In place of a road map!

OK I just found all of this information this morning and I went to the fat2fitradio website and completed the calculations. The body fat calcs. were all different ranging from 14.5% to 30.7%. I used the 30.7% which was the military calc.

Age 26
Female
Weight 145
Goal Weight 135
Height 67 inches

Harris-Benedict Formula 1478
Katch-McArdle Forumla 1352


Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1722
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1973
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2224
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2475
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2727

I have been at a base of 1280 on MFP and eating back 1/2 of my fitness calories, usually 100-150 each day. I work out 30 mins doing 30 day shred and shred it with weights by Jillian Michaels alternating DVDs 6 days per week plus I am doing the Couch 2 5k and I am in week 7 jogging that 3 days per week. If I were to follow this I would need to eat 2224 calories a day!

Most days I am STARVING at my previous calorie intake and my weight loss has stopped for over a month and a half. I am just trying to figure out what I should be eating to lose these last 10 pounds and tone up! I upped my calories to about 1600ish this week, but I am having a hard time figuring out exactly how much to eat!

Sugarsquare, you are my twin!...although I'm a good 13 yrs older Anyway I've been at 145 for (gosh) over a year. I too would love to get to 135.

I've been jogging/walking on the treadmill 5-6 days/week for 45-60 mins. Incorporated some Jillian the past few months. My BMR is 1408 and I was previously trying to net 1200 ---> THIS IS WHY I'VE BEEN STUCK OVER A YEAR! Since I've had no weight loss all this time, I figure I have nothing to lose so I bumped my cals all the way up to moderate 2100! Its been a couple of weeks so nothing so far. I'm sure my metabolism is pretty messed up from the previous overexercising and undereating, so it might take awhile. I am a lot happier now, less stressed over food, and have more energy for my workouts. I'm going to stick this out and hope it's true what 'they' say!

Will report back with results. Good luck to you! And thanks to ALL OF YOU for waking me up!

(hugs)

Thanks I guess I just need reassurance! I was thinking about dropping 3 of the workouts (I am almost done with C25K and I have been doing Jillian Michaels Shred it with weights on those days also), but now I am at a point where I am running 25-30 minutes and about to be runnign 3 miles on those days. I think I may be over doing it on those days because I am physically exhausted and my muscles are not recovering as much. Would I drop down to the Moderate Activity level then?

bump

bump

This is really interesting stuff. I ran my numbers 30 years, female, height 63.38inches, current weight 175, goal 130 and body fat % 44.7 and came up with a BMR of 1322.
It says I need to eat sedentary 1652
lightly active 1893
moderatly active 2134
very active 2375
extremely active 2616

I find activity level to be a hard one. I tend to work out 5 days a week and try to burn 500 cals per day but on occasion can burn closer to 1000 calories. I tend to burn between 2000-3400 per week using a HRM,. However in the last week I have been sore so lowered right down and didn't burn anywhere near as much as normal. What level should i pick? I'm feeling better now so will try to head back to working out more again. Also i ran my numbers to maintain my current weight and the BMR is exactly the same but the numbers is gives me for calories to eat are only around 260-300 higher for each level. This means using these methods I'd only be eating around 300 cals under my current maintence per day or around 2100 per week. Does this mean my weight loss will be very slow if I am using these numbers? I'm losing and gaining the same 1kg for the last 6 weeks atm and I'm slightly over it.

Bump for epicness. Going to try adding this as my plan...although I already find it hard to eat so many calories.

