Thoughts on TDEE?

kopmom

What do you think with doing SL and running 3x a week (on non lifting days) I should use as a goal for my daily calories?

5' 3.5"
130 lbs
38 years old
I do heavy lifting 3x a week (Stronglifts) and Run 3x a week average 5 miles (I am training for a half marathon). 1 rest day per week. I am looking to lose/lower BF and would not be against getting down to 120 lbs.


1332 BMR

Moderate exercise (ex: exercising 3-5 days/week) 2057 TDEE

Heavy exercise (ex: exercising 6-7 days/week) 2289 TDEE

sarahstrezo

Hmmm....you probably just have to play with eating in between the two numbers. For me...I find that if I eat less than 90% of my TDEE, my workouts fail. So, I've been playing with the numbers little by little to find the 'sweet spot' where I still seem to be losing body fat while not negatively effecting my workouts too much.

To compare...I'm 31 (32 next month)
5'5"
125-126lbs
I lift heavy 3 times per week, and have been doing minimal running lately. I run 3 miles once per week, 15 mins of intervals once per week and sometimes get a longer 5 mile run in on the weekend, but not so much lately.
Right now....I think my TDEE is right around 2200-2250

tameko2

I would eat the 'heavy' amount actually - you are exercising 6x/week and you are doing a LOT of exercise. I would eat that, for a month, and see how you feel and if you look like you lost any fat or not.

kopmom

Thanks, Ok so help me out here. So I am eating that amount of calories before or after exercise?

auddii

Thanks, Ok so help me out here. So I am eating that amount of calories before or after exercise?

You should be including your exercise in TDEE. So, if you do a workout, you should either not log it, or log it as 1 calorie (aka, don't eat the calories back).

kopmom

Thanks, for the sake of pre-preparing and so I do not get hungry this has been my usual meals. Which is about 1,500 calories. Need to figure out what I should add to get where I need to be....thoughts??

Breakfast at 8am - Low Carb small wrap, 3 Egg white, spinach and coffee
Protein Shake at 10:30am - 1 cup of unsweet almond milk with 1 scoop of protein powder
Lunch at 12:30 - 1 large piece of grilled chicken, half a avocado , a veg and brown rice
Protein Shake at 2:30pm- 1 cup of unsweet almond milk with 1 scoop of protein powder
Dinner at 5pm- 1 large piece of grilled chicken, half a avocado , a veg and brown rice or sweet potato

Not included in my 1,500
Snack after dinner (if needed)- either a light and fit greek yogurt, or some almonds and chocolate chips

auddii

You need to eat more. You're pretty much at goal weight, even if you want to lose a few more pounds of fat, I'd do body recompositioning and lose slowly. You should be eating closer to 2100 calories a day.

ETA: Ok, I think I misread your post, you were asking what to add to increase calories? Firstly, while I eat the same thing almost every day, most days I don't think I could have the same thing for lunch and dinner all day everyday, so hopefully you're changing it up somewhat. I think you could easily add in more dairy, maybe some cheese (cottage cheese is great for protein), peanut butter or nuts, cook your chicken in olive oil. Also, ditch the egg whites and eat the whole egg. I'd also look at getting your protein from food sources than shakes. I have a protein shake, but I think two a day (personally) would be pushing it for me.

Sara had a good post on protein sources here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources

kopmom

Thanks !

nexangelus

What audii said, less protein powder, more meat, fish, cheese, dairy or vege sourced protein and defo eat the whole egg, I eat 6 eggs nearly every day...they bump the protein and fat macros up nicely as well as the calories. If I need to supplement I only have one scoop of protein powder per day, if that (mostly because of the ghastly side effects)...my diary is open if you want some ideas...I have daily staples that I change around, mix and match...

I would eat at the higher TDEE (2300) if I were you, as tameko said earlier...