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Week 16 Update
MandaLeigh123
Posts: 351 Member
Just to let you all know, I don’t actually re-read my old posts before I post a new one. So if things seem to jump around, or my feelings seem inconsistent, it’s because my feelings do jump around and are inconsistent! Some days I’m super pumped with my fitness journey and other days I’m confused and doubting.
NOTICE! BEFORE READING AHEAD! I did a FULL METABOLIC RESET BEFORE ATTEMPTING A CUT. I see a lot of people find EM2WL then jump up to the Scooby cut calories without giving their body a chance to reset.
So, WEEK 16 update: After three months at TDEE, and a large activity change (see previous posts) I decided to try and do my first caloric cut. This has proven pretty difficult because my activity bounces around so much from week to week. Some days burning my sedentary amount, which I’ve gone with Heybales estimate to be roughly 1770 and some days burning nearly 3,000 calories. I have my average TDEE figured out to be roughly between 2100-2300. The trouble with this is: If my TDEE is 2300 then my 10% cut value is 2,070. My TDEE actually may be closer to 2100 though, making my cut level 1890. With the numbers being so close, any mistakes in measuring or over calculating my exercise can completely void any efforts. So I know the idea is just to ride it out and make adjustments, which I plan to do. But the fact is, by the time I get it figured it out for the summer, school will start up again and my numbers will change all over again. I don’t have the time to recalculate TDEE for three months at a time when my year changes activity levels every four months. I’m at the top of my weight range for a healthy BMI, so I would really like to lose some more fat before focusing on body recomp.
So I went ahead and kind of tried to the MFP way. Kind of. I set my calories to sedentary every day. 1770. I never eat under that amount. It doesn’t seem healthy, bc even on sedentary days, my body is recovering from lifting and other activities. I watch my FitBit and if I get in a lot of non-exercise movement that day, I add in some calories. I don’t take a cut on sedentary days. When I chose to sit on my butt, I really do legit sit on my butt all day. On my more active days, the goal is to take a 10-20% cut. Balance that out with my non-cut days, and the goal is a weekly cut of 5-10%. This has proven really difficult bc it means some days I’m eating 1770 and other days 2700. It’s hard to plan for and it’s often 10pm at night and I still need to eat 800 calories. Eating the same amount every day is easier but I just get nervous bc of how often my activity level changes. It's really tempting to want to take a bigger cut on days when I burn over 1,000 calories but I'm nervous my body is going to cannibalize my muscle!
I look at my post and I see it and think, I must be under calculating my activity hours… but because I don’t have a job and I have no kids, most of my movement only comes from me intentionally making myself get up and move around. I watch a lot of Netflix. I craft a lot. I play video games. I read. I talk on the phone with friends and family in other states. I have to make it a point to move every day or I could easily sit on my bum all day pretty content.
So week two of my caloric cut: by weeks end, I was only under by 1 calorie! Haha. Oops! Talk about sllllllloooooowly losing fat. Clearly, that wasn’t a win! I am actually pretty happy with that, because it was PMS battling all week. So to eat at maintenance, pretty good!
Week 1: I was under 1,254calories for the week. So like, 1/3lb loss if I calculate things right.
I’m still having lots of victories with my journey. I no longer say, “I want to lose weight.” This implies that I just want the number to go down, at any cost. This is no longer true! I want to lose fat and I do NOT want to lose muscle. I still don’t panic when the scale bobs up and down all of the time. I don’t weight myself daily anymore. My chin-ups are getting a lot strong on the chin-up assist machine. Getting gains on bench press after correcting my form. I’m feeling less peer pressure by internet people. I’m more confident to do my own thing and more able to take peoples online criticism. I know my body is unique and I have unique medical problems that other people don’t have and don’t understand, so I take their critques with a grain of salt. Also, interacting less online has been good for me. For the first time in my life, I have… traps? After I lift, I can kind of shrug and flex, and it looks like I’m hulking out. It’s super funny! They look great relaxed and not like the hulk, haha. I’ve been doing my physical therapy daily for my joint issues, working on my small muscles. Can’t tell if it’s helping but working closely with my physical therapist, chronic pain specialist and primary care physician to work on a long term plan of care.
