Eating at maintenance....

rednose83
rednose83 Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
and getting deficit from exercise? Has anyone tried this?

I am currently eating 1350 ish calories per day and not eating back my excerise calories. Due to this and having 30 pounds left to lose, my weight loss has stalled.

I was thinking about just eating at my maintenance calories and getting my deficit solely from exercise. I am starting a bootcamp program in two weeks and I run/jog 30 minutes 2-3 times a week. I do Zumba 2x per week but I don't think it burns many calories (don't sweat).

I admit I am terrified about eating my maintenance calories. I am afraid to gain back the 45 pounds I've lost. Rational me understands what "maintenance" means but irrational me is a pearl clutching over the thought of eating and gaining.

I think my journal is open. Advice? Thoughts? Thanks!

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    First you'd have to figure out what your maintenance actually is. Just using calculators won't do it because we're all a bit different and you've been eating at a deficit so your body will take a bit to figure out where it needs to be.

    An easier way for you would be to use TDEE and just eat the same calories every day or actually set your calorie budget to a realistic number instead of hanging onto 1350 if it isn't working.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    See this thread:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1033629-to-those-of-you-who-really-understand-tdee-vs-neat


    I've done it in the past, and will start it again next week (it works better for me during the winter/off season than it does during the summer/race season).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I'm doing that right now, but only because I would like to drop a couple points in BF...which means maybe 5-10 Lbs so I don't need to have any kind of substantial deficit...I want it to be really slow at this point. Also, + 1 what Mokey41 said....I've been at this awhile and I know right about where I maintain given a lot of trial and error and having maintained for about 5 months after losing my initial 40 Lbs.

    It's rather difficult to maintain a sufficient calorie deficit just from exercise...at least one large enough to lose at a steady 1-2 Lbs per week if you have quite a bit to lose. With exercise, there's just stuff that happens...big meeting at work or something, injury, illness, some **** going down at home, etc...life just happens and you can't always get to your workouts. Plus, if you're working out with the kind of intensity required to burn 3500 calories off in a week (just to lose 1 Lb)...well, you're going to need rest days and you will quickly burn out.

    If you can maintain a reasonable fitness regimen that doesn't lead to over-train and are content with going pretty darned slow, it's just fine.
  • rednose83
    rednose83 Posts: 20 Member
    Okay, I did the TDEE calculator and got:

    Your BMR is:1469 Calories/Day
    Your TDEE is:2020 Calories/Day

    and it says I could take away up to 25% off the calories. I'll have to read into this more.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Okay, I did the TDEE calculator and got:

    Your BMR is:1469 Calories/Day
    Your TDEE is:2020 Calories/Day

    and it says I could take away up to 25% off the calories. I'll have to read into this more.

    First and foremost, do you really understand what BMR and TDEE are?
  • rednose83
    rednose83 Posts: 20 Member
    No, that's why I have to read so that I will understand before I make any changes.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    No, that's why I have to read so that I will understand before I make any changes.
    by joejvcca71 in this thread:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/510406-tdee-is-everything

    1. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): This is the amount of calories you need to consume to maintain your body if you were comatose (base level).

    2. NEAT (Non-Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): The calorie of daily activity that is NOT exercise (eg: washing, walking, talking, shopping, working). ie: INCIDENTAL EXERCISE! It is something that everyone has a good amount of control over & it is the MOST important factor in your energy expenditure. It is what helps keep 'constitutionally lean' people LEAN (they fidget)!

    3. EAT (Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): The calorie requirements associated with planned exercise. Unless someone is doing a whole heap of exercise (eg: two or more hrs training a day) it usually doesn't add a stack of calories to your requirements (30 minutes of 'elliptical training isn't going to do it')

    4. TEF (Thermic effect of feeding): The calorie expenditure associated with eating. REGARDLESS of what myths you have been told - this is NOT dependent on MEAL FREQUENCY. It is a % of TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED (and 15% of 3 x 600 cal meals is the same as 15% of 6 x 300 cal meals). It varies according to MACRONUTRIENT content and FIBER content. For most mixed diets, it is something around 15%. Protein is higher (up to 25%), carbs are variable (between 5-25%), and fats are low (usually less than 5%). So -> More protein and more carbs and more fiber = HIGHER TEF. More FAT = LOWER TEF.

    5. TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expedenture): Total calories burned. BMR + NEAT + EAT + TEF = TDEE

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