Does this diet plan seem workable?

When MFP says to 'eat' 1,200 it means to NET 1,200 calories.

That means that if you eat 1,600, you then burn off 400, your net calories are 1,600-400 = 1,200

In my opinion? That's too little.

I think that you should be aiming a minimum net of around 1,300 for someone your size (varies from person to person obviously - I can net at 2,200 and lose 0.5lbs a week)

http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/
^ Is a good read

As is:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/510406-tdee-is-everything


Edit: So, in answer to your question, I'd say eat somewhere between where it says to maintain and lose 1lb a week. That means you'll be 'netting' low to mid 1000's

I found one BMR calculator that used body fat % as a factor and with results showing different activity levels. i chose the sedentary activity level set my MFP activity level the same and use that BMR with a 300-ish cal deficit to manually set my calorie limit, i always try to reach my calorie level within 100 calories either way so that im not eating too few calories yet i' still creating enough of a deficit to lose weight. I eat exercise calories back, i see exercise as a way to tone and strengthen muscles not create a calorie deficit.

My advice? Get a heart rate monitor. That'll tell you all you need to know about how much you're burning doing daily activities.

Apart from that? Experiment! Try eating 1,600? Not losing any weight? Eat less! Do more cardio, start lifting weights. It's not all about the numbers on the scale; use the mirror as your friend

I really cannot exercise more than an hour a day. That's all the time I have, with working full time and a toddler to raise. So that is that. I already do cardio, lifting, and resistance in that hour, pretty evenly split. Maybe I am logging my calories inaccurately? I just don't know.

One hour a day is plenty. Best advice I could give you is weights 3 or 4 times a week and cardio at least once or twice (HIIT if you're up for it) then rest days on the other days.

You've been a member for 1 month? and you've lost 5lbs, that's a top effort That's perfect weight loss; 1 lb every week. Any more and you'll be losing muscle which you really don't want. Keep up what you're doing until you plateau, then try fiddling with it. Why stop something if it's working?

OK, so I am trying to figure out this whole BMR/TDEE/BF% alphabet soup of craziness. I am getting a lot of conflicting advice, and MFP is confusing me too.

I am 5'0", 40 years old, 140 lbs. BF % roughly 32% (calipers are in the mail as we speak). I want to lose 20 pound of fat. MFP says I should be eating 1200. I have used about 10 different BMR calculators and they all say different things. So let's say my BMR is 1200, though some sites say it's as high as 1350. That's how many calories I would need if I were in a coma, doing nothing, to maintain weight. But I'm not in a coma. I am walking around, working, cooking, cleaning, carrying bags, chasing a toddler. I am also working out 6 times a week for 300-400 calories each time, roughly (cardio, lifting, resistance combo). According to MFP, I should be eating 1500-1600 calories on workout days. But what about the calories I am burning in my daily life? It seems impossible to figure what those would be. So how much should I be eating? I have to say, right now I am losing inches in places I shouldn't be, like my calves and thighs, which have no fat on them to begin with. I am troubled by this, as the goal is not to lose muscle but fat.

I found this:

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

It gave me this plan:

..............................Maintenance ..........Fat Loss ..........Extreme Fat Loss
Monday..................1909.......................1527...................1145
Tuesday.................1527 .....................1222 ...................1120
Wednesday............2290 .....................1832 ................ 1374
Thursday.................1909......................1527...................1145
Friday.......................1718......................1374 ...................1120
Saturday..................2099......................1680 ..................1260
Sunday ...................1909........................1527...................1145

It figures out a diet intake plan that zig zags, which seems like a good idea. I would do the middle column, though it doesn't seem like enough calories to me. This means not eating back exercise calories, just following this plan, ignoring MFP's calories counts. Does this seem sound? I would assume Tuesday and Friday are the rest days due to the lower calories. What do you think?

SEE MY NEXT POST DOWN FOR EQUATION

your bmr is if you laid on the floor or bed all day.
Find out your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Your BMR will tell you how many calories your body needs to function properly if you spent the entire day sedentary. To calculate your BMR, can use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation[1]:



BMR = 10m + 6.25h - 5a +s

m = weight in kilograms. If you know your weight in pounds, divide by 2.2 to get your weight in kilograms.

h = your height in centimeters. If you know your height in inches, multiply by 2.54 to get your height in centimeters.

a = Age in years

s = sex. For males, add 5; for females, subtract 161.



NEXT


Account for your activity level. Since you (hopefully) do not sit still in bed all day, you must account for the calories you burn through activity. Once you have your BMR, use the Harris Benedict Formula below to determine your total daily calorie needs depending on your activity level. To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : BMR x 1.2

If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : BMR x 1.375

If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : BMR x 1.55

If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : BMR x 1.725

If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports and physical job or 2x training) : BMR x 1.9

For example, a 30 year old woman who is 5’6” and 150 pounds would plug her information into the calculator and find out that her BMR is 1418.6. Then, since she is fairly active, exercising 3-5 days per week, she would look at the formula above and see that she would multiply 1418.6 by 1.55, to equal 2199 calories. That is the number of calories that her body burns on an average day.
NEXT

Plan to burn calories safely. In order to lose one pound of fat, you must have a deficit of 3500 calories. Losing these calories through diet restriction alone is not recommended - if you're serious about losing weight, it's safer to step up your exercise regimen as well. Only aim to lose 1 or 2 pounds per week. If you were to lose weight through diet alone, you'd need a 500-calorie deficit every day to lose one pound in a week. If you were really pushing it and wanted to lose 2 pounds in a week, you'd need a 1000-calorie deficit every day.