Non-victories, areas to work on: I feel like I’m still not a good mentor for people trying to follow this path. I’m still too new and uncertain. I don’t know what to say when people say “It’s been a week and nothing is happening!” or “The scale is up 1lb and I’ve been doing this two weeks… why isn’t it working?” For a vegetarian, I’ve been avoiding vegetables like the plague the past few weeks. I do eat them, just not enough!
So still trucking along. I feel there was some sort of miscalculations on my part bc my weight went up slightly, but my inches went down all around my body… but all of my pants were also tighter. My lowest weight ever when I started was 143lbs but after learning more about “valid weigh-in’s” I think a more accurate start weight for myself was probably 145-147lbs. My last valid weigh-in was 150.2lbs. I've also started branching out on My Fitness Pal to find more people with similar goals to mine. I've joined the groups, "Eat. Train. Progress." and "Not-That-Heavy Girls" and I've become more active in a group I've been in a long time "Women Strength Training".
I don't even know if I am technically doing Eat More 2 Weigh Less anymore since I don't do average TDEE. But I have become more aware of the problems that can come with major caloric deficits so I'm just trying not to do that.
PS My profile pic was posted to show how we can position our bodies to look differently. Those two pictures were taken two hours a part. Pic #1 looks like that arm would snap if it attempted a bench press. Picture number 2, the arm looks out of proportion to the rest of my body bc it’s smashed up against my torso. I think my actually arm size is in between those two
Whats my activity level?
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10108212/5-6x-week-strenuous-activity#latest
Week 2 update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10111627/two-week-update-for-anyone-curious#latest
Week 5ish Update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10125614/week-5ish-update-em2wl-rip-the-band-aid-attempt-to-find-tdee#latest
Struggle hitting the 3,000 calorie mark:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10129033/the-eating-3-000-calories-a-day-woahs#latest
Week 6.5 update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10134868/week-6-5-update#latest
Week 9 update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10152864/my-week-9-update#latest
Week 11 Update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10168177/week-11-update#latest
(Week 13) 3 months at TDEE compared to 7 months at caloric deficit (weight and inches compared)
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177936/3-months-at-tdee-compared-to-7-months-at-caloric-deficit-weight-and-inches-compared#latest
NOTICE! BEFORE READING AHEAD! I did a FULL METABOLIC RESET BEFORE ATTEMPTING A CUT. I see a lot of people find EM2WL then jump up to the Scooby cut calories without giving their body a chance to reset.
So, WEEK 16 update: After three months at TDEE, and a large activity change (see previous posts) I decided to try and do my first caloric cut. This has proven pretty difficult because my activity bounces around so much from week to week. Some days burning my sedentary amount, which I’ve gone with Heybales estimate to be roughly 1770 and some days burning nearly 3,000 calories. I have my average TDEE figured out to be roughly between 2100-2300. The trouble with this is: If my TDEE is 2300 then my 10% cut value is 2,070. My TDEE actually may be closer to 2100 though, making my cut level 1890. With the numbers being so close, any mistakes in measuring or over calculating my exercise can completely void any efforts. So I know the idea is just to ride it out and make adjustments, which I plan to do. But the fact is, by the time I get it figured it out for the summer, school will start up again and my numbers will change all over again. I don’t have the time to recalculate TDEE for three months at a time when my year changes activity levels every four months. I’m at the top of my weight range for a healthy BMI, so I would really like to lose some more fat before focusing on body recomp.
So I went ahead and kind of tried to the MFP way. Kind of. I set my calories to sedentary every day. 1770. I never eat under that amount. It doesn’t seem healthy, bc even on sedentary days, my body is recovering from lifting and other activities. I watch my FitBit and if I get in a lot of non-exercise movement that day, I add in some calories. I don’t take a cut on sedentary days. When I chose to sit on my butt, I really do legit sit on my butt all day. On my more active days, the goal is to take a 10-20% cut. Balance that out with my non-cut days, and the goal is a weekly cut of 5-10%. This has proven really difficult bc it means some days I’m eating 1770 and other days 2700. It’s hard to plan for and it’s often 10pm at night and I still need to eat 800 calories. Eating the same amount every day is easier but I just get nervous bc of how often my activity level changes. It's really tempting to want to take a bigger cut on days when I burn over 1,000 calories but I'm nervous my body is going to cannibalize my muscle!
