Activity level and calorie allowance fluctuation

So, I work from home- I run a digital agency and I'm a boxer.

Looking to lose 2lbs a week.


Starting stats on the 9th- 25/Male/5'9/194.6
Calories were 2,360-as active.

I'm 194 even today.


I train 5x a week for a minimum of 1.5 hours at the club, plus LISS and aerobic running 2-3x a week.

I noticed that MFP activity levels are relative to your day to days only, so here's my question(s).

Can I put active-very active and NOT log my exercises and get A FAIRLY accurate caloric goal?

I was eating 2000 or less and weight loss stopped.. first day or two at 2300+ I lose over half a pound.

Second part, I changed my starting weight from 194-194.6 because I realized you could be as specific as that today.

That's ALL I changed. And the app dropped my calories from 2360 to 1970 ... retro to the 9th..


Can someone clarify both of these things for me?

Replies

  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    how much are you trying to lose? 2lbs a week is normally recommended if you have more than 100lbs to lose
  • TravFlex91
    TravFlex91 Posts: 6 Member
    I'm trying to walk around closer to 178-180 by the end of November.

    Usually I cut weight quickly but I won't sacrifice training quality this time around.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    with only 15lbs to lose that is too agressive; also MFP when it calculates your calories DOES NOT include purposeful workouts, so if you aren't eating back a portion of your calories (most people recommend starting at 50%) then you could be sacrificing lean muscle during your weight loss

    alternatively, if you have a pretty set workout, you can use a TDEE calculator which takes into account purposeful workout and use that as a basis to determine your calories

    i know that changing weight in the app can readjust your calorie goal, but that was a significant drop - did your activity level and goal stay the same?
  • TravFlex91
    TravFlex91 Posts: 6 Member
    with only 15lbs to lose that is too agressive; also MFP when it calculates your calories DOES NOT include purposeful workouts, so if you aren't eating back a portion of your calories (most people recommend starting at 50%) then you could be sacrificing lean muscle during your weight loss


    The chances of losing quality mass when I'm over 10% body fat is really quite slim, no ?

    2lbs a week really doesn't seem that aggressive- especially not at 2300+ cals a day..

    Also, if I'm using my exercise as a direct influence to my activity level, I should avoid eating those calories back as my day to day activity alone would have me in a lesser bracket?

    Yes goals and activity stayed the same.

    I'm wondering if I can rationalize using the very active setting- with my current routine more than anything.
  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    You can cut quick (as you can realistically maintain long term) if you have a decent maintenance plan in place according to Martin MacDonald (who I believe is fairly respected in the field) He has a formula in the podcast for the most you should aim to lose based on your body fat percentage and weight.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhLIsFFsPAA&t=2360s

    As for TDEE as very active it'll just be trial and error as it's only an estimate based on the info you put in, set it to very active give it a couple of weeks if you're losing too quickly or too slowly increase cals or decrease your activity level on the app accordingly. :)
  • TravFlex91
    TravFlex91 Posts: 6 Member
    You can cut quick (as you can realistically maintain long term) if you have a decent maintenance plan in place according to Martin MacDonald (who I believe is fairly respected in the field) He has a formula in the podcast for the most you should aim to lose based on your body fat percentage and weight.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhLIsFFsPAA&t=2360s

    As for TDEE as very active it'll just be trial and error as it's only an estimate based on the info you put in, set it to very active give it a couple of weeks if you're losing too quickly or too slowly increase cals or decrease your activity level on the app accordingly. :)



    Yes I'm going to keep it at very active for now, as it goes from 1970/day - where I was at relatively before the app.. where I had plateaued.. back up to 2300+.. where I had managed to lose over half a lb in a matter of days.

    I would cut the weight quicker but it's just a matter of energy loss for me, trying to box when you feel as if you need a nap is not ideal LOL.
  • Chichibelles
    Chichibelles Posts: 4 Member
    edited October 2017
    How do you compute calories? is active burn and resting burn totals the calories burnt for a day?

    I average 2500 in total and it seems my resting burnt is higher than that of I am active is that okay? with a 1500 calorie diet plan?
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    You can just ballpark the math to see if it will work for you.

    Assuming your daily maintenance level before considering exercise is about 2500 calories per the above.

    Assume that your LISS/running sessions are about an hour in duration, at a burn of about 600 calories per session, 3X per week (1800 calories per week).

    Assume that your 1.5 hour training sessions are 1/2 strength training, 1/2 sparring and/or aerobic equivalent. About 600 calories per session. (3000 calories per week).

    Total calories need to maintain weight (including exercise) per week is 22,300 (2500 times 7, plus 1800, plus 3000), or about 3,200 calories per day.

    Assuming that you do target to lose 2 pounds per week, you would need to eat at about 2,200 calories per day (1,000 calorie daily deficit). Use whatever MFP setting would get you there.

    You can obviously tweak the above based on your actual numbers, but this would be the basic methodology.
  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    TravFlex91 wrote: »
    You can cut quick (as you can realistically maintain long term) if you have a decent maintenance plan in place according to Martin MacDonald (who I believe is fairly respected in the field) He has a formula in the podcast for the most you should aim to lose based on your body fat percentage and weight.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhLIsFFsPAA&t=2360s

    As for TDEE as very active it'll just be trial and error as it's only an estimate based on the info you put in, set it to very active give it a couple of weeks if you're losing too quickly or too slowly increase cals or decrease your activity level on the app accordingly. :)



    Yes I'm going to keep it at very active for now, as it goes from 1970/day - where I was at relatively before the app.. where I had plateaued.. back up to 2300+.. where I had managed to lose over half a lb in a matter of days.

    I would cut the weight quicker but it's just a matter of energy loss for me, trying to box when you feel as if you need a nap is not ideal LOL.

    To be fair I can't lose more than half a pound or a pound max a week as I can't maintain a large deficit long term, the only other thing I can say is patience, weight loss isn't linear because of water weight fluctuations especially for muscle repair if you're active, there is no way to judge how quickly you're losing in a few days you're going to have to wait at least 2-4 weeks to get an idea of your true rate of loss. Good luck.
  • TravFlex91
    TravFlex91 Posts: 6 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    You can just ballpark the math to see if it will work for you.

    Assuming your daily maintenance level before considering exercise is about 2500 calories per the above.

    Assume that your LISS/running sessions are about an hour in duration, at a burn of about 600 calories per session, 3X per week (1800 calories per week).

    Assume that your 1.5 hour training sessions are 1/2 strength training, 1/2 sparring and/or aerobic equivalent. About 600 calories per session. (3000 calories per week).

    Total calories need to maintain weight (including exercise) per week is 22,300 (2500 times 7, plus 1800, plus 3000), or about 3,200 calories per day.

    Assuming that you do target to lose 2 pounds per week, you would need to eat at about 2,200 calories per day (1,000 calorie daily deficit). Use whatever MFP setting would get you there.

    You can obviously tweak the above based on your actual numbers, but this would be the basic methodology.


    Yeah I started working backwards similar to this shortly after haha. I should have answered my own question prior to posting
  • Chichibelles
    Chichibelles Posts: 4 Member
    It is a rule of thumb that we should only maintain 1000 calorie daily deficit?
  • TravFlex91
    TravFlex91 Posts: 6 Member
    It is a rule of thumb that we should only maintain 1000 calorie daily deficit?


    The average is usually 500, but if you can maintain 1000 I see nothing wrong with it.