Holding steady and not budging
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abinal
Posts: 5 Member
Hi everyone!
I’ve been working up the nerve to post for quite some time. I am hopeful that experienced members will be able to provide guidance as I’m feeling pretty stuck, but I’m very optimistic. I've been making small changes one at a time over the summer and learning a ton.
EM2WL makes a lot of sense to me, and I’ve been trying to figure out my exact TDEE. I have been diligent about tracking what I eat since September 10 (minus a few days), the day I also bought a food scale, and a new digital scale to track my weight. I started by listening to the fat2fit podcasts, and wanted to have a few weeks of data under my belt to see what will work for me. Good news is that I’ve only gained around 1 pound since I started my 'reset'. Reset is in single quotes, because I'm not convinced I did it right. However, below are my stats, which may help pinpoint what I still need to adjust/improve. PS: Food diary is public, and I eat a lot of scones & chocolate, so please don't judge.
My goal is to feel strong and be lean, I’m interested in losing inches, but I’d also like my weight to be back in a healthier range for my height. I was 125lbs for most of my 30s, but not lean, and now that I’m 41, I am stuck in the 140s, but only slightly curvier, probably due to some personal training and pilates in the past. Here are some facts about me:
* 5’2”, female, 41, 143lbs (in perimenopause)
* Body fat according to Fitbit Aria is 35-36%, but Calipers say 29%…so I’m not sure - I go with 32-33%
* Under bust: 32”,Waist: 30”, Hips: 42” (pear!)
* Exercise:
- Walk to/from work pace 3-3.5mph for 4 miles minimum 2x/week
- Low Impact HIIT FitnessBlender (bad knees) 1x/week 30 min
- Either Pilates, Cardio Barre (jessicasmithtv) or Ballet Beautiful 1x/week 30-40min
here's the tricky part
* TDEE calculations according to http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ Exercise level 3x/week
- Body fat 30% - TDEE is 1860
- but with Body fat 35% TDEE = 1764
* TDEE calculations according to http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/ Body fat (28-35%) gave the same readings:
- Sedentary = 1652, Lightly Active = 1893 (this is what I went with - because it's the most!)
* Choosing 1893, and cutting 15%, I set my daily intake on MFP at 1602. I have been trying to eat around this amount since September 10, and my average calorie intake for last 4 weeks was 1557 calories/day - though I did neglect to log everything on a few days, so a safe margin of error might be +10%.
1. Should I invest in BodPod body fat reading? It seems like my calorie range changes around100 calories at most, and might not be worth it to calculate 'true' my TDEE
2. Do I need to try to reset if my weight hasn’t budged in 10 weeks?
3. When you’ve got such a small calorie cut and you’re only trying to lose 15 lbs, how do you know that you’re actually losing weight? This is probably the most frustrating part, since I may lose .5 lb a week, but then the next week I’m up 1 pound, how do I know if this was a loss or if it’s water weight? Especially since I’ve been hovering around 143 +-2lbs for the past 2 months!
4. If my calorie logging is off by around 15%, I’m closer to 1800 cals/day - including exercise/non-exercise days….if nothing is happening with my weight, and I’m not losing inches - what should I try adjusting next? It seems I’m maintaining!
I’m seriously considering trying the 5:2 fast just to jumpstart something..anything! However, before abandoning this ship, I figured I’d post. I’d love to hear some objective feedback and any words of wisdom will be appreciated (even though I may wince if someone says you must start LIFTING HEAVY WEIGHTS AT A GYM) because I’d much rather weight train using hand weights, kettlebell or resistance or do pilates and I’m a huge fan of working out at home Thanks in advance, apologies for the awful run-on sentences and I’m excited to read your replies.
I’ve been working up the nerve to post for quite some time. I am hopeful that experienced members will be able to provide guidance as I’m feeling pretty stuck, but I’m very optimistic. I've been making small changes one at a time over the summer and learning a ton.
EM2WL makes a lot of sense to me, and I’ve been trying to figure out my exact TDEE. I have been diligent about tracking what I eat since September 10 (minus a few days), the day I also bought a food scale, and a new digital scale to track my weight. I started by listening to the fat2fit podcasts, and wanted to have a few weeks of data under my belt to see what will work for me. Good news is that I’ve only gained around 1 pound since I started my 'reset'. Reset is in single quotes, because I'm not convinced I did it right. However, below are my stats, which may help pinpoint what I still need to adjust/improve. PS: Food diary is public, and I eat a lot of scones & chocolate, so please don't judge.
My goal is to feel strong and be lean, I’m interested in losing inches, but I’d also like my weight to be back in a healthier range for my height. I was 125lbs for most of my 30s, but not lean, and now that I’m 41, I am stuck in the 140s, but only slightly curvier, probably due to some personal training and pilates in the past. Here are some facts about me:
* 5’2”, female, 41, 143lbs (in perimenopause)
* Body fat according to Fitbit Aria is 35-36%, but Calipers say 29%…so I’m not sure - I go with 32-33%
* Under bust: 32”,Waist: 30”, Hips: 42” (pear!)
