cutting calories

Dfracassa

I will finish 30DS tonight, take two days off for the weekend, and start Ripped in 30 on Monday. In between doing RI30, I plan on adding weights and cardio, maybe even running outside on weekends. I've been eating 1750 calories (TDEE minus about 23%) for about a month, maybe 6 weeks, now, and while I sometimes go a little bit over, I usually wind up eating fewer than that. I have not lost any weight since this year started, and I'm going to measure myself tomorrow morning to see if any inches have come off. Should I move my calories up or down? I want to move them down, but I want some input first. I'm fine with the 1750, but if the weight is still not coming off, then I need to make a change, right?

Dfracassa

bump!

Heidi_20

I'm no expert just figured I'd try and help out!!! What website did you use to calculate your tdee?? Do you eat workout calories back?? I would just play around with what you think to make it work!! I read some people on here will take their tdee and subtract 500 and that works!!!

MysticRealm

I'm no expert just figured I'd try and help out!!! What website did you use to calculate your tdee?? Do you eat workout calories back?? I would just play around with what you think to make it work!! I read some people on here will take their tdee and subtract 500 and that works!!!

You don't eat back exercise cals when doing TDEE -20%

OP>> You need to recalculate your TDEE to include your exercise regime, then just eat the same percentage of that as you were before.

Dfracassa

Yeah, I think my TDEE was something like 1900 or something...I'm not totally sure. I only eat exercise calories back if I'm craaaazy hungry, like if it's one of those "empty" days, where nothing fills me up, you know? I tend to go a little over on weekends, but I try to keep it mostly clean. I guess I'll stay at 1750, then.

Dfracassa

I just looked back and found that my TDEE minus 15% would have been 1795, so I'm not terribly off with 1750. I just feel like nothing is happening!

Bettyeditor

If you say that you are eating 23% below, but you dont' eat back your exercise calories, then you are not really eating 23% below (probably a *much* bigger deficit since you seem to do a lot of exercise).

~*~Your TDEE needs to account for excerise calories!~*~

There are two ways to do it:
1) Set your daily goal higher to account for exercise calories
2) Keep your daily goal the same but eat back your exercise calories

If you do the first method, it's less accurate since maybe you get sick one week and don't work out or maybe you add extra workouts another week. But some people choose this method if their workout schedule is pretty consistent and they like to have the same calorie goal each day.

If you do the second method, its more accurate because you vary the calories that you eat each day up or down in sync with your workouts. Some people like this because its more flexible and accurate and they are naturally more hungry on days they workout more/harder and it makes sense to eat more on those days.

Either method is fine, but remember, your TRUE TDEE is made of up #1 your BMR, #2 your daily activity (walking around, brushing your teeth, etc. -- some people use a Fitbit or BodyMedia Fit to get a really accurate number for this) and #3 your exercise/workout calories.

MFP is actually set best to support the second method. Have you noticed that thing on your home page called "Your Daily Summary" with Goal, Food, Exercise, =Net? That is how you keep a TRUE % (such as 23%) below TDEE.

For example:
* Let's say your TDEE (pre-workouts) is 2291. (Select sedentary or lightly active in MFP, whatever gives you this number)
* Set a goal of losing 1 lbs a week. This should give you a daily goal of 1833 calories (20% below TDEE)
* If you burn 500 calories exercising in a day, you need to eat an extra 500 to keep the "=Net" number the same as the "Goal" number
* Because MFP over-estimates exercise calories, you can compensate by only eating back about 80% of them

If you want to make your exercise calories more accurate, use a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) to get really accurate numbers and then when you log your exercise, edit the total before you click OK to be the real burn that your HRM gives you.

But the point is, if you don't account for exercise calories in your total TDEE, you are not maintaining your deficit of 20% (or 23%).

(Btw, I recommend that you re-check your TDEE. 1900 seems way too low for you. I entered your height/weight/age in a reliable calculator and I got 2291 as your TDEE. Which makes more sense because 23% below 2291 is 1764). :flowerforyou:

MysticRealm

Yeah, I think my TDEE was something like 1900 or something...I'm not totally sure. I only eat exercise calories back if I'm craaaazy hungry, like if it's one of those "empty" days, where nothing fills me up, you know? I tend to go a little over on weekends, but I try to keep it mostly clean. I guess I'll stay at 1750, then.

1900 seems pretty low of a TDEE (especially since you do a decent amount of exercise each day), so I assume you are pretty short and already pretty light.

I am 5'4 and weigh 140 and my TDEE is around 2400 and I am currently not doing any exercise (though I have a job where I stand all day). I eat 1500-2200 cals a day and am losing weight well.

Dfracassa

Hmm...this is all making some sense to me. I'm 5'7 and as of this morning, I weigh 158. My goal is 130, but I'll take anything under where I am now, honestly, by the end of August (wedding). I think maybe my TDEE minus 15% was 1900, and that's what I was starting at, not my TDEE straight up. I think I'm already doing the option of keeping my daily goal the same but eating back some of my exercise calories, so I guess for a while I'll stick with that. I measured my body fat and BMI this morning, too (hand-held thing my fiance owns) and they were 28 and 24, respectively. Not glamorous! Thanks for the input, ladies. :-)