I look at my post and I see it and think, I must be under calculating my activity hours… but because I don’t have a job and I have no kids, most of my movement only comes from me intentionally making myself get up and move around. I watch a lot of Netflix. I craft a lot. I play video games. I read. I talk on the phone with friends and family in other states. I have to make it a point to move every day or I could easily sit on my bum all day pretty content.
So week two of my caloric cut: by weeks end, I was only under by 1 calorie! Haha. Oops! Talk about sllllllloooooowly losing fat. Clearly, that wasn’t a win! I am actually pretty happy with that, because it was PMS battling all week. So to eat at maintenance, pretty good!
Week 1: I was under 1,254calories for the week. So like, 1/3lb loss if I calculate things right.
I’m still having lots of victories with my journey. I no longer say, “I want to lose weight.” This implies that I just want the number to go down, at any cost. This is no longer true! I want to lose fat and I do NOT want to lose muscle. I still don’t panic when the scale bobs up and down all of the time. I don’t weight myself daily anymore. My chin-ups are getting a lot strong on the chin-up assist machine. Getting gains on bench press after correcting my form. I’m feeling less peer pressure by internet people. I’m more confident to do my own thing and more able to take peoples online criticism. I know my body is unique and I have unique medical problems that other people don’t have and don’t understand, so I take their critques with a grain of salt. Also, interacting less online has been good for me. For the first time in my life, I have… traps? After I lift, I can kind of shrug and flex, and it looks like I’m hulking out. It’s super funny! They look great relaxed and not like the hulk, haha. I’ve been doing my physical therapy daily for my joint issues, working on my small muscles. Can’t tell if it’s helping but working closely with my physical therapist, chronic pain specialist and primary care physician to work on a long term plan of care.
Non-victories, areas to work on: I feel like I’m still not a good mentor for people trying to follow this path. I’m still too new and uncertain. I don’t know what to say when people say “It’s been a week and nothing is happening!” or “The scale is up 1lb and I’ve been doing this two weeks… why isn’t it working?” For a vegetarian, I’ve been avoiding vegetables like the plague the past few weeks. I do eat them, just not enough!
So still trucking along. I feel there was some sort of miscalculations on my part bc my weight went up slightly, but my inches went down all around my body… but all of my pants were also tighter. My lowest weight ever when I started was 143lbs but after learning more about “valid weigh-in’s” I think a more accurate start weight for myself was probably 145-147lbs. My last valid weigh-in was 150.2lbs. I've also started branching out on My Fitness Pal to find more people with similar goals to mine. I've joined the groups, "Eat. Train. Progress." and "Not-That-Heavy Girls" and I've become more active in a group I've been in a long time "Women Strength Training".
I don't even know if I am technically doing Eat More 2 Weigh Less anymore since I don't do average TDEE. But I have become more aware of the problems that can come with major caloric deficits so I'm just trying not to do that.
PS My profile pic was posted to show how we can position our bodies to look differently. Those two pictures were taken two hours a part. Pic #1 looks like that arm would snap if it attempted a bench press. Picture number 2, the arm looks out of proportion to the rest of my body bc it’s smashed up against my torso. I think my actually arm size is in between those two
Whats my activity level?
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10108212/5-6x-week-strenuous-activity#latest
Week 2 update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10111627/two-week-update-for-anyone-curious#latest
Week 5ish Update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10125614/week-5ish-update-em2wl-rip-the-band-aid-attempt-to-find-tdee#latest
Struggle hitting the 3,000 calorie mark:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10129033/the-eating-3-000-calories-a-day-woahs#latest
Week 6.5 update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10134868/week-6-5-update#latest
Week 9 update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10152864/my-week-9-update#latest
Week 11 Update
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10168177/week-11-update#latest
(Week 13) 3 months at TDEE compared to 7 months at caloric deficit (weight and inches compared)
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177936/3-months-at-tdee-compared-to-7-months-at-caloric-deficit-weight-and-inches-compared#latest
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Replies
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Thanks for letting us into your journey @MandaLeigh123 It sounds like you're are making all kinds of gains, not all physical but important just the same.0
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Thanks for the update Manda.
Week 1: I was under 1,254calories for the week. So like, 1/3lb loss if I calculate things right.
This had me confused, that is deficit calories for the week, not you were eating 1254 total/net calories daily?
I think you are a good mentor, your comments to others and myself are helpful.
