Am I not eating enough?
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IdaPL
Posts: 2
I'm a 26 year old female, 154cm and 52.8kg, no idea about body fat %, according to different online calculators it's anywhere between 25-30%. But from what I understand online calculators are not very accurate. I want to get down to 45kg. I'm not in any hurry though. According to heybales spreadsheet I should eat 1250kcal per day. I work from home and basically only go from my bed to my computer, cook meals and spend maybe 30min a day doing light cleaning. So I put my activity level at sedentary. Whenever I get time to workout I log it and eat back my calories so I always net 1250kcal. I feel hungry and tired all the time! Am I not eating enough?
(The only exercise I do when I get time is walking at fast pace or heavy lifting, and I always make sure to eat back my calories so I don't net too low)
(The only exercise I do when I get time is walking at fast pace or heavy lifting, and I always make sure to eat back my calories so I don't net too low)
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Replies
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Ok so looking at this calcs
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
TDEE 1580
CUT TDEE-10% 1422
with your BMR 1316 I think you might be cutting too harshly
have you eaten at your TDEE yet or gone straight to cut?
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That calculator gives me completely different numbers! I was under the impression from reading the forums that the spreadsheet from heybales is the most accurate way to calculate my BMR and TDEE. Is that not the case? According to heybales spreadsheet my BMR is only 1191kcal so I thought I was fine on that.
I've never been on a diet before in my life, since I was a kid I've been eating massive amounts of food without shifting the scale. Never been particularly active, just got lucky with good genes I suppose.
But these past two years of working from home I gained about 10kgs. I started EMTWL in early June, without any other dieting previous to that. So I didn't eat at my TDEE first since I had been eating well above it for years. I used the spreadsheet to calculate how much I should be eating. It's working in terms of weight loss, already down almost 4kgs (I am pretty sure 2kgs was mostly water because they came off the first week).
But lately I just feel so hungry all the time and so so tired, to the point of falling asleep at my desk!
I eat all organic, lots of nuts and seeds, lean protein, veggies, whole grains etc.0 -
If you are hungry all the time and falling asleep, then no, you are probably not eating enough. Why not try upping your calories by 100 or 200 and see if that helps...do it for a while and see if you still lose weight.0
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So you have already lost 4kg in about one month since dropping your calories to 1250. You are correct that the first couple of kg was probably water weight as glycogen stores were depleted.
If you are feeling tired and lacking energy, this suggests that you are not eating enough (regardless of what any calculator may say -- they are all just estimates, and every body is different). I would trust your gut, recalculate using the Scooby Calculator, and try upping your calories by about 200 a day and stay at that level and continue to monitor your weight. Chances are, your weight loss will slow down, but you will continue to drop weight more slowly, but in a more sustainable manner. If you are on the verge of falling asleep at your desk, then obviously what you are doing could not be maintained long-term, so this is the perfect time to make some adjustments..
I would adjust your calories up by 200 a day and then stay at that level for a month or so before re-evaluating. Depending on your weight loss progress (and more importantly, how you feel) you can readjust up or down at that point and see what happens.0 -
That calculator gives me completely different numbers! I was under the impression from reading the forums that the spreadsheet from heybales is the most accurate way to calculate my BMR and TDEE. Is that not the case? According to heybales spreadsheet my BMR is only 1191kcal so I thought I was fine on that.
I've never been on a diet before in my life, since I was a kid I've been eating massive amounts of food without shifting the scale. Never been particularly active, just got lucky with good genes I suppose.
But these past two years of working from home I gained about 10kgs. I started EMTWL in early June, without any other dieting previous to that. So I didn't eat at my TDEE first since I had been eating well above it for years. I used the spreadsheet to calculate how much I should be eating. It's working in terms of weight loss, already down almost 4kgs (I am pretty sure 2kgs was mostly water because they came off the first week).
But lately I just feel so hungry all the time and so so tired, to the point of falling asleep at my desk!
I eat all organic, lots of nuts and seeds, lean protein, veggies, whole grains etc.
2 kgs of water is rather a lot, maybe 1 kg was water.
Are your snacks a big portion carbs?
Are you eating to your protein goals, almost at every meal?
Like, if you had a snack or meal, and ate the protein and fat first, would you still get as hungry?
Many nuts and seeds have more carbs than protein, so those aren't a great test.
Sounds like a low blood sugar response, to possibly over-reaction to an insulin spike. When many start to eat healthier, they start eating more carbs, fruits and veggies are still carbs, and still spike the insulin, just usually not as bad as bread would have.
Oh, the reason the spreadsheet has different BMR - bodyfat%
Take your BF% to Scooby as recommended, use the option for Most Accurate calculator, and select the same Katch BMR the spreadsheet is using, your number will probably be exactly the same for sedentary TDEE you are using.
When you eat back your exercise calories, since not included in the TDEE, how are you estimating that burn?
And are you cutting them by 50% or something like so many in the forums think needs to be done?0
