Jillian Michaels Body Revolution

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concerning kcals, do you follow MFP or Jillian?

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yaybazinga
yaybazinga Posts: 54
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I know that the majority of users on MFP follows the app's recommendation to eat back exercise calories, or at least parts of them. Jillian's meal plan recommends 1200 kcal for women and I haven't found anything in her brochures about eating back exercise calories.

So I was just wondering, whose recommendation do you follow?

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  • Thereupon
    Thereupon Posts: 52
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    Neither. MFP had me on 1200 + eating back exercise calories, and I'm a guy so Jillian's 1200 a day seemed way off for me. I used a calculator to estimate my daily needs based on age, height, weight and a rough estimate of my exercise level and took the estimate it gave me for "fat loss" (although I'm not looking to lose a lot with BR - just a little bit of body fat % and tone up). Exercise is included in the result it gives so it essentially calculates the ones you "eat back" for you... I figure it can't be too much more inaccurate than the generalised calories burned in the MFP exercises.

    Here is the calculator I used, I saw it recommended in a few forums and YouTube videos. You can choose to use any of three formulas to calculate your caloric needs - I'm pretty sure MFP uses one of these formulas too, but can't remember which.
    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
  • karint74
    karint74 Posts: 131 Member
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    Hey Thereupon, that's a really good calorie calculator site. Just for fun, I plugged in my stats and used the Katch-McCardle formula (since I have a pretty good idea of my body fat %). It came up with 2340 calories a day to maintain, which is pretty much what I eat. I've been maintaining, while losing some fat, for 3 months. I'm a big fan of Jillian, and I know everyone is different, but I think 1200 calories just isn't enough food to get an adult through the day. Certainly not if you're doing this program! Eat back enough to at least net your BMR calories.
    I've tried four of the recipes from her Fat-Burning Meal Plan, and they are all delicious if time-consuming to prepare. Since I need to eat a lot, it usually takes 1.5 portions to feel like enough food, though.
  • Hurley1203
    Hurley1203 Posts: 40 Member
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    I am struggling with the calories. I have read quite a bit about the "Eat more to weigh less program", which leads me to believe that 1200 calories is just not appropriate for anyone (or almost anyone).
    I upped mine to around 1480 per day and eating back exercise calories. However that usually brings me back to around 1200 which kind of confuses me.
  • Thereupon
    Thereupon Posts: 52
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    I agree karint74 - I was baffled when I saw 1200 calories in the meal plan PLUS workouts...! I can't imagine myself being able to stay awake longer than a couple of hours on that! I guess it's difficult to set a target that suits absolutely everyone, but a few more guidelines or some kind of "calorie goal chart" might have helped.... A blanket recommendation of 1200 seems a little silly. It's one of my only gripes with the program so far, but fortunately it's something that can be easily adjusted!

    Edit: @Hurley1203 - The "eating back calories" thing confused me, too. That's why I went with the calculator. Since I'm being consistent with the amount of time I exercise per day (which is pretty easy with JMBR - 30 minutes / day), I found it simpler to plug it into the calculator, set my new targets, and forget about measuring my exercise on MFP. Since the amount of calories burned for the exercises in the MFP database are estimates and vary hugely with each person (as do features on exercise equipment, HRMs etc), I decided it was a simpler route for me. (And it appears to be working!)
  • marieann82
    marieann82 Posts: 150 Member
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    I was following Jillian's recommendations but was so hungry at night it was starting to become almost counterproductive (like in I was going to binge if I didn't more food). I checked out the thread of MFP about TDEE and figured out everything. Now I am eating TDEE -15% and my macros are 20% carbs, 50% protein, 30% fat. I feel a lot more satisfied and usually keep under my calories when some of my workout calories are used. It's too early to know what the switch is doing but I feel really powerful and strong right now.

