Questions regarding cal intake
DesireeNL
Posts: 220 Member
Hi all!
I lost a lot of weight before on a moderate deficit, plus some jogging. Unfortunately I became chronically ill two years ago and put it all back on. I'm gaining at a fast rate so I know I really have to put a stop to this. I'm sedentary most of the time, but on good days I go outside and walk. I used the calculators provided on the emtwl website. Here are my stats:
TDEE 1755
BMR 1463
15% deficit 1492
I used my Fitbit data to calculate my average daily burn based on all September data, which was 1790.
Now here's the thing. My BMR and the 15% deficit are really close. So if I eat a little less or burn a little more, I'm already under my BMR. I don't want to decrease the deficit further as it's not even 300 kcal right now.
On my bad days I don't move much, and Fitbit shows a burn of around 1600-1650 on these days. Which means my deficit will be only 150 kcal if I don't want to go under BMR. On the good days I hit 1900-2000. I usually get more active in the evening so I don't know until late in the day how much my burn for the day will be. I'm not sure how many calories I should eat every day. Do I just leave it at 1492 because it's based on my weekly average, or do I need to change things when I do move a bit more/less?
I lost a lot of weight before on a moderate deficit, plus some jogging. Unfortunately I became chronically ill two years ago and put it all back on. I'm gaining at a fast rate so I know I really have to put a stop to this. I'm sedentary most of the time, but on good days I go outside and walk. I used the calculators provided on the emtwl website. Here are my stats:
TDEE 1755
BMR 1463
15% deficit 1492
I used my Fitbit data to calculate my average daily burn based on all September data, which was 1790.
Now here's the thing. My BMR and the 15% deficit are really close. So if I eat a little less or burn a little more, I'm already under my BMR. I don't want to decrease the deficit further as it's not even 300 kcal right now.
On my bad days I don't move much, and Fitbit shows a burn of around 1600-1650 on these days. Which means my deficit will be only 150 kcal if I don't want to go under BMR. On the good days I hit 1900-2000. I usually get more active in the evening so I don't know until late in the day how much my burn for the day will be. I'm not sure how many calories I should eat every day. Do I just leave it at 1492 because it's based on my weekly average, or do I need to change things when I do move a bit more/less?
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Replies
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So if your TDEE is averaging 1790 on your fitbit, that is more accurate for you than the calculators. Since your BMR and Cut are so close, I would make sure you are only taking a 10% or less cut rather than 15%.
I would also use this as a reason to get up and move more. It does not mean you need to join a gym yet or do anything overly physical (although that does help). But just starting out can be as simple as walking more, getting up and moving around the office, doing the stairs or parking further away from the door. Your NEAT expenditure will add up over time and will help increase your TDEE, which in turn means more food:)
The good thing is you know you cant go below your BMR. Make sure you stick to that. And definitely keep your cut around the 10% mark instead of 15%..
Since your Fitbit is coming in pretty close to the calculators at sedentary, id say its a good estimate for you right now, however are you lifting weights at all? if so, your Fitibit cannot determine the burn for lifting, so automatically your burn would be higher, and I would go with the lightly active category over sedentary to allow for the extra cals not showing up for lifting weights.
Hope this helps!
Kelly
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator3 -
Hey @DesireeNL
Just jumping in to say, excellent question!
I love how you have clearly done your reading and research and know the basics already.
Kelly said it all really!
15% cut is a maximum, so in your case, a 5 or 10% cut should be just right.
Ichel
EM2WL ambassador and moderator1 -
Thank you both for your answers
I think I am confusing myself because of the numbers on mfp. For example today it says I got 200 exercise calories and I'm netting 1250. Previously I used this info to maintain a specific deficit every day.
But now my numbers are based on my TDEE average of 1790. I had a good day so I walked a bit, and I'll probably be at 1900 tonight. I don't need to eat extra for that.
So it comes down to, eat 1500 minimum, don't go below BMR. But should I eat extra if my burn goes over a certain number? Like TDEE + 500 or BMR + 500?
@Kelly no I don't lift right now, I just got into it a bit when I got sick a few years ago. As said I'm chronically ill so on a bad day I really can't do much. On my good days I go outside and walk. I do plan on going back to the gym when things are getting better.0 -
Im not familiar with how the fitbit syncs with mfp.. the problem with it is most people eat the bare minimum and then it calculates the exercise cals on top.
Most people with EM2WL find it easier to not sync their gadget to mfp and set their diary to their tdee amount, or cut amount. That way you know exactly what your diary says, what your target is and your macros on any given day.
Or if you know your cut value is say 1500, then thats the total cals you eat, regardless of what the added burn says daily.
Remember, TDEE accounts for all activity, so it you are adding in the "extra" activity the fitbit is saying, you are doubling up on it and that will mean you are eating more than you should for your cut.
Make sense?
Kelly
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator1 -
If it helps you DesireeNL, and I'm not an expert, but I just calculated my calories according to EM2WL and then entered that as my calorie allotment on MFP and have my macros configured accordingly and I don't sync my Fitbit. I just check every now and again to make sure my average daily burn is close to what I put in on MFP. For my Fitbit I do log my strength workouts and that's it. I don't log exercise on MFP though. I basically use Fitbit for activity and MFP to track calories and macros. 0
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Alright thank you I'll unlink my fitbit, I think that'll make things a bit easier. So my diary will be about the food and nothing else. 1
