Need help setting activity level for bmr

angieluvslondon
angieluvslondon Posts: 4 Member
edited March 4 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I am staring up with MFP again and I am trying to figure out how to set my calorie intake. I am 27, had a baby March 2012 and my body is much different from before. A little background on my fitness level. I was very muscular in middle and high school worked out 6 days a week for about 5 years straight. Back then I wrestled, played high school fball and track. At 5'3 my weight ranged from 167-187 depending on what sport season it was. And my body fat was 22% avg. Currently, I am 185 5'3 and based on my measurements I have about 28.5-30% body fat so around 132-135 lean mass. Now, to set my calorie intake I am trying to figure out my bmr as I want to retain my muscle and lose the fat so I can start over on my bodybuilding. I work as a line cook 43 hours a week constantly moving, walking, standing 5-11 hours a day in a very hot environment plus I have been doing hiit 3-4 times a week and doings calisthenics and lifting dumbells ranging from 10-40 pounds. I log my exercises as less time or exertion so as not to overestimate calories burned. I build muscle rather quickly as well but losing fat always was a bit difficult for me. My ultimate goal is to get down to 160 lbs/17-20% body fat over next 6 months. Any input would be appreciated especially with how to calculate my activity levels including work for a basic guide on my calorie intake. Thanks!

Replies

  • angieluvslondon
    angieluvslondon Posts: 4 Member
    Bump!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    With your job I would put moderate activity. You are on your feet a lot.

    As for your other goals...to lose fat and maintain the muscle start lifting heavy now.

    Try Stronglifts or Starting strength.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

    Get in enough protein (appx 135grams a day), get in enough fats (about 0.35grams per lb) and the rest carbs.

    My only other suggestion is don't put a time frame on your loss...6 months is doable but...that is about 1lb a week for the entire time...and as you near your goal it does and should slow down.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

    Subtract 20% from it, set as your daily custom goal (no logging exercise - so include exercise into this calculation, average all activity out for a week), weigh/measure food and track your weight and measurements for a month. If you lose, keep at it. If not, drop 100-200 cals, keep monitoring and dropping until you reach about 1lb a week.
  • angieluvslondon
    angieluvslondon Posts: 4 Member
    Ok, great thanks you both. So, I used the calculator and my total calories were 3908 and my bmr is 1660. So I would subtract 20% from the 1660 correct? And that would be my amount to consume with no need to add in exercises on mfp or eat back exercise calories? Thank you for the heavy lifting note as well. I am looking to purchase more weights next week and intend to follow my routine with about 20% light of my max so I can still move at work lol
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Ok, great thanks you both. So, I used the calculator and my total calories were 3908 and my bmr is 1660. So I would subtract 20% from the 1660 correct? And that would be my amount to consume with no need to add in exercises on mfp or eat back exercise calories? Thank you for the heavy lifting note as well. I am looking to purchase more weights next week and intend to follow my routine with about 20% light of my max so I can still move at work lol

    When I went to IIFYM.com (I find that a better calculator, more realistic in comparison to actuals I just input mine and it said 2770...my TDEE based on actuals is 2260) your TDEE was 2500-2600...take 20% off that so about 500-600.

    That is the amount to consume everyday regardless of exercise. I log exercise just to keep track but put in 1 calorie burn. This works for those who are consistent with exercise.

    MFP when you input your stats and 1lb a week should equal TDEE-20% so you can go either way if you choose moderately active and log your exercise and eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Ok, great thanks you both. So, I used the calculator and my total calories were 3908 and my bmr is 1660. So I would subtract 20% from the 1660 correct? And that would be my amount to consume with no need to add in exercises on mfp or eat back exercise calories? Thank you for the heavy lifting note as well. I am looking to purchase more weights next week and intend to follow my routine with about 20% light of my max so I can still move at work lol

    No, you subtract from your TDEE.

    Did you make sure to average out your activity? You are active on the job, so I'm not at all aware how that will increase your TDEE, but just make sure that you average it out. So if you are standing for 10 hours every weekday but you stand for maybe 2 hours the entirety of the weekend, that's 7.4 hours of standing on average. Same goes for exercise (if you do moderate exercise for 1 hour 3x a week, that's 0.43 hours of moderate exercise on average a day).

    IF you eat TDEE-20% then yes, you do not log exercise unless it's something on TOP of your normal exercise and you'd like an estimate of how much to eat extra. So if you randomly go hiking on the weekend but this is not something you'd normally do, then you could log that and eat back half the cals.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Ok, great thanks you both. So, I used the calculator and my total calories were 3908 and my bmr is 1660. So I would subtract 20% from the 1660 correct? And that would be my amount to consume with no need to add in exercises on mfp or eat back exercise calories? Thank you for the heavy lifting note as well. I am looking to purchase more weights next week and intend to follow my routine with about 20% light of my max so I can still move at work lol

    When I went to IIFYM.com (I find that a better calculator, more realistic in comparison to actuals I just input mine and it said 2770...my TDEE based on actuals is 2260) your TDEE was 2500-2600...take 20% off that so about 500-600.

    That is the amount to consume everyday regardless of exercise. I log exercise just to keep track but put in 1 calorie burn. This works for those who are consistent with exercise.

    MFP when you input your stats and 1lb a week should equal TDEE-20% so you can go either way if you choose moderately active and log your exercise and eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories.

    IIFYM generally estimates low for a lot of people. Chances are you did not use averages for exrx.net but instead inputted your average exercise day only.

    Exrx.net actually estimates a bit low for me (I need to use BF% to get close to real estimation), but I just entered in a typical workout day which gave me 2500+. Sedentary day gave me 2200. IIFYM gives me about 2200 when I select 4x a week exercise.
  • angieluvslondon
    angieluvslondon Posts: 4 Member
    Ok, I understand now. No, I didn't average it out over the week but I will because that would make it much easier! I work six days 3 of them are 11 hours so those are constant moving, lifting, walking occasionally running if we are busy lol. Its so hard to figure it out because some days are busier than others. I am trying to workout Sun-Thur and take rest on Fri and Sat because those are my busiest days at work to where my entire body aches by end of shift. Eventually I plan to add in slow cardio ie walking uphill 45 mins and doing hiit 2x a week and a 4 day split for weight training. I am currently trying to quit smoking as well so I am trying to build up endurance with the cardio. I appreciate the great info and links!
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