Level Obstacles: Lose Weight, Target Fat! (EASY!!)

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  • andeey
    andeey Posts: 709 Member
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    Bumping for my friends list ... thanks, BH. =)
  • bebe2454
    bebe2454 Posts: 12 Member
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    Bump
  • tiffhunt21
    tiffhunt21 Posts: 16 Member
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    Okay let me see if I got this right. Current MFP says to have 1490/day. I go and see what my TDEE is 2847 and BMR is 1837.
    I'm 29, 234lbs currently 5'5" and have about 84-90lbs to go for my goal weight. so meaning 30% of my TDEE is 1992 cals to eat daily. WOW!!! That's a total of 502 calories more a day and that's if I was eating the full 1490 as of right now. Makes me nervous! And then not eat calories back, which I haven't really been doing for past month or so anyways. I exercise 3-4 days a week burning at least 500 calories each time. Might have to try it but very nervous.
  • DaniH826
    DaniH826 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    Le bump! :flowerforyou: :heart:
  • Vini9
    Vini9 Posts: 343 Member
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    Good to know, very simple!!! One question I do have and not sure if it was covered what about excerise cals? Eat or not to eat? :)
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
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    Okay let me see if I got this right. Current MFP says to have 1490/day. I go and see what my TDEE is 2847 and BMR is 1837.
    I'm 29, 234lbs currently 5'5" and have about 84-90lbs to go for my goal weight. so meaning 30% of my TDEE is 1992 cals to eat daily. WOW!!! That's a total of 502 calories more a day and that's if I was eating the full 1490 as of right now. Makes me nervous! And then not eat calories back, which I haven't really been doing for past month or so anyways. I exercise 3-4 days a week burning at least 500 calories each time. Might have to try it but very nervous.

    Using the approach I described, higher calories would be called for. It's not possible to gain fat in a deficit per the laws of physics.

    However, if right now, you feel healthy, you're happy, and you're consistently successful, don't be in too much of a hurry to change. Personally I'd want to eat at least above BMR to ensure that all my vital bodily processes are well-nourished.

    You have all the time in the world to perfect your approach :flowerforyou:
  • AndrewXB9
    AndrewXB9 Posts: 114
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    Great thread. Thanks for the information.
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
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    Good to know, very simple!!! One question I do have and not sure if it was covered what about excerise cals? Eat or not to eat? :)

    TDEE can be calculated with exercise calories or without.

    If you don't include your exercise when you estimate of TDEE, then eat the exercise cals back.

    If you do include your exercise when you estimate TDEE, then don't eat exercise cals back.

    Personally I exclude exercise from my TDEE calculation (I select light active, which covers playing with my kids and stuff that I don't log which burns extra calories) and then I log and eat back my exercise calories.
  • 04ward
    04ward Posts: 196 Member
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    Bump for reference later. Thanks!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Okay let me see if I got this right. Current MFP says to have 1490/day. I go and see what my TDEE is 2847 and BMR is 1837.
    I'm 29, 234lbs currently 5'5" and have about 84-90lbs to go for my goal weight. so meaning 30% of my TDEE is 1992 cals to eat daily. WOW!!! That's a total of 502 calories more a day and that's if I was eating the full 1490 as of right now. Makes me nervous! And then not eat calories back, which I haven't really been doing for past month or so anyways. I exercise 3-4 days a week burning at least 500 calories each time. Might have to try it but very nervous.

    Using the approach I described, higher calories would be called for. It's not possible to gain fat in a deficit per the laws of physics.

    However, if right now, you feel healthy, you're happy, and you're consistently successful, don't be in too much of a hurry to change. Personally I'd want to eat at least above BMR to ensure that all my vital bodily processes are well-nourished.

