Weight loss simulator

christabel6
christabel6 Posts: 173 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I saw something about this on MSN just now. They're trialling a new online weight loss simulator which you can use to try out different combinations of exercise and diet.

http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/

It is supposed to help stop weight loss plateaus (not sure how). It's fun to try - the only thing that bothers me is that it gives me a TDEE about 150 calories a day higher than MFP does. Quite a difference over a week.

Anyone done this? Any thoughts?

Replies

  • nurseangelamomof5boys
    nurseangelamomof5boys Posts: 61 Member
    i tried it and it tells me to eat 2650 cal
    mfp i eat 1200 cals a day
    thats a big differance
  • lacharp
    lacharp Posts: 66
    It gave me a baseline of 2727. I set it to a loss of 30lbs over the default 180 and it says if I don't change my current activity level I should eat 1848 cals/day. That's about the same rate of loss I have MFP set at (approx 1lb/week) and that, and my nutrionist, have me set at 1500 cals/day. That's a big daily difference!

    But I have been at a plateau these past few weeks... I wonder if I go up to 1800 that'll break the plateau?
  • christabel6
    christabel6 Posts: 173 Member
    I've no idea how these things work but have been looking round for ways to break a 6 week plateau so it's worth a try :-)
  • langurmonkey
    langurmonkey Posts: 92
    I had a look at that simulator. When I fiddled around with the activity levels, it wasn't hugely different to what MFP gives me. Recently I upped my calories from 1280 to 1700 and the weight has started coming off again. I think it's because I am able to be a bit more active, the big deficit definitely made me very tired. So I guess my suggestion is eat a bit more and run a lot more.
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
    I upped my calories from 1280 to 1700 and the weight has started coming off again. I think it's because I am able to be a bit more active

    That's a sure as heck-fire case of metabolic damage, right there! Don't drop that low again. Ever. Trust me, I'm a doctor.
  • langurmonkey
    langurmonkey Posts: 92
    I am not planning on it. Googling for the phrase "metabolic damage" produces a lot of dodgy looking diet sites, so I am still not quite sure what it means. If it's related to "starvation mode" I don't think I had much to worry about (as that's a myth that's pretty much been busted, unless you are literally starving).

    That was 1280 net I was talking about by the way, I was eating around 2000 - 2200 most days and doing a lot of running. Rather like now, but I think my average net now is around 1500 - 1700.
  • langurmonkey
    langurmonkey Posts: 92
    Here is a non scam looking site about it http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/prevent-slowing-metabolism
  • Zomoniac
    Zomoniac Posts: 1,169 Member
    If I increase my activity level by 400% I can reach my goal in 60 days by eating 6,256 calories a day. Good to know.
  • christabel6
    christabel6 Posts: 173 Member
    If I increase my activity level by 400% I can reach my goal in 60 days by eating 6,256 calories a day. Good to know.

    Hmmm... perhaps their parameters need some work...

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