Oookay. So I've been trying this method and finding it hard to eat so many calories. But now that I've been eating more, and doing Jillian's 30 day shred, my weight has gone up. I mean, I woke up today so bloated I legitimately look pregnant, ew. I'm supposed to be losing weight, not hiding a fat belly. It's extremely disheartening and I was wondering if I should just stick with it and things will get better soon, or if I should go back to calorie restriction? Help

OK I just found all of this information and I went to the fat2fitradio website and completed the calculations. I used the military body fat calculations of 23.1%

Age 30
Female
Weight 119
Goal Weight 115
Height 61 inches

Harris-Benedict Formula 1318
Katch-McArdle Forumla 1271


Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1556
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1783
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2010
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2237
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2464

I just upped my calories to 1875 to see if I can start losing again. I just took a guess from that chart to get that number.... I have been stuck around 119 lbs. I am a stay-at-home Mom of 3 kids (aged 4 and under). I have been doing Jillian Michaels Body Revolution which is a 30 minute workout 6 days a week (90 day program). What would I consider as my activity level and how many calories do you think I should eat to lose these last few lbs? I still want to lose another 5ish lbs and they don't want leave...

Some days I feel like I am starving----but I dont know if that's what it really is. I am constantly around food (our pantry and serving kids their food, and snacks through out the day). I think about food all the time it seems. I am just trying to figure out what I should be eating to lose these last few pounds and tone up. Any help appreciated. Thanks .

Oookay. So I've been trying this method and finding it hard to eat so many calories. But now that I've been eating more, and doing Jillian's 30 day shred, my weight has gone up. I mean, I woke up today so bloated I legitimately look pregnant, ew. I'm supposed to be losing weight, not hiding a fat belly. It's extremely disheartening and I was wondering if I should just stick with it and things will get better soon, or if I should go back to calorie restriction? Help

How long have you been doing it exactly with the change?

To gain weight quickest, eat at too extreme a deficit that your energy stores are always depleted, and then finally eat enough to replenish them, and gain up to 3lbs overnight.

This is NOT fat weight. Which would require OVER 3500 calories for a pound.

Take your weight gain x 3500 / days doing this = that many EXTRA calories every day you would have to eat to gain fat. Eating daily goal, eating exercise, eating daily activity, AND eating that extra you are worried about.

Do the math - have you really been eating that much extra?

And unless you did the calc's horribly wrong, you are already at calorie restriction.

OK I just found all of this information and I went to the fat2fitradio website and completed the calculations. I used the military body fat calculations of 23.1%

Age 30
Female
Weight 119
Goal Weight 115
Height 61 inches

Harris-Benedict Formula 1318
Katch-McArdle Forumla 1271


Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1556
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1783
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2010
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2237
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2464

I just upped my calories to 1875 to see if I can start losing again. I just took a guess from that chart to get that number.... I have been stuck around 119 lbs. I am a stay-at-home Mom of 3 kids (aged 4 and under). I have been doing Jillian Michaels Body Revolution which is a 30 minute workout 6 days a week (90 day program). What would I consider as my activity level and how many calories do you think I should eat to lose these last few lbs? I still want to lose another 5ish lbs and they don't want leave...

Some days I feel like I am starving----but I dont know if that's what it really is. I am constantly around food (our pantry and serving kids their food, and snacks through out the day). I think about food all the time it seems. I am just trying to figure out what I should be eating to lose these last few pounds and tone up. Any help appreciated. Thanks .

So you are at the unique position of almost sliding into maintenance mode.

You are also in the perhaps not so unique position that if your metabolism has been suppressed up till now - this could be difficult. If you cut lower, you may get a short lag time of more loss before it slows down more, but then how do you raise it back up?

Or, go back to almost maintenance mode, get the fires stoked burning fully, and then the illustration falls apart because I'm not sure what would happen next with fires stoked fully. ;-)

But the idea then is you could cut a couple hundred cal's a day and lose the last weight. Shoot, even eating at near maintenance may just show up how far below you still are.

So I'd count those 30 min DVD's as 1/2 day, so you are right between Lightly and Moderate Active.
That means 1900 calories. Nice even number.

