Doing it right! Diffrent information

everyone is different..thats why they all give you different advice..some just give myth heard from someone else advice...but..its all about experimenting with yourself to find what works for you.

for me...i have to be strict on my calories..i dont eat back, i work out frantically in order for me to lose a few lbs. i workout for an hour and half every day. i run at least 1.5 miles, if not 2 miles everyday, after lifting. but thats what works for me..i eat a little under my maintenance..like 1700 cals.

It was the first thing I wrote

Actually you wrote " Before my plan was " and "My new plan is " which I read as a change of plan and not a record of what you had been doing. I understand now.

You lost an average of 1.5 lbs per week, which is pretty reasonable.

You propose to exercise less and eat more, which points to a smaller energy deficit which would normally be associated with a lower weight loss. Some will argue that your metabolic rate is going to increase by more than the 300 calories of extra eating and that you'll therefore lose more. I wouldn't be able to support the latter argument with any evidence.

So I would try your new plan for 4 weeks if you're not happy, then you'll know how it works.

Ok, so this is not as easy as I thought because everyone is telling me different things. Before my plan was to eat 1200 calories a day (not eating back exercise cals) and working out 1,5 hours 5 times a week.

My new plan is to eat at least 1500 calories (my bmr) and work out 1,5 hours 4 times a week. Will I lose more? Is this right? Will this work? It's so hard to do it right when everyone keeps telling me different things. I just need someone to tell me "Do like this and you will lose weight"

Thank you.

The thing to bare in mind here is that when you enter your goals into MFP, it already sets you at a calorie deficit which will give you the weekly loss you have selected without exercise. So, if you think about it, if you then exercise and burn off calories but don't eat them back, you are creating a much larger calorie deficit and therefore risk sending your body into starvation mode. I look at exercise as being a way to be able to eat more and I'm averaging at a 2/3lb loss per week. I've lost 41lbs in 13 weeks so trust me when I say, there is no harm in eating back your exercise calories so don't be afraid to do it. You will still lose the amount you've selected, you will be able to eat more and you will be gaining muscle tone and definition x

I've lost 41lbs in 13 weeks so trust me when I say, there is no harm in eating back your exercise calories so don't be afraid to do it.

Sounds impressive. Can you elaborate a bit - how many exercise calories were you eating back, total calories, starting weight perhaps ?

SW: 272lbs
CW:231lbs

My calorie goal is set automatically by MFP based on a "lightly active" setting, which has me at roughly 1400 cals per day at the moment. I try to workout at the gym 3 times a week, averaging an 800 cal burn per session. Sometimes I work out more at the gym, it depends. I go particularly hard if I know I have a meal out planned, for example and will burn around 1000 cals instead. On the days Im not at the gym, I try to walk at least a couple of miles and on these walks, I usually burn 2-300 cals. I tend to eat most of my exercise cals back. Sometimes don't manage all of them purely because it's just a lot of bloody food to eat haha. But most of the time, most of my workout cals are eaten back (and thoroughly enjoyed too, may I add )

The thing is that if I'm netting in at 700 every day 1,5 pounds a week is not that good. Its better than nothing but my point is If I can eat more and lose the same amount (as people claim) and at the same time not feel so tired all the time that would be good. But you say that I should keep going otherwise I wont even lose that?

Net a minimum of 1200. You should not eat less than that. Eat back your exercise calories with a low fat, high protein snack. The protein will help build muscles and make you burn more fat while resting. Lift heavy and lift often and you'll see results.

It's a great big ongoing debate and I don't think there's a right answer.... I eat just above my BMR, so my figure is 1700. MFP overestimates calorie burn from exercise, so I eat 50% of my excerise calories back. It works for me - I'm never hungry and I'm losing weight steadily.

It's a great big ongoing debate and I don't think there's a right answer.... I eat just above my BMR, so my figure is 1700. MFP overestimates calorie burn from exercise, so I eat 50% of my excerise calories back. It works for me - I'm never hungry and I'm losing weight steadily.

Good Job! I agree MFP overestimates. At the moment, I use the cal count on the machines in the gym by entering my weight and monitoring my heart rate on the sensor things and when I walk, I use a tracker that uses gps to track my distance and pace and my body weight to work out the cals burned. I think the best idea when it comes to accurately monitoring cals burned is to invest in a heart rate monitor that straps to your chest. That way, you know how many cals you have burned for deff and can therefore rest assured you can eat them all back (woohoo!) I posted a thread about it yesterday as I found one online for £12.99 (in the uk but may well ship world wide). Think the thread was called "dirt cheap HRM" or something similar and I posted the links to it on there x

But thats what I'm trying to figure out. The BMR thing! Yay or nay?