The Eat, Train, Progress group is one of my favs on MFP. So much good information there and the mods are such great people.
Get to eating your veggies again, greens make you lean!!0 -
I had a defecit of 1,245 total. My calories were between 1770 and 2700 per day. Some days no defecit on sedentary days and active days I would take a defecit between 5-20% after adding back in exercise calories.0
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Hey, that's my program!
Want a spreadsheet to make it easier to do that sliding deficit based on amount of daily burn?
Also, suggestion to make it easier using the Fitbit, if still synced, which really helps a lot.
Set MFP to Sedentary just so the final hours between going to bed and midnight are closer to reality when MFP calculates the day's burn.
Set weight loss goal to maintain.
Your MFP food diary now shows your eating goal which makes it your TDEE with Fitbit adjustments.
So by end of day, just plan on leaving some of it green, that's your deficit.
10 and 20% are pretty easy to calculate mentally, and you could make blocks of your TDEE ranges to decide when to use what.
EM2WL like many of the other programs (it's not alone) - is all about taking a reasonable deficit for amount to lose.
You can do that following MFP's method.
Can do that with MFP and Fitbit synced method.
Static goals, dynamic goals, ect.0 -
I'll take a spreadsheet and give that a look! I love spreadsheets. I made my own spreadsheet to keep track of all of my physical therapy so I can look for trends related to pain/medicine/sleep/etc. Love charts!
I was up late last night thinking and re-thinking things, trying to decide whether or not I wanted to go back to a TDEE attempt. I was thinking 1900 and up if necessary... but then I have the same problem as before. On a day I burn almost 3,000 calories, 1900 just doesn't seem enough fuel. I am very wishy-washy on my plan right now and I seem to change it up every few days.
So I have had MFP set up to sedentary, just so I'm not tempted to under eat. I actually don't have my FitBit synced up bc I still don't think it's totally accurate. You had helped me adjust for the semester by me telling it I was 5 inches taller than I actually was. Worked very well actually! When I stopped school/nursing, it started to show numbers way too high. So I set it to my normal height to try again to see what happens. It seems closer now, but on my truly sedentary days, it still basically giving me a BMR burn. While I've come a long way, I'm really easily swayed into eating less so I just have to be careful. Monday is a good example of FitBit showing low cals burned. Calories burned: 1,528. That day I tidied the house a little but not much else. This is low! This is the number MFP tells me to eat to lose 0.5lbs per week. Wednesday before that: 1,671. So if I synced it up with MFP, wouldn't it tell me I was over if I ate my 1770 that day?
When I add my exercise calories into FitBit, the total FitBit number is still lower than sedentary 1770 plus exercise calories that shows with my MFP calculations. 1,528 just doesn't seem enough even for a lazy day. Lazy days are often after big exercise days and I'm pretty sure my muscles need to eat. So at this point, I'm mostly using FitBit as a stepcounter to see the difference between my sedentary days. Some days it says I burn 1520 on a lazy day, some days I'm burning 1800 on a lazy day. So I like to see those differences. Some days that I feel are really active, I've come to find out is just plenty of standing around, which doesn't burn a ton of calories compared to if I was walking around.
@heybales: Do you find in difficult eating at a sliding deficit? I just feel so scattered doing it. I just am struggling to take a reasonable deficit with the days and weeks changing around so much. Also, how do I know if I should be doing a 5, 10, 15 or 20% cut? I keep hearing go small if you are close to your goal weight. I'm sitting at 150lbs. I have a small frame so if you look at charts, goal weights for this height are state on different sites as being 123-133 or 123-136... so I'm thinking I have about 20lbs to lose. What percent deficit is good here?
PS Everyone: I know a lot of my pictures look like I don't have any weight to lose. It's because I'm good at angling the camera and wearing flattering clothes.0 -
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AH! It's me in my underpants! This was... two weeks ago. Wanna looked more toned in my underpants! Also, truth of the matter is that the less I weigh, the less pain I have with my joint condition (hyper mobile joint syndrome/joint hypermobility). Not only weighing less helps, but building strong muscles to hold my joints in place, because they are loose sloppy mess. So for me it's, a combo of Mr. Vain and my health
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I guess I just posted these pictures partly because I wanted to say/show... that everyone has different goals. Some people's goal are just to get into a certain BMI category. Other peoples are to be able "play with their grandkids". Some people have a goal weight. Some people like me, get chastised a lot for wanting to tone up and get more fit. Like, people imply that I should just be happy that I'm not obese. Well, yes I am happy that I'm not obese. I also thinks it okay to strive for other fitness goals. To be stronger. To be leaner. To have more endurance.
