Your all doing it wrong!

Although this is somewhat true, long term eating below your BMR can have detrimental effects on your health. Numbers you figure on line are just that - a good estimate. Best advice? Eat about 20 - 25 % below your TDEE. The weight comes off a little slower, but you don't have those annoying side effects of losing your hair or being constantly tired & hungry.

Here's a good site that might help you put things in perspective. It has helped me SO much. Good luck!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

I'm not so sure this is correct , mr doctor said it didnt and my dietician also said not correct.

Tell that to all the ppl losing weight using this tool.

If you eat slightly below TDEE youll target mostly fat and spare lean body mass.
If you eat too far below TDEE without the body fat to fuel it then youll either create a set point or target LBM in an attempt to slow weight loss.
Yes you can lose weight at lower rates but its a tricky some*****.

My BMR is about 1600 and TDEE is about 2500.

Dan, I know that your roadmap has become the standard 'Bible' to losing weight, and yes, it makes sense for someone wanting to lose 1 pound per week, safely and simply.
The key to this working for everyone is finding out exactly what your BMR is. The MFP and most other calculators do not take into account your BF%. They make the assumption that simply weighing more creates a larger BMR. Higher weight DOES create a larger BMR, but HOW MUCH larger depends on your body composition. At my weight, age and height, my BMR would range between 2221.75 if I were 10% BF to 575 if I were 90% BF. This creates a TDEE range from 2666 for 10% and only 690 for 90% BF.

That is a 2000 calorie per day difference to maintain.

For those who are in the very overweight or obese range, the standard BMR calculators simply give them too high of a starting number, then when they use that number to figure their TDEE, it can give them a calorie goal that will not give them a calorie deficit. Factor in discrepancies in logging calories, food database errors, and over estimating calorie burns, quite often people are finding that they actually are GAINING weight, when they think they are doing everything right. Then what I also find is that when they get discouraged and go on the message boards for help, they are simply told they need to eat more.


People on here listen to you. You have done your research and your plan can and is working for many people. Please use your celebrity on here to help those who are more overweight, and overfat, to understand how to accurately find their true BMR and Body Fat%.

BTW I am 49, 5'6", and currently weigh 210. I have a BF% of almost 50%. That gives me a BMR of 1398 and a TDEE of only 1677. Without exercising, my calorie level to lose 1 pound per week is 1177.If I want to lose 2 pounds per week, (since I still have 50 pounds more to lose), then I need to burn an additional 500 calories per day, without eating back those calories. I know this goes against the rule to not net below your BMR, but if I didn't do that, I would have a 280 calorie deficit per day and it would take me 2 years to lose the weight. That may be fine for some people, but I need to get this weight off more quickly to prevent further damage to my knees and other joints. I know that building more muscle would raise my BMR, but I cannot lift weights because of my spine and joint issues, so the limited cardio I can do is the best I can give at this point. I choose my calories very carefully to make sure I get all the nutrients in that I need and make sure my protein level is high enough to prevent major muscle loss. So far, I feel fantastic, I am no where near starving, and am averaging close to 2 pound loss per week, so it is working. I may hit a stall at some point in the future and have to make some minor adjustments, but I will do what needs to be done as that happens. I have found quite a few women in my age range that are succeeding in losing on a similar plan.

There are many other people in similar situations who are struggling to lose the extra weight for health reasons. I feel so bad for them when they get confused and frustrated by some of the blanket statements that are made on here, and can't figure out why it doesn't work for them.

Please look into the issue of how BF% affects your BMR and give us your thoughts. Thanks

Although this is somewhat true, long term eating below your BMR can have detrimental effects on your health. Numbers you figure on line are just that - a good estimate. Best advice? Eat about 20 - 25 % below your TDEE. The weight comes off a little slower, but you don't have those annoying side effects of losing your hair or being constantly tired & hungry.

Here's a good site that might help you put things in perspective. It has helped me SO much. Good luck!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

I'm not so sure this is correct , mr doctor said it didnt and my dietician also said not correct.

Tell that to all the ppl losing weight using this tool.

If you eat slightly below TDEE youll target mostly fat and spare lean body mass.
If you eat too far below TDEE without the body fat to fuel it then youll either create a set point or target LBM in an attempt to slow weight loss.
Yes you can lose weight at lower rates but its a tricky some*****.

My BMR is about 1600 and TDEE is about 2500.

Dan, I know that your roadmap has become the standard 'Bible' to losing weight, and yes, it makes sense for someone wanting to lose 1 pound per week, safely and simply.
The key to this working for everyone is finding out exactly what your BMR is. The MFP and most other calculators do not take into account your BF%. They make the assumption that simply weighing more creates a larger BMR. Higher weight DOES create a larger BMR, but HOW MUCH larger depends on your body composition. At my weight, age and height, my BMR would range between 2221.75 if I were 10% BF to 575 if I were 90% BF. This creates a TDEE range from 2666 for 10% and only 690 for 90% BF.

That is a 2000 calorie per day difference to maintain.

For those who are in the very overweight or obese range, the standard BMR calculators simply give them too high of a starting number, then when they use that number to figure their TDEE, it can give them a calorie goal that will not give them a calorie deficit. Factor in discrepancies in logging calories, food database errors, and over estimating calorie burns, quite often people are finding that they actually are GAINING weight, when they think they are doing everything right. Then what I also find is that when they get discouraged and go on the message boards for help, they are simply told they need to eat more.


People on here listen to you. You have done your research and your plan can and is working for many people. Please use your celebrity on here to help those who are more overweight, and overfat, to understand how to accurately find their true BMR and Body Fat%.

