Calorie amortization

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lar25473
lar25473 Posts: 183 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone!

So, I found an Excel template that calculates your calorie amortization, and I want to start a discussion about it because I want to learn more about it and see how I can use this knowledge to benefit me.

Calorie amortization, if I am not wrong, estimates your daily calorie burn (just to exist) based on your age, height, weight, and fitness level? On MFP, it gives me a number of calories I should be eating per day. The amortization spreadsheet suggests I eat somewhere around 2000 or so calories, and maintain a deficit of 500 calories per day. So...how do I use calorie amortization + the MFP suggestions in combination to accurately work out a good calorie strategy? MFP suggests that I eat 1680 per day.

What does everyone here think?

Replies

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Just use the MFP estimate, log your exercise, and eat back half your exercise calories. After 4-6 weeks, reevaluate and see if you need to make adjustments.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,999 Member
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    Can't speak for everyone here but I think it is unneccesarily complicating.

    Put you stats into MFP, Follow it's numbers and adjust after a month if not getting results as expected.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,971 Member
    edited December 2018
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    seska422 wrote: »
    lar25473 wrote: »
    Calorie amortization, if I am not wrong, estimates your daily calorie burn (just to exist) based on your age, height, weight, and fitness level? On MFP, it gives me a number of calories I should be eating per day. The amortization spreadsheet suggests I eat somewhere around 2000 or so calories, and maintain a deficit of 500 calories per day. So...how do I use calorie amortization + the MFP suggestions in combination to accurately work out a good calorie strategy? MFP suggests that I eat 1680 per day.
    I checked out the Excel template. It implies a level of precision that just isn't there for weight loss like it is for paying down a mortgage.

    The amortization part is just the gradual stepping down of your calorie intake as your weight decreases in order to keep your deficit fixed while accounting for a smaller body using fewer calories. You can do essentially the same thing by recalculating your MFP goals for every 10 pounds you lose.

    The calorie calculation part differs from MFP because it's using TDEE (not just the calories you need to exist but everything including exercise) while MFP uses NEAT and expects you to input exercise separately. All calorie calculations are a starting point and you need to experiment over time to figure out your personal numbers based off your results and make adjustments from there.

    ETA: Personally, I was more comfortable finding a calorie intake amount that I liked rather than constantly tweaking my intake. I let the deficit slowly get smaller rather than shaving off my intake.

    So did you start at a good calorie goal for your goal weight? A lot of people do that.

    Using the TDEE minus a set deficit is what the "amortization" sheet is doing? That's what I thought it might be.

    For me (at least in the beginning) using MFP's method worked a lot better because if I didn't exercise I had a measly tiny amount of calories. If I did exercise, I added 400 more calories per day. But if I used the TDEE method I would tend to just eat the calories and not do the exercise. So the Myfitnesspal way worked better for my exercise motivation.

    TDEE methods use a flat calorie goal per day based on predicted exercise. I don't like that, it is too easy to stay on the couch. If I have to "earn" some food, I'm more inclined to do that.

    As far as the deficit decreasing, I lost about 45 pounds and then stayed at the same calorie goal (before exercise cals) for the last 25, so I guess it's about the same thing.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,910 Member
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    As each time you lose 10 pounds, MFP will prompt you to update your calorie goals, so it sounds like it is doing the same thing.

    I'd just keep things simple and use MFP.
  • lar25473
    lar25473 Posts: 183 Member
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    Thanks for the insight all, and I think probably my OP was a little confusing and haphazard...I was thinking of how one manages weight loss when you take into account one's base metabolic rate as well, because I realized we also burn a lot of calories just by existing and walking around during our lives. What's the best way to account for this with intake, so that you aren't eating too much? Should I not even think about it in terms of base metabolic rate?

    I'm certain I'm just making this more complicated than it needs to be, but I like to analyze situations :LOL: ...
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    lar25473 wrote: »
    Thanks for the insight all, and I think probably my OP was a little confusing and haphazard...I was thinking of how one manages weight loss when you take into account one's base metabolic rate as well, because I realized we also burn a lot of calories just by existing and walking around during our lives. What's the best way to account for this with intake, so that you aren't eating too much? Should I not even think about it in terms of base metabolic rate?

    I'm certain I'm just making this more complicated than it needs to be, but I like to analyze situations :LOL: ...

    The goal mfp or any tdee calculator gives you is taking into consideration the calories you burn all day just being alive. MFP uses NEAT, which is your BMR (calories you burn just being alive) plus your day-to-day activity that also burns calories. Then you log your exercise, so that is accounted in your daily calories as well. Everything's in there.

    Keep in mind, any calculator whether it's MFP or TDEE or this Excel spreadsheet is just a general estimation. The way to really figure out how many cals you are burning is to start logging accurately and consistently and over the long term monitor your progress.

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