    Interesting enough, another MFP user posted Jillian's quiz about oxidizer levels and it was right in line with my macros. I think that thread is either on JMBR board or the JM Challenge Board.
  • Hurley1203
    Hurley1203 Posts: 40 Member
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    I saw that about the macros as well. I was a balanced oxidizer, so I adjusted my macros.
  • alwest68
    alwest68 Posts: 9
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    I don't eat my calories back. I struggled the first week with only 1200 calories but now it doesn't bother me. I do go over every once in a while.
  • yaybazinga
    yaybazinga Posts: 54
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    the first two weeks I was fine with 1200 kcal, but now I'm halfway through week 3 and I'm more hungry. I used one of those online calculators and if I put in sedentary activity level my TDEE -20% amounts to 1463 kcal a day so only eating 1200 worries me now. I think I should aim towards 1500 now!
  • yaybazinga
    yaybazinga Posts: 54
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    Hey Thereupon, that's a really good calorie calculator site. Just for fun, I plugged in my stats and used the Katch-McCardle formula (since I have a pretty good idea of my body fat %). It came up with 2340 calories a day to maintain, which is pretty much what I eat. I've been maintaining, while losing some fat, for 3 months. I'm a big fan of Jillian, and I know everyone is different, but I think 1200 calories just isn't enough food to get an adult through the day. Certainly not if you're doing this program! Eat back enough to at least net your BMR calories.
    I've tried four of the recipes from her Fat-Burning Meal Plan, and they are all delicious if time-consuming to prepare. Since I need to eat a lot, it usually takes 1.5 portions to feel like enough food, though.

    some days I was netting 800-1000 kcal, eek! I mean I trust Jillian's opinion but I don't want to damage my body in the process and the more I read on MFP the more I get the impression that 1200 is too freaking low! thanks everyone for your input!
  • Steffani911
    Steffani911 Posts: 196 Member
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    Yeah... Love her workouts, but the food plan.... meh. I looked at it once and never looked again.
  • Gatus98
    Gatus98 Posts: 93 Member
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    I used the recommended site, out of curiosity. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
    What does "total calories including excercise" imply? Is that how many calories one should consume, regardless of how many are burned through excercise?
  • stephanj
    stephanj Posts: 898 Member
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    I was following Jillian's recommendations but was so hungry at night it was starting to become almost counterproductive (like in I was going to binge if I didn't more food). I checked out the thread of MFP about TDEE and figured out everything. Now I am eating TDEE -15% and my macros are 20% carbs, 50% protein, 30% fat. I feel a lot more satisfied and usually keep under my calories when some of my workout calories are used. It's too early to know what the switch is doing but I feel really powerful and strong right now.

    Interesting enough, another MFP user posted Jillian's quiz about oxidizer levels and it was right in line with my macros. I think that thread is either on JMBR board or the JM Challenge Board.

    I am amazed, I just looked up the fast oxidizer macros and it all totally coincides with what macros I find work with me for weightloss. e.g. http://drlwilson.com/Articles/fast diet.htm maybe there is something to that.....
  • Thereupon
    Thereupon Posts: 52
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    I used the recommended site, out of curiosity. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
    What does "total calories including excercise" imply? Is that how many calories one should consume, regardless of how many are burned through excercise?
    It takes into account the daily/weekly exercise amounts you enter into the calculator. So it includes an estimate of calories burned that you will "eat back" in the result. I find it works for me (I didn't have much to lose as I am doing BR for overall fitness and toning, but I have actually lost about 4kg of body fat so far at the end of week 4) because the "calories burned" on MFP or HRMs are estimates too.

    I find it easier than trying to track every bit of exercise I do, since I have enough trouble even working out how to account for all my MEALS on here (MFP requires A LOT of estimation and approximation), but I understand that many people prefer using the MFP tools, so I'd recommend using whatever you find works best for you. :)
  • theredcliche
    theredcliche Posts: 233 Member
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    I love Jillian, but I don't agree with 1200 calories as a blanket caloric intake for everyone, either. I think this program is designed for maximum weight loss and in that case, 1200 may be appropriate, but it isn't for everyone. I am trying to maintain muscle while losing body fat, so I'm eating way above 1200. I suggest everyone look into the "Eat more 2 weigh less" group as they discuss why eating at a deficit doesn't always give you the change on the scale you desire. I was eating 2200 calories during a muscle building program, then dropped to 1700 and lost 2 lbs in 3 weeks.

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