    You have all the time in the world to perfect your approach :flowerforyou:

    Just to add my 2c - MFP expects you to eat your exercise calories back. So, your 1,490 would also have you eating the 1,500 calories for so a week for exercise - this approximates 200 calories a day on average - so your target on average would be about 1,700 - so you only have an average increase of a little under 300 calories. Much of the rest of the difference is due to the 30% = 854 calories and the 2lb you probably selected equaling 1,000 calories.

    Obviously, these are all estimates, but the TDEE method and the MFP method are really the same - just going at it from a different angle, assuming similar inputs.

    Edited for typos
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
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    Obviously, these are all estimates, but the TDEE method and the MFP method are really the same - just going at it from a different angle, assuming similar inputs.

    True on all counts, with one particular point of emphasis - - the way MFP does math, it asks you how much you want to lose, and then deducts those calories from your TDEE.

    However - it's a straight deduction; not proportional to anything. If you tell MFP you want to lose two pounds a week it will deduct 1,000 calories from your daily total down to 1200 minimum. If your TDEE is 2500 it will deduct 1,000 calories a day which equates to a massive 40% deficit. And 2500 is the average caloric requirement for adult men! Even trying to lose weight, 1500 is silly.

    But the math functions, because 7000 calories = 2 pounds. And 7000 / 7 days derives a 1,000 calorie per day deficit.
    What if you have a TDEE on the order of 1500? MFP says to lose 1, 1.5, 2 pounds a week, all, eat 1200.

    MFP functions well within certain parameters, but their mathematical model completely fails in a number of common cases.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,962 Member
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    MFP functions well within certain parameters, but their mathematical model completely fails in a number of common cases.


    Think of MFP's calculator/wizard as the Wizard of Oz.

    It's a dumb tool. It's going to try to help you get to your goal...whether or not your goal is realistic. Sure, you COULD take a balloon back to Kansas. Or you could click your heels. Right.

    Much better to learn about your body, like from this thread, and take a more realistic approach that will ease you into weight loss and ease you back out of it when you reach your goal. The failure rate is much lower this way.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Obviously, these are all estimates, but the TDEE method and the MFP method are really the same - just going at it from a different angle, assuming similar inputs.

    True on all counts, with one particular point of emphasis - - the way MFP does math, it asks you how much you want to lose, and then deducts those calories from your TDEE.

    However - it's a straight deduction; not proportional to anything. If you tell MFP you want to lose two pounds a week it will deduct 1,000 calories from your daily total down to 1200 minimum. If your TDEE is 2500 it will deduct 1,000 calories a day which equates to a massive 40% deficit. And 2500 is the average caloric requirement for adult men! Even trying to lose weight, 1500 is silly.

    But the math functions, because 7000 calories = 2 pounds. And 7000 / 7 days derives a 1,000 calorie per day deficit.
    What if you have a TDEE on the order of 1500? MFP says to lose 1, 1.5, 2 pounds a week, all, eat 1200.

    MFP functions well within certain parameters, but their mathematical model completely fails in a number of common cases.

    Its not the math - it's the inputs. The issue is that people select too aggressive a goal. With the TDEE - 20%, that is self governing.
  • samanthajade124
    samanthajade124 Posts: 217 Member
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    bump! definitely good to have this information on hand
  • littlepinkhearts
    littlepinkhearts Posts: 1,055 Member
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    I really like this explanation....it's simple, straightforward and kinda in laymen's terms for people who may not be familiar with the other terms used here on MFP. I wish I could have read this as soon as I made my MFP account. It could have saved me a lot of time.
  • carlysuzanne85
    carlysuzanne85 Posts: 204 Member
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    Bump :)
  • rbet415
    rbet415 Posts: 5 Member
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    This post can't be bumped enough!
  • holliwood97
    holliwood97 Posts: 138 Member
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    Marking to send to people... :) Love this... super easy.!!! Great job!!!
  • alishacupcake
    alishacupcake Posts: 419 Member
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    Bumpity bump
  • bigjretrac
    bigjretrac Posts: 80 Member
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    Nice, Burt!

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