In place of a road map!

Wow. Thank you for all of this information. As a yo-yo ever since I can remember, the info. on the Fat 2 Fit site makes sense to me. The numbers also make sense. I had been using MFP's calculations, but usually eating back my exercise calories. That being said, I found that some of my losses were right after having a "bad" (over calorie) day and had started questioning whether or not MFP's calorie level was too low for me. I think I'm going to try this. According to this, if I'm lightly active I should have 2101 calories a day. I'm working on ramping up my exercise routine, so I will likely be switching to moderately active soon, but I admit that scares me because 2368 (the moderate activity calorie level) sounds like so much. But in theory it all makes perfect sense. I know that there's been many days with MFP's numbers that my net was under 1352 (which is my BMR number). Since I've yo-yo'd so many times, I know that I'm doing something wrong, so I feel I have nothing to lose in trying this.

One question, I do have hypothyroidism. In fact I gained 40 pounds in 3 months because my thyroid went downhill postpartum. So I've lost 20 of that in the last month and a half. I honestly think it came back off so quickly because of my adjustment with the thyroid medication. BUT I do worry because my metabolism can be so sluggish. I admit that I'm very afraid that eating so many calories will cause me to start gaining like crazy. How do I get over the mental hump and do you think the hypothyroidism affects the numbers in any way?

I really do not know much about hyperthyroidism but if you are worried about having a more sluggish metabolism than most, you may need to 'play around' with the numbers a bit. You may want to start upping your calories by 100-200 every week or so and 'take stock' until you get to 2100 calories, or a number that works for you if lower. However, others may have a better idea in your specific circumstance.

bump

i hope this makes sense, because i think I understand it now...thought i did before, but I was a bit off...

Here goes...

My BMR is 1735 - My TDEE is 2858 (moderate act.) - I eat TDEE and lose weight... on workout days and non workout days... EZ PZ!! Your TDEE is set for a weight loss of around a pound a week, which is healthy. Which is also why there was a 20% addition on top of your TDEE, this number 3429 is reflective of exercise. The 2858 includes the exercise deficit. To eat 3429 would maintain my current weight, providing I was still moderately active. If I become less active adjust via the chart accordingly.

Always eat as close to 2858 as possible might stay around 2600 or so, and never eat below BMR

Gonna take some work to get there, that's for sure... If anyone else faces this much of an increase, go slow, Im adding about 200-300 even 500 a day/per week until I get there. Then will reassess.

Have also started, well restarted a strength training program 3 days per week, but have dropped cardio down to 2-3 days per week, and backed off to a moderate pace.

tracking exercise in MFP becomes useless doen't it? as the number is included in that chart for TDEE... Was nice to see those numbers drop off... gonna miss those...lol

I hope i have got the hang of this.... :ohwell:

Is it possible to drop a pound a week (fat), while trying to build lean muscle?

i hope this makes sense, because i think I understand it now...thought i did before, but I was a bit off...

Here goes...

My BMR is 1735 - My TDEE is 2858 (moderate act.) - I eat TDEE and lose weight... on workout days and non workout days... EZ PZ!! Your TDEE is set for a weight loss of around a pound a week, which is healthy. Which is also why there was a 20% addition on top of your TDEE, this number 3429 is reflective of exercise. The 2858 includes the exercise deficit. To eat 3429 would maintain my current weight, providing I was still moderately active. If I become less active adjust via the chart accordingly.

Always eat as close to 2858 as possible might stay around 2600 or so, and never eat below BMR

Gonna take some work to get there, that's for sure... If anyone else faces this much of an increase, go slow, Im adding about 200-300 even 500 a day/per week until I get there. Then will reassess.

Have also started, well restarted a strength training program 3 days per week, but have dropped cardio down to 2-3 days per week, and backed off to a moderate pace.

tracking exercise in MFP becomes useless doen't it? as the number is included in that chart for TDEE... Was nice to see those numbers drop off... gonna miss those...lol

I hope i have got the hang of this.... :ohwell:

Is it possible to drop a pound a week (fat), while trying to build lean muscle?

You totally have it!!

With regard to building muscle while on a deficit, this is a hotly debated topic, but the general thought is that you cannot gain lean muscle mass while on a deficit (except in some extreme circumstances). The objective is to maintain it as much as possible. That is not to say you cannot get more defined - you can, especially when the fat layer reduces, thereby showing the muscles more.

Dan: please correct me if I am wrong here.

Bump to read later

i hope this makes sense, because i think I understand it now...thought i did before, but I was a bit off...

Here goes...

My BMR is 1735 - My TDEE is 2858 (moderate act.) - I eat TDEE and lose weight... on workout days and non workout days... EZ PZ!! Your TDEE is set for a weight loss of around a pound a week, which is healthy. Which is also why there was a 20% addition on top of your TDEE, this number 3429 is reflective of exercise. The 2858 includes the exercise deficit. To eat 3429 would maintain my current weight, providing I was still moderately active. If I become less active adjust via the chart accordingly.

Always eat as close to 2858 as possible might stay around 2600 or so, and never eat below BMR

Gonna take some work to get there, that's for sure... If anyone else faces this much of an increase, go slow, Im adding about 200-300 even 500 a day/per week until I get there. Then will reassess.

