Heybales, I have a similar problem to the previous member who posted, except that I've plateaued longer..... Been stuck at the same weight since December last year. I'm looking to lose another 10~15lbs because I look puffy and 'soft'. I have a pear-shaped body so all my excess fat sit stubbornly on my hips and thighs, thus making my body look disproportionate. I am 5 feet 2 and 128 lbs.

My biggest confusion is on estimating the activity level. I don't work in an office so I don't walk to my car or up and down stairs in the office. I'm always seated at my desk at home and I hardly walk. For example, I'll only get up to walk to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. I fidget quite a lot and I use many hand gestures and I speak. I currently work out 5 times a week, but I set my activity level to lightly active considering how sedentary I am when I am not working out.

I became quite desperate to lose weight in January and ate about 1250~1300 calories a day (gross) and did not eat back exercise calories, putting me under my bmr sometimes. I go over 1400 2-3 times in a week so I thought it was still okay to be undereating sometimes as long as I average out fine at the end. I also increased my workout days from 3 to 5 and also increased the duration from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. Intensity is also moderate. My ratio of strength training to cardio is currently 3:2. Was I overworking my body? I made sure my muscles were not sore when I worked out and if they still were, I would take a day off.

Now, I'm wondering whether it's because of the severe calorie restriction and increase of exercise that I didn't manage to lose any weight OR INCHES, since being at such a deficit should have produced some results by now if I were to follow the simply calorie-in, calorie-out logic of losing weight.

Please help me shed some light. I'm considering upping my calories to 1450~1500cals after reading this topic, but I'm a bit afraid that my actual tdee is lower than scooby's site and I wasn't able to lose weight previously because I had been eating too much. For your information, I do log my food and use a scale to measure. Scooby's site gives me 1514cals to lose weight at only 10% reduction after I put in my body fat %.

So eating even less, and working out even more - no positive results.

Now, that's not a huge increase with either frequency or duration of exercise, but if already too big a deficit than your body felt comfortable with, then eating even less and increasing it isn't going to help.

That's a great routine it sounds like, if you can realistically manage it, I'd just start eating more.
True the 1 hr of lifting is not the same as 1 hr of moderate cardio, probably a tad less burn usually. But it does count.

Have you run through the spreadsheet?
Because sedentary as a base includes 1 hr of slow walking daily on average, 7 hrs weekly. If you don't think you get that, and you can't get up to that truly on a weekly average, then you could enter negative 5 hrs in the Activity Calc for standing slowly moving time.

Heybales, I have run the spreadsheet and entered negative 5 hrs in the Activity Calc for standing slowly moving time. I tried to be as accurate as possible based on my workout routines in the past weeks and got tdee of 1584cals. The spreadsheet gave me a Total Daily Eating Goal (TDEG) of 1222 (22.8% deficit). 1222 is a bit too low for me now, so can I just use the tdee minus 10~15% here instead?

I'm just a little perplexed... If my actual tdee was close to 1584 calories, I should have lost at least some weight by now since I was in a calorie deficit.

Yes, you can view that TDEG as max deficit to retain muscle mass. Actually, it's based on study where they gained LBM while lifting with steeper deficit.

But it's for fat loss, not performance. Always eat more up to TDEE for adherence to diet if needed, and for performance gains if that is of more interest than fat loss being at max.

And that is estimated TDEE, a months worth of data and results can help point out true TDEE - but you have to come in from the high side.

You probably need to take a diet break and eat at estimated TDEE for awhile, unstress your body.
And examine your logging of food, weighing everything, with such a small margin for error, you'll have to do much right to see good results.

At least after a month of good data, even if sloppy logging, you can cut calories from an inaccurate eating level and cause loss, knowing that truthfully you are eating more than your goal would indicate.

But you'll need a month, valid weigh-ins, and no change or addition of intense exercise before any weigh-in on the range.
Progress tab has a TDEE calc on right that helps with that. But only useful if coming in from high side and not potentially suppressed TDEE already.
No need chasing a suppressed TDEE in to the ground more, no place to go then.

I thought about how I was logging my food last night and decided to be more strict. Sometimes I don't log my cooking oil and other sauces like soya sauce and oyster sauces.

