Caloric Intake & Body Fat

I'm a little confused at how kaitlyn and I can be the same height, but so drastically different in weight. I mean, according to the skinfold test I have almost her entire body weight in muscle alone. Unless I my calculations are completely wrong. Apparently my goal body weight for 20% body fat should put me around 171 lbs, but that still seems high. Insight?

That is not necessarily high based on the body composition of the person involved. Same height with different frames (the width of the pelvic girdle impacting waist and hip size) and muscle makeup can produce drastically different weights.

This is what drives me crazy about people focusing on some number on the scale. While body composition, endurance, strength, stamina, and blood work are all fairly consistent measurements of fitness, they can appear radically different when applied to individuals due to the myriad of variables. It is about you being a fit and healthy you, not the same weight as someone else.

I will get out of the pulpit now and we can pass the plate around.

Age: 36
Sex: F
Height: 5'9"
Weight 148.4
Body fat: 25%
Daily Calories: 1450 net

I upped my calories 5 weeks ago because after doing a lot of reading here, I realized I was not eating enough. I was eating 1200 and not eating my excercise calories back. After changing my calorie intake, I lost 3 pounds in 2 weeks but have been stuck ever since. I exercise 5 days a week. Weight training 3 days and hiit cardio 2 days. My goal is to be 18-20% bf.

There is a slight chance you are still not eating enough. There are a couple of ways to test this. First, increase your caloric intake by another 200 calories. Do this for amount a month to see how your weight changes. The other is to run the katch mcardle formula I originally posted to do this method. If you want help, please let me know. I will be glad to help.

Due to the overwhelming amount of threads on eatin vs not eating exercise calories back, I want to do an informational thread on how many calories people eat vs their total body fat. I then will put this into an excel spreadsheet and do some analysis (yes, I am an excel dork).

The objective is to test the theory, that people with really low body fat have to consume a huge amount of calories to maintain or continue to change their body composition.

Below is the format. If you would like to respond but prefer not to post information publically, feel free to send me a private message.

Age: 29
Sex: M
Body Fat : 12%
Daily Calories: 2600

BF Goal (optional): 8%


I would like to thank those who participate. On a side note, below is my approach to calculating my caloric needs for the day. Just for information.

Here is my perception on the matter. I actually use this site just to track my calories. I use a different method to determine how many calories I should be eating and suggest it to many. According to this website, if you use their calculations, if you workout and burn 300 calories, than you should eat an extra 300 calories that day because the site has already built in a deficit for you. The more you have to lose the bigger an acceptable deficit is but the closer your goal is, the smaller your deficit should be. This is because the more muscle you have, the lower the body fat, the more fuel you body needs to sustains it's functions. Also, a deficit is should never been more than 1000 calories a day (which would allow for 2 lbs per week loss) but it more acceptable to do 1 lb a week or 500 calorie deficit. Additionally, a woman should eat not less than 1200 net calories. This is the amount of calories after you workout. So if you burn 500 calories, you need at least 1700 calories; men should be no less than 1500-1700 after workout calories from my research. Also, a large part of these calories should be driven by protein based sources. The ammino acids in the protein is what stimulates muscle growth. The more muscle your body has, the more calories you burn at rest.

My approach looks at Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); BMR is the amount of calories you would burn if you slept 24 hours, for me, my BMR is 2000 calories. I then mutliply it by my Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE); how many calories I should eat to make up for daily activities (walking, working out, etc) to get a total number of calories. Because I do a program like p90x, I multiply my 2000 calories by 1.725 which equals 3400 calories. This amount of calories is the amount I need to eat to maintain weight. I back off 500 caloires as my deficit and eat 3000 calories in a day. This is the website I use.


http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

I then go into a custom setup under my goals and set my daily intake for 3000 calories (well I will starting sunday, right now it's 2800 because I haven't officially started p90x until sunday). Additionally, to follow the p90x food guide, I set up custom ratio's. I do 45% of carbs, 35% of protein and 20% for fats. As I progress, I will lower protein and increase carbs. This method has worked for me and others I have worked with on the site. MFP just makes it simple for anyone to come on and lose weight. I take more of a scientific approach to weight loss. When I started I was 210 & 18% body fat. Now I am 189 and 12% body fat and hoping to break single digits within 3 months.

Cliff notes: if you go by the sites calculations, you absolutely should eat back your workout calories as they preload the deficit. If you go by the more scientific method, you don't have to worry about it, it's already figured in your number.

Good luck everyone.