Sedentary or Lightly Active? Someone help please.

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  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    I think a part of my problem to is I am thinking to much about muscle gains and I have really been busting my *kitten* with weight lifting so I try to focus on getting protein and sometimes I choose protein over staying within my calorie goal. I know most of this is just things I need to change myself. I have to make the conscious decision that right now losing weight is more important to me than gaining muscle because even if I gain muscle if I do not lose the fat I will not be happy with where I am.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    terryt1992 wrote: »
    for the people who have commented I have not changed my calories. I am still at sedentary and still having the same problem. I know I should have made a change already I am just afraid that I will up the calorie in take and start to gain weight. Part of my problem is that it is hard to eat back my exercise calories because I go to the gym at night. So I have already eaten everything for the day and when I get home from the gym it is around 1 am

    Then don't. Eat them the next day. Your body doesn't actually care *when* you eat the calories.
  • danigirl1011
    danigirl1011 Posts: 314 Member
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    Well first off congrats on the weight loss! That is great! I have a desk job too and my *kitten* actually hurts by the end of the day because of so much sitting. We do have 15 min breaks, so we do go out and walk twice a day while at work. It helps me greatly. Maybe you could try that if possible? Gets you up and moving a tiny bit at least. Or if you have the option to eat at your desk you could walk on your lunch break and get 30 mins of activity. I did take a peak at your diary and it's good in a lot of spots, but if i had one suggestion it would be to maybe take the few hundred calories you are eating after dinner for snack, candy treats, suckers and using them with dinner in the form of veggies or proteins to get yourself more full and then maybe no snacking after dinner. Good luck on the rest of your journey!
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    danigirl1011 wrote: »
    Well first off congrats on the weight loss! That is great! I have a desk job too and my *kitten* actually hurts by the end of the day because of so much sitting. We do have 15 min breaks, so we do go out and walk twice a day while at work. It helps me greatly. Maybe you could try that if possible? Gets you up and moving a tiny bit at least. Or if you have the option to eat at your desk you could walk on your lunch break and get 30 mins of activity. I did take a peak at your diary and it's good in a lot of spots, but if i had one suggestion it would be to maybe take the few hundred calories you are eating after dinner for snack, candy treats, suckers and using them with dinner in the form of veggies or proteins to get yourself more full and then maybe no snacking after dinner. Good luck on the rest of your journey!

    he already walks 7-15k steps a day
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Why not just simply manually set your calorie goal to a sensible, and importantly, sustainable level?

    A level that results in an appropriate rate of loss but also allows you to adhere to it long term.

    Really IMHO overcomplicating the whole process by twiddling about with activity settings when you have a track record of actual results and compliance already.
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    Thank you for the feedback. I agreed I eat a lot of empty calories and I should replace that with nutritious foods that would allow me to feel full longer. I would be down to set my own personal goal instead of trying to debate between these 2 but I am not even sure what I would set that as I guess I need to mess around with it some maybe go in between and see what happens then make adjustments. Most of my problem seems to just be willpower which is weird because I do really good throughout the day then get home and feel hungry then eat the wrong things. I do not want to over complicate it because I have came this far just by keeping it simple. Ever since I got a gym membership I have been having these problems.
  • SeikoMonster
    SeikoMonster Posts: 105 Member
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    Do the math yourself. Then set a calorie limit to achieve what you want.
    Since you have lost a bunch of weight already (WAY TO GO!!) you can just simplify everything and do your math. Keep in mind it changes as you loose weight or gain muscle. So you have to keep track of it, and update it as you go.

    For example lets say you lost 8 pounds in 30 days and eat 1400 calories per day.
    8 x 3500 = 28000 (total cal's lost)
    28000 / 30 = 933 (cals lost per day average)
    933 + 1400 = 2333 (cal's burned per day at current activity level)

    With that information you can figure out what your activity level should be set at, and get a good idea of the number of calories you should eat per day to maintain the weight loss you wish to achieve.
    10-15 days I find is a good enough time period to test my numbers. But 30 day average is better.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited May 2017
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    I really don't like the inconsistency of eating back exercise cals so I use a TDEE calculator to estimate my TDEE and I cut from that figure to determine what I eat daily. So for example I put in "3-5 hours of exercise a week" since I walk 12-15K steps a day as well as lift 3/week that spits out a TDEE value (always a guess so be ware) and I cut from that figure. To create a 1lb/week deficit you need to cut 500 cals a day and so on.

