The right amount of calories, can't quite figure it out

ell_v131
ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys,

I know this must have been asked before, but despite reading upin this forum, on bodybuilding.com and elsewhere on BMR, TDEE etc. I can't find the right answer for me.

I am female, 147lb (66.6kg), 5'6'' (168cm), 28.6% BF
Looking to drop body fat and get healthier.

MFP put my BMR at about 1430, and had me eating 1230 for the past few months. I have lost 8lb (4kg) by sticking to this, making healthier food choices and I power-walked 40 minutes 5 days a week.

I have hit a plateau recently and started going gym, my routine is 20 minutes cardio on elliptical (bad knees) and about 30 minutes of weights 4-5 days a week. I readjusted my macros at the same time I hit the gym to 45-35-20 (p-c-f) and have done reasonably well sticking to it. Been going 2 weeks now but not much change. I'm currently eating 1270 calories per day and eating back whatever I exercise, usually 250-350kcal.

As for my diet, I have cereal with milk in the morning with a few egg whites
protein shake/turkey breast slices in the am
meat (I try to go for lean in the staff canteen) with rice or potatoes for lunch + veggies, usually cucumber
apple/banana/protein shake in the pm
dinner is similar to lunch
snack on egg whites once I get home, or salad with lemon for dressing
I mostly eat my carbs with protein, I don't drink or smoke.

Can someone help me figure out what am I doing wrong?
Maybe I am not burning as much as the Runtastic app thinks I am and I'm eating back too much?
Or do I eat too little? If that's the case, how far should I go? I am petrified of increasing my intake and gaining weight.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Eliska

Replies

  • 40rods
    40rods Posts: 5 Member
    Hey there. Have you tried this calculator?

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    I calculate how many calories I should eat based on setting the activity level to "desk job", and then when I exercise, I log the calories burned (with an HRM) into MFP and always eat them back to stay at the proper deficit. This has been working for me for about 3 months now. I would highly suggest getting an HRM for counting exercise calories accurately, the Polar FT4 or FT7 would work great. For me, knowing a pretty good estimate of how many calories I'm burning helps me plan meals better and not overeat. I hope this helps!
  • refinedredbird
    refinedredbird Posts: 208 Member
    If your BMR is 1430, you really should be eating at least that amount because that is telling you how many calories your body needs to work every day. Your TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure is how many calories you burn with a certain level of activity each day. That is the number you eat at a deficit. If you are concerned about over estimating calories you can just set your TDEE to moderate activity or light activity (I would think 5 days a week would be more moderate) and then when you get that number, subtract your deficit. Then you do NOT eat your exercise calories back, they are included already. This number should still be more than your BMR.

    Besides this, just remember patience. We all hit a "plateau" moment for a few weeks and it can be discouraging, but if you are sticking to your goals, you will push through it. Also, make sure you are taking body measurements that will help you see increase in lean muscle and a decrease in fat percentage.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I can't give you a definitive answer........

    First of all MFP's daily goal is based in part by "I want to lose XX pounds per week" .....if you have an agressive goal then you could be as low as 1200. This has nothing to do BMR ... 1200 is just as low as MFP will go.

    The more agressive your weight loss goal, the more you are subject to muscle loss. Is your weekly goal in this range?

    Pounds per week
    75+ lbs to lose 2 lb range
    Between 40 - 75 lbs to lose 1.5 lb range
    Between 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb range
    Between 15-25 lbs to lose 1 -.50 lb range
    Less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs range

    TDEE should include your exercise calories already ....so you don't worry about eating calories back. TDEE has the same sliding scale (as above) ....lots to lose ....you take a big cut .... less to lose.....you take a small cut.

    Exercise calories are hard to pin down. There are so many variables.....height, weight, age, gender, exertion level ...and more. How much info does Runtastic have? ......they can't know your exertion level.
  • Jez_SD
    Jez_SD Posts: 2
    I'm not an expert, but it sounds like you're not eating enough. It's (generally) not a good idea to eat below your BMR.
    When you do that your body starts to think "O.S.! We're in a famine! I've gotta store everything that comes in" instead of, "Gosh I worked hard, lets make muscle to make it easier next time".
    Eating this way might make you lose for a while, but it's not sustainable and eventually you're gonna hit a wall.

    The mantra I keep hearing is Eat over your BMR.

    Take a look at the recommendation for maintenance of your body size as it is now (likely around 1700 to 1800) and adjust accordingly. You need to eat below your maintenance and above your BMR, according to the information I've read, that's the weight loss "sweet spot" .
  • ell_v131
    ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
    That makes a lot of sense.

    I did all the calculators again and:

    My BMR comes somewhere between 1390-1440
    My maintenace 1650-1850
    The TDEE calculator I used (Scooby) is a little more complicated as it has a basic and "more accurate" version

    The basic calculation said I have the following sedentary expenditure (if I want to calculate calories burned independently)
    1411 for 20% calorie reduction - 1499 for 15% calorie reduction - 1587 for 10% calorie reducion
    if I were to calculate the expenditure with the exercise included so I don't have to keep track, it would be:
    1822-1936-2050 (for 20%-15%-10% reduction)

    woah, now we are over 2000 calories, that's scary for me as I have been so used to my under 1300! It's hard for me to believe that I won't gain on this amount of calories.

    The more accurate version gave me the following numbers excluding exercise:
    1341-1425-1500 (for 20%-15%-10% reduction)
    and including exercise
    1732-1840-1948 (for 20%-15%-10% reduction)

    that sounds more reasonable in the top range but it goes close to/below my BMR in the bottom range.

