An easier way to setup goal calories - eating for who you wi

Ok I read through the first 10 or so pages and I am still so confused. Help!

My current stats are this:

Age: 39
Height: 5'5"
CW: 143
GW: 120

On the other website you suggested, I put everything as this"

Weight: 120
Height: 65"
Resting: 15.35 hours (averaged 7 days)
Very Light: 5.8
Light: 2
Moderate: .53
Heavy: .32

I used a 7 day average because I work out 5 days a week, 3 of those days I teach indoor cycling 45 minutes each. It gives me a BMR of 1294, Activity of 536 and total of 1830.

I've gained 15 lbs in the last 2 years and am very frustrated. Two months ago I started working with a PT who gave me a calorie goal of 1400 to lose what I had gained. So I started eating the 1400. Then my friend told me (repeatedly) that I was not eating enough because I was not eating my exercise calories, my "net calories" were too low - I should be eating 1400 "net". So I started eating more to get my net calories to 1400. Guess what? I gained 4 pounds. Please tell me what I am supposed to be eating. And how in the world do I put it MFP? When I put in the 1830, and my activity level as sedentary or even active, it says I will actually gain weight.

First off, you were so underfeeding while exercising, your glucose stores undoubtedly have been running very low.
False weight loss, as that is glucose and water weight.
Sounds like you finally topped off, that can easily bring back 3lbs of stored glucose/water in the muscle.
You may also have had enough resources for the body to repair muscle and make it stronger.

Second, when you ate more at suppressed metabolism, it stored those extra's as fat in case the insanity continues.

You need to use this spreadsheet now to make this easier. Oh - there is NO way your rest is 15hrs a day. If you aren't honest with those activity levels, you'll just shoot yourself in the metabolism and BMR will be lower, as will all other daily activity, and you will have no recovery.

The spreadsheet is mentioned in these better instructions.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/477666-eating-for-future-you-method

And there is another Topic about doing the activity calculator.

Look at this case study of someone with issue you probably have.

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A similar case study was published by Jampolis (2004).
A 51 year old patient complained of a 15 lb weight gain over the last year despite beginning a strenuous triathlon and marathon training program (2 hours per day, 5-6 days per week).
A 3 day diet analysis estimated a daily intake of only 1000-1200 Calories.
An indirect calorimetry revealed a resting metabolic rate of 950 Calories (28% below predicted for age, height, weight, and gender). After medications and medical conditions such as hypothyroidism and diabetes where ruled out, the final diagnosis was over-training and undereating. The following treatment was recommended:

Increase daily dietary intake by approximately 100 Calories per week to a goal of 1500 calories
32% protein; 35% carbohydrates; 33% fat
Consume 5-6 small meals per day
Small amounts of protein with each meal or snack
Choose high fiber starches
Select mono- and poly- unsaturated fats
Restrict consumption of starch with evening meals unless focused around training
Take daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement
Perform whole body isometric resistance training 2 times per week

After 6 weeks the patient's resting metabolism increased 35% to 1282 Calories per day (only 2% below predicted).
The patient also decreases percent fat from 37% to 34%, a loss of 5 lbs of body fat.

Experience of my own body tells me that eating 1817 calories per day isn't going to make me lose weight. If I eat that much I start gaining.

This system is to avoid trying to lose weight with a suppressed metabolism, which just makes it take longer. And if exercise is involved, prevents getting all the benefits from that too.

So while at lower BMR, it is true that you MUST increase cals correctly or your body will see it as gift to store in case insanity continues, not to increase metabolism.

Of course if you have a real metabolism issue outside just underfeeding it forcing it slow, that would have to be worked out too.

This is long because of extra explanation, the actual method is simple and spreadsheet is available, but please read and appreciate. This can get you over the dreaded plateau effect too.

Why not just tell MFP the weight you want to end up at, select the activity level you are really at, select weight loss goal of maintenance, and just eat at the recommended, and don't enter exercise calories?

You would be eating at the level for the person you want to be. Isn't that what you will do eventually?

Problem, selecting that activity level. Only 4 levels, which one is right? Need a better way to estimate correctly, because the math for deficit always starts with what that number is. Also called Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
Problem, there would be no tracking of current weight, and the encouragement from that progress.
Problem, the actual gap in calories between current and future you may not be that big, must maximize the deficit.

Can you manually adjust the goal calories to accomplish the same thing?

You bet.

Couple of interesting points, in case not known.
BMR, why so important to not be eating below it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate
"energy in this state is sufficient only for the functioning of the vital organs, the heart, lungs, nervous system, kidneys, liver, intestine, sex organs, muscles, and skin."
If you constantly provide less than BMR in net calories, your body can NOT get this from itself, it will eventually slow it down to require less.

And considering a healthy BMR probably burns more calories than your exercise, perhaps your exercise and normal daily activity, do you really want it slower? If you lower your BMR by 200 calories below what it could be burning, what % of your daily exercise is 200 calories, 40-50%? Plus, with slower metabolism, all your actual calorie burning for daily and exercise activities is less too.

The Harris and Mifflin calculations (gender, age, weight, height) for BMR are pretty accurate for those already in the healthy average range - meaning when you get to goal weight. When you are outside of that healthy weight, it loses accuracy.
The Katch calculation (weight, bodyfat %) for BMR is more accurate during all times, and doesn't need exact BF% to be within 50 calories of BMR. But it also was based on study of people already within healthy range. Underestimates when more fat for metabolism to support.

