Calorie Goal & Body Fat %

athran13
athran13 Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey. Just two real quick questions/comments (probably a little obvious or dumb, but, curious about what others may think).

First: I'm a little worried about the calories I'm taking in per day (Total vs Net). I'm a 41yo, 5'8", 194.4 lb, male. MFP set my Calorie Goal to 1990 cal/day. I work-out 3 days a week (with the hope of adding 1 day of biking per week at some point). I'm losing about 2lbs a week thus far (since end of January when I started. Hope to lose ~35lbs more (get to 165lbs). This all said, according to the app, I've been averaging ~1860 cal a week with cal under goal for week being about -2800cal. This doesn't worry me as much as Net Calories. I don't eat back the calories I burn exercising. I just try to reach my Calorie Goal of 1990 cal/day. That said, my Net Cal Average per week is ~1460 cal with being under my Net Goal per week -5150 cal. To get to point - does this seem too low cal-wise? I feel fine. Haven't felt fatigued in awhile, haven't been sick, no real negatives...(aside from a slightly sore shoulder). However, I don't want to starve myself or "crash and burn" at some point as it may not be sustainable. Thoughts?

Second: I've been tracking my weight, BMI, waist, and Body Fat % 3 days a week. My weight and BMI have steadily gone down in lock-step. My waist has gone down too (but not as dramatically unfortunately). Body Fat % is all over the place. The graph is all over the place...up and down like a heart beat pattern... It looks like I haven't lost any % at all, despite the work-outs and diet over past 2 months or so. I use an online calculator. I've heard they are not reliable. Would you think that might be the reason for the graph I'm getting? Maybe I shouldn't be concerned with this measure so much?

Hope I wasn't to wordy/verbose. Thanks for any replies.

Replies

  • 30kgin2017
    30kgin2017 Posts: 228 Member
    Assuming you are using at home scales for the BF%, your hydration affects the numbers. They are helpful if you track a trend over a period but can go up and down day to day. Eg high sodium meal, hard workout. Looking at the 2 months of data, is there a gradual decrease in the % once you smooth out the bumps? My BF% would look the same except I dont record each individual reading. But I know when I started I averaged 44% and now I am hovering around 40% average.

    About avg calories, well it is on the low side. I got a bit lost in the numbers, it seems that you are losing faster than your deficit would indicate. So you either are a bit off in your calorie count or your more active than you thought or a mix of both. Losing that fast is not sustainable and while you feel well now the effects will show up later. I did similar a few years ago, lost 11kg in 12 weeks. Ate 1200 cal daily and exercised 1hr 6 days a week. Felt great. Now I was on a menu plan so my nutrient intake was pretty good. Not long after I finished I began losing hair etc despite eating well after my 12 weeks.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    athran13 wrote: »
    Hey. Just two real quick questions/comments (probably a little obvious or dumb, but, curious about what others may think).

    First: I'm a little worried about the calories I'm taking in per day (Total vs Net). I'm a 41yo, 5'8", 194.4 lb, male. MFP set my Calorie Goal to 1990 cal/day. I work-out 3 days a week (with the hope of adding 1 day of biking per week at some point). I'm losing about 2lbs a week thus far (since end of January when I started. Hope to lose ~35lbs more (get to 165lbs). This all said, according to the app, I've been averaging ~1860 cal a week with cal under goal for week being about -2800cal. This doesn't worry me as much as Net Calories. I don't eat back the calories I burn exercising. I just try to reach my Calorie Goal of 1990 cal/day. That said, my Net Cal Average per week is ~1460 cal with being under my Net Goal per week -5150 cal. To get to point - does this seem too low cal-wise? I feel fine. Haven't felt fatigued in awhile, haven't been sick, no real negatives...(aside from a slightly sore shoulder). However, I don't want to starve myself or "crash and burn" at some point as it may not be sustainable. Thoughts?

    Second: I've been tracking my weight, BMI, waist, and Body Fat % 3 days a week. My weight and BMI have steadily gone down in lock-step. My waist has gone down too (but not as dramatically unfortunately). Body Fat % is all over the place. The graph is all over the place...up and down like a heart beat pattern... It looks like I haven't lost any % at all, despite the work-outs and diet over past 2 months or so. I use an online calculator. I've heard they are not reliable. Would you think that might be the reason for the graph I'm getting? Maybe I shouldn't be concerned with this measure so much?

    Hope I wasn't to wordy/verbose. Thanks for any replies.

    In your case, 1990 calories is not too low, regardless of your rate of weight loss.

    If you are using a home body fat scale and weighing yourself at random times, then BF% will be all over the place. Those scales have a large error factor to begin with, but to get any accuracy, you have to be scrupulous about weighing yourself under the same conditions each time.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    athran13 wrote: »
    Maybe I shouldn't be concerned with this measure so much?

