So I have been doing some reading in this group and have realized that since I've been fluctuating between the same 2-3 pounds for almost 2 months now, I must need to increase my calories as well. What I'm confused about is whether I should still eat the calories that my TDEE gives me on days I don't work out. Should I recalculate TDEE and put that I am sedentary on those days? . And how is the TDEE correct if it does not account for how many calories I burned in a specific workout? Math is my worst subject! haha. I definitely don't want to overestimate or underestimate the numbers. I have a million questions and would definitely appreciate some help.

Weight: 130
Age: 19
BMR: 1413.2
TDEE (moderately active): 2181
15% cut: 1854

What I do is eat my tdee cut value everyday for consistency and ease. So for you that is 1850...then when you workout you will only start eating back cals if you burn over 440 cals so you atleast net bmr. I rather eat a consistent amount and a little more if needed on workout days.

I've been dieting for a very long time now and not really losing any weight. I've been tracking and keeping my calories low with no real weight loss for a long time. I am ready to try something new. I don't know how to calculate my tDEE but I was on my net diary and they listed my resting rate as 1379 and my maintenance rate at 1757 so I was thinking of upping from 1200 to 1500 calories a day. I also plan to walk five days a week for 30 minutes. I hope this works!

Never mind. I read further and found the link for the TDEE calculations. I should up my calories to 1579 calories. That's if I walk 1-3 days a week. I plan to walk 3-5 days a week but estimated conservatively. I'm easing back into an exercise program so as of now, I'm not doing any weight lifting. Hope this works.

Hey All,

I'm new to this philosophy of eating more to weigh less. I have to admit it feels like one of those if it sounds too good to be true it probably is, though at the same time it makes sense. Anyway I think I am most apprehensive because a lot of the success stories I have read about people who have done this are people who had lost a bunch of weight and then the weigh loss leveled off. I am just starting out(again), so I hope it'll work for me. So if I have this right I will be eating 1800 a day and eating back exercise calories if I go below a net of 1780 up to 1780.

Age: 27
Height: 5' 6"
SW: 221
CW: 218
GW: 155ish
BMR: 1781
TDEE: 2137 - 15% = 1817

Yep sounds right.

i have weighed in 3lbs heavier im devastated :0(

I'm a bit confused by all this. My bMR is 1351 and my TDEE is 1858. I mostly am sedentary except for walking 3-5 times a week for 30 minutes at a time. I see that a lot of you lift weights and do major cardio workouts. Does upping calories apply to someone like me who is mostly sedentary and only 5 ft 3 in? MFP set my daily calories at 1200 and over the course of February, I did lose about 3 lbs. thanks.

Ok. I reset my calories to TDEE less 15 percent. Do I eat my exercise calories on workout days or not? Thanks.

Ok. I reset my calories to TDEE less 15 percent. Do I eat my exercise calories on workout days or not? Thanks.

You will only start eating back if you net less than bmr.

Ex. Bmr 1400
Tdee 1800
Cals burned 700
You would only need to eat 300 extra cals that day...so basically anything over 400 cals burned you would eat the excess.

HI my name is Keri. I am 59 and have been on MFP for 1 and a half years. When I started I needed to lose over 100 pounds. I have lost 30+ pounds but have had a deficit that should have allowed my to lose all the weight I set out to lose. Others who started with me did much better. I think one difference was that I had already started to exercise before I got on here. I think the 1500+ calories to lose a pound a week was too low. Of course I thought it might be too high. I have been eating between 1540 to 1340 calories. As others have said when I went lower I had to exercise so I could eat enough. I logged religiously and exercised more than most my size and age. Everytime I upped exercise I would stall??? I hit a big plateau this summer when I was really trying to lose and exercising more. I did the C25K program and was sure I would lose. When I lowere to 1340 this fall yes I started losing but then I popped back up again and again this winter really worked hard to get it down and stalled out again. I am exhausted at trying so hard and getting no where. I was lowering my calories once a gain to 1340 in order to get out of the plateau but at this time started to read more about eating more to lose. Everything seemed to accord whith my experience. I think I may have lost that week but my scale ran out of battery power and by the time I got it going I was back up again. That was it. I decided to raise my calories. First to 1600, then 1700 and it is now at 1900. I have seen various methods since then to calculate my BMR, TDEE etc and will look into the ones here. I feel like after a year and a half I first want to get to maintenance and reset my metabolism before deciding on the right calories to lose.
Weight 229 - 230
Height 5'6"
BMR is between 1686 to 1739 depending on the calculator
TDEE according to the calculator on the first post would be 2,868 on a day that I do my typical 1 hour of exercise.

I work out 5-6 days for an hour to an hour and a half on weight training days. I do a combination of walking, running, aquafit, weight training and a few cardio machines. I love Zumba but with running and weight training don't have the time. I have lost alot of inches particularly when not losing weight. I am finding that with upping my calories after having them set low I am not adding junk but some of those higher calorie healthy foods I wasn't really realizing I was skipping out on. I am not seeing the highs in weight that I was nor the lows and am not gaining and losing the same 4-5 pounds. I am probably maintaining and evening out. It is hard to find your maintenance calories when you have been stalling out and yoyoing. The thing is that I didn't want to lose fast. I wanted to lose slow and healthily. I never went down to 1200 and frankly couldn't do it if I tried. I ate some or all my calories back. I have started to get a few friends that eat more calories but many eat lower and I would like to have support from others that are trying to eat in a healthier range.

Hey there, i am new to this group. I have been eating about 12-1400 cals a day for the past 3 weeks and have lost 12 pounds. This week I am uping my cals to 1600 because I usually burn about 1000 calories a day from excersise. So here's to adding more food! yay! I'm hoping I get better results!