I was surprised that my tdee was only 1584, despite working out 5 days a week. Based on the conservative assumption that I burn 150 calories for each workout, it's hard to believe that my inaccurate logging can cancel out my 750 exercise calories per week. I am going to order a fitbit. I hope that this way, my tdee can be tracked as accurately as possible. I heard that fitbit is fairly accurate within a 10% margin. I'm also considering cycling my calories, like maybe have 1 day a week where I eat a few hundred calories above my tdee to kick-start my metabolism.

Okay, I'll give it another month by eating at my estimated tdee and see how it goes. After that, I will still eat around 1300~1400 calories a day, without eating back exercise calories.

I'd suggest against the eating in surplus until metabolism is burning fine.
1 day of surplus is just seen as surplus, and that is stored as fat.

That is exactly how someone that is bad about binging on a low calorie diet gains weight and fat. They've suppressed their system, and their binge days and meals just adds fat - doesn't increase metabolism. Body's storing fat incase the craziness continues.

The TDEE deficit method already calorie cycles if you think about. You are eating the same amount daily, but are you actually burning exactly the same amount daily?
No, some days is bigger deficit than others really, depending on the workouts.
TDEE deficit method is the ultimate calorie cycling method really.

Since your TDEE is based on your BMR, and BMR is based on BF%, you did enter the results from the BF calc in to the field asking for that stat? You didn't leave the example 42%?

And you got your time of exercise entered in correctly? It states how many hrs a week that workout is, sounds right?
So 5 days x 60 min, should say 5 hrs. ratio 3:2, so 3 hrs lifting, 2 hrs high cardio?
Lifting doesn't burn that many calories, hence it's own line. High cardio if more intense than walking level 4 mph.
If your are lighter actually, then indeed not as much of a burn.

And if your BMR is really low because of higher BF%, then the FitBit is going to be inaccurate too, because it's basing the BMR which is used for calorie burn for all non-moving time, on your age, weight, height. And if your Katch BMR is lower than that BMR by fair amount - it will be inflating calorie burn by a fair amount too, especially if that sedentary with lots of non-moving time.

Okay, so no calorie surplus.

Yes, I exchanged the 42% to 25% which is my current BF level.

I work out about 60mins for 5 days a week so that makes it 5 hours, which was spot on when I inputted my data into the spreadsheet.

Most sites estimate my bmr to be about 1334~ 1343 calories. MFP and katch estimates it to be about 1,224, so that's a difference of about 100 calories.

So how can I set my fitbit to estimate my tdee as accurately as possible? Is there a way to tweak it?

I've read from the experience of other users that they use fitbit to estimate tdee and then add in exercise calories from those activities that fitbit doesn't track properly - like biking. My cardio days are cycling on my stationery bike. So, can I take the tdee amount from fitbit as my base and then add in calories from my workouts, probably underestimating a little since you mentioned fitbit may inflate calorie burn if I'm sedentary with lots of non-moving time?

Unless it's going to motivate you to get around more, I wouldn't waste the money.

Your going to receive a TDEE figure that is inflated by you don't know how much.
You are going to add on cycling calorie burn based on accuracy of you don't know how much.
And you'll leave some off to hope to compensate for inflation of you don't know how much.

Sounding pretty sketchy there and inaccurate.

The spreadsheet formula for sedentary, which you adjusted for even more sedentary time, already uses that method, actually RMR for awake non-moving time, BMR for sleeping time.
And that cycling time you'll have no idea on, so you'll be adding back in a rough estimate.
Strength training at least in MFP database is decent estimate, it's formula is along the same lines as what the spreadsheet uses based on some studies.

Well, whatever method, you'll eventually be able to base TDEE estimate on results, as long as you started on the high side.

I feel my money flying away already since I just ordered it. Oh well, I will follow the spreadsheet's tdee estimate for another month and I'll see how it goes. Thank you very much heybales!

Heybales, I need some clarification. If I'm going to eat at my TDEE level for a few weeks to reset my metabolism, does it mean I net 1584 calories or just eat 1584 calories and don't eat back exercise calories?

Thanks.

If you included in the Activity Calculator all the exercise you really plan on doing, it's already in the TDEE.

So you would not eat it back. Read the suggestions under Your Results to clarify things, as you likely will miss a workout sometime, and since the whole idea is eating correctly for your level of activity, that changes if you miss a planned workout.

Heybales, I need some clarification. If I'm going to eat at my TDEE level for a few weeks to reset my metabolism, does it mean I net 1584 calories or just eat 1584 calories and don't eat back exercise calories?

