Need help setting my goals, please!

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jennpaulson
jennpaulson Posts: 850 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I really have no idea what I'm doing here. I've used the suggested calculaters to figure out LBM and TDEE, I've read and reread the post about how to use TDEE to adjust my calorie goals. Oh and .8 to 1 grams of protein to your LBM and .35 grams of fat but not sure if thats of your LBM or of your current weight? I'm so mixed up now after everything I've read I don't know what's heads or tails anymore. I feel like I'm back in high school math, which by the way I never understood. Someone please help me!!

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  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    you aren't giving us much to go on ! Age / height / weight / activity level / goals ??

    Do the goal setting at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals and tell us here what it said. Set weight loss at 1 lb/week or 1/2 lb/week. 1 lb will be about 25% off your TDEE, 0.5lb will be half that deficit.
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
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    First things first:
    Don't make it more complicated then it needs to be. And by that I mean, more complicated than you are ready to deal with.

    Rushing in trying to maximize every little bit of gain often results in negative results. People lose the forest for the trees, so to speak.

    Bottom line: Eat less, exercise more. Best thing you can do.

    Next up: Take in fewer calories than you consume. That means tracking your food and exercise. Do this for at least a week.

    After that: Balance out your macros. Try to get a good mix of protein/carbs/fats. Lots of proponents of lots of different methods. Just try not to have 75% of one and 25% of the other two. Get a balance.

    Then: Make sure you are picking up heavy things and putting them down again along with running around getting your HR up.

    After that: Balance out your nutrition levels. Are you getting enough vitamins and nutrients?

    Finally: Fine tune the above to increase gains.

    Spend at least a week on each step before moving on to the next. And by spending a week, I mean be successful at it for a week (at least 4 days of the week).
  • jennpaulson
    jennpaulson Posts: 850 Member
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    First things first:
    Don't make it more complicated then it needs to be. And by that I mean, more complicated than you are ready to deal with.

    Rushing in trying to maximize every little bit of gain often results in negative results. People lose the forest for the trees, so to speak.

    Bottom line: Eat less, exercise more. Best thing you can do.

    Next up: Take in fewer calories than you consume. That means tracking your food and exercise. Do this for at least a week.

    After that: Balance out your macros. Try to get a good mix of protein/carbs/fats. Lots of proponents of lots of different methods. Just try not to have 75% of one and 25% of the other two. Get a balance.

    Then: Make sure you are picking up heavy things and putting them down again along with running around getting your HR up.

    After that: Balance out your nutrition levels. Are you getting enough vitamins and nutrients?

    Finally: Fine tune the above to increase gains.

    Spend at least a week on each step before moving on to the next. And by spending a week, I mean be successful at it for a week (at least 4 days of the week).

    I don't feel like I've been rushing, I've been eating less and exercising more for a few months. MFP set my calorie goal at 1200 because I'd love to be losing 2lbs a week, so I've been eating 1200 or less (Not less on purpose, I just have a hard time eating that much sometimes). I was told a couple of weeks ago that I needed to be eating more protein by a couple of very nice helpful people on here and by a friend of mine who is very fit and this has been his lifestyle for almost 20 years now. He wanted me to start taking in like 140 grams of protein when I was only eating 45 grams at that moment, that's a big jump and also if I did the math correctly and understood the concept that would be 0.8 grams per my current weight of 170, right? But I want it to be of my LBM, right? Which I followed a formula (I found on Wikipedia I think) for figuring that out. {LBM=(0.29569 x W) + (0.41813 x H) - 43.2933} Height and weight in kg and cm. My LBM = 45.354, but then I subtract that from my current weight, right? And I get 125. Which is lower than my goal. I also used the TDEE calculator on the Fitgirls.com which gave me a BMR of 1502 and a TDEE of 2065. AND... I used a body fat percentage calculator on fitwatch.com and it said my body fat weight is 45.8lbs, muscle mass is 124.2lbs and my body fat percentage is 26.94%.

    ^^^ That is a lot of information, and I'm sorry for being so dumb about all of this. Any further advice you can give me I would be so happy to try.

    Oh, and I have my macros set right now to 35%/35%/30% but I end up not hitting the protein and going over on my carbs. I'm usually really close on the fat though : )

    And for exercise I am using the Ripped in 30 DVD and I walk on my Treadclimber for at least 45 minutes 4 or 5 days a week.
  • jennpaulson
    jennpaulson Posts: 850 Member
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    you aren't giving us much to go on ! Age / height / weight / activity level / goals ??

    Do the goal setting at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals and tell us here what it said. Set weight loss at 1 lb/week or 1/2 lb/week. 1 lb will be about 25% off your TDEE, 0.5lb will be half that deficit.


    38 (in 2 weeks)
    5ft 2in
    170lbs (168-172)
    I do the Ripped in 30 DVD and walk on my Treadclimber 4 times a week (desk job)
    For now my goal weight is 145 and not flabby.
  • kfilippi15
    kfilippi15 Posts: 11 Member
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    Hey there! I would love to help you reach your goals! If you are interested in hearing my success story please add me on MFP :)
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
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    I've used the suggested calculaters to figure out LBM and TDEE, I've read and reread the post about how to use TDEE to adjust my calorie goals.
    I recommend this far more than eating 1200 calories a day and doing exercise. That will work for about a month, or if your BMI is crazy high, but it's a diminishing path. Like I tell people, if your goal is to lose weight, just chop your arm off and you'll weigh less. Oh, so you mean your goal is to be healthy? Then change your mindset to being healthy.

