Harris calculates my BMR at 1447 according to fat2fit.
Scoobysworkshop under Mifflin it estimates my BMR 1388 and Harris 1439

This is according to:
Current Weight - 142lbs
Height - 66inches (5ft 6")
Age - 29
Female


I do believe I should be shooting around 1500-1600cals per day so this is what I will aim for over the next few wks and see how I go.

Thanks for the info :0)

Sorry about the bad figures, I forgot to remove previous metric measurements from the spreadsheet, and that overrides the lb and in stats. I seem to rarely help those using metric I didn't even notice them there.

Indeed, 1386 and 1446. Not much margin for body stress at 1500, so just watch how you feel doing the lifts. Might even compare strength when eating at TDEE to confirm you don't lose too much.

Thanks for running those stats for me anyway :0)

Yeah I figured I'm not much over BMR with 1500 especially if I'm going to start strength training 3 times a wk

I will play around with my numbers over the next few weeks and see what gives me best results for both weight loss and lifting

Thanks again

Tagged for future reference material. Very well said.

I've been worried that I've been netting too few calories and that's why my weight loss has stalled, especially after adding CrossFit 3-5x a week.

Going to make a more serious attempt to calculate my numbers once and for all and make it a point to eat/net more calories. It's so confusing with all the acronyms and different formulas!! =(

Taking the plunge today and upping my calories to 1800. It's such a mental thing. I've been upping them for 3 weeks but after reading this thread I've decided to go right up to 20% of TDEE. Helps so much to read everyone's post and know my feelings about this are not crazy. I've low cal dieted for so long and have completely messed up my metabalism. Thanks everyone!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I really needed this today. Your analogies have helped me SO VERY MUCH! And I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Hugs,
Toni

Ok, so I have really upped my exercise (added 4 45 minute spin classes a week) since September and have not lost any weight. I started logging my food again and discovered I was under-eating by a lot.

When I started reading the boards more, I found the TDEE info and entered my info in multiple calculators, landing on this one because it had them most input fields for how my day is broken up. http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

it says my TDEE is 2110, so 20% less would be 1688 per day

I have my MFP goal set at 1 lb a week, putting me at 1320/day plus exercise

If I calculate the weekly MFP goal, add in my 2000 exercise calories (for the week), and average it out by day, it ends up being 1605/day which is actually pretty close.

So am I better to eat that 1600-1700 every day, or keep alternating, eating extra on my spin days and less on my rest days?

My understanding is that you can do either way, depending on what you prefer.
I find eating the same every day much easier than adjusting ever day for exercise. And, I would be starving on non-exercise days if I didn't spread it out. Just using my TDEE (or TDEE -cut%) works best for my eating habits.

bump

Thanks. I think I will try eating more on the days I exercise for now and see how it goes.

Fabulous post - thankyou ! - I am very early stages of increased calories (following a low cal diet mentality) - I totally intend to follow this through as a "life change" & this entire post is EXACTLY what I needed

Thankyou again

Jan x

bump

Can someone address my question above about the 30% protein recommendation? Thanks.

Right, so hoping someone can explain why the 30% protein is important, and is it research supported?

Thanks!

It originally came from the Zone diet, 40/30/30 for every meal, as a means of limiting the insulin response and the negatives from that, and the potential that about 75% of the population has a not-great response, some worse than others.
But those meal sizes were also kept at 400 cal or less, because too many calories of even straight protein is going to kick off big insulin response. Only fat doesn't.

It seems to be used on the forum's as a quick and dirty ball park method to meet the normal recommended protein amounts.
But many times it can be a whole lot more than needed, meaning you are limiting perhaps desired carbs that would be mighty useful too.

2 g per kg LBM per day, which works out to 0.91 per lb, so it's usually said 1 g per lb LBM per day. If LBM isn't known, and you have a bit to lose, many will say use goal weight.
Many will say use current weight, but that results in almost no carbs during a deficit, and is way overkill for what is needed. When eating at maintenance and more calories to use that can work.

That's for lifters eating at maintenance and surplus, though many will go higher.

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-protein

That's also about the minimum that has been shown to help retain LBM during a reasonable deficit with no exercise to also help retain muscle mass.

I thought I had a link to that study but forgot to keep it, I kept the ones for lifting and reasonable deficit. Drat, see if I can find it.

The reason it's important, your body is breaking down protein all the time, muscle, used or not, and building it back. Problem is in a deficit, once broken down, you may not be eating well enough for the repair part. So what does get repaired is what is used or used most. Meaning with too steep a deficit, some muscle is always being burned off, slowly but surely. If constantly short of glucose stores and exercising cardio decently using them up, you can make it all worse.

So the idea is, throw all 3 things together that help retain muscle mass during a diet, and you should be able to take a max deficit without much problem, unless you just have a lot of other stresses in life hitting your body/mind.

So glad that this program is giving you hope! Since you have been eating at a deficit for so long you would probably benefit from a reset. You can aim for TDEE - 20% for the moment but a reset will help your metabolism heal and get things moving in the right direction when you do go back to a deficit. Don't forget your strength training too!

I am a week and a half in and gained less than a pound, but I read some gain is to.be expected as things get moving. I hope I can work my way up to.the reset value but I am increasingly slowly as I can barely reach 1900 daily. I just feel full. I am also having trouble reaching my macros. I can usually manage 80 g protein but I need way more. Is it that important? Does it matter if its protein from a shake? I am vegetarian so that limits options. I also have a sensitivity to day so I limit it

Protein shake just fine, and will probably be needed for you. Because in complete proteins isn't even going to help much.

The extra protein is another method of retaining muscle mass in face of a diet.

I am only one week into eating more (1900 to 2000 cals per day) but I have to say that for the first time in months (no... a little over a year) I have energy! Since about Thursday, I've gotten out of bed actually feeling refreshed and feeling as though I got a good night's rest. And I have energy to last me through the day. I had been running out of gas by mid afternoon and was beginning to think something was seriously wrong with me. I don't plan to step on the scale for a month so that I don't become discouraged by any weight gain from giving my body what it needs. This change in my energy levels is enough for me at the moment to keep me going.

PS. When I started dedicating myself to losing weight in March 2011, I did a round of P90x and Insanity and was able to lose 35 pounds. I completely ignored the advice of the Beachbody diet guides and limited myself to 1200 calories every day with eating the occasional exercise calorie back. I went on vacation for 10 days in August 2011 and ate like a normal human being and then came back home to restrict myself to 1200 cals per day and haven't been able to lose a single pound since. The usual 5-pound fluctuations, but no marked weight loss since then and no change in my body composition despite working out. As I said above, the only thing I had going was complete lack of energy and having to drag myself out of bed every morning.

I am very happy to be here and to read all of the information you've provided!