Hello! Thank you for this helpful post!
I had a body scan last month which was rather confronting. The suggestion given is to lose 18kg of body fat.
Currently have a lean muscle mass of 53%.
I work out 4-5 times per day and I am in a job that has me on my feet 80% of the time.

Calorie intake was suggested at 1600 increasing to 1800 on work out days with a macro breakdown of 30/35/35 (120g carbs, 140g protein and 62g fat).

Until today I hadn't been able to make sense of the numbers so I couldn't give you any results.

I've also been told I need to stay away from the scales as previous diets have had me in such a deficit I need to feed my body back up?

Do you think I'm on the right track here?
Thank you

Suggest you understand the numbers better - and then run your own.

Because if your body scans are anything like the ones here, the folks talking to you about calorie levels and such know how to run a machine, and spew out the exact same thing on the printout to everyone - there is really nothing custom to you regarding activity level.
Perhaps it's different there.
And body scan? Using what method to determine BF% or LBM%?

But if using Scooby site for instance - pick the Most Accurate TDEE calc option, so you can enter your BF% and use the Katch BMR option.
And then for activity levels, that amount of work puts you in to Lightly Active all by itself.
Your exercise of 4-5 time per week (you said per day, probably not, huh?) could be 4-5 hrs, could be 2-3 hrs. Just use the description in the TDEE table, but bump it up 1 level for your non-exercise daily activity that is already higher.
So if 4-5 hrs weekly, would normally be Moderately Active, but with work being Lightly Active already, bump it up to Very Active in total.

If your previous diets were very extreme, then indeed they probably did cost you a more than a tad of muscle mass - which is going to make this attempt even harder - and you don't want to keep doing that - unless you enjoy yo-yo dieting.

Thanks for your reply

The scan I'm referring to is a DEXA so bone mass lean muscle and fats. So it's X-ray and thermo based from memory.
You are right in saying it wasn't tailored to my activity level, however the person running the scan was a dietician and advised the 1600 was BMR - explained to me as the amount of calories my body needs to lay around in bed all day.

Running the numbers through the scooby site gives rmr 1628 and tdee at 2523. Katch-Mcardle calculation runs very similar to the scooby calculation. 30% deficit at 1889 calories.
It still seems high

Apologies for my typos in the first message, had something all typed out on my iPhone and then managed to delete it!
Also apologise because as far as all these macro numbers go I'm lost!!

I appreciate any help I can get.

DEXA, good.

So they are starting with the theory, eat minimum possible and see what you get. Well, not that bad actually, or they would have said 1200. ugh.
Minimum is the best way to NOT get the most out of your workouts.
Most people workout because they want some good body changes, and think it's the answer to losing weight. 2 different things.

Best to follow advice in this topic, start from top down. Eat less than you will estimated burn. Which is TDEE.
I'm really shocked the Katch BMR option on Scooby was about the same as the default Mifflin BMR, since it would appear you are at 47% BF.
(you said lean muscle mass - which there is no such term really unless talking to butcher for a cut of meat. Do you mean 53% Lean Body Mass (LBM), which means 47% FM? LBM is muscle and everything else not fat.)

30% is rather extreme, perhaps for 1 month, then bump down to 20% as reasonable.

So your exercise is only 1-3 hrs weekly - for Lightly Active?
And then your work is Lightly Active also, so you used Moderately Active as combo TDEE level?
Be honest with yourself as to exercise amount. Maybe you were, but I detect fear regarding higher calorie levels that really you probably have no idea if high or low - because you probably never logged how much you used to eat. If your only experience with calorie levels is the minimum 1200, then not really knowing if 2500 is high.

I'm betting your TDEE is really up around 2800. Yep, Very Active level.

Then just the math in the starting topic for the macro amounts.

Age: 29
Height: 163cm
Weight: 85kg
I carry my weight on my thighs, bum and arms.

Started at 108kg around two years ago but my weight has been pretty stagnant, never moving more then 5 kilos.

After having an intermittent diet suggested by my doctor to help with food sensitivities (it did help for that). Being told that I'm starving my body (Dexa). I made the decision to try something different and take the advice given to me time and again - eat more.
It's not easy because I've become so used to 1200 calories or less so I find it hard to bulk up meals with good foods. I'm a food weigher and a label reader!
I also have an unusually high heart rate when exercising, so not sure if this impacts my results. No medical reason or concern for it as my resting heart rate and blood pressure are normal.

Thank you for your reply. Just to clarify because I forgot to say it before, my TDEE isn't 1560cals, that figure is in fact my TDEE with a 15% reduction (cut value). So does this mean I should be eating the 1560cal as it's actually a cut value? And so are my calculations okay? Sorry to be a bother, maths isn't my strong point! Thank you

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Help please,I work out doing the chalene extreme lifting weights and I'm 35 years old and am 62 inches high.My body weight is 137lb and my body fat is 28%,I'm wanting to lose body fat and also gain muscle.I used the Scooby calculator and it suggested daily calorie intake should be 1706 and I've put my carbs at 50%,fat at 25% and protein at 25% would you say this sounds about right.I have to admit I was one of those on a constant low calorie diet and have learned the error of my ways of denying my body the calories it needs to just exist so would be greatful for any help.Its the carbs,protein and fat % I really struggle with as I read somewhere to put them at 50%protein,30% carbs and 20% fat to loss body fat and then also seem someone else suggest 40% carbs,40 protein and 20% fat.x

Thank you!!!