* Exercise:
- Walk to/from work pace 3-3.5mph for 4 miles minimum 2x/week
- Low Impact HIIT FitnessBlender (bad knees) 1x/week 30 min
- Either Pilates, Cardio Barre (jessicasmithtv) or Ballet Beautiful 1x/week 30-40min
here's the tricky part
* TDEE calculations according to http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ Exercise level 3x/week
- Body fat 30% - TDEE is 1860
- but with Body fat 35% TDEE = 1764
* TDEE calculations according to http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/ Body fat (28-35%) gave the same readings:
- Sedentary = 1652, Lightly Active = 1893 (this is what I went with - because it's the most!)
* Choosing 1893, and cutting 15%, I set my daily intake on MFP at 1602. I have been trying to eat around this amount since September 10, and my average calorie intake for last 4 weeks was 1557 calories/day - though I did neglect to log everything on a few days, so a safe margin of error might be +10%.
1. Should I invest in BodPod body fat reading? It seems like my calorie range changes around100 calories at most, and might not be worth it to calculate 'true' my TDEE
2. Do I need to try to reset if my weight hasn’t budged in 10 weeks?
3. When you’ve got such a small calorie cut and you’re only trying to lose 15 lbs, how do you know that you’re actually losing weight? This is probably the most frustrating part, since I may lose .5 lb a week, but then the next week I’m up 1 pound, how do I know if this was a loss or if it’s water weight? Especially since I’ve been hovering around 143 +-2lbs for the past 2 months!
4. If my calorie logging is off by around 15%, I’m closer to 1800 cals/day - including exercise/non-exercise days….if nothing is happening with my weight, and I’m not losing inches - what should I try adjusting next? It seems I’m maintaining!
I’m seriously considering trying the 5:2 fast just to jumpstart something..anything! However, before abandoning this ship, I figured I’d post. I’d love to hear some objective feedback and any words of wisdom will be appreciated (even though I may wince if someone says you must start LIFTING HEAVY WEIGHTS AT A GYM) because I’d much rather weight train using hand weights, kettlebell or resistance or do pilates and I’m a huge fan of working out at home Thanks in advance, apologies for the awful run-on sentences and I’m excited to read your replies.
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Replies
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1 - If you have the money and are curious. It does help start TDEE estimate with a best estimate of BMR though.
2 - Many people do the reset having eaten like 700-1200 calories less, and at that lower eating level their weight didn't budge either, though they were attempting to lose.
Is that proof they were resetting then? Obviously not, because now they eat 700-1200 more and do lose weight or maintain. That was suppressed maintenance.
3 - Valid weigh-in days only. Morning after rest day eating normal sodium levels, not sore from last workout.
4 - That would be maintaining, and a good strong workout while maintaining should have performance increases, and body improvements of inches lost even while weight remains.
You need to ease your mind and prove if your TDEE estimate was correct (I've see in the forums that the vast majority that have a proven TDEE based on results, find that iifym site badly underestimates their figures).
Also, the fat2fit site is giving TDEE for goal weight, not current weight.
You need the 2 week 250 test.
Eat 250 more daily for 2 weeks. Sounds like a lot, make it an accurate 250 more.
If you slowly gain 1 lb, then prior figure was correct. Reread that.
Then you'd take deficit off prior figure.
If you gain more or faster, than it was not, and you just gained water weight, which would not happen if you really had been eating at maintenance.
If you gain no weight, then body sped up daily burn, indicating again prior level was wrong.
Test higher in those 2 cases.
While doing test, get best estimates of everything.
Use the spreadsheet on my profile page.0 -
I didn't need to do the reset as i wasn't underrating too much but I did decide to figure out my TDEE. I've been slowly going up 200 or so calories every month and holding there for the month. So far, I've gone up a lot more calories than I thought I would and still haven't gained any weight, so I'm still doing it. I think it will be worth it to 'rev up' my metabolism, have a realistic idea of what I can eat when I'm just trying to hold steady and then do a good 10-15% cut. Good luck!0
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heybales, I can't thank you enough! mymodernbabylon, your note was very encouraging! I have filled out the spreadsheet, and it also gave me 1750 cal/day so I adjusted my daily calories and macros accordingly. I'm starting the 2 week 250+cal/day test today, and will post my results in 2 weeks. Btw, when I calculated the TDEE using fat2fit, I made sure that my goal weight was my current weight in order to get an accurate number. I'm in no hurry, as this is for life, and my goal is to be strong and lean, and eventually to stop tracking because it will be second nature. See you in 2 weeks 0
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What's goofy (but needed) with fat2fit site, is they help you get your BF%. They ask for it to calculate BMR and TDEE. They display the resulting Katch BMR.
But the rough 5 level TDEE table is based on least accurate Harris BMR, not the Katch BMR. So if the Katch is less than Harris, the TDEE table is inflated.
Keep your normal workouts, don't add anything new and stressful, just normal performance gains perhaps you'll get eating at maintenance.
Good job - sounds like you were more than ready to enjoy that extra 250 daily. ;-)
Hope it counts and TDEE is higher.
