Weight loss by end of week 4/Phase 1?

JAT74
JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
I am now halfway through week 4 and feeling good about it so far, although I haven't noticed a lot of chnages in my body (either weight or measurements) yet. I am hoping that will change in the next Phase but was wondering what kind of results others are having?

I am not following Jillian Michaels eating plan and she recommends sticking to 1200 calories and I don't want to eat below my BMR of 1450. I am therefore eating 1500 calories as a base number and then adding back my workout calories earned. I know that my TDEE is around 1950 based on being sedentary anyway so by adding back exercise calories I normally eat around 1900-2000 if I burn off 400-500 calories which I do most days.

I usually do one of the BR workouts plus an extra cardio workout on top and on cardio days do a Yoga Meltdown workout too so this increases my calorie burn.

I know that as I'm not eating as little as others so maybe I won't lose as much in the end but Jillian herself says in her book I'm reading at the moment that people who workout daily should be eating at least 1600-1900 calories per day.

How are you all getting on?

Replies

  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    Bump
  • Andi_1977
    Andi_1977 Posts: 47 Member
    I'm just getting back into the program, so I can't speak to results thus far, but I wanted to say that I really think you're doing the right thing by not setting your calories too low. I'm taking a very similar approach, as I know that my TDEE is at least 2100 (including exercise) based on my bodymedia fit readings, which is fairly close to what the BMR/TDEE calculators give me for a moderately active setting. Therefore, I'm choosing to eat around 1600-1700, since that will give me roughly a 20% deficit. Like you, I don't have a large amount of weight to lose, so eating only 1200 calories per day would be too large of a deficit (at least 400 BELOW my BMR after you subtract exercise calories), and it definitely wouldn't give me the fuel I need to get through the workouts! I don't expect the weight to come off quickly, but I feel that this is a much more sustainable approach. Kudos to you for researching your calorie needs so thoroughly!
  • I think it's great too to get enough calories. It really prevents you from feeling deprived and binging! Eating back the calories is tricky though, some people do it and some people don't. I don't have a HRM, so I'm never sure what my calorie burn is. Therefore I try to keep my calorie goal the same (1500) regardless of how much I workout. I log my workouts, but I don't add them back to my daily calorie goal. If you're getting accurate calorie burn readings, then you're probably okay. I've read that some people will only eat back a percentage of those burned, maybe like 50-75%. Just do what works best for you, maybe you need to play around with different approaches and see which ones work best :)
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    To be honest before I joined this site I used to eat low calories when I wanted to lose weight and I did lose but I had no energy and was quite hungry. Now from all that I've read here it pretty much says that you should never go below your BMR so even if you set your calorie goal higher on MFP and then you work out you are bringing yourself under that goal again so for example if I set mine to 1500 which is just above my BMR and then burn off 300 calories I'm really ending up with only 1200 calories in the end which isn't enough to fuel my body properly and it will start eating into muscle mass and not the fat I want to lose.

    Because of this I try and eat back my workout calories so that I net around 1500 every exercise but sometimes it's quite hard because I'm burning off over 500 cals (like today) and then having to eat 2000 calories to get back to 1500 net.

    I might start trying to eat back a little less but I am very conscious of not losing muscle 'cos I haven't got a lot to lose in the first place but we'll see how it goes. I'm trying to keep an eye on my body fat and if I start losing I know I'm doing it right but at the moment there hasn't been much change.
  • Sambo004
    Sambo004 Posts: 549 Member
    I did the full 3 month workout program and really enjoyed it. I didn't follow the eating plan because I'm a vegetarian and there just weren't enough options for me, but I did stick to 1200 cals a day, aside from maybe a day on the weekends. I didn't lose any weight and not many cm's, but I noticed a huge improvement in my strength and the toning in my shoulders. I also read about loads of amazing success stories and weight loss results from others on MFP, so maybe do a search in the forums. I was already at goal weight, so maybe that's why I didn't get amazing results. I would have liked a flatter tummy, but hey, still thoroughly enjoyed it.

    That being said, I did 30DS again in November and lost almost 2 kgs and several cm's within the first 10 days. It's still her best workout if you ask me, even though it doesn't feel as tough as many of her others.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    Think I'll have a search for the results like you've suggested to see how others have got on because there don't seem to be many people replying to posts in this group anyway! I think I'd get bored if I did 30 day shred every day, I have only ever done it once or twice a week and prefer BR as it changes more often.