Have a look at this link:

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

This is what I'm considering using ^^^^^ I was recommended this tool by a friend but have since seen many MFPers say that it's the best tool around x

Ok, so this is not as easy as I thought because everyone is telling me different things. Before my plan was to eat 1200 calories a day (not eating back exercise cals) and working out 1,5 hours 5 times a week.

My new plan is to eat at least 1500 calories (my bmr) and work out 1,5 hours 4 times a week. Will I lose more? Is this right? Will this work? It's so hard to do it right when everyone keeps telling me different things. I just need someone to tell me "Do like this and you will lose weight"

Thank you.

You need to figure it out for yourself, but for me, yes, eating between BMR and TDEE has been succesful.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/510406-tdee-is-everything?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions?page=1
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6832-eating-all-of-your-calories-bmr

Well no, I dont think the fact I have a way to go really has anything to do with me being able to "sustain a higher intake". I don't consider myself to have a high intake at all

highER not high - I can see why your increasing intake wasn't a problem. I agree you don't have a massive food intake.

Your current weight contributes to a TDEE that with the offset gets to 1400 and I can see that the extra deficit added from exercise you can use that to offset more food.

6 months down the road the TDEE will be lower.

Well looks like you lost 11kg in two months, sounds like your current plan is working out just fine.

If you need some encouragement, have a look at some some success pics from the people that all ate above BMR.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/531086-before-and-after-pics-no-starvation?

i understand your confusion.

i've battled so many, many years with confusion with the right and wrong things to do. mfp, and all of the fantastic people here, have helped me understand that i need to 1) listen to my body 2) modify when i don't see results 3) forgive myself for not being able to keep up occasionally and 4) realize that it didn't take me 6 months to get to the state that i am in,

i am not officially diagnosed with hypothyroidism, however all of my symptoms are wrapped around having it. i decided to go get some all-natural products to start self-treating and i've started to see steady increases in so many of my low points. the scale has even started moving again!

i've gotten into a routine with my diet, exercise, water intake, vitamin intake, sleep cycles... i look at myself, know my limitations, and try some advice if it seems to be what i am looking for or what i know i can try honestly. there's no sense in trying to drink eggs raw if i know i'll barf them back up, lol.

when i started i was dead-set against eating back my calories. i was dead-set about not eating the 1470 i'm allotted for the day. i was dead-set against going without exercise for even a day. i was dead-set against eating "junk".

and now...

i do eat back my calories because the research that i have done makes me think that it is the healthiest route and that i will see better results. i eat my 1470 AND most of my exercise calories. for that, my energy level has gone up and my cravings have gone way down. i exercise and i change up my routine. i can't say that i do it daily. some days, work and kids, make it not possible. i do things that are fun so i don't feel that i'm working out, things i enjoy. i eat junk. i eat cravings. i mix some "bad" in with the good some days. since i have started doing this, i haven't had a binge and i haven't kept from logging. i felt it was shameful before. now, i don't care. i eat good and not-so-good and i'm content with my choices.

i will tell you... i weigh and portion my food. i own a HRM. i think these two things have given me a better sense of control over what's going on. i was getting such inaccurate reads from my cardio app, the machines i use, and mfp. i was always mind-boggled by how high the numbers always were. if i didn't see results before i invested in these things i would think, "i don't know what i am doing wrong." i felt lost. i felt like i was doing so much wrong. i do enjoy the portion-control and i also enjoy the HRM reads. i like that if i decide to go for a bike ride, i can put the belt on and the watch on, click a button and just go. i don't have to keep a pace. i can stop to rest. i can go to the store, pause it, and continue on when i come back out.

and yet... i have seen people that have tried everything that i have and they don't find one, or any, of the things helpful. that's okay, though. it has taken me months and months of trial and error to get to where i am at. i like that you are questioning things and that you want to be sure what you're doing is best. i had such a large portion of time filled with worry over right and wrong. i can't keep up with the do's and don'ts anymore. there's too much out there for me to decide.

case in point: i read on here where one of my friends said he cut bread out of his life entirely because it was terrible for you. BREAD!! the one staple that could last me through an apocalypse, bad for me!!! i wanted to jump buildings with a single leap i was so pissed. i love bread and to do without.... *sigh* let's not go there. then i'm at work. i get to talking to this kid that is in tip-top shape. he is cut. he works out at his gym 4-5 days a week religiously. he drinks gallons of water daily, doesn't touch candy, soda... and he told me he eats about 4 sandwiches daily. he said that bread is great for you and that he inhales it..... i know that the first person is a marathon runner in his 40's and this is a 18 year old kid, but that's a big difference of opinions, regardless of their lifestyles.

i wish i had the answers, but though long, my entire post is only full of opinions and third-party information.
i'm like you. i'm just going to keep fighting the good fight until they invent that "cure" we're all waiting for.