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MandaLeigh123 wrote: »I guess I just posted these pictures partly because I wanted to say/show... that everyone has different goals. Some people's goal are just to get into a certain BMI category. Other peoples are to be able "play with their grandkids". Some people have a goal weight. Some people like me, get chastised a lot for wanting to tone up and get more fit. Like, people imply that I should just be happy that I'm not obese. Well, yes I am happy that I'm not obese. I also thinks it okay to strive for other fitness goals. To be stronger. To be leaner. To have more endurance.
Don't listen to the chastisers. You nailed it! We all have different goals. And they change as we progress. Otherwise why are we here????
I have a bucket list of places to go, things to see and do. I can do that better if I am fit and can fit into plane seats & cave openings, hike up mountains and get out of the way of wild animals. And yes, I want to eat at fine restaurants without worrying about calories, too. I don't expect everyone to have those goals
You are going great, just keep at it.0 -
MandaLeigh123 wrote: »I'll take a spreadsheet and give that a look! I love spreadsheets. I made my own spreadsheet to keep track of all of my physical therapy so I can look for trends related to pain/medicine/sleep/etc. Love charts!
I was up late last night thinking and re-thinking things, trying to decide whether or not I wanted to go back to a TDEE attempt. I was thinking 1900 and up if necessary... but then I have the same problem as before. On a day I burn almost 3,000 calories, 1900 just doesn't seem enough fuel. I am very wishy-washy on my plan right now and I seem to change it up every few days.
So I have had MFP set up to sedentary, just so I'm not tempted to under eat. I actually don't have my FitBit synced up bc I still don't think it's totally accurate. You had helped me adjust for the semester by me telling it I was 5 inches taller than I actually was. Worked very well actually! When I stopped school/nursing, it started to show numbers way too high. So I set it to my normal height to try again to see what happens. It seems closer now, but on my truly sedentary days, it still basically giving me a BMR burn. While I've come a long way, I'm really easily swayed into eating less so I just have to be careful. Monday is a good example of FitBit showing low cals burned. Calories burned: 1,528. That day I tidied the house a little but not much else. This is low! This is the number MFP tells me to eat to lose 0.5lbs per week. Wednesday before that: 1,671. So if I synced it up with MFP, wouldn't it tell me I was over if I ate my 1770 that day?
When I add my exercise calories into FitBit, the total FitBit number is still lower than sedentary 1770 plus exercise calories that shows with my MFP calculations. 1,528 just doesn't seem enough even for a lazy day. Lazy days are often after big exercise days and I'm pretty sure my muscles need to eat. So at this point, I'm mostly using FitBit as a stepcounter to see the difference between my sedentary days. Some days it says I burn 1520 on a lazy day, some days I'm burning 1800 on a lazy day. So I like to see those differences. Some days that I feel are really active, I've come to find out is just plenty of standing around, which doesn't burn a ton of calories compared to if I was walking around.
@heybales: Do you find in difficult eating at a sliding deficit? I just feel so scattered doing it. I just am struggling to take a reasonable deficit with the days and weeks changing around so much. Also, how do I know if I should be doing a 5, 10, 15 or 20% cut? I keep hearing go small if you are close to your goal weight. I'm sitting at 150lbs. I have a small frame so if you look at charts, goal weights for this height are state on different sites as being 123-133 or 123-136... so I'm thinking I have about 20lbs to lose. What percent deficit is good here?
PS Everyone: I know a lot of my pictures look like I don't have any weight to lose. It's because I'm good at angling the camera and wearing flattering clothes.
I'd suggest getting the Fitbit set back up with adjusted height, if need be, so it's using an average BMR/RMR based on either a decent bodyfat % measurement, or an RMR test.
I don't recall if you had either to get that setup.
And then getting it synced back in to MFP.
Any workouts that need to be manually entered should be on Fitbit.
Because indeed, assigning BMR level burn for all non-moving time can be badly underestimated depending on your daily life. Average BMR/RMR at least balances that out better.
