymomd
    bossymomd Posts: 38 Member
    I think there should be a 3-5 hours of light activity....or something I don't know... I am at a desk 3 days a week, the rest of the week I am home cleaning, cooking, running around (but driving), then I add 2 Cathe Fredrich Muscle Max and 1 or 2 cardio (wii dance or something similar)....

    I am 48, Female, 172 lbs 5'3"

    All I know is that for the last month I have eaten the tdee based on those stats (1700) at lightly active and have stayed exactly the same....maybe I need more time for the fat to muscle turnover???

    I just don't know which way to go with my calories, up or down??? I'm afraid to cut my calories to 1500 because where do I go from there??

    uugghh lol Thanks for your help ladies!
  • GoGoGadgetMum
    GoGoGadgetMum Posts: 292 Member
    Fantastic point Heybales, I think a lot of people don't realise that and I'm probably one until lately. If I take into consideration how active I am during normal daily life my fitbit burns and scooby would be right on. Although my workouts (nrolfw) are not involving a huge amount of time I'm pretty active daily( average 16000 steps a day and 20 000 is not uncommon on non exercise days) which also matches up with your spreadsheet.

    You are great wealth of information on here.

    Cheers

    I like it so much I'm going to post it on my status to share :D
  • linski24
    linski24 Posts: 155 Member
    Yep ... Heybales is brill and a mine of information :-) he's helped me a lot x
  • HRLaurie614
    HRLaurie614 Posts: 260 Member
    I'm confused too. Just when I think I've figured it out, I get confused again. My BMR is only 1209. I'm 5' 1/2in and weigh 110. I want to lose just a few lbs, but am more interested in just getting back into shape. My TDEE at lightly active is 1662 (I have a desk job and walk for exercise....6 miles sat and sun and 3-4 two or three days during the week).

    When I put my numbers into mfp, it tells me I should net 1200 to lose 1/2 lb a week which seems reasonable in terms or rate of loss. So, if I go on a long walk and also just get call back they my fitbit, do I just focus on the net numbers rather than calls consumed? If I only focus on the consumed ones, my net on some days has been below 1000. Trying to be healthy about this, but also trying to better understand the way it works.

    Thanks!!!
  • linski24
    linski24 Posts: 155 Member
    I just ran your numbers in scoobys website .. Your BMR is 1244
    Abd TDEE 1711 at lightly active ... Took your age at 35 .. Soz if you're younger .!
    In my opinion at 110lbs and the same height as me that's really thin ..!! You just need to define muscle and maybe lose body fat but but not lose scales weight !!! I'm 140lbs and and would like to only lose a stone ..!!! You're very lucky ..!
    So I would eat at 1711 .. Could be different depending in your age ...
    Or go 5% lower ... And maybe start weight training to increase muscle and lose body fat .. You could be skinny fat right now which means you look skinny ... Undoubtably at 110lbs ... But body fat percentage could be high .. So lifting weights and eating at TDEE or just 5% below would be ok fir you :-)

    Hope I'm right heybales and that I'm learning :-D
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I think there should be a 3-5 hours of light activity....or something I don't know... I am at a desk 3 days a week, the rest of the week I am home cleaning, cooking, running around (but driving), then I add 2 Cathe Fredrich Muscle Max and 1 or 2 cardio (wii dance or something similar)....

    I am 48, Female, 172 lbs 5'3"

    All I know is that for the last month I have eaten the tdee based on those stats (1700) at lightly active and have stayed exactly the same....maybe I need more time for the fat to muscle turnover???

    I just don't know which way to go with my calories, up or down??? I'm afraid to cut my calories to 1500 because where do I go from there??

    uugghh lol Thanks for your help ladies!

    250 more calories daily for 2 weeks would be a 1 lb gain in weight, if you are currently eating at TDEE.

    You are eating at TDEE if no weight or measurement loss.

    Much better to test going up than down.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I'm confused too. Just when I think I've figured it out, I get confused again. My BMR is only 1209. I'm 5' 1/2in and weigh 110. I want to lose just a few lbs, but am more interested in just getting back into shape. My TDEE at lightly active is 1662 (I have a desk job and walk for exercise....6 miles sat and sun and 3-4 two or three days during the week).

    When I put my numbers into mfp, it tells me I should net 1200 to lose 1/2 lb a week which seems reasonable in terms or rate of loss. So, if I go on a long walk and also just get call back they my fitbit, do I just focus on the net numbers rather than calls consumed? If I only focus on the consumed ones, my net on some days has been below 1000. Trying to be healthy about this, but also trying to better understand the way it works.

    Thanks!!!

    What does your FitBit say for calorie burn on non-exercise days?
    Most find it to be about BMR x 1.35 - which happens to be MFP's Lightly Active level which also doesn't include exercise.

    I'd set that to Lightly Active and keep that 1/2 lb loss goal.

    Now log those walks. If doing treadmill, then hit the speeds that MFP has in the description if you can. Those will be very accurate.
    If you are outside, but know the distance (use gmaps-pedometer if not) and time, you have enough.

    Use this site and 2% incline since outside, which is actually probably low estimate, but still.
    Use the Net option, that way it's only calories above and beyond what you were going to burn anyway.
    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs.html

    Now eat them all back.

    Since you have 2 long walks it would be best to get the eat-back on those days.

    And actually, your BMR per Mifflin which MFP uses is 1078.
    Non-exercise maintenance would be x 1.35 = 1455
    Eating goal should be 1205 or abouts.

    If you are syncing FitBit with MFP, eat back any extra it gives you, since it says your TDEE for that day is higher. Might as well, your 250 cal deficit is still there.

    Since you have such a small window for error, gonna have to log food really well.

    In addition, you aren't going to be able to change the composition of your body just walking. But at least you can keep from losing any LBM by not eating low.
    Eat good protein too, which will help with that.

    Someone is learning very well too, I just used a different BMR that threw in a different result.

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