Another *help me with my TDEE* post :)

Balance_Moderation
Balance_Moderation Posts: 59 Member
edited November 18 in Social Groups
Heeeeey guys. I need some help. I like to have some outside feedback from you guys so I can know I am on the right path with where I should be eating. Short story long, (ha ha) I am going to back off of some of the intense exercise right now. I have been eating 2300 calories (as per Scooby -- 5 to 6 hours strenuous with the workouts I have been doing -- ChaLEAN Extreme lifting 3 times a week, 2 HIIT sessions a week, 4-5 yoga sessions a week and TONS of NEAT as a mom of 4 kids). I need to give my body a break/rest a bit and back off of the higher intensity workouts and the lifting for awhile. I think my core is weak. It is really starting to show as I am getting pain in my hipflexors and my inner thigh area. I am going in for a massage next Thursday and I am hoping it will help things a bit. Anyway, I digress, I am assuming I need to tweak my calories down a bit? What I am looking to do with intentional exercise is to do the PiYo program which is a combo of cardio, strength (bodyweight movement) and flexibility. It is kind of like yoga on steroids. It is intense for me and I am in good shape but I come away dripping (literally) with sweat. So I am assuming I should back down to 3 to 5 hours of moderate? Here are my stats:

170 pounds
5'7"
4 kids stay at home mom (typically a lot of NEAT built into my day)
doing the PiYo 5-6 days a week.

If I plug this stuff into Scooby with these stats and 3 to 5 hours of moderate and a 10% deficit it comes back with 2356 TDEE and a 10% deficit as 2120. Does that sound pretty good? Thoughts? Input??? Thanks guys!!

Replies

  • MandaLeigh123
    MandaLeigh123 Posts: 351 Member
    I am pretty sure you should have been at the 7-21 hours Scooby per week to start with, so you're TDEE would've been even higher?
  • Balance_Moderation
    Balance_Moderation Posts: 59 Member
    I am pretty sure you should have been at the 7-21 hours Scooby per week to start with, so you're TDEE would've been even higher?

    You think that much? So then should I keep it at the 2300 and bump it down to 5-6 strenuous? I asked on my feed, too and that is what another one said to keep it at 2300. This whole *eat more* mentality still seems so foreign especially when so many say to eat less. :D You know?
  • MandaLeigh123
    MandaLeigh123 Posts: 351 Member
    Yeah, I totally get it but from where I am standing, you are working out a lot especiallly with the high NEAT with the 4 kids.
    I can only base of my numbers but here was me before my recent activity change:

    5'7"
    almost 34 years old
    145-150lbs
    TDEE 2850

    Workouts were all mood dependent but this is roughly what I did:
    *3x a week heavy lifting/compound lifts 30-60 minutes a time/ varied depending on my mood

    *5x a week some kind of intentional "cardio": 2x a week high intensity cardio 30-60 minutes (running/ellipitical/etc), 3x a week low-moderate recovery type cardio like walking on treadmill or exercise bike at lowish HR 105-125

    *Walking with 40lb bag to bus, from campus to hospital and back: 3 hours

    *One day of student nursing, about 6 hours on my feet in a hospital. Wasn't running around but keeping my feet moving pretty regularly there.

    I have no kids. My pets don't need to be walked. I was so busy with school, that I just sat around studying when at home. I didn't even have time to clean my house, cook and keep up with laundry so very little NEAT at my house. So I think its very possible your TDEE is much higher than 2300. You are very active, same height with a higher weight than me (which means you get to eat more calories!)

    My TDEE was basically off the chart of Scooby's calculator and I didn't realize it:
    My calories were higher than the 5-6 hour level on the MENS calculator (2700) but not quiet as high as the 7-21 hours on the mens (3000).

    The highest amount of calories recommended for me on the women's was for the 7-21 hours level was only 2,733.... and I was actually about 115 calories higher than that :)

    Just my opinion though!
    I actually hadn't realized there was a gender option on Scooby so I was going off of mens numbers from the beginning. Good thing too, otherwise I would have been more and more nervous as my number got higher and higher! Remember that the calculator is just an estimation.


  • Balance_Moderation
    Balance_Moderation Posts: 59 Member
    True. Good point. Alright so I'll keep it at 2360 and roll with that awhile and see where that gets me. Thanks for your help, girl :)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited May 2015
    Plug it in to this after you make your copy. Split the piyo time between lifting and hard cardio if it truly is with rests on the lifting parts. If more like circuit training - all under hard cardio.
    it's the daily activity you need to add on with 4 kids, with last option checked.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G7FgNzPq3v5WMjDtH0n93LXSMRY_hjmzNTMJb3aZSxM/edit?usp=sharing

    Good job wanting to evaluate changing eating goal as activity level changes.
    Life lesson there.
  • Balance_Moderation
    Balance_Moderation Posts: 59 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    Plug it in to this after you make your copy. Split the piyo time between lifting and hard cardio if it truly is with rests on the lifting parts. If more like circuit training - all under hard cardio.
    it's the daily activity you need to add on with 4 kids, with last option checked.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G7FgNzPq3v5WMjDtH0n93LXSMRY_hjmzNTMJb3aZSxM/edit?usp=sharing

    Good job wanting to evaluate changing eating goal as activity level changes.
    Life lesson there.