I have workout day TDEE's that range from 2.5 x non-exercise day TDEE to 1.5 x. 5000 calories last Saturday.
So indeed, a static eating goal would never fly on the big workout days, too big a deficit, but on rest days I'd be eating over actual TDEE that day, no good either.
I also had success with MFP style tweaked. Take whatever deficit % was reasonable, log exercise when done, with same % off. But hard to do that with Fitbit synced.
Now with Fitbit I discovered last fall reaching goal weight, what worked best for performance was sliding deficit, based on amount to lose, and how big TDEE was.
So non-exercise days no deficit, the biggest TDEE days the biggest deficit, more than would appear reasonable, but because the workout was long, it was also a huge part fat burn, and you can take bigger deficit then.
And that's why the sliding deficit may not really work differently than static eating goal, which in reality causes the exact same effect almost.
Rest days may have little to no actual deficit, big workout days have bigger deficit. I just wanted it tweaked for me.
Because my routine is no where near a regular schedule, weather is huge influence as to what happens, as well as shifting schedules.
I'd been getting input from others too and finding it doesn't workout much better than static eating goal - if the routine is regular.
But yours isn't, so it may work well. Spreadsheet asks for a few pieces of info.
Amount to lose, that's easy.
When you think about what figure to use as non-exercise TDEE, either find a few Fitbit days to use as an example of normal average non-exercise days and take an average of several - or just use MFP's estimate for Sedentary.
When you fill in a week's example, just input for exercise whatever the difference is between Fitbit daily burn and that MFP daily burn for sedentary. But using just exercise would be better as example, and using Fitbit's rest day figure.
Then for actual use, like right before dinner, input whatever MFP says your daily burn is going to be (hence my suggestion of making your eating goal end up being your TDEE) - it'll spit out the TD Eating Goal to go for, and what deficit that ends up being.
The spreadsheet is open since still testing, I'd love if you would fill in your info for sample week so I could have another example to view. The prior tester is done with it, that was his data. Just let me know when you are done.
Of course you can make a copy if desired.0 -
I'd suggest getting the Fitbit set back up with adjusted height, if need be, so it's using an average BMR/RMR based on either a decent bodyfat % measurement, or an RMR test.
I don't recall if you had either to get that setup.
And then getting it synced back in to MFP.
Any workouts that need to be manually entered should be on Fitbit.
I don't know how calculate RMR accurately and my body % numbers don't seem accurate. I will caculate again based on measurements but they didn't seem right. If either body % fat test or RMR test cost money, that's out of the question. Just not in my budget.
Also, I can't recall how you figured out to adjust my height to six feet tall before so that the FitBit was more accurate.
RMR do I just use a calculator?
This calculator on bodybuilding.com says my RMR is 1, 439? That can't be right.
BMR caculator from another website says my BMR is 1,462 which is higher than that bodybuilding RMR. I am going to take some time re-look at your sheets. Something is amiss here.
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Ooooo.... this sliding scale sheet is very cool! I'll start with it tomorrow. Today I left my FitBit at home on accident and went and walked my lap dog slowly around the park.0
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When I used your spreadsheet for body fat % based on measurements this is what I get (just did a copy and paste):
29.80 U.S. Navy Circumference Method
29.25 Covert Bailey "Fit or Fat" book Method
19.68 Average body fat % of the two to four methods
I didn't do the skinfold. I thought about buying some calipers, but I wouldn't know what I was doing and I don't have someone who I trust to help me out with that to get a somewhat accurate reading.
Also, to answer your question before, I don't think I gave you body fat % or RMR before to aid in fixing the FitBit. I just had tested out my TDEE to be approximately 2800.0 -
That's right, purely working backwards from tested TDEE level.
So you must have left some sample data in the Body Fat calc area, because 2 x 29's don't average 19.68%.
So you actually do measure well for BF%, because both those calc's use mainly different body parts, and yet yours came in as close as I've ever seen.
And true, don't waste money on skin calipers, in inexperienced hands, very inaccurate. Useful to see progress, but not to do math with.
So enter in the yellow box for Body Fat% the 29.5%.
Go over to the Fitbit_BodyMedia tab.
Delete the value in the tested RMR field.
There is your Cunningham RMR and Katch BMR based on your weight and BF% you entered on Simple Setup tab.