    I see where you calculated your LBM and TDEE, etc. The major takeaway there is that your BMR is 1500. That's what you would need to maintain your weight if you were in a coma. Are you in a coma? No? Then why are you eating less than that?
    Oh and .8 to 1 grams of protein to your LBM and .35 grams of fat but not sure if thats of your LBM or of your current weight?
    Don't worry about it. You aren't lifting weights. I mean, sure, you may be lifting up a couple 5 pounders following Jillian but that's not strength training. That's aerobics. Strength training involves weights that are a serious percentage of your body weight. Your purse probably weighs more than 5 pounds.

    Protein is used by the body to repair and maintain muscles. Some of the amino acids can be used to provide energy, but that's a minuscule effect. Eat somewhere between 30 g of protein and 1 g per pound of body weight. You'll be fine. That 35/35/30 split you have will work great. Get close. Don't get hung up about a 10% variance on a couple days out of the week.
  • JulesAlloggio
    JulesAlloggio Posts: 480 Member
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    Well first off I would ask, how hard are you willing to work? How much do you want to lose?


    I always ask my clients, is there a certain event coming up that you want to get ready for? Pick that date or set any realistic date and set small goals.

    If you need some help, I'd be happy to help out =)
  • jennpaulson
    jennpaulson Posts: 850 Member
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    Don't worry about it. You aren't lifting weights. I mean, sure, you may be lifting up a couple 5 pounders following Jillian but that's not strength training. That's aerobics. Strength training involves weights that are a serious percentage of your body weight. Your purse probably weighs more than 5 pounds.

    Thank you so much!! And you're so right, my purse weighs a lot more (you never know when you may need a pair of pliers, screw driver or electrical tape or an umbrella... always be prepared) So right, no strength training at this point in time (I am interested, just not quite ready)
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Eat back your calories or you're working against yourself, especially at 1,200.
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
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    Don't worry about it. You aren't lifting weights. I mean, sure, you may be lifting up a couple 5 pounders following Jillian but that's not strength training. That's aerobics. Strength training involves weights that are a serious percentage of your body weight. Your purse probably weighs more than 5 pounds.

    Thank you so much!! And you're so right, my purse weighs a lot more (you never know when you may need a pair of pliers, screw driver or electrical tape or an umbrella... always be prepared) So right, no strength training at this point in time (I am interested, just not quite ready)
    LOL. Funny. Just to be clear, I didn't intend to be mean or degrading about it. Just trying to point out that the protein aspect is really only a serious factor for those trying to gain muscle.
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    Hmmm yes I think you might be over complicating it perhaps? The only reason I started working out my protein needs was when I began weight training properly. I had a clear goal that I wanted to gain muscle though.

    Before this I followed the roadmap approach of eating 20% less than my TDEE. This is a simple formula to follow, there are multiple TDEE calculators on the net that can give you an estimate of your TDEE or buy a Fitbit if you want to take the guess work out of the equation. The roadmap thread talks you through it all though, from start to finish so you really get guided through the whole process of working out how many cals to eat.

    Maybe just start with the small steps, as in TDEE - 20% approach, then when you have settled with that and are seeing results, then maybe look at changing your macros if you feel you still need to?
  • jennpaulson
    jennpaulson Posts: 850 Member
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    I didn't think you were being mean or degrading at all : ) I'm not looking to gain a lot of muscle, right now my goal is to lose 25lbs and tone up. After that we'll see where I want to go. I really do appreciate ALL your input, it's been so helpful.
  • jennpaulson
    jennpaulson Posts: 850 Member
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    Oh and I wasn't really worried about my protein until it was pointed out to me that it was too low. I was just trying to figure out what the right amount should be. That's what originally started me changing my food goals and getting so confused in the process : )
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
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    I didn't think you were being mean or degrading at all : ) I'm not looking to gain a lot of muscle, right now my goal is to lose 25lbs and tone up. After that we'll see where I want to go. I really do appreciate ALL your input, it's been so helpful.
    In that case, I think you are fine where you were/are. Marginally balanced macros. Doing cardio and aerobics. Keep doing what you're doing until you stall out for two to three weeks. Then it'll be time to make adjustments :)
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    Oh and I wasn't really worried about my protein until it was pointed out to me that it was too low. I was just trying to figure out what the right amount should be. That's what originally started me changing my food goals and getting so confused in the process : )

    If your macros are set on the default then just make sure you are always over the recommended amount lol. If I'm Honest I'm not 100% sure what you'd aim for just as a general setting. I've only ever read up about protein and muscle gain so not sure? Maybe around 100-120 would be good, at a guess.
  • jennpaulson
    jennpaulson Posts: 850 Member
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    Oh and I wasn't really worried about my protein until it was pointed out to me that it was too low. I was just trying to figure out what the right amount should be. That's what originally started me changing my food goals and getting so confused in the process : )

    If your macros are set on the default then just make sure you are always over the recommended amount lol. If I'm Honest I'm not 100% sure what you'd aim for just as a general setting. I've only ever read up about protein and muscle gain so not sure? Maybe around 100-120 would be good, at a guess.

    I think that's what I'm aiming for now. MFP had me originally set at 45, which is why my friend was freaking out.

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