I'm not eating enough? Please help!

holothuroidea

So for the past few days I've been going by MFP's automatic calculation of calories, and it tells me to eat 1290 calories a day. I do exercise often and eat back the calories. I don't have any trouble meeting this goal when I exercise, I don't feel hungry or deprived so I didn't question it.

Then I took a look at this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013 Which shows how to calculate your calories a different way. I took the steps described in that post and my results (and questions!) were as follows:

My body fat % is 26.5, which is pretty good. I'm happy about that. After doing some research I figured that my ideal BF% would be 22. This puts me at my ideal weight being 129lbs (I'm 5'3''). This shocked me. I have my goal as 115 because that's the weight I was before I started gaining weight. I didn't have any muscle definition at all back then! I'm amazed at how much more lean body mass I have now. I suppose I don't want to loose that? It's just strange for me to set my goal that high because I always considered myself wispy-thin and put my ideal weight around 110-120. Do you think I should change my original goal based on this new info?

My BMR is 1362 (based on the above BF%). I used the moderate activity modifier (I do crossfit and also running for 5-6 workouts per week, plus fairly active days) so my TDEE is 2201 based on that. That makes my TDEE-20% 1761. So according to that post, my calorie goals for sustained weight loss should be between 1761 and 2201. Right?

That's at least 500 calories more than MFP recommended for me!!

To be honest, I did not have to change my eating habits much to reach the 1290 (+exercise calories) calorie goal, and my diary reflects the way I've been eating for months now. I've been at a plateau for 3 months and have been really frustrated that the weight is not coming off. I've also noticed that the more I exercise, the less the scale moves. Is it because I'm not eating enough!?

I know it's a lot of info/questions but any input is much appreciated!

ParkerH47

honestly there is so much info on here for both arguments. Sometimes I think this In-place-of-a-road-map thing has it right and other times I think - maybe they are full of *kitten* lol

What I have done is split the difference - 1450 is what I eat. But I think the main thing is to do what ever you feel is right for your body. In the end everyone is different and you might have to play around with things a bit until you find something that works for you. try the higher calories and keep an eye on your progress, if you dont see any changes in a couple weeks, try some thing else.

holothuroidea

I just did this one https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE#gid=14 (found in this thread http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/spreadsheet-ver-3-for-bmr-tdee-deficit-calcs-macro-calcs-hrm-zones-426221 )

It gives me a goal weight of 115 and a higher BF% (27.9). This is more like what I expected. However, based on the minutes and types of activity I put in, it is telling me that my calorie goal should be 2326!!

WHA!? I am so confused. (And also hungry now that I've stayed up 2 hours past my bedtime trying to figure this stuff out). >.<

volume77

no person,, calculator, or spread sheet can tell you the answer. you have to figure it out through trial and error.

Pimpmonkey

road map