RMR isn't much more than BMR really, but since it's for 2 x as long (16 hrs awake to 8 hrs asleep avg), it counts.
The height that is given to change the device to is already the average of those 2 stats.
And if concerned that the BF% isn't exact, go change it over by 5% and under by 5%, and see what the RMR and BMR change by, usually not much to be concerned with even though that would be 10% accuracy range there.
Usually when measurements are that close, you got 5%.
My improvement to the sliding scale thing is to just come up with like maybe 4 ranges of TDEE, matched with deficits of 250-1000. That way you could almost memorize it and do easier math.
That's what I did last fall, but some days was too much deficit, some not enough, so wanting to try this for a bit.0 -
Haha! oops! Yes, I had entered a 0 in the handheld body fat % cell.... so 0% body fat... um, yeah right!
"There is your Cunningham RMR and Katch BMR based on your weight and BF% you entered on Simple Setup tab.
RMR isn't much more than BMR really, but since it's for 2 x as long (16 hrs awake to 8 hrs asleep avg), it counts."
So it RMR this section?
Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) : 1767
I'm so unfamiliar with body fat % and comparisons that I don't really know. I feel like my upper body looks like body fat % than my lower body fat %. I was trying to compare my pictures above to photos online of people that are roughly 30% body fat, and I don't seem to look like them.... but 25% doesn't seem right either so who knows!
I'm going to start with the sliding scale today.0 -
No - it literally says Cunningham RMR and Katch BMR and Mifflin BMR on the Fitbit tab.
No TDEE given. Just delete the tested RMR figure that is optional.
Likely inbetween BF%, or you have some in places those in the pics have in more obvious places to be seen, but you may have a tad more elsewhere instead.0 -
Okay, I do see it now-- I was looking at the wrong sheet. Mifflin BMR is 1414. Then my RMR pops us as 1,578. I went ahead and just did a body of 28%
So I know you talk a lot about how unless circuit training, HR monitors inflate calories burned lifting weights and I understand why that would be. I need to enter something though. I pay attention to what my HR monitor (chest strap) does as I'm waiting between sets and it bounces up and down between 95 up to 150 if I'm really pushing. How do I adjust that? Just shave some calories off HR burn?
I also know you've mentioned HR monitors are inaccurate when doing slower activities. Example, I do a lot yardwork, some of which keeps my HR just around 100bmp. It's not high, but my resting HR is half of that so I feel I need to account for it somehow. What are your thoughts on those kind of activities? That reel push mower however is a full on high intensity cardio workout with the hills. It's crazy. I wear my HR monitor and my HR stays between 145-170!
I realize a lot of people say don't get too caught up in the numbers, but I like the numbers. To get the deficit right, I think I need to at least try to get my calories burned through out the day close.0 -
Side Note Regarding my profile picture: My husband and I bought like.... 2,500 vinyl records a couple of weeks ago for $28. We had to buy them without sorting through them, so I've been finding all sorts of funny stuff in there. I'm going to start trying some of the aerobics records. I'll post pictures of the sleeve as my profile picture to let you guys see what I'm working on. I don't know how it's supposed to work, since aerobics involved bouncing sometimes and record needles skip.... Today's selection: Thin Thighs, Hips and Stomach by Joanie Greggains.0
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Also, the FitBit height adjustment it gives me is 72.6 inches instead of my height of 67. So I'll just plug it back in as 6 feet tall and see how that goes.
I did the first day on the sheet. Exercise calories 541. Likely TDEE 2308. Likely TDEG 2062. Deficit amount 246. Deficit % 10.66. I think I got it right.0 -
MandaLeigh123 wrote: »Also, the FitBit height adjustment it gives me is 72.6 inches instead of my height of 67. So I'll just plug it back in as 6 feet tall and see how that goes.
I did the first day on the sheet. Exercise calories 541. Likely TDEE 2308. Likely TDEG 2062. Deficit amount 246. Deficit % 10.66. I think I got it right.
Remember that the weekly table is purely optional - it was meant for looking at say a past week to see what the avg deficit % ended up being, or tracking a current week for same reason.
It actually does no math on it's own - you have to supply the figures from the upper section.
You HAVE to use the cell that says "Today's MFP projected TDEE" - that's it.
Then you get the Results as Daily Figures - TDEG and deficit and %.