So you've been waiting this long, give it another 2-3 weeks while bringing the calories up 200 per day for a week, and then another week, ect, until at 1900.
Then a couple weeks at that level. You will likely gain weight in there somewhere. Not fat, because you are still at deficit. But energy stores, body improvements with workouts being fed, ect.
Only weigh the morning after a rest day, so you have no fluctuations resulting from the workouts and energy stores and fluid levels, ect.
Once that has settled in, you'll already probably be losing. Don't add any new workouts thinking it's helping, you need normal routine right now to see where your body is at.

Last 5 means 1/2 lb or less per week. You may only want to weigh every 2 weeks if you don't trust scale for sub-pounds.

OK I just found all of this information and I went to the fat2fitradio website and completed the calculations. I used the military body fat calculations of 23.1%

Age 30
Female
Weight 119
Goal Weight 115
Height 61 inches

Harris-Benedict Formula 1318
Katch-McArdle Forumla 1271


Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1556
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1783
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2010
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2237
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2464

I just upped my calories to 1875 to see if I can start losing again. I just took a guess from that chart to get that number.... I have been stuck around 119 lbs. I am a stay-at-home Mom of 3 kids (aged 4 and under). I have been doing Jillian Michaels Body Revolution which is a 30 minute workout 6 days a week (90 day program). What would I consider as my activity level and how many calories do you think I should eat to lose these last few lbs? I still want to lose another 5ish lbs and they don't want leave...

Some days I feel like I am starving----but I dont know if that's what it really is. I am constantly around food (our pantry and serving kids their food, and snacks through out the day). I think about food all the time it seems. I am just trying to figure out what I should be eating to lose these last few pounds and tone up. Any help appreciated. Thanks .

So you are at the unique position of almost sliding into maintenance mode.

You are also in the perhaps not so unique position that if your metabolism has been suppressed up till now - this could be difficult. If you cut lower, you may get a short lag time of more loss before it slows down more, but then how do you raise it back up?

Or, go back to almost maintenance mode, get the fires stoked burning fully, and then the illustration falls apart because I'm not sure what would happen next with fires stoked fully. ;-)

But the idea then is you could cut a couple hundred cal's a day and lose the last weight. Shoot, even eating at near maintenance may just show up how far below you still are.

So I'd count those 30 min DVD's as 1/2 day, so you are right between Lightly and Moderate Active.
That means 1900 calories. Nice even number.

So you've been waiting this long, give it another 2-3 weeks while bringing the calories up 200 per day for a week, and then another week, ect, until at 1900.
Then a couple weeks at that level. You will likely gain weight in there somewhere. Not fat, because you are still at deficit. But energy stores, body improvements with workouts being fed, ect.
Only weigh the morning after a rest day, so you have no fluctuations resulting from the workouts and energy stores and fluid levels, ect.
Once that has settled in, you'll already probably be losing. Don't add any new workouts thinking it's helping, you need normal routine right now to see where your body is at.

Last 5 means 1/2 lb or less per week. You may only want to weigh every 2 weeks if you don't trust scale for sub-pounds.

I just thought of a couple more questions...sorry . I am going to take a recovery week with NO exercise at the end of May and was wondering what you think I should eat for my recovery week. Would I be sedentary and EAT 1556? Or does my stay-at-home job make me lightly active? Also, would that number be my TDEE?

I'm confused. Do I have this right?

BF%: 30.2
GW: 125

BMR: Harris-Benedict 1423
Katch-McArde 1352

Moderately active (I am doing c25k 3x week, walk at home 3x, and some strength. I workout maybe anywhere from 20-40 a day, rest one day): 2077
Lightly active, if I'd be considered more lightly active: 1843

So I'm supposed to eating 2077 calories? After logging my exercises, is that what my NET should be?
I am nursing a 1-yr-old and take that into account in my diary. I log it with my breakfast so most days breakfast is either negative calories or close to zero.

I'm confused. Do I have this right?