Thanks.

If you included in the Activity Calculator all the exercise you really plan on doing, it's already in the TDEE.

So you would not eat it back. Read the suggestions under Your Results to clarify things, as you likely will miss a workout sometime, and since the whole idea is eating correctly for your level of activity, that changes if you miss a planned workout.

Heybales, where do I go to find "Your Results"? Is it a topic in this group? I can't seem to find it....

I'm reading the recommendation above and would like to do a metabolism reset too!

It's a good idea every 6-8 weeks anyway, for a week to eat at estimated TDEE.

If your exercise is frequent and or intense, it's also good to do an exercise break and really recover, lets you come back stronger usually.

Combine the two.

Exercise break for a week, only walk during your workout time. Figure out the TDEE for that level of activity, and take the deficit still.
Next week, start the exercise back up, you'll be stronger at it. And this week take diet break, eat at TDEE correct for the routine.
No better time to eat at maintenance than when the body is good and recovery and ready to hit it hard.

The exercise break sounds good. I'm actually going outstation for about a week soon, and so obviously I won't have my dumbbells and exercise bike with me then. I'll be walking a lot though so I guess I can do the exercise break then? Do I still eat at a slight deficit or should I already start to up my calories then?

So after I come back, which is the week after, I start my exercise routine again PLUS the diet break (eating at TDEE).

Figure out new TDEE (always do that with a change of activity anyway), and take the deficit.
The exercise break by itself is powerful stress reliever.

Correct, come back to the exercise, be willing to increase the weight on the bar if able, or the pace, or whatever, and eat at the correct TDEE (no deficit) for that week.

Then the week after that, take your deficit again. Most can hold on to any gains in performance they get. But it's also usually a great eye-opener to see just how much more difficult it is to keep those gains, if your routine is really full anyway, at a deficit.

Great timing on that.

Thank you OP for the detailed explanation....I really just skipped over any posts related to BMR/TDEE b/c I felt it all over complicated and chose instead to follow the 'eat less, exercise more' mantra. I'm still not quite ready to go full force into the TDEE way of doing things just yet primarily b/c my exercise is still rather sporadic. the exercise I plan to do and what I actually do don't always match up so it is difficult for me to commit to burning xxx calories per day or week to figure out what I should be eating. when I am able to get into a set exercise routine and stick to it, I will reconsider, but for now it is easier to eat as MFP suggests for a lightly active person and eat back some of my exercise calories on the days I do manage to get a workout in. thank you again to OP and all respondents for making this a lot easier to understand.

I've been using this method for 2 weeks now and have lost 4 lbs. I am still confused as to the exercise portion. I use a Fitbit Force so I wonder if I've been doing this wrong.

BMR 1762
TDEE 2733
Cut 20% 2185
That part I get.

2 workouts per week about 60 min of bike/circuit training (some weights)/core, plus 0-8 hrs of hiking/walking on weekends. I deliver mail by car, on my feet 7 hrs per day standing, walking, driving in between. I have chosen moderately active.

Fitbit adjusts my exercise (negative included), so do I log exercise into MFP as well, or am I doubling up?
And must I eat at least BMR or at least NET BMR? (I know I should eat cut, but does exercise logging affect this number?)

So first your FitBit is going to have a better estimate of TDEE than you picking from 5 rough levels.

Second, the FitBit is going to badly underestimate bike, circuit, and core - so you should log those in MFP or FitBit, replacing it's bad estimate of calorie burn, to get a better idea of your TDEE.

Once you have 2 weeks (and you can post correct data too if you recall and didn't do that), you have a better TDEE estimate.

Unsync your accounts and manually enter your eating goal of TDEE - 15%. Don't log your exercise except for 1 calorie, or end of day after reaching your eating goal.
Activity level in MFP doesn't matter, the math will be all wrong as soon as you enter a manual eating goal.

I'd do that for many weeks learning to eat the same amount daily.

Then you can do some tweaking to MFP settings and eating goal and sync them back up. Or spot check a week once a month by correcting bad exercise estimates on FitBit for that week and seeing where the TDEE is.

bump

I've been on a weight loss journey for nearly 5 years now and am within 15lbs of my goal weight. However, I have hit quite a slump. Out of sheer determination to drop any weight, I began only taking in roughly 700-900 calories per day for the past few month while doing 30-90 mins of exercise a day (varying from weight training, cardio, MMA, HIIT, etc). Over these months I have maintained my weight +/- 3lbs, however my body has become less tight and it looks as though I'm gaining weight mainly around my midsection.