If you're planning to lose 10 pounds or less, stick to losing 1 pound per week. If you're already within 10 pounds of your goal weight, your body will start lowering its metabolism to hoard calories if you diet too extremely.

Part of the weight you lose during the first week or two might be water weight or bloat. If you lose 5 pounds in the first week but you only aimed for a 500-calorie deficit each day, don't panic. A lot of the weight you lost might have been excess water that your body was retaining. When you plateau at 1 or 2 pounds per week after that, don't panic - you're still on-track.

Don't push your deficit below what your body needs to survive. It's a bad idea to consistently make your daily caloric intake lower than your BMR. When your body doesn't take in enough calories each day to sustain basic functions, it starts burning muscle. You might lose weight, but you'll be noticeably weaker.

Returning to the woman in the previous example, if her goal weight is 130, she would have a total weight loss of 20 pounds. She would want her weight loss goal per week to be between 1-1.5 pounds per week, so that she does not take her calories too low. Her total daily intake of calories should be between 1563 and 1788. As she begins to lose weight, she will want to recalculate her BMR, and then stick to the 1 pound per week (500 calorie deficit per day) range as she gets within 10 pounds from her goal weight.

OK, so I am trying to figure out this whole BMR/TDEE/BF% alphabet soup of craziness. I am getting a lot of conflicting advice, and MFP is confusing me too.

I am 5'0", 40 years old, 140 lbs. BF % roughly 32% (calipers are in the mail as we speak). I want to lose 20 pound of fat. MFP says I should be eating 1200. I have used about 10 different BMR calculators and they all say different things. So let's say my BMR is 1200, though some sites say it's as high as 1350. That's how many calories I would need if I were in a coma, doing nothing, to maintain weight. But I'm not in a coma. I am walking around, working, cooking, cleaning, carrying bags, chasing a toddler. I am also working out 6 times a week for 300-400 calories each time, roughly (cardio, lifting, resistance combo). According to MFP, I should be eating 1500-1600 calories on workout days. But what about the calories I am burning in my daily life? It seems impossible to figure what those would be. So how much should I be eating? I have to say, right now I am losing inches in places I shouldn't be, like my calves and thighs, which have no fat on them to begin with. I am troubled by this, as the goal is not to lose muscle but fat.

I found this:

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

It gave me this plan:

..............................Maintenance ..........Fat Loss ..........Extreme Fat Loss
Monday..................1909.......................1527...................1145
Tuesday.................1527 .....................1222 ...................1120
Wednesday............2290 .....................1832 ................ 1374
Thursday.................1909......................1527...................1145
Friday.......................1718......................1374 ...................1120
Saturday..................2099......................1680 ..................1260
Sunday ...................1909........................1527...................1145

It figures out a diet intake plan that zig zags, which seems like a good idea. I would do the middle column, though it doesn't seem like enough calories to me. This means not eating back exercise calories, just following this plan, ignoring MFP's calories counts. Does this seem sound? I would assume Tuesday and Friday are the rest days due to the lower calories. What do you think?

The middle one - fat loss is the better one to go for or you could just eat the same amount each day which is 1527 calories if you add up the 7 days of calories and divide by 7. See how you feel and if you are losing. You then make adjustments as need be.

I think you're over thinking this, all the calculators in the world won't give you an answer that will work perfectly you'll need to tweak it to suit your body's individual metabolism (and then keep tweaking it because your metabolism will change the more fit you become and also the older you get) several people have given you suggestions, pick one and try it out for a week. At that level of calories are you able to get through your workouts feeling energized? Do you feel satisfied or hungry throughout the day? If it works for you keep it up, if it's not working then try upping your calories by 150-300 per day. It's going to take some experimenting to find your perfect formula but you'll get there!

My calculations using a dietary calculator.

BMR 1305
TDEE 2022

Set MFP to 1618 daily.
Dont worry about eating back cals unless you overtrain.
Protein and Fat 30% each.

Enjoy your fat loss!

My calculations using a dietary calculator.

BMR 1305
TDEE 2022

Set MFP to 1618 daily.
Dont worry about eating back cals unless you overtrain.
Protein and Fat 30% each.

Enjoy your fat loss!

following my original formula her bodyweight times 10 gives about the same number, take away 20%... you end up with 1618 calories. as i recommended, looks good dan.

You know me bud!
Always looking out!

I liked that experiment we did with the HRM.
Your numbers were almost in synch with my calculator.
Just goes to show....
=D

You mean the bodybugg right?

Yessir!

My advice? Get a heart rate monitor. That'll tell you all you need to know about how much you're burning doing daily activities.

Apart from that? Experiment! Try eating 1,600? Not losing any weight? Eat less! Do more cardio, start lifting weights. It's not all about the numbers on the scale; use the mirror as your friend

HRM cannot tell you any calorie estimates with any kind of useful accuracy outside of aerobic zones. That's what the studies and formula's are based on, only your 90-160 perhaps HR levels. Anything anaerobic above it is incorrect, anything resting or daily activity is below that and is incorrect.

That's where the BodyBugg/BodyMedia Fit come into play, if you just must know best estimate of TDEE. But those devices sadly are just as inaccurate in the heavy exercise zone, except for walking.