I think this makes sense...

Hola! I sort of jumped into this whole thing without much research. Figured it's a good time now to stop and adjust my plan of attack since something doesn't seem to be right.

3 weeks ago I weighed in at 213 lbs (at my cardiologist's office, no less). I figured right then and there it was time to lose the weight, especially with our second daughter on the way. My first goal is to hit 180 lbs (what I weighed in college). I believe technically my ideal weight is around 160 or so but I'd be ok somewhere in between given that BMI isn't the best indicator of health.

It just so happens that an OrangeTheory fitness center opened nearby so I checked them out. Pretty neat gear with a heart monitor (Polar GX I believe) and post-workout reports with calories burned, heart rate cycles etc. Reports had me burning anywhere from 800-1000 calories per class. How accurate that is I'm not entirely sure, but I'm willing to say it's right perhaps within 80% or so. No real data, just more of a scientific hunch.

Fired up MFP after having it on my phone for years and never using it and began logging everything religiously. First week saw a drop of about 4 lbs which I suspect was partially due to water weight and just an overall shock to the system. Second week saw 2 lbs, this week saw another lb. About 8 lbs in 3 weeks isn't terrible at all.

What's setting off alarm bells though is how hungry I've become. I've opened my food log up to the public for review, but after digging a bit I'm starting to realize I'm not eating nearly enough to sustain life for lack of a better term. After reading all sorts of stuff, I'd like to get some feedback from those that have been through the journey.

- I'm assuming at a minimum, I need to consume BMR - (somewhere between 1878 from MFP and 2012 calories/day from BMI-Calc).

- I'm attempting to work out 3 x week. I'm limited in that the facility logistically isn't favorable but a center should open up within the next month closer to home. Given the # workouts / week, I'm selecting lightly active for my MFP settings with a 2 lb loss/week. MFP's showing a caloric intake of about 1600 per day, below my BMR.

- TDEE would run me at 2582 to 2766 calories per day depending on which calculator to use. To lose the 2 lbs per week, I'd need a deficit of 1000 calories, which would put me at 1582 - 1766 per day, still under BMR.

So my conclusion to all of this is the following. As it stands working out 3 x week, lightly active, I can really only lose 1.5 lbs per week (2582 - 1878 = 700 calorie deficit). In order to increase that deficit, I would need to increase my fitness level, perhaps adding an extra day to my workout routine.

I'm also realizing that I HAVE to eat my BMR + whatever calories burned during workout days. If I'm taking the post-workout reports as an exact measure of calories burned, how the heck can I put down another 800-1000 calories on workout days? That seems rather insane. On top of the fact that it's always been ingrained in our minds that less calories = more weight loss. I know you have to rev up your metabolism but boy, that's quite a bit to eat on those days.

Sorry for this being (very) long winded. Hope some of this makes sense and that I at least have the basics down. Thanks all!