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Awesome post! Hoping I could get some advice... HAAALLPP

I'm 26 and a little over 5'2 and in April I was around 130-133 lbs. I'm trying to get down to 115 lbs and in high school and college (did team sports and gym, lots of walking around campus), I've always been around 115 lbs but the years since I've gained a few lbs here and there. Since the beginning of April through end of March, I was going to the gym 2x, occasionally 3x a week (cardio, lifting, tennis). Before this, I wasn't going to the gym at all and I wasn't watching what I was eating (I naturally eat somewhat healthy, as very little fried foods and fat, maybe too much fruit and carbs.. and I eat a lot for my size). Most definitely ate over 2000 calories a day.

Now from end of May - present day, I've been tracking my calorie intake and I've upped my gym time to 4x a week, pretty consistently except for when I go on vacation etc. Now my gym routine mostly consists of lifiting via simplyshredded.com with occasional running. I probably eat a net calorie intake of ~1500 .. but after all of this I still weight on avg, 128.5 lbs (127-130). There are some weekends where I don't really watch what I eat (vegas vacation, nyc vacation etc). People have said that I do look more fit although I'm still the same size (yes yes muscle weighs more than fat) but I'm still pretty plump around the tummy arms etc and considering that I weighed ~115 lbs a few years ago, I thought I would get better results than this. It's hard to not get discouraged considering that before I got into working out, I basically ate whatever and maintained a 130-133 lb weight.. Should I be increasing my calorie deficit? I tried 1200 calories for a bit but it was really difficult .. Or maybe I should be watching my macro targets?


Estimated TDEE = 1700 calories --> desk job, take 3 flights of stairs at least 4x during weekday
128 lbs
BF of 20%
1360 calorie target

Protein:
1 x 128 x .8 = 102.4g x 4 cal = 409 cal / 1360 target = ~30%

Fat:
0.35 x 128 = 44.8 g x 9 cal = 403.2 cal / 1360 target = ~30%

Awesome post! Hoping I could get some advice... HAAALLPP

I'm 26 and a little over 5'2 and in April I was around 130-133 lbs. I'm trying to get down to 115 lbs and in high school and college (did team sports and gym, lots of walking around campus), I've always been around 115 lbs but the years since I've gained a few lbs here and there. Since the beginning of April through end of March, I was going to the gym 2x, occasionally 3x a week (cardio, lifting, tennis). Before this, I wasn't going to the gym at all and I wasn't watching what I was eating (I naturally eat somewhat healthy, as very little fried foods and fat, maybe too much fruit and carbs.. and I eat a lot for my size). Most definitely ate over 2000 calories a day.

Now from end of May - present day, I've been tracking my calorie intake and I've upped my gym time to 4x a week, pretty consistently except for when I go on vacation etc. Now my gym routine mostly consists of lifiting via simplyshredded.com with occasional running. I probably eat a net calorie intake of ~1500 .. but after all of this I still weight on avg, 128.5 lbs (127-130). There are some weekends where I don't really watch what I eat (vegas vacation, nyc vacation etc). People have said that I do look more fit although I'm still the same size (yes yes muscle weighs more than fat) but I'm still pretty plump around the tummy arms etc and considering that I weighed ~115 lbs a few years ago, I thought I would get better results than this. It's hard to not get discouraged considering that before I got into working out, I basically ate whatever and maintained a 130-133 lb weight.. Should I be increasing my calorie deficit? I tried 1200 calories for a bit but it was really difficult .. Or maybe I should be watching my macro targets?


Estimated TDEE = 1700 calories --> desk job, take 3 flights of stairs at least 4x during weekday
128 lbs
BF of 20%
1360 calorie target

Protein:
1 x 128 x .8 = 102.4g x 4 cal = 409 cal / 1360 target = ~30%

Fat:
0.35 x 128 = 44.8 g x 9 cal = 403.2 cal / 1360 target = ~30%

Edit: I misunderstood BF, which is probably more like 28% for me (guessing).

So.. TDEE = 1700 calories
20% calories deficit = 1360 calorie target
128 lbs
BF of 28%

Protein:
1 x 128 x .72 = 92.16g x 4 cal = 368.64 cal / 1360 target = ~27%

Fat:
0.35 x 128 = 44.8 g x 9 cal = 403.2 cal / 1360 target = ~30%

Thanks! This is very helpful.

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I have what I hope is a fairly straightforward question...I am using scoobys to calculate my TDEE. I currently have my calories set at 1650 and macros at 30/25/45 but want to double check. These are my stats:

27yo Female
67 inches tall
132lbs
bf % 25.4

I just started a weight lifting program (All Pros beginner + moderate cardio) and my goal is to lose bf and get closer to 20%bf. I have the workout as 3-5hrs moderate exercise and that gives me a TDEE of 2072. Is that too much, should i input 1-3 hrs? (I will be working out roughly 3.5 hours a week but have a desk job and low activity otherwise)

Also, if I am looking to reduce bf% should my goal be gain muscle and lose fat or TDEE -20%??

There are too many options!! haha I appreciate any help or being pointed to a different thread

Just to clarify since it seems in healthy range for weight and BF%?
Are you actually wanting to lose weight and fat? Or just fat.

Just a fact that you'll have better workouts and better improvements to reach your stated goal - the closer you are to eating in surplus.
Which obviously means less deficit the better.
So if you just want to lose BF and weight is healthy enough - eat at maintenance, get almost max improvements from your workouts, and really burn in to that fat.

Moderate sounds correct.