So the MFP Mifflin BMR calc is probably as accurate as you need it - when you are at your goal weight. But probably not right now.

The MFP (and others) activity level selection is 4 broad categories which can make it difficult to get right.
But using sedentary and entering all exercise calories could be very off too.
Having a big amount of calories on some days to make up is difficult to eat.

So here is a much easier method. Basic steps. Homework mainly on step 2.
1. Calculate your BMR for the weight you want to be.
2. Calculate your current activity level with better accuracy and include exercise in that estimate.
3. Arrive at TDEE calories for the person you will be eating as eventually.
4. Set MFP Net Calories Consumed Goal amount.
5. Don't log exercise calories, just the activity and time for tracking that goal, but 1 calorie.

Spreadsheet to use is referenced at the end of post, but good to understand what you'll be doing.

1. Use this site for calculating BMR for your goal weight.
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

Use the gender, age, height, and goal weight.

2. Enter in your normal sleep and TV time, normal desk job, normal walking, normal weight lifting, normal intense exercise time, avg hours per day. This method WILL underestimate the calories you exercise. Do not underestimate yourself. Use walking speeds referenced as comparison.
Easiest to add up your normal hours for the whole week of varies levels (pay attention to the description), and then divide by 7.
ie - 1 hr cardio x 5 days = 5 hrs weekly / 7 = 0.7 hrs daily avg to enter under Heavy.
Please see topic on How to use the activity calculator for example.

3. That is the Total calories you would probably be eating as maintenance at your goal weight doing that level of activity on avg each day. I say probably, the goal is you'll have so much extra muscle, it'll be higher.

4. Now in MFP, use the Tools - BMR Calculator to estimate your current BMR, note this figure.
Now, Home - Settings - Update diet/fitness profile.
Confirm Current and Goal weight and other body stats are correct.
Set Normal daily activities to Very Active or Active, depending on what you saw from activity calculator. This has no bearing on setting goals now, only the encouragement you receive when the food diary is Completed, and you receive "in 5 weeks you'll weigh...".
Enter your planned exercise goals, again, no bearing on any math.
Change What is your goal? to Maintain current weight. This also has no bearing on the math, as you will manually set the goal.
My Home - Goals - Change Goals - Custom - Continue - change Net Calories Consumed to that Total Calories maintenance from the ExRx site.
Change Calories Burned / Week to 0, since you will no longer log exercise calories, and click Change Goals.
The Profile activity level and weight loss goal no longer matter, because MFP is looking at non-exercise calories, you just set the goal to include those, so math will be totally off.

5. Now when you log Exercise, just enter activity and time for tracking if desired, but only 1 calorie burned. Put in the Diary notes if really desired to know calories. Might be good for spot checks. I record exercise calories and subtract that from eaten calories for Net calories for that day. Allows for easy confirmation using MFP Reports and view a weeks Diary Notes.

Spreadsheets for doing the above steps. Post below on improvements to manual method. Sample data included.
Excel - http://home.everestkc.net/mbales/

Google (stay in yellow fields or might delete a formula) - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGZlcmNCNmhJWFhtUGl0ZEk1RFd1c0E

You may want to review your Exercise Diary a month down the road to confirm the hours spent match the estimate you gave for activity level, and if it should be updated up or down.
You may also want to record in your Food Diary Notes, the daily times for each level you entered in the ExRx calculator.
When you Check-in for your weight, you can create new measurement for current BMR that MFP told you. Be careful using that MFP BMR calculator again, it seems to reset everything. Maybe it won't for you, very annoying when testing these settings.

And now your Food Diary Daily Goal Calories will always reflect the same number, no credits for exercise, no big makeups to eat, ect. If you know a big dinner is Sat night, you can always cut back 200 on Fri, 200 on Sun, and balance on Mon for instance. Or in place of that, add 15 min to workouts that week. Just keeping in balance for a week at a time.
But normal fluctuations in missing a workout, or adding in a extra one, or extra time, don't have to be worried about beyond learning how to skip or add a snack, exactly like you'll have to learn to do when this is your maintenance lifestyle.
Only if the routine is changing, schools out, added a spin class, added 30 min 3 days a week, ect. Then recalc to get it right.
Otherwise, set it and forget it.

And you are eating for the person you will become.

Now, why are you getting a maximized calorie deficit from this method? Because the ExRx calculator underestimates almost all calories, except Rest. So what should happen if spot checked, is on big workout days, calories eaten minus actual exercise calories burned is below current BMR figure. Small workout days is at or slightly above. Non-workout days is recovery. Your body only gets as strong as the rest it gets.
So what this means is almost all your better estimated non-exercise daily activity is truly going unfed. But since it is exactly the type of activity that uses fat mainly, that is where the deficit has always come from.
Sadly, MFP just has a problem not only using that up, but going well below your BMR also.

BTW, I tested a bunch of different body types, and only infrequently did the maintenance calories for the person you will become, end up lower than the current BMR, so safe. Only in obese situations, and that is exactly when that is safer, to pull that routine for a little while.

Otherwise, do you really want to lose 20-30% of your daily calorie burn (300-600 calories) by lowering your metabolism and BMR because of under eating constantly?

Group also - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3088-eating-for-future-you