Hi! I'm Marcene and I'm 43 years old. I started using MFP about 3 months ago at 1200. About a week and a half ago after reading alot of information I decided that was waaaaay to low. I didn't want to spend my life at those calories. So I read some more and have gradually started increasing my calories. First week I lost 2 pounds, I realize I can't expect this each week and I might gain at some point. But I'm focused on my life ahead, not just the next few months.
I found this group just today and I look forward to learning from it.

Hello everyone! My name is Charlene and I have been on and off of MFP for maybe a year. I just seriously starting working out on March 19th. Finally understand how to eat as of yesterday thanks to the Eat More to Weigh Less group and Helloitsdan. Here are my stats and I look forward to finally losing the fat.

Age: 34
Height: 5'6"
Starting weight: 208
Goal weight: 150
TDEE: 2712
BMR: 1593

Eating 2260 calories daily as of yesterday!!

Hello. My name is Sandy. I am a 50 yo wife/mother (empty nester), recently retired to help care for MIL who moved in with us about a year ago. I was very athletic in high school and in to my mid 20's. But with work, etc wasn't that active anymore. Gradually gained weight. Lost, gained, lost gained...well, you get the picture. I have been on MFP since 1/2/2012 and have lost 17 lbs. so far. I have stalled for about 2 weeks and have been researching the why's of it. I had read another post about upping calorie consumption, then came across this group, so the Lord must be pointing me in the right direction!
Stats 5' 7"
SW: 204
CW: 186
GW: 150

Thanks, Lucia for starting this group!

Hi everyone!

My name is Mandy, and I've been a member of the "Eat less!" mindset for a very long time.

I posted a thread here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/546871-dropping-the-eat-less-mentality
explaining my current situation - it's kind of long, and nobody wanted to answer, but I wanted to provide as much info as I could.

According to the links provided on the home page my numbers would be this (I am 28, 5'9, and 270 pounds)

RMR = 2016
TDEE = 2772 (or 3126 if I pick moderate, I'm in the middle and not sure which to use)
Cut # = 2356 (or 2657)

I am just wondering if the fact that I have such a high body fat percentage comes into play with these numbers.

Hi Mandy!

Yes a higher bf% can in some instances alter the equation. This is because in some rare cases, under medical supervision, an extremely obese person an be put on a deficit of 1000 cals (max), in order to jump start the process. This typically is the case when obese patients have developed insulin sensitivity, & are typically unable to exercise as well. Though there are some professionals that jump the gun and go straight to "max" #'s, I don't necessarily recommend it. For one, as you've seen for yourself, those results can be very temporary, and I prefer using methods that can be kept up long term. Also, the longer that you will be in a deficit, the longer time your metabolism will have to adjust to lower cals, thus slowing down. Since you are capable and working out regularly, I don't feel those drastic measures should be taken.

That being said, I would not recommend going below 2000 cals. Your body has taken quite a beating, but with the major burns you're putting up, I still believe that you should fuel your body properly. So your activity level, should be moderate, & your #s calculated from there. Numbers are not written in stone and can always be adjusted later, but I believe in starting higher and adjusting down as needed. Especially when coming out of an under-eating phase, as the re-feed is typically much needed.

Kiki

Hi everyone!

My name is Mandy, and I've been a member of the "Eat less!" mindset for a very long time.

I posted a thread here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/546871-dropping-the-eat-less-mentality
explaining my current situation - it's kind of long, and nobody wanted to answer, but I wanted to provide as much info as I could.

According to the links provided on the home page my numbers would be this (I am 28, 5'9, and 270 pounds)

RMR = 2016
TDEE = 2772 (or 3126 if I pick moderate, I'm in the middle and not sure which to use)
Cut # = 2356 (or 2657)

I am just wondering if the fact that I have such a high body fat percentage comes into play with these numbers.

Hi Mandy!

Yes a higher bf% can in some instances alter the equation. This is because in some rare cases, under medical supervision, an extremely obese person an be put on a deficit of 1000 cals (max), in order to jump start the process. This typically is the case when obese patients have developed insulin sensitivity, & are typically unable to exercise as well. Though there are some professionals that jump the gun and go straight to "max" #'s, I don't necessarily recommend it. For one, as you've seen for yourself, those results can be very temporary, and I prefer using methods that can be kept up long term. Also, the longer that you will be in a deficit, the longer time your metabolism will have to adjust to lower cals, thus slowing down. Since you are capable and working out regularly, I don't feel those drastic measures should be taken.

That being said, I would not recommend going below 2000 cals. Your body has taken quite a beating, but with the major burns you're putting up, I still believe that you should fuel your body properly. So your activity level, should be moderate, & your #s calculated from there. Numbers are not written in stone and can always be adjusted later, but I believe in starting higher and adjusting down as needed. Especially when coming out of an under-eating phase, as the re-feed is typically much needed.

Kiki

I'm jumping in here to say- thanks Kiki for believing in us bigger folks and not starving us Thank you.

Hi Mandy! We are close to the same stats- I'm 33, 5'6.5 and 260, started at 270. I tried the super low cal before too- and it came off alright! Tons of pats and 'well dones' but no one was there when it all came back.. like it always does. then I had doctors tell me to starve myself, other people told me I was fat as a punishment from God. *eye roll* I know God and he likes me to feed his child

My TDEE averages around 3000 cals and I use them! I eat 2500 every day, even on rest days, to let my body know I won't starve it anymore. It's like taming a wild colt .. or well.. I imagine it to be like that anyway!

Shoot me a friend request if you'd like- then you can take a look at my diary. I'd be happy to share my progress with you