Just joined group, need help setting calories
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momwithacamera
Posts: 151 Member
Hi everyone,
I have been on mfp for 11 months, and for a long time was at about 1900 calories, then plateaued for four LONG months, ugh! I got a bodymedia fit monitor and found out that my usual daily burn (TDEE) was around 1900-2000, so I then dropped my calories in February to an average of 1300, I did two lower calorie days followed by one higher calorie day. That got me losing again, but now have gained about a half a pound each week the last two weeks and don't want to get stuck again. I have lost a total of 38 pounds.
I am 5' 0", 145 pounds, 39 years old. Right now, my bodymedia tells me that my average TDEE for the last month has been right around 2000 calories a day, including everything I typically do in life and exercise. I do Jillian's Body Revolution workouts (Previously did Shred and Ripped alternating), so I consider that to be fairly heavy on the lifting, as it is lots of bodyweight resistance exercises like push ups and squats, and I typically use 8 pound weights for most of the compound lifting moves... I know it's not heavy lifting like lifting 150 pounds or anything, but I am typically exhausting my muscle's ability to lift the weight by the end of the reps, and I can tell a huge difference in my muscles and strength as opposed to 11 months ago! The BMR calculator on fat2fit said my bmr is 1385.
So, I am thinking about upping my calories to about 1600, and then only eating back more calories if my net goes below the 1385... is that a good plan, do you think? Also, I am terrified I am going to gain, and I know that is a common fear here, so how long should I give it/how much margin before I would consider changing it up or cutting back on calories again? I was thinking like a 3 pound leeway and like maybe 3 weeks? What do you all think? I know this probably gets asked all the time, but I have to ask you all because I keep thinking that increasing my calories to lose weight is crazy, since a. Eating too much was how I got overweight in the first place, and b. I stalled out for four months on high calories before! Can you all help?
Thanks,
Jen
I have been on mfp for 11 months, and for a long time was at about 1900 calories, then plateaued for four LONG months, ugh! I got a bodymedia fit monitor and found out that my usual daily burn (TDEE) was around 1900-2000, so I then dropped my calories in February to an average of 1300, I did two lower calorie days followed by one higher calorie day. That got me losing again, but now have gained about a half a pound each week the last two weeks and don't want to get stuck again. I have lost a total of 38 pounds.
I am 5' 0", 145 pounds, 39 years old. Right now, my bodymedia tells me that my average TDEE for the last month has been right around 2000 calories a day, including everything I typically do in life and exercise. I do Jillian's Body Revolution workouts (Previously did Shred and Ripped alternating), so I consider that to be fairly heavy on the lifting, as it is lots of bodyweight resistance exercises like push ups and squats, and I typically use 8 pound weights for most of the compound lifting moves... I know it's not heavy lifting like lifting 150 pounds or anything, but I am typically exhausting my muscle's ability to lift the weight by the end of the reps, and I can tell a huge difference in my muscles and strength as opposed to 11 months ago! The BMR calculator on fat2fit said my bmr is 1385.
So, I am thinking about upping my calories to about 1600, and then only eating back more calories if my net goes below the 1385... is that a good plan, do you think? Also, I am terrified I am going to gain, and I know that is a common fear here, so how long should I give it/how much margin before I would consider changing it up or cutting back on calories again? I was thinking like a 3 pound leeway and like maybe 3 weeks? What do you all think? I know this probably gets asked all the time, but I have to ask you all because I keep thinking that increasing my calories to lose weight is crazy, since a. Eating too much was how I got overweight in the first place, and b. I stalled out for four months on high calories before! Can you all help?
Thanks,
Jen
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Replies
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First, welcome to the group. Please review the stickies and the videos at the top of the message boards.
Regarding your questions, it is recommended that you eat at 15% cut to your TDEE. So for you, that would be 1700. If your net calories (food-exercise) go below 1385 (BMR), then eat at least enough to reach your BMR.
When people start this program, it takes at least 6 weeks for your body to realize that you are going to feed it consistently. So, in general it is recommended that you stick to the program for at least that long.