    After a month or so I can see my weight trend and can see if it was a good starting place and adjust from there, that way my calories are consistent. I use this one, but there are tons:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    Good point sounds like I need to simplify it and just figure it out for myself that way it is something I can stick with.
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    So here is something new I tried the TDEE thing and it tells me to eat 2533 calories to lose 1.7 lbs per week. I set it to 25% calorie reduction which it told me is dangerous. What I do not understand is that I look at myfitnesspal and it is telling me to eat 2090 which I understand does not include exercise and the TDEE does but that is like almost 35% calorie reduction I just did that math on it. I am definitely going to raise my calories because exercising late at night makes in complicated and I do not usually add my exercise into the myfitnesspal app.
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    So it says to maintain I should eat 3378 per day. I want to do 2lbs per week so I am going to change my settings right now to 2378 which is an increase from the the 2090 and I really think that will help me.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited May 2017
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    terryt1992 wrote: »
    So here is something new I tried the TDEE thing and it tells me to eat 2533 calories to lose 1.7 lbs per week. I set it to 25% calorie reduction which it told me is dangerous. What I do not understand is that I look at myfitnesspal and it is telling me to eat 2090 which I understand does not include exercise and the TDEE does but that is like almost 35% calorie reduction I just did that math on it. I am definitely going to raise my calories because exercising late at night makes in complicated and I do not usually add my exercise into the myfitnesspal app.

    I think that's just a generic pop up because if you were closer to a normal weight it would be pretty reckless to cut 25%. If you have 100lbs to lose I would *think* you're okay to cut that much but I'm not an expert!

  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    Also MFP can't really be compared because they expect you to eat back exercise calories which is totally different. The TDEE method assumes exercise calories and basically gives you credit evenly for them throughout your week on a daily basis. Does that make sense?
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    I agree with that @mrsnattybulking I have had a calorie goal lower than 25% this whole time and I have been fine
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    Yes it does make sense and I thought that is why there was a difference. I will stick with the TDEE because I do not add/eat back exercise calories and I think its just natural for someone to struggle when cutting more calories which is what I am doing by not adding the exercise. I think this will work better and if it does not then I can always adjust it.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    I personally find it more simple in terms of assessing my goals. If I eat 1550 and I'm sure my logging is spot on and I'm losing more or less than I'd like to, I know exactly how much to adjust. NOt to mention I hate days where I have TONS of snacks available and then days where I didn't "earn" enough through exercise to eat more so I prefer it be a little more even.
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    I agree I really think I like this idea better so I need to go in and removed the exercise that I added earlier. I have never been a fan of eating more just because I exercised.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited May 2017
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    terryt1992 wrote: »
    I agree I really think I like this idea better so I need to go in and removed the exercise that I added earlier. I have never been a fan of eating more just because I exercised.

    Well the TDEE method is sort of the same thing only you're awarded the calories more evenly over the week. It does take into account activity and exercise, just you're not going to see those stupid burns like "terry1992 burned 900 calories doing 320 minutes of housework' hahah It's much more logical in terms of your estimated energy expenditure, but STILL an estimate nonetheless. Your data will corroborate it's accuracy over time :)

    ETA: Since you're relying on your own data it's super important that it be accurate so weigh everything with a scale and don't overlook sauces and bites!
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    Thank you for the help I will make sure to add everything and to weigh everything also. I agree I do not like seeing that on my TL. I see people like burning 1200 calories doing hiking or stuff like that. I just hope they do not try to eat those back lol.
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
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    Also I can almost always get to the gym 3 times a week plus on the weekends I am always doing active things. The problem with going to the gym is I cannot go the same days every week so it makes adding the calories odd like I would have 4 days of eating at 2090 then 2 days in a row adding gym calories and eating more. I like this more it is easier to look at it as an overall week than day by day to me.

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