    Ok so I ran my numbers and they seem extraordinarily high :o

    Here are my stats:
    9dqjar2srqcs.png

    I logged them all under circuit but I am guessing they aren't.

    d467lfmjravq.png

    I do come away with sweat. But I don't want to overestimate so I might go through next week as I do the workouts and try to figure them out as far as how much is more like circuit and how much is more like lifting/rest. Like the one I did today (Buns) was all legs squats, lunges, etc for the first 20ish minutes then down on the floor for donkey kicks, etc. for the last 10. So I am guessing the first part of the program would be more circuit based and the last part would be more of a lifting thing. Then I did the upper body workout which was a lot of push ups, core work so I am guessing I would log that under the lifting minutes?

    Wow, that form is great -- thank you for showing that to me!! I appreciate the help!!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    The lifting calorie burn is based studies using sets and reps between 5-15 to almost failure on last few, and rests from 2-4 minutes.
    So if that is indeed what part of the workout is like, that would apply.

    And using bodyweight on some exercises can be exactly like that, pushups and pullups come to mind.
    But bodyweight squats and lunges? Usually not unless truly starting out. In which case it does if apply if rests are long enough.

    Most videos seem to keep rests short like 1 min or less, making it circuit or calisthenics type workout, so more cardio to the mix, and pretty intense.

    Compare to walking 4 mph, if it feels more intense than that, then hard cardio. If it feel easier in intensity but harder in weight, then using lifting. Then again, could feel the same as walking up 3-4 mph, so use that one.

    But most the calories is coming from daily activity.

    So you decide if the 45 hrs of a normal workout seems more slow moving like option 3, or constant moving like option 5 you picked. If you get to plop down for some computer time, or bills, ect, for 2-3 hr chunk daily, and the evening is calmer because almost everything has been done, then I'd suggest option 3.
    If you are constant moving throughout the day and in to the night, option 5.
  • Balance_Moderation
    Balance_Moderation Posts: 59 Member
    I guess some days are busier than others, you know? There are days that I get an occasional "sit break" because I am running here to there, but there are other days that (say for example) I have a sick kiddo and we're sitting most of the day and taking it easy or a day that I get a rare chance to read and I will sit for awhile and just read. I guess that is what throws me because some days are nuts and others are relaxing. But for sitting for 2-3 hours at a time, hahahahahha that surely doesn't happen :# But sitting for 2 to 3 hours in a given day, sure (just not all at once) so like for instance, right now I am sitting and checking my emails and drinkign a mug of tea but I will sit for maybe 20-30 min and then get up and clean the kitchen, sort laundry, get laundry going, etc. I guess I don't want to underestimate my NEAT and exercise activity, but I don't want to overestimate either.

    So like for today, my workout was PiYo Drench -- it surely lives up to its name. I left my workout with sweat dripping off of my nose. It was 50 min of non-stop movement. A lot of dynamic movement, bodyweight flowy yoga type moves. It is like yoga that is always moving -- not a hatha typ that you hold poses. It is constant dynamic movement up until about the last 5 min when it is more stretching and push ups.

    So maybe it might be beneficial to sit and log a week of my days and figure out my activity? What are your thoughts there?
  • butterbear1980
    butterbear1980 Posts: 234 Member
    You could try upping cals 100 every 3 days until you get to a higher number say 2650 and try that for a month to see how it goes. My guess is your tdee is higher than you think!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I would start at option 5 then, you aren't getting regular relax time daily, mainly constant movement.

    Don't let sweat fool ya, that's not really a great indicator of a great workout. Get your body trained, it'll start sweating before you even start working hard in prep for keeping cool.

    But that does sound more intense than walking 3-4 mph flat.
    I'd stick it under hard cardio, because that's not lifting style either.

    If the types of workouts are hit the same number of times weekly, or close, it would be useful.
    Because if there is a day of lifting style with sets and rests of decent time, that wouldn't burn nearly as much as hard cardio, and if 120 min of that time in the wrong spot, that's decent difference you might as well get accurate if you can.

    Round figures are fine, don't feel going nuts on the numbers will help too much. But noticing the difference and the time is useful.
    Like some people never really notice anything more specific than the workout was 45-60 min long, never really looking at the clock.
    Well, if only walking, then no big deal. If running as hard as possible, 15 min is meaningful difference.
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