    I am afraid of ruining the effort of the past few months, so I think I will go with something moderate, such as 1500 calories/day plus exercise logging. That is also the more conservative approach as the calculators above think I would burn about 400 calories daily, while I think I have been burning 250-350 on workout days.

    I hope the new nutrients my body gets will help push me through.

    Thank you for your encouragement, I see how much progress you have all made and appreciate your time helping me.

    Any other suggestions/opinions are very welcome.

    Eliska
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    How long since you stopped losing weight? I'm asking because I hit a 3 week plateau every month but still been losing 3-5 lbs a month. I just lose all the weight in 10 days, then stall for 3 weeks again... It's been like that for months. Could be what's happening to you... It's not a plateau unless it's going on for 6 weeks or something.

    I'd use scooby (and include your exercise) with probably the lightly active setting for now... I walk 5 miles a day and it puts me just a bit over lightly active.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    If I set you to lose 0.75 lbs the first few weeks, I have you eating 1800, gross, as well, with an estimated TDEE of 2181 prior to restriction of calories.

    Keep in mind that these estimates reflect average maintenance intakes in persons who share your stats and activity level and do not exhibit any negative outcomes, including decreased energy expenditure, from previous diet history. In other words, their bodies are burning the optimal amount of calories possible to maintain weight and composition without any bias affecting energy expenditure potential. With that said, even if a person has never restricted before, their natural TDEE could be slightly less or greater.

    On a related note: Over time, as you continue to eat at a deficit, your TDEE decreases in proportion to the size of the deficit. Thus, persons who maintain a small deficit will experience a very insignificant decrease in energy expenditure whereas a larger deficit increases the risk of a greater decrease in total energy expenditure.

    You mention a two week span of time with no loss in weight. Be patient and keep grossing in the neighborhood of 1700 to 1800 calories. 375 calories is still a sizable number so depending on what your starting and adjusted TDEE is will determine
    what happens.

    Edit: I reread your statement and it seems that you lost weight prior to increasing exercise activity and volume. Then, following two weeks of increased exercise, you haven't experienced any loss in weight.

    If this is true, then the lack of weight loss could be partially or completely due to your body storing more water and glycogen to aid in repair from the increased stress of exercise.

    Thus, if that is the case, you will start to lose once your body gets accustomed to your new exercise habits. With that said, continue to eat between 1700 to 1800 calories for a few weeks and track progress.
  • ell_v131
    ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
    I have been at or above this weight since August 29. After that I gained 1-1.5kg (2.2-3.3lb), I guess partially thanks to looser eating habits on holidays. I ate more carbs than usual. I have hit 66.6 again on September 13th and had since gone up slightly again and now since beginning of october the scales won't budge.

    Since September 2 I have been adjusting my macros ratio so that there is less fat and carbs and managed to get down from 30-40% fat to 21-25% fat in the past three weeks and I try to keep carbs at about 40-45% to have enough space for protein.

    going back thourhg my exercise routine, I was very good up till end of July, when I fell of the routine completely. I resumed September 9 with power walking and yoga strength routines. I have gotten in about 2.5 hours of exercise per week that way
    Since September 23 I have been hitting the gym and getting about 3 hours net time per week in 4 sessions.

    I see the logic with what you're saying, I wanted to net at about 1500 in order not to increase too high at once, so to gross at about 1700-1800 on exercise days seems reasonable.

    Yeah as you can see and I now realize the net time I spend in the gym (about 40% of that is cardio) might be too low, but it is a different and more difficult exercise than just power-walking and yoga, so it could be my body getting used to it.

    Thanks for the encouragement and tips!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    On a side note though, your body fat is pretty high for your weight, I would look into lifting/strength training at this point.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Why use an online calculator??? Those are estimates. Use actuals instead.

    The formula to calculate your actual TDEE is as follows:

    Pick a time frame (more then 1 week)

    Total Calorie consumed+(weight lost*3500)/number of days

    IE for me I took 3 weeks worth after I started using a kitchen scale to weigh my food

    29642+(3.5x3500)/21=1995 (that is my TDEE) based on my actuals...

    Scooby put it at 1871, IIFYM put it at 2028...

    Not huge differeces but that being said...IIFYM is over by 50 which will eventually add up...and Scooby is 100 lower which means no fudge stick...or 2 less greek yogurts a day or less cheese which might not seem that important but over time....
  • Jennical
    Jennical Posts: 219 Member
    Bump to read later!
  • ell_v131
    ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
    Why use an online calculator??? Those are estimates. Use actuals instead.

    The formula to calculate your actual TDEE is as follows:

    Pick a time frame (more then 1 week)

    Total Calorie consumed+(weight lost*3500)/number of days

    IE for me I took 3 weeks worth after I started using a kitchen scale to weigh my food

    29642+(3.5x3500)/21=1995 (that is my TDEE) based on my actuals...

    Scooby put it at 1871, IIFYM put it at 2028...

    Not huge differeces but that being said...IIFYM is over by 50 which will eventually add up...and Scooby is 100 lower which means no fudge stick...or 2 less greek yogurts a day or less cheese which might not seem that important but over time....

    I've taken the data from September 7th to October 7th, I have recorder both my calories and weight properly in that period. It tells me based on your calculation that my TDEE is 1498. That's pretty low and with my BMR in the mid 1400s, there is not much space to create a deficit.

    I did another calculation for a 3 week period in August when I didn't work out at all and it's even worse, the number is 1408 as I didn't lose or gain any weight that month.

    Is it possible that I have slowed my metabolism? I noticed when going over the numbers that I ate very inconsistently in August (and possibly before), some days going below a 1000 calories and some days venturing into the 1800s.

    If that's the case, any good tips on how to jump start my metabolism again? I'm aware it won't be overnight but I want to work on this.

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