Have also started, well restarted a strength training program 3 days per week, but have dropped cardio down to 2-3 days per week, and backed off to a moderate pace.

tracking exercise in MFP becomes useless doen't it? as the number is included in that chart for TDEE... Was nice to see those numbers drop off... gonna miss those...lol

I hope i have got the hang of this.... :ohwell:

Is it possible to drop a pound a week (fat), while trying to build lean muscle?

You totally have it!!

With regard to building muscle while on a deficit, this is a hotly debated topic, but the general thought is that you cannot gain lean muscle mass while on a deficit (except in some extreme circumstances). The objective is to maintain it as much as possible. That is not to say you cannot get more defined - you can, especially when the fat layer reduces, thereby showing the muscles more.

Dan: please correct me if I am wrong here.

Woot!

Thanks for all you help Sarauk2sf!!

There have been a lot of posts since I replied to this topic last, so sorry if someone already pointed this out. But I got confused so I wanted to clarify for the ladies. From the Fat2fit page for the military calculator page:

"Note: Men should take their waist measurement at the navel. Women should measure the natural waist circumference at the point of minimal abdominal circumference, usually located about halfway between the navel and the lower end of the sternum (breast bone)."

My BF% is much closer to what I had guessed this way. Some other calculators use both men and women's measurements at the navel, but apparently that isn't the case with the military body fat.

EDIT: (the website page for the military calculator says this, but the APP does NOT) hmmm?

Thank you for everything you are doing for us.

bump

I found the same site and have been amazed at the information

... sorry, wrong thread

ok, I m confused. My bmr is around 1300, so do I eat at or below or above to lose weight?

If you read the very first post, it will explain.

Sorry, I'm still confused how to figure any of this out.
Can someone please explain this in VERY SIMPLE TERMS without 2 paragraphs of explanation?

My question is, what EXACTLY do we need to do to determine how many calories we should eat on a daily basis?
(I understand it gives the chart based on activity level, so lets forget about activity level right now). How do we get an accurate chart of exactly how many calories we should eat in order to consistently lose weight?

You cannot forget about the activity level. You are probably over-thinking this. I think you may not have availed yourself of the reading on the results page, actually read that info to understand what is happening.

1 - visit http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/
2 - Do the Military Body Fat Calc first
3 - then the BMR tool.
3.5 - read the paragraphs under the big bold section heading "How much Calories Should I Eat". If you don't see this, you are doing something very wrong.
4 - The BMR tool will give EXACT calories to eat on a daily basis for the correct activity level that is picked - exercise is obviously included as you can tell from the descriptions. Which of course means you do NOT eat back exercise calories with this system.

Ok thank you, this makes sense. I think the original post had a lot of extra information that made this much harder to understand.
The thing that concerns me is the activity levels. I think there can be a lot of variance as far as what you might consider as moderate activity, intense, etc.. As some previous people said, what if you do a lot of exercise but at a lower intensity level? Or if you do a little exercise, but at a high intensity level. You might burn a lot more calories the second way, but if you consider that moderate exercise, then it wouldn't be "allowing" you the correct amount of calories. Also, if you don't exercise at that exact level, all of the time, then you'd have to adjust your calories accordingly.

This is why I feel it makes a lot more sense to just eat the calories for the sedentary level and then eat back any calories you may burn with any exercise you may do that day. This way, you always know you are eating the correct amount of calories. By using a HRM, you would know how many calories you burned - there would be no question of that, and nothing to calculate.

Anyway, I did the calculation and it says I should eat 1700 calories at a sedentary level. There is no way I'd ever lose weight eating that much, since I was previously eating that many calories before I started my diet, and I was consistently GAINING weight. I have had a lot of success eating about 1300 calories at a sedentary level, with consistent weight loss and good results. Anything more than that, and I either don't lose weight, or I gain weight.

So in conclusion, I'll be sticking with the guidelines that MFP sets for me, because it works.

i hope this makes sense, because i think I understand it now...thought i did before, but I was a bit off...

Here goes...

My BMR is 1735 - My TDEE is 2858 (moderate act.) - I eat TDEE and lose weight... on workout days and non workout days... EZ PZ!! Your TDEE is set for a weight loss of around a pound a week, which is healthy. Which is also why there was a 20% addition on top of your TDEE, this number 3429 is reflective of exercise. The 2858 includes the exercise deficit. To eat 3429 would maintain my current weight, providing I was still moderately active. If I become less active adjust via the chart accordingly.

Always eat as close to 2858 as possible might stay around 2600 or so, and never eat below BMR

Gonna take some work to get there, that's for sure... If anyone else faces this much of an increase, go slow, Im adding about 200-300 even 500 a day/per week until I get there. Then will reassess.

Have also started, well restarted a strength training program 3 days per week, but have dropped cardio down to 2-3 days per week, and backed off to a moderate pace.

tracking exercise in MFP becomes useless doen't it? as the number is included in that chart for TDEE... Was nice to see those numbers drop off... gonna miss those...lol

I hope i have got the hang of this.... :ohwell:

Is it possible to drop a pound a week (fat), while trying to build lean muscle?

The only thing you are having trouble with is term TDEE. TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is the total amount of calories you burn including your exercise. 3429 is your TDEE. The lower number, 2858, is how many calories to eat. This number has your deficit worked in. So you are right about what to eat. Your maintenance number or TDEE is the same thing 3429.