TDEE Method/BMR Calories

Allup2Me78

Sooooo I am seriously thinking about increasing my calories come June 1st...I started MFP at 1500 calories and started stalling...Was loosing good at first..Then when I stopped loosing at a good rate, I have now dropped my calorie intake to 1300 and not loosing again...I am wondering if I am not loosing because I am not eating atleast at my BMR which is 1637 and if I shld be considering the 20%-TDEE method which wld put me at 1801 daily..I am only 4'10...That seems like ALOT of food for me being sooo short. There are people I know that are loosing doing the TDEE method but not sure they are as short as me...I normally workout out 4-5 times a week..Nothing strenuous because I have exercise induced asthma but I either walk on a track for about 30-45 min but on most days I am in the gym doing treadmill, bike or elliptical for about a total of 50-60 min..Sometimes I try to add a little strength in for my arms and abs but again nothing strenuous. I am not loosing now so the thought of upping my calories from 1300 to even my BMR of 1637 scares me to death...1801 I am very fearful of...I was thinking about doing 1640 on days I dnt workout and then try for the 1801 on the days I do but I am sooooo lost!! I just dnt knw..I have plenty of people that are telling me if I up my calories I am going to loose, but that it is possible I may gain the first few weeks..Why would I want to do that if I am already gaining....& Honestly, I don't even think I can eat over 1500 calories without being too stuffed..HELP!!!!

herblackwings39

In my opinion you should at least net your BMR. Maybe you could try slowly upping your calories by 50 to 100 every week or two until you get used to the amount and reach either your BMR or TDEE -20? Honestly I'm not sure what your height would have to do with TDEE working for you. It's figured into the calculation and depending on how much weight you need to lose you might want to go with a smaller cut.

MommaChocoLatte

I am about your height (4'11) and my TDEE-20% for my weight (141.4) is about 1500. It sounds high but it's really not that bad. When I exercise, I get super hungry afterwards so having the extra calories really helps. I was nervous about the possibility of eating so much at first too but it's been really great and the only time I had a gain was when I under ate due to an illness.

You can friend me if you want to... always open to new friends

leahartmann

In my opinion you should at least net your BMR. Maybe you could try slowly upping your calories by 50 to 100 every week or two until you get used to the amount and reach either your BMR or TDEE -20? Honestly I'm not sure what your height would have to do with TDEE working for you. It's figured into the calculation and depending on how much weight you need to lose you might want to go with a smaller cut.

This^^
Don´t eat below your BMR, but up your calories slowly. I did so with 50 calories a week (am now at 1700, aiming for 1800) and didn´t gain. I haven´t lost either, but neither did I on the 1200 calories. Try it.

Lyadeia

Sooooo I am seriously thinking about increasing my calories come June 1st...I started MFP at 1500 calories and started stalling...Was loosing good at first..Then when I stopped loosing at a good rate, I have now dropped my calorie intake to 1300 and not loosing again...I am wondering if I am not loosing because I am not eating atleast at my BMR which is 1637 and if I shld be considering the 20%-TDEE method which wld put me at 1801 daily..I am only 4'10...That seems like ALOT of food for me being sooo short. There are people I know that are loosing doing the TDEE method but not sure they are as short as me...I normally workout out 4-5 times a week..Nothing strenuous because I have exercise induced asthma but I either walk on a track for about 30-45 min but on most days I am in the gym doing treadmill, bike or elliptical for about a total of 50-60 min..Sometimes I try to add a little strength in for my arms and abs but again nothing strenuous. I am not loosing now so the thought of upping my calories from 1300 to even my BMR of 1637 scares me to death...1801 I am very fearful of...I was thinking about doing 1640 on days I dnt workout and then try for the 1801 on the days I do but I am sooooo lost!! I just dnt knw..I have plenty of people that are telling me if I up my calories I am going to loose, but that it is possible I may gain the first few weeks..Why would I want to do that if I am already gaining....& Honestly, I don't even think I can eat over 1500 calories without being too stuffed..HELP!!!!

I'm going to sound like a broken record today, but just like I posted in the very last thread I posted in, you also sound exactly like me with the calorie conundrum.

All last year I was eating between 1200-1500 calories attempting to lose weight. I bounced around 140 pounds all year. I would get all excited about a 2 pound loss only to see a 3 pound gain and so on for 12 stinkin' months.

Back in March, I finally just persuaded myself to give eating more food a try. My TDEE-20% comes out to anywhere between 1775-1900 calories depending on the calculator I use. So, starting in mid-April, I set my calorie goal for 1800 calories. I was totally prepared to see myself getting fatter...

But what actually happened was in the past month, I've lost 4 pounds and many inches from everywhere. I am now wearing clothes that I was unable to wear for the past couple of years (since 2008 actually) and I feel fantastic. My strength has increased dramatically as my lifts in the gym need more and more weight each week...but instead of "bulking" I am getting smaller, tighter, and leaner. I now have just 22% body fat, and it is still going down even though I eat between 1775-1900 calories a day.

Earlier in my weight loss journey, lower calories did indeed work. But, I also had a lot of fat stores. As I got leaner, I needed to eat more food. I wish I would have trusted this method before, because I would have reached my goals a long time ago! But we women tend to be hard headed and think we need to eat like birds to lose weight when this is simply not the case.