Eat More 2 Weigh Less

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Looking for advice

emmajeanious
emmajeanious Posts: 31 Member
edited November 13 in Social Groups
I'm really interested in EM2WL and have been reading about it for a while. I am really wanting to give it a go, but not really sure about how. I work out at a gym three times a week - a mix of weights and cardio but I am just starting out really and fairly clueless - and walk 10000 steps a day as well as going to tae kwon do twice a week (but I'm a white belt and a lot of the time in training am not really doing much). Also, I'm 34 (35 at the end of the week!), 160cms and 85kgs. If I choose the moderate activity level on Scooby's, I get a recommended calorie intake of 1983 (20% reduction) and if I choose light I get 1759 (also 20% reduction). I've currently been eating around 1600cals and my weight has been mostly steady. I would really appreciate any help or advice you can give me.

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  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    If the cardio/weights is about 20 min each, and the TKD is only 10 min of moving time, sure, you might be Lightly Active.
    Otherwise - not. You move around enough Lightly Active is your day without exercise probably.
    - Now add exercise, probably top of Moderately Active.

    Suggest you be honest with activity level, take the reasonable 15% deficit without much to lose, and get the most from your strength training by making it full body compound lifts if it's not already. Don't waste time doing curls and tricep kickbacks with light weights if that's it.

    Do you weigh all the foods you eat, even packaged, to get serving sizes?

    And you need to slowly increase calories if eating level is indeed accurate.
    100 extra daily for a week at a time. Then another.

    If you are truly eating 1600 - guess what your current TDEE for maintenance is?

    I'd suggest suppressed TDEE, not what it could be, what it's been crashed down to.

    So get it flying high again by increasing slowly all the way up to potential TDEE/maintenance, and stay there.
  • emmajeanious
    emmajeanious Posts: 31 Member
    Ok thanks heybales... I go to the gym for about an hour on average, and on TKD I'm probably moving for about 20 mins? I don't weigh everything I eat, so that is something I'll need to work on. At the gym I mainly use the machines because I don't really know what I'm doing, so I guess I'll need to educate myself on that too! Thanks for your help. So when I pop in 1800 cals on MFP, it says I'll lose 0.1kgs per week ... that's ok, right?
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    Don't pay any mind to what MFP says about what you'll lose. It tells me, based on my settings that I'll gain with what I'm eating but I'm losing 1/2 lb a week (15% deficit, 1925 - I'm 46, 5'6" & 146 lb).

    A good beginner weight lifting programme: Stronglifts 5x5. I like it because it has an app to use and there is a decent board on here as well for support. Doesn't take huge amounts of time either.

    I popped your info into Scooby and put you at moderately active with a 15% deficit (that's the max you should be doing as you don't have a huge amount to lose - I know, any amount seems like a lot) and got: 2106 calories which would give you a .7lb loss per week. That's a good amount to lose weekly as it will allow you to retain most of your muscle while losing fat. If you think you'd like to go for a 1lb a week loss right now (and I'd only do it for a short while), then you can choose to eat a 20% deficit which is 1982 calories.

    I know it 'sounds' like a lot of food, but it's not really. And every time you lose 5lb or 2kg, re-do your TDEE-15%.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    P.S. When you use TDEE method, then you don't count your exercise. You can list it as 1 calorie per burn to keep track of it.
  • emmajeanious
    emmajeanious Posts: 31 Member
    Thank you! I will definitely look for the stronglifts app - is it kind of safe for a beginner to use? I'm a little worried about injuring myself. Life is a bit crazy for the next week, but hoping after that to get in more of a rhythm. 2106 does sound like such a lot of calories. The other thing I struggle with is eating a good balance of macronutrients - I tend to be over on carbs and low on protein. Any thoughts?
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    There's a lot of support/videos for it on youtube so you can see form. If you go to a gym, it's worth asking someone to just check your form.

    As for calories - when I wasn't on a diet, I was eating WELL above 2100 calories. It's actually not a lot of calories.

    But you should look at your protein and work on upping it.
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