I know I need to eat more, however after so much success cutting calories and working out insanely (have lost nearly 80lbs to this point), it is VERY hard to jump the hurdle to eating more.

From what I've gathered my BMR = 1457 and TDEE=2259, and cut=1807. This is nearly more than double what I have been eating, SO how much weight should I expect to gain before getting myself back on track? How will I know if this is working? I'm absolutely petrified that I will freak out as the scale climbs and give up and then will end up with more weight to try to lose.

PLEASE HELP ME GET OVER THIS FEAR!!! Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

Additional Facts: I currently weigh 145lbs, stand at 5'5", and am 27 years old.

Thank you!
Alina

So right now, with no weight changes, your TDEE is NOT above 2000.

If you mean you are only eating in total upwards of 900 calories, meaning NOT eating back exercise calories, got some bad news for ya.

That is your massively suppressed TDEE right now. Because you are not gaining or losing. Feel like eating less to keep losing weight? Where then.
So good job realizing the only direction to go.

Some of it is because of totally expected reasons, just to the max probably, and upwards of 20% is probably due to making yourself more metabolically efficient, your body adapted to what you fed it.

Some studies have shown you can start fixing it, it'll take many months, unless genetically you are lucky. And you try to back off all other stresses.

Read this study. 3 months eating at suppressed maintenance help recover somewhat.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales?month=201401

And here's what it sounds like you did to yourself. Unless your logging of food in really terrible, which could be part of it anyway.
http://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/truth-about-metabolic-damage


So first intense and/or frequent exercise is a stress on the body, especially in a diet, especially if you don't actually allow time for recovery. Which sounds like that program was.
Perhaps you were of the thinking more is better. So wrong. Smart workouts are better. Your body can only recover during the rest, with adequate nutrition. Where was your rest?
Need your sleep, as lack of it is a stress.
Need to start eating more.

Start with 100 calories extra daily.
That will be over your current suppressed TDEE right now, but it would have to remain 100 over your TDEE for 35 days to actually see 1 lb of weight gain. And if decent exercise, not even all fat.

Reread that again to alleviate any fears. Always do the math.

So you should gain water weight fast when doing this. 5 days will likely be 1 lb easy. Because 500 calories worth of stored carbs with attached water is 1 lb. I'm betting that has been very depleted for you. That is actually gained LBM, and metabolism goes up just for managing more water in cells.

Once 1lb happens, if indeed in a week, add another week at that level. Then the next week, add another 100 daily. Repeat. So one week to gain water, next week to maintain.

Keep doing that until you have no fast water weight gain. Don't worry, you were going to gain all that water weight back eventually if you ever went it to maintenance mode at goal weight. Same fast water weight loss at the start.

You also have to be honest with yourself, don't try to play it on the safe side by extremes. Logging food just get accurate with weighing.

But is the workout schedule you based TDEE on still the 30-90 minutes daily (really 45 average)? Or might say 45 x 7 = 315 / 60 = 5.25 hrs of intense stuff?

Is that 3-5 hrs of Moderately Active?
And if you were closer to the 60 min side of things, you know that's not correct. Even if you used bad TDEE table that says days a week, that's still not 3-5 days a week either.
So be honest there.

Because you need to back off the exercise for a while, need to remove that stress.
You can lift 3 days a week 30-45 min, not intense circuit training with minimal rests, but normal lifting with sets and rests. Don't try to make progress if you have a working weight until you are eating more. That's just asking your body to improve, but then stressing it by not giving it the means.
The 3 days after lifting is walking for that 30-90 min for recovery. Allow best hope for repair to the lifting.

Now you fall in to Moderately Active TDEE range, so keep increasing calories to TDEE.

Your hope is in what that study showed, increased daily burn by about 250 calories eating at maintenance for 3 months. Of course that group wasn't exercising either. And at the end of 3 months, still about 250 below what could have been.

Also, a bodyfat % estimate would allow using Katch BMR, because I'm betting you lost some muscle mass, and BMR might be lower using that method.

Could somebody help me with calculations ? I am male , 25, 187cm, 130 kg with a desk job. My only form of exercise is 30 min walks every second day.