BF%: 30.2
GW: 125

BMR: Harris-Benedict 1423
Katch-McArde 1352

Moderately active (I am doing c25k 3x week, walk at home 3x, and some strength. I workout maybe anywhere from 20-40 a day, rest one day): 2077
Lightly active, if I'd be considered more lightly active: 1843

So I'm supposed to eating 2077 calories? After logging my exercises, is that what my NET should be?
I am nursing a 1-yr-old and take that into account in my diary. I log it with my breakfast so most days breakfast is either negative calories or close to zero.

You would be correct on Mod Active I think. And since you just included exercise in there, you don't follow MFP method which does NOT include exercise.

So that is your daily goal each and every day - 2077.
Well, if you miss a planned workout, skip a 200 cal snack that day.

Perhaps round to even 2000.

When you drop 5 lbs, redo the measurements, and check again. You hope your LBM goes up, which means you actually get to eat more even though you are dropping fat weight! What fun, huh.

thanks. I thought I had it but just wanted to make sure.
2000 is an unbelievable amount of calories. I'm guessing the goal is to add calories but do it through healthy foods and good fats. Not catching that extra 500 cals from a Big Mac right?

So my minimum net should be 1352? is that right?

Thanks to Dan and this method I have lost 2.5 pounds this week and nearly 1% body fat :-) eating between 1650 and 1700 cals. Only 13 pounds to target and about 4% body fat to shift.

OK I just found all of this information and I went to the fat2fitradio website and completed the calculations. I used the military body fat calculations of 23.1%

Age 30
Female
Weight 119
Goal Weight 115
Height 61 inches

Harris-Benedict Formula 1318
Katch-McArdle Forumla 1271


Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1556
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1783
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2010
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2237
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2464

I just upped my calories to 1875 to see if I can start losing again. I just took a guess from that chart to get that number.... I have been stuck around 119 lbs. I am a stay-at-home Mom of 3 kids (aged 4 and under). I have been doing Jillian Michaels Body Revolution which is a 30 minute workout 6 days a week (90 day program). What would I consider as my activity level and how many calories do you think I should eat to lose these last few lbs? I still want to lose another 5ish lbs and they don't want leave...

Some days I feel like I am starving----but I dont know if that's what it really is. I am constantly around food (our pantry and serving kids their food, and snacks through out the day). I think about food all the time it seems. I am just trying to figure out what I should be eating to lose these last few pounds and tone up. Any help appreciated. Thanks .

So you are at the unique position of almost sliding into maintenance mode.

You are also in the perhaps not so unique position that if your metabolism has been suppressed up till now - this could be difficult. If you cut lower, you may get a short lag time of more loss before it slows down more, but then how do you raise it back up?

Or, go back to almost maintenance mode, get the fires stoked burning fully, and then the illustration falls apart because I'm not sure what would happen next with fires stoked fully. ;-)

But the idea then is you could cut a couple hundred cal's a day and lose the last weight. Shoot, even eating at near maintenance may just show up how far below you still are.

So I'd count those 30 min DVD's as 1/2 day, so you are right between Lightly and Moderate Active.
That means 1900 calories. Nice even number.

So you've been waiting this long, give it another 2-3 weeks while bringing the calories up 200 per day for a week, and then another week, ect, until at 1900.
Then a couple weeks at that level. You will likely gain weight in there somewhere. Not fat, because you are still at deficit. But energy stores, body improvements with workouts being fed, ect.
Only weigh the morning after a rest day, so you have no fluctuations resulting from the workouts and energy stores and fluid levels, ect.
Once that has settled in, you'll already probably be losing. Don't add any new workouts thinking it's helping, you need normal routine right now to see where your body is at.

Last 5 means 1/2 lb or less per week. You may only want to weigh every 2 weeks if you don't trust scale for sub-pounds.

Thank you so much heybales:flowerforyou: . What about if I decide to switch to lifting heavy? I am debating on doing ChaLean Extreme which is a 90 day program. It is done 5 days a week and the workouts are about 35-40 minutes. I want to lose some more body fat and tone up. Would you still consider that moderately active for 1900 calories or do I need to eat more when I lift heavy?