BTW I am 49, 5'6", and currently weigh 210. I have a BF% of almost 50%. That gives me a BMR of 1398 and a TDEE of only 1677. Without exercising, my calorie level to lose 1 pound per week is 1177.If I want to lose 2 pounds per week, (since I still have 50 pounds more to lose), then I need to burn an additional 500 calories per day, without eating back those calories. I know this goes against the rule to not net below your BMR, but if I didn't do that, I would have a 280 calorie deficit per day and it would take me 2 years to lose the weight. That may be fine for some people, but I need to get this weight off more quickly to prevent further damage to my knees and other joints. I know that building more muscle would raise my BMR, but I cannot lift weights because of my spine and joint issues, so the limited cardio I can do is the best I can give at this point. I choose my calories very carefully to make sure I get all the nutrients in that I need and make sure my protein level is high enough to prevent major muscle loss. So far, I feel fantastic, I am no where near starving, and am averaging close to 2 pound loss per week, so it is working. I may hit a stall at some point in the future and have to make some minor adjustments, but I will do what needs to be done as that happens. I have found quite a few women in my age range that are succeeding in losing on a similar plan.

There are many other people in similar situations who are struggling to lose the extra weight for health reasons. I feel so bad for them when they get confused and frustrated by some of the blanket statements that are made on here, and can't figure out why it doesn't work for them.

Please look into the issue of how BF% affects your BMR and give us your thoughts. Thanks

Heres how this can help you.
My advice is to look at a TDEE deficit of about 30-40% most days of the week.
A couple days a week hit the high numbers with the starchy carbs to boost leptin response.
you may even see better results in a cyclical fashion!
Also something to think about, at your body fat level with all that extra ATP rolling around, you can possibly build lean mass while at a deficit.
Use that advantage!
Please be lifting heavy at least 2x a week.
Use those days to be your high carb refeed days.
Case and point is the 1lb drop I had last night after eating half a pizza.

Just dont net below BMR too many days in a row so you dont trigger responses that will slow your results.
Get 10k steps a day.
Lift heavy compound movements 2x a week to maintain LBM and enjoy fat loss.

If you arent lifting heavy 2x a week think on this.
You lose the weight with VLCD and reduce LBM too much.
You get to goal weight but are skinny fat.
Skinny fat sucks and its hard to get rid of so even if its 2 years away you need to prep and train now.

Debbie- since you can't lift weights, perhaps you could do bodyweight exercises? I would do bodyweight exercises over cardio, that would be more beneficial to creating better body composition. I recently found "You Are Your Own Gym" and it's great. Maybe something to look into? It's good for all levels of fitness. I have back issues and on the days and weeks I can't lift due to bad pain, I can do bodyweight exercises just fine. I find that bodyweight stuff actually helps the pain.

I'm sorry but I can't control myself.

*You're

Forgive me for being a jerk. Feel free to post stalk me and correct my spelling.

Debbie- since you can't lift weights, perhaps you could do bodyweight exercises? I would do bodyweight exercises over cardio, that would be more beneficial to creating better body composition. I recently found "You Are Your Own Gym" and it's great. Maybe something to look into? It's good for all levels of fitness. I have back issues and on the days and weeks I can't lift due to bad pain, I can do bodyweight exercises just fine. I find that bodyweight stuff actually helps the pain.

Not sure what those are, but I will look into it. Thanks

Well that is sad. According to this calculator http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/ it is 38.8%. Blah
But according to this one http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/cbbf/ it is only 25.5...which seems more likely?

A good maintainable weight for me is 145...if that helps

ya, mine was 38 % on the cbbf link and 23.8 on the mbf one.. huge difference.. why??????

also mine once i used that 23.8 bf took mine from 1500 cals to 1280 for bmr... huge difference.. but the new lowe number was closer to what mfp has set

Online body fat calculators are pretty awful when it comes to being accurate. If you really want to know, get a body scan or bodpod test done. Bodpod will also give you a more accurate estimation for your BMR than an online guide will.

So right now I am 175, I am trying to eat at 1500 calories which is the 1200 MFP gives me plus about 300 for exercise I do almost every single day. My TDEE is 2310 which I think is very high for me and I didn't even account for the fact that I exercise 7 days a week. So I SHOULD eat about what, 1800 calories to lose slowly? I lost 11 pounds last month eating around 1500 most days (there were s few cheat days but not enough I dont' think to add up to 1800 a day all month long).

Too much math and science for me. I doubt they had all of these calculators when people stayed fit back before the golden age of technology. I agree with what other people have said, just trial and error. There isn't an exact number of calories that it'll work and not work. I see people on here all the time saying "The weight was just not coming off at 1500 so I upped it to 1510 and it comes off like butter now! :huh:

Not one person has the right formula.....

Maintenence TDEE = (Σ(Calories Eaten) - 3500*(net wt change)) / (Days)
Maintenence Non-Exercise TDEE = (Σ(Calories Eaten) - Σ(Exercise Calories Burned) - 3500*(net wt change)) / (Days)

Which to use depends on if you want to count exercise calories or not. Doing so could be more or less accurate, depending on how well you estimate exercise calories.

(fairly long time periods should be evaluated to eliminate noise, 2+ weeks)

You can't use this to set initial goals, but once you've been at it a month or more, these formulas are FAR more accurate than any of the estimate formulas. These formulas are NOT estimates, they reconcile your results with your calorie data, and due to their nature, they tend to cancel out a lot of calorie estimating error, as long as you tend to estimate calories roughly the same way.

Any other formula should only be used for initial goals in order to get enough data to use these.

You're *

bump

Bump. Because this is really good info and needs to be moved to the top!

It's good info for some people, but horrible for others. The best way to calculate TDEE is to log consistently over a period of time.