IPOARM/ EM2WL people - please help

Sonic_1971

I started using TDEE - 20% a couple of weeks ago after years of a LCD and a long plateau period. I have now started losing again (2lb 1st week and 1lb last week). Im a 41 year old female and the following:

My BMR is 1431
TDEE is 1967
TDEE - 20% 1574

I exercise twice a week with a PT lifting and HIIT. I also do an hour of cardio at weekends on my own. I have just purchased a Polar HRM and done my first PT session this week and this showed a calorie burn of 644 (I had been greatly underestimating these sessions by around 300 cals !!).

As I understand it im not supposed to and havnt been eating back exercise calories using this method - but if I eat 1574 today and have burned 644 it puts me at a net of just 930 which is way below my BMR which im sure isn't supposed to happen !! Should I re-assess my activity level - Im currently "light" but should I be "moderate"... if so that will still only up my calories per day by around 200 so with todays workout I would still be under my BMR at around 1130. Or should I eat back some exercise calories and leave everything as it is?

thanks is advance for any help you can offer.

Bonny619

I would say you should use moderate activity.

_chiaroscuro

I would say you should use moderate activity.

Me too.

GracefulDancer4Christ

this
I would say you should use moderate activity.

Bettyeditor

When your exercise is netting you below your BMR on a regular basis that is a reliable sign that you need to increase your setting. Try moderate. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

MinnieInMaine

I'd also add that with less than 30 pounds to lose, your reduction should probably be 15%, not 20%

neandermagnon

If you're doing the IPOARM method, you don't log your exercise, it's already included in your TDEE, or it should be. If it's not, then your activity factor is wrong.

The activity factor should take into account ALL your activity, e.g. active job, being on your feet all day... it's not just what you do in the gym.

I calculate my TDEE as somewhere between lightly and moderately active, and i do very little cardio, I lift weights 3-4 times a week. I spend a lot of my time sitting down. real world results, i.e. how much i lose at and how much i maintain at, tells me what I'm burning is more than what a "lightly active" activity factor predicts. If you do a lot more exercise than me, you definitely need to change it to moderately active, at least.

Also pay attention to your real world results.... losing weight too quickly/lean body mass losses, excessive hunger, cravings, bingeing, feeling tired/run down all the time, getting "hangry" are signs your calorie intake is too low and needs to be adjusted upwards. just as failure to lose or a slow gain in weight (after giving it enough time for your body to adjust and water weight gains to settle down) would indicate that the activity factor may have been overestimated, and the course of action would be to adjust the calories downwards.

neandermagnon

I'd also add that with less than 30 pounds to lose, your reduction should probably be 15%, not 20%

^^^^ this. Or even 10% - there's a new thread that gives an estimate of the best % to subtract from your TDEE based on your current body fat percentage.

Vailara

There's an IPOARM summary here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet . You could see what best suits your activity and what cut to take.

About netting low - hopefully someone more knowledgeable will answer, but I think that can sometimes happen on this system, and I don't know if it matters too much. I don't think there's anything magical about 24 hour period, and if you're averaging out a decent amount day to day, that's fine. I don't pay attention to what I'm netting. If I do planned exercise, it's included in my TDEE, and although that might take me to a lowish net, I know I'll make it up for the next day when I'm netting much higher. (I'm finding this particularly useful as I seem to be getting hungry the day AFTER lifting days, so it's nice being able to net high then). If I did a big unplanned lot of exercise then I'd probably bung on some extra calories to that particular day.

If it was a case of huge burns some days and nothing on others, then it might work better to do some version of eating exercise calories back instead (which you could still do with this system).

Sonic_1971

Thanks to all... I think it was just the 600+ cal burn today that threw me.

Im going to up activity to moderate and lower cut to -15% and see how I get on as recommended. I am already feeling a million times better than I did on low cals so i guess its a just a little trial and error until I get the amount right.