Oh, once you have a month of data, the spreadsheet Progress tab lets you log a months worth of eating data, your real life results, and it tells you what TDEE must have been to accomplish that, and what to change in the Activity Calc to cause it to use it.
Makes it easy to adjust from estimated to calculated TDEE. Well, unless workout or life changes big time.0 -
So, if I figure out what my bf% is using fat2fit, but want to use Scooby for my BMR/TDEE, which should I choose? Katch, Mifflin or Harris? Which is the best choice?
![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
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Neither? Choose one, stick with it for a month and see what happens. If you stay the same - YAY, you have found your TDEE. If you lose weight - YAY, you can eat more. If you gain weight - YAY, you know that you are above your TDEE and should eat a bit less. Calculators online are just norms. They won't give you the full picture. That's why herbals said to do this for a month and see. The worst that will happen is that you'll gain one measly pound which is easily reversible.0
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Katch BMR since it's based on your estimated BF%, not the average for someone your age, weight, height.
Which if you've had a fair number of diets, likely isn't the same as average.
For those with a lot to lose, I've seen Katch BMR be 200-400 below Harris BMR, meaning the TDEE table was 400-700 lower.
And if the higher estimate had 15% taken off, you'd actually still be eating in excess to a better estimated TDEE to start off with.
And there is nothing gained to be eating over your real TDEE, except extra fat. And during the time of trying to get body to speed up, that's a real big excess.
I agree they are just estimates, but I figure, if there exists an ability to get a better one - why not?
Why have months of no results because you used an inflated calculation?
Now, if only needing to lose 10-30 lbs, that difference isn't as great usually.
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I'm back! I've tried to be as accurate as possible with my calorie intake for the past 2 weeks. I increased my daily intake by 250 calories, bringing me from 1530 to 1780 cals/day. I began my 250 cal/day increase on 11/19/14. Two weeks ago, according to my fitbit aria scale, I weighed exactly 143.9 lbs, and today I was at 145.7 - that's an increase of 1.6 lbs.
I also didn't exercise as much as I normally do, because of a cold, work trip and Thanksgiving, so I'd say my past week was almost Sedentary. I did find it a bit difficult to eat all those calories, and sometimes felt too full. I'm not surprised by the weight gain, and now I'm trying to understand the data and results so that I can seriously begin the longterm process of shedding this unwanted excess weight.
I'm guessing that a gain of 1.6 lbs is probably normal, since I've eaten an additional 3500 calories in the past 2 weeks. I'd love feedback about how you'd interpret this data. I'm going to target 1600 calories per day with kettlebell workouts 2x/week to build some muscle and see where that brings me. I'm open to suggestions, and thank you for all your help so far! 0 -
So indeed, if you changed one side of the equation and the other at the same time, (ate more and moved less), then you would indeed make it impossible to interpret anything really well.
Hence the reason studies only change 1 variable at a time.
So always do the math if you think it's fat, to discern if possible, or not at all, or partial.
1.6 lbs x 3500 / 14 days = 400
So do you think you were eating 400 calories on average daily above your reduced level TDEE?
You may indeed have been if you were really active.
Were you really working out that much that it would have averaged 400 cal daily?
You did eat an extra 3500 calories in 2 weeks over what you ate previously.
But was it 3500, or 250 daily, over maintenance, that is the question?
Perhaps it was 400 over your reduced maintenance.
Meaning your TDEE with your normal workouts is indeed the higher eating level.
Plus, your BMR literally does change through the month, was this a good 2 weeks for avoiding TOM?
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Heybales, you're absolutely right - same thing applies to fixing software bugs - you make one change, retest, then repeat until you find the root cause. So a couple of updates and clarifications.
TMI alert: If TOM is what I think it is, that doesn't apply to me anymore, due to perimenopause. Also, I didn't weigh myself in the morning, and I had been suffering from constipation all week. I weighed myself first thing this morning, after my balance was 'restored' - and after weighing myself 5 times, it consistently gave me 144.6. So my previous weigh-in was off. To simplify:
On November 19: 143.9 lbs
On December 6: 144.6 lbs
Gained .7lb in 17 days
1lb = 3500 cal & .7lb = 2450 cal
2450/17 = 144 additional cals/day
Avg. Calories per day between November 17 - December 6: 1700 (exercise cals not deducted)
So based on all of that, if I subtract the additional 144 calories from 1700, then I'm left with my TDEE: 1700 - 144 = 1556
Does that sound right? Because to me it does, especially since the progress tab of the Weight Loss spreadsheet for October gave me an average of 1530 cals for the month of October.
Seems a bit low, so I guess I should move more and build muscle. Hoping to get a better understanding of all this. As always, thank you for helping me gain a better understanding of how this all works. I feel like I'm getting there.
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So indeed likely, your average TDEE for that time period for the amount of exercise you did was 1556.
So if you keep up that average amount of exercise, you can base future eating goals on it.
So you said one week was pretty sedentary, was the other week also?
And do you plan on keeping that level of activity going forward?
That also means that if you do more activity, that figure doesn't apply.0