    Correct.
    Either use it for the roughest of rough trends over an extended period of time or simply for amusement.

    But if you want to smooth off the rough edges a bit then use it same time of day, same day of week, same hydration levels, same feeding levels, not after exercise, not after a high sodium meal, not after alcohol etc. etc.

    Progress pictures and tracking tape measurements might tell you more.
  • athran13
    athran13 Posts: 30 Member
    30kgin2017 wrote: »
    Assuming you are using at home scales for the BF%, your hydration affects the numbers. They are helpful if you track a trend over a period but can go up and down day to day. Eg high sodium meal, hard workout. Looking at the 2 months of data, is there a gradual decrease in the % once you smooth out the bumps? My BF% would look the same except I dont record each individual reading. But I know when I started I averaged 44% and now I am hovering around 40% average.

    About avg calories, well it is on the low side. I got a bit lost in the numbers, it seems that you are losing faster than your deficit would indicate. So you either are a bit off in your calorie count or your more active than you thought or a mix of both. Losing that fast is not sustainable and while you feel well now the effects will show up later. I did similar a few years ago, lost 11kg in 12 weeks. Ate 1200 cal daily and exercised 1hr 6 days a week. Felt great. Now I was on a menu plan so my nutrient intake was pretty good. Not long after I finished I began losing hair etc despite eating well after my 12 weeks.

    Right. Based on what you've written and the other below you, I'd really need to strictly control all conditions to get accurate readings. I'm just using a regular house scale. And, my weigh times are different all the time. I'm not sure I want to control things that precisely. That number isn't that worth it to me, lol! Thanks for your thoughts on it.

    My numbers are probably a bit off for both food and exercise. I guess at amounts for foods (no food scale). I could be eating more than I think I am...or less. I also just use the default exercise/activity app in my Apple Watch to figure how many calories I burn per exercise. This seems like an estimate as well. That's scary though. I may try to slow it down a hair. I don't need to lose 2lbs every week. 1lb would be fine...actually.

    Thanks for replying! Greatly appreciate your thoughts.
  • athran13
    athran13 Posts: 30 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    athran13 wrote: »
    Maybe I shouldn't be concerned with this measure so much?

    Correct.
    Either use it for the roughest of rough trends over an extended period of time or simply for amusement.

    But if you want to smooth off the rough edges a bit then use it same time of day, same day of week, same hydration levels, same feeding levels, not after exercise, not after a high sodium meal, not after alcohol etc. etc.

    Progress pictures and tracking tape measurements might tell you more.

    Right. Based off what you and others wrote, I'm going to disregard this metric. I don't have the patience or....obsessiveness?....to control all those aspects to get perfect readings every time. I'm fine with really tracking weight, waist size, BMI... And, I've been taking a photo/selfie once a week (no big change yet, but, trying to be patient). Thanks for replying!
  • athran13
    athran13 Posts: 30 Member
    Azdak wrote: »

    In your case, 1990 calories is not too low, regardless of your rate of weight loss.

    If you are using a home body fat scale and weighing yourself at random times, then BF% will be all over the place. Those scales have a large error factor to begin with, but to get any accuracy, you have to be scrupulous about weighing yourself under the same conditions each time.

    Right. Based on my other replies, I agree. I'm not going to worry about body fat % so much. Too much to get right to get an accurate reading. And thanks for letting me know about the calories. I might try to be a stickler about getting to at least 1990/2000 calories each day...just so I don't, at some point, starve myself....and not try to worry about it from there. I feel good, so, you're probably right. Cheers!
  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 43,257 Member
    May I suggest you get a food scale ....some are 10.00...its an eye opener when you actually use one..you will want to use one as you get smaller (in size) because if you over eat then you won't lose ...wishing you much success :)
  • athran13
    athran13 Posts: 30 Member
    Megan_smartiepants1970 wrote: »
    May I suggest you get a food scale ....some are 10.00...its an eye opener when you actually use one..you will want to use one as you get smaller (in size) because if you over eat then you won't lose ...wishing you much success :)

    That's probably a really smart idea. I've seen other threads on here, where, people get close to their goal weight...within 10lbs or so...and can't seem to drop them (and post here wondering what's going on?). When others ask if they weigh their foods, like me, they say they don't. I'm going to need to do that. Good suggestion.
  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 43,257 Member
    athran13 wrote: »
    Megan_smartiepants1970 wrote: »
    May I suggest you get a food scale ....some are 10.00...its an eye opener when you actually use one..you will want to use one as you get smaller (in size) because if you over eat then you won't lose ...wishing you much success :)

    That's probably a really smart idea. I've seen other threads on here, where, people get close to their goal weight...within 10lbs or so...and can't seem to drop them (and post here wondering what's going on?). When others ask if they weigh their foods, like me, they say they don't. I'm going to need to do that. Good suggestion.

    Glad I could help :);):p

Categories