So confused -TDEE, BMR and why I am I not losing!!?

teenasbody · April 2013

Just a suggestion, and do with it what you want, as I'm no expert by any means, I just know what works for me...eat your daily calories, but don't eat back workout calories...since what you are saying is that your calorie intake is pretty nutrient rich calories, I'd say that you should be ok not to eat back your workout calories...at least while you're tryin. To lose...start eating back workout calories, once you attain your goal so that you maintain...also MORE EXERCISE!!! I know it's not always easy, but the thing is, muscle burns calories even when it's not "working" hard (like when you're Hangin out browsing MFP or something) so logically, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even at a rest...don't believe me? Look at athletes (I'll use one that has been noted for his diet) like Michael phelps...he consumes over 12,000 calories a day, and there's not an ounce of fat on that guy...so those would be my suggestions...WORK, and a little less intake for a bit.

DO THIS...

sbryan300 · May 2014

September 2012 I weighed 320! From now till then I've lost so much but at times stopped doing right and gained so much. Here I am now sitting at 233 :-) my BMR is 2207.92 and other than cheat days once a week I probably don't take in no more than 1,500-1,700 calories per day. I burn 1000 calories about 3-4 days a week at the gym. The days I don't lift weight my so called bet calories at times will be 25-30 and was told non stop I was hurting myself by not eating. Most of my carbs are fruit, and whey protein along with lean meats for dinner with a apple and carrot sticks or what not. I have more energy now than I've ever have in my life! All though the weight unless during plateaus is falling off but my arms, legs, and cheat are toning up. I'd say 1,400 calories a day with clean foods and moderate exercise 3-4 days a week and throw in a couple weight lift sessions and your *kitten* will fall off! In a good way :-)

negator5543 · May 2014

So in looking through your diary you are either not logging everything you eat or you are SEVERLY under eating.

As far as your BMR and TDEE when you do the fat to fit calculations you're supposed to put your current weight and then your goal weight.(you entered a goal weight thus the cal numbers you got were the number you should eat to become 160lbs). They've already done the calculations for weight loss in their algorithm, the 1900 cals suggested is what they want you to eat to maintain your current weight.)

The table it gives you with suggested calories is how many calories you should eat to become that lighter weight person.

I entered your info into the Fat2Fit calculator and this is what it said:

21 yr old female, 69inches, current weight 151, goal weight 130(I just picked a random number).

BMR: 1437-1537

AMOUNT OF CALORIES TO EAT TO BECOME 130lbs:
Sedentary: Eat 1735
Lightly Active: 1988
Moderately Active: 2241
Very Active: 2495
Extremely Active: 2748

Unless you are a pro athlete my personal opinion is to follow sedentary at all times and then track your actual physical activity, this way even if your calculation over estimates how many calories you burned you won't be eating an extra 1,000 calories just because you think you have been "very active".

Try sticking to tracking everything accurately and give it a few weeks, if you don't see a difference the calculations might be over estimating your needs, cut another 200 calories and see how that works for two weeks.

Also bear in mind if you've been severely under eating and have lost significant amounts of muscle, your BMR has gone down and you body fat % has gone up. If you start with 50lbs of fat and 110 lbm and lose 9lbs muscle you go from 31%body fat to 33% body fat, less muscle means less calories burned daily.

So I have read about every single post that is ever possible to find to figure out why I am not losing -including doing the in place of a road map a million times and also the metabolic reset.

I am 20 years old, female. 75 kg, 174 cm (166lbs 5'9") I am danish so if you look at my diary you will see plenty of danish words, but I ensure you that there are not a lot of processed foods in it (I like to cook myself) and that there are plenty of vegetables.

I have already gone to the doctor and the doctor said that nothing was wrong with my metabolism.

I only ever drink water -I eliminated everything else as being something you could possibly drink back in August of 2012.

I use my scale religiously to track even the littlest food that go into my mouth.

Now the thing is -I have done what I am supposed to do -> calculated my BMR wit fat2fit: as prescribed by in place of a road map 3.0

Entered information: 20 year old female, 68.5 inches tall, weighing 166 pounds, BMI of 24.9 (Normal weight).

From the information that you entered, you'd like to weigh 166 lbs.

Harris-Benedict Formula
There are a few different methods to calculating yourbasal metabolic rate (BMR). One of the most popular, developed in the early 1900's is called the Harris-Benedict formula. Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1605 calories.

Katch-McArdle Forumla
The numbers above are fairly accurate, however they don't take into account your lean body mass. A more accurate formula that does take your lean body mass into account is the Katch-McArdle formula. Since many of us have scales that will tell us our current body fat, this formula may yield more accurate results. Based on the information you provided, body fat percentage of 28.8%, you have a lean body mass of 118 lbs., and your BMR is 1529 calories.

Which makes my BMR between 1500-1600 calories.

Now how much should I eat:

Activity Level Daily Calories
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1926
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2207
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2488
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2769
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3050

I am a student and in Denmark that means sitting down in the same classroom, not moving all day and then when I come home I sit down at the computer /because I am addicted to MFP as others are to Facebook). I do exercise, but I use the Polar ft40 HRM to calculate my exercise calories and I eat those back. Therefore I would make med sedentary.

Now that gives me 1926 calories to maintain on days that I don't exercise. And to lose 1lb a week I need a deficit of 500 calories -> 1926 - 500 = 1426 -but wait this is way less than my BMR and everybody is saying that you can't eat less than your BMR, but then the math just doesn't add up.

Changing my activity level to lightly active won't make a difference cause that just means that my exercise has already been added and I would still have to net my BMR and therefore still only making my deficit 200-300 calories.

All in all the math isn't working. I haven't lost any weight (except water fluctuations) in 3 months.

Would someone just please tell me what is up and down and what to do?

Much Appreciated
Anne

P.S. has also been posted under general weight loss help, but most of the people who is having success with weight loss don't roam in that forum.

debobrien1 · May 2014

Bump!

a_stronger_me13 · May 2014

Just because you aren't losing weight doesn't mean that your body isn't improving.

Eat what seems right to you and switch up your exercise routine. Try and keep track of your measurements and take photos instead of what you see on the scale.

You might be losing fat while gaining muscle.

As I have written, I have a very expensive scale that measures body fat%, muscle mass, water balance and bone density and nothing is moving except water is going up and down a little everyday changing from the one to the other so therefore just water fluctuations.

BIA scales are a joke. The error in their readouts is insanely inaccurate and can fluctuate due to way too many variables.

You're simply eating too much. Whether that means your calorie goal in general is too high or that you aren't accurately tracking what you are eating and are unintentionally overeating is what you need to figure out.

ETA: When you use your TDEE that accounts for your exercise so stop eating back your exercise calories. The numbers that the calculators spit out are estimates at best. They provide a starting point. So guess what, if you aren't losing, the number you picked was too high and you need to lower it. TDEE is something that has to be constantly adjusted until you find what works.

Oh, and not weighing ALL your solids and not measuring ALL your liquids and not logging ALL your food EVERYDAY isn't helping you out either. Track accurately and stay at a deficit and come back in 4 weeks.

So confused -TDEE, BMR and why I am I not losing!!?

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