Didn't want you filling in only the exercise cell in the weekly table thinking you were getting any math done with it.0 -
MandaLeigh123 wrote: »Okay, I do see it now-- I was looking at the wrong sheet. Mifflin BMR is 1414. Then my RMR pops us as 1,578. I went ahead and just did a body of 28%
So I know you talk a lot about how unless circuit training, HR monitors inflate calories burned lifting weights and I understand why that would be. I need to enter something though. I pay attention to what my HR monitor (chest strap) does as I'm waiting between sets and it bounces up and down between 95 up to 150 if I'm really pushing. How do I adjust that? Just shave some calories off HR burn?
I also know you've mentioned HR monitors are inaccurate when doing slower activities. Example, I do a lot yardwork, some of which keeps my HR just around 100bmp. It's not high, but my resting HR is half of that so I feel I need to account for it somehow. What are your thoughts on those kind of activities? That reel push mower however is a full on high intensity cardio workout with the hills. It's crazy. I wear my HR monitor and my HR stays between 145-170!
I realize a lot of people say don't get too caught up in the numbers, but I like the numbers. To get the deficit right, I think I need to at least try to get my calories burned through out the day close.
Even circuit training is inflated, but of the resistance workouts, it would be the least inflated as it's more steady-state.
Manually log as Weights on Fitbit's site if this is lifting with sets, and rests 1-4 min, and reps 5-15 range.
2 options now - if heavy for you to almost failure, then the more intense option (forgot the name).
If rests under 1 min, and circuits, and reps 15 and up, then log as circuit training.
That is more accurate than HRM, unless by sheer coincidence they are close. If they are close, need to workout harder. ;-)
If moving around doing yard work - Fitbit is seeing that already, no need to log it.
As you get near 90, the accuracy of HRM formula drops off, so it was losing it already down there.
Mowing is great workout, sadly my reel only went up to 2.75 inches, and tall fescue prefers taller. And with rain delays to mowing and it growing higher, I preferred taller too. Had to make the switch.0 -
Yeah, it took me a minute yesterday to figure out the sheet but I got I do the figures on the top then plug them into the bottom just to see. It's a cool sheet. Thx!
Weights: Usually going to almost failure so will log under that. Every once in awhile if I'm in a rush, I'll do circuits just so that I can get the strength workout in.
Yard work: I need to clarify my version of yard work I guess. FitBit isn't tracking it, because I'm not moving a ton when I do it. I have a FitBit Flex. I am basing my calories burned doing yard work vs me sitting on the couch. Me sitting on the couch my HR is is 55-60. Me doing yard work, my HR is 90-100 but often I am not moving, so FitBit isn't giving me any burn for that. I'm often in the same spot for 10-15 minutes at at time: planting, pulling weeds, digging around, etc. I've worn my HR monitor out there just to see what happens and that digging by hand shoots my HR up (which surprised me). So at HR 100, that's almost double my resting heart rate, but without the feet movement. I have to be able to account for it in some way.
I guess that's where I am curious. I understand that 90-100 HR isn't going to be very accurate, but I can't just pretend it doesn't exist when my HR stays that way for three hours compared to sitting on the couch for three hours at HR 55.0 -
Just updated that little spreadsheet for sliding deficit %.
I figured out how to incorporate no deficit on what could be non-exercise days for when you have a lot to lose, since that's the point - take a diet break on rest days.
Just the formula in B10 if you want to copy it over.
Understand about the yard work then, yep, burning higher than they say.
Easiest way is to get an estimate for you.
Do a 7 min walk hitting the same HR the whole time.
See what the calorie burn is that Fitbit gave for it for the 5 min block of time in daily graph.
Use that for the same level of effort, and per minute calorie burn.
Manually log gardening with your own calorie burn.0 -
Perfect! Thank you. I'm ready to get back to a cut after three months doing a metabolic reset. I needed those three months off more than I realized. I'm coming back into this cut with a stronger sense of what my goals are and a better relationship with food.0
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I am excited to see how it goes for you Manda. Three months seems like a long time but I know it really isn't in the grand scheme of things. I'm guessing you will see good results 0
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So Manda, did you fall off the planet or something
? How is it coming along for you? 0 -
1) awesome progress
2) pittsburgh marathon
holy moly I ran that one that year...totally off topic.... 0
This discussion has been closed.