In place of a road map!

I just came across this, and at least to me, this makes a lot more sense, and is more in line with the number of calories that MFP tells me to eat, and how much I've been eating, and consistently losing weight. (and also in line with the calculates that Weight Watchers provides witht heir points system)

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/calories/how-many-calories-should-i-eat-to-lose-weight.html

From that site:
-First determine your BMR using this formula:

Women: 655 + (4.3x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

Men: 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

For me, this comes to 1683 for my BMR.

-Next, calculate your activity level to determine how many calories you need to maintain your current weight:
Sedentary - add BMR + 20%
Light activity - add BMR + 30%
Active - add BMR + 40%
Very Active - Add BMR + 50%

I have a sedentary lifestyle, so this number comes out to 2019.62
This is the amount of calories I need to MAINTAIN my current weight.

-Finally - determine how many calories are needed to lose weight.
a 3500 calorie deficit per week (500/day) = 1 pound weight loss per week.

So if I need 2019 calories/day to maintain - MINUS- 500 cal/day (1 pd per week) = 1519 cal/day to lose weight.
MFP allows me 1500 cals per day, so this is right in line with that. - I've been following this guideline and consistenly losing an average of 1 to 2 pounds per week.

And yes, this number is below my BMR, but seems to be the only number I can use to lose weight at a sedentary level.
Not only that, but the Weight Watchers system is based off of calories and other factors, which determines this is how many calories I should be eating as well. So are you then suggesting that Weight Watchers is incorrectly telling all of their members to eat below their BMR??

from Fat 2 Fit these are the numbers I got,

Sedentary - 1843
Lightly Active - 2111
Moderately Active - 2380

I fall under Moderately Active, are you saying that on days I do not workout I need to only eat 1843? or can I eat 2380 every day and not eat back exercise calories on days I workout?

Bump for later

are you saying that on days I do not workout I need to only eat 1843? or can I eat 2380 every day and not eat back exercise calories on days I workout?

Excellent point! what do you do on days you don't work out when it appears the Activity level calories account for exercise since you don't have to eat them back.
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it's a weekly balance. same value everyday.
You do not eat back exercise as you said, already in there. On a weekly avg. Heavy, light, rest days balance out. End result should be NETing above your BMR by 200 if you spot checked for a week.

Bumping to save

are you saying that on days I do not workout I need to only eat 1843? or can I eat 2380 every day and not eat back exercise calories on days I workout?

Excellent point! what do you do on days you don't work out when it appears the Activity level calories account for exercise since you don't have to eat them back.

it's a weekly balance. same value everyday.
You do not eat back exercise as you said, already in there. On a weekly avg. Heavy, light, rest days balance out. End result should be NETing above your BMR by 200 if you spot checked for a week.
[/quote]


Excellent! Thank you

BUMP!

bump

bump!

I apologize to anyone who has already read this on another post. But it seems like this is a good place to get some feed back.


I joined MFP almost a year ago, but really started exercising and logging faithfully 4 months ago. MFP had my calories set to 1200 calories a day, I raised it once to 1350, but noticed weight gain after 3 weeks, so dropped back to 1200.

I exercise 5 days a week or more… here is my schedule:
Mon- spinning 60 min
Tue- Personal training 60 min (mostly HIIT )
Wednesday- Muscle pump class (cardio/muscle endurance) 60 min
Thursday- Lifting day 45 min
Friday Spinning (60 min)
Saturday – Lift day.

I am 32
5'5
135 lbs
20% bf (caliper test)
I have lost a total of 4lbs in a little less than a year. However, I have decreased my body fat from 26% to 20% in that time period.

On average my daily calorie burn worked out to 387 calories a day. I would eat the majority of those calories back every day. So, my average calorie intake was 1537 (this is a 3 month average for calories consumed and burned).

In that 3 month period, there was no change in my body, no inches, no lbs…nothing.

So, I decided to get my Resting Metabolic Rate tested. From what I have read RMR and BMR are similar.
The test was the conducted at rest after fasting for 12 hours, no exercise for 24 hr period prior. 15 min - test using The Cardiocoach".


I went into the test assuming I was not eating enough calories… but the test came back with less than positive results.

My RMR was 1019 and that put me into a maintenance calorie range (to include daily activities and exercise) at 1200-1400. They said my weight loss calories would need to be at 1200 (because they wouldn’t recommend eating under 1200). I asked the trainer who performed the test if I should eat back my calories after exercise and he looked at me like I was insane!! He basically said that “that is where you were getting it wrong, it is not net calories for someone with your metabolism, you need to create a deficit and if my maintenance level is 1400 calories a day, the best I could do was eat 1200 and exercise without eating the calories back to create that deficit.

Now, in all honesty I don’t care what the scale says anymore, but I am trying to get my bf% lower… and to lower my bf% I know I need to be at a deficit! I am basically confused and frustrated and I have been trying to eat 1200 for a week or so without much difficulty. But on days I really work hard at the gym and I see a net calorie of 500 calories it freaks me out! The last thing I want to do is make my metabolism slower than it already is!!

So assuming the test is correct and my RMR really is 1019 and my goal is to lose body fat while maintaining my lean muscle mass, do I eat 1200 calories and not eat back exercise calories. Or should I eat back a portion of those calories to keep my net calories above 1019?

Sorry for this lengthy post!