Please read the sticky on what to expect when increasing your calories. You may gain weight temporarily, but it should come off and more after up to 6 weeks.0 -
OK, thanks! I will check that sticky thread you recommended! I'm thinking that the BodyMedia should give me a more accurate TDEE than using a calculator, right? Anybody have experience with that?
Thanks!0 -
I've been using the BMF for almost 4 weeks now and I rely on that to get my TDEE since I feel it's more accurate since it records MY exact burn. I was going to run a 28-day report and get my average from that but then remembered I had gone on vacation a week ago and while I didn't work out, I did walk quite a bit and burned 3500 cals a day.
So I went with the average of the last 7 days and I'm comfortable with that number. I took a little less than a 20% cut from that number and that's what I'm sticking with for the next 28 days when I can reanalyze it again (and assuming I've lost enough weight to be able to adjust it).
I'm also doing JMBR!!0 -
I've been using the BMF for almost 4 weeks now and I rely on that to get my TDEE since I feel it's more accurate since it records MY exact burn. I was going to run a 28-day report and get my average from that but then remembered I had gone on vacation a week ago and while I didn't work out, I did walk quite a bit and burned 3500 cals a day.
So I went with the average of the last 7 days and I'm comfortable with that number. I took a little less than a 20% cut from that number and that's what I'm sticking with for the next 28 days when I can reanalyze it again (and assuming I've lost enough weight to be able to adjust it).
I'm also doing JMBR!!
Awesome! Where are you in Body Revolution? I am on my very last week, I will be done on Friday! Then I go on vacation and I think I am going to go through it again when I get back, increasing weights and generally "pushing the up button" as Jillian says! I am debating whether I should start back at 1 or start in Phase 2 with DVD 5. What are you doing once you are done with BR?0 -
First, welcome to the group. Please review the stickies and the videos at the top of the message boards.
Regarding your questions, it is recommended that you eat at 15% cut to your TDEE. So for you, that would be 1700. If your net calories (food-exercise) go below 1385 (BMR), then eat at least enough to reach your BMR.
When people start this program, it takes at least 6 weeks for your body to realize that you are going to feed it consistently. So, in general it is recommended that you stick to the program for at least that long.
Please read the sticky on what to expect when increasing your calories. You may gain weight temporarily, but it should come off and more after up to 6 weeks.
yes this is what i do. i have recently upped my calories because i wasn't eating my bmr so i stalled out as well. as long as ur eating at least 15% deficient from ur tdee u will lose weight. if u eat at it then u will maintain. good luck to you and add me if u want.0 -
I started eating at my TDEE-15% on Monday, and I love eating more, even though sometimes it is hard to get up to the full calorie amount... so just waiting to see what happens! I finish Body Revolution on Thursday, then I am off to the beach for a week! Yeah!
I have a bunch of friends who are in a group to encourage each other on our fitness and weight loss journey, and they are all really watching intently to see what happens with me, so I hope it goes really well and helps all of us break through plateaus and figure out the best way to go!
Thanks for the help, everyone... have a great day!
Jen0 -
I've been using the BMF for almost 4 weeks now and I rely on that to get my TDEE since I feel it's more accurate since it records MY exact burn. I was going to run a 28-day report and get my average from that but then remembered I had gone on vacation a week ago and while I didn't work out, I did walk quite a bit and burned 3500 cals a day.
So I went with the average of the last 7 days and I'm comfortable with that number. I took a little less than a 20% cut from that number and that's what I'm sticking with for the next 28 days when I can reanalyze it again (and assuming I've lost enough weight to be able to adjust it).
I'm also doing JMBR!!
Awesome! Where are you in Body Revolution? I am on my very last week, I will be done on Friday! Then I go on vacation and I think I am going to go through it again when I get back, increasing weights and generally "pushing the up button" as Jillian says! I am debating whether I should start back at 1 or start in Phase 2 with DVD 5. What are you doing once you are done with BR?
Well, I'm kind of cheating! When I found out that Workouts 11 and 12 were 3 weeks instead of 2, I decided to move forward and start ChaLEAN Extreme. So I did 1.5 weeks of week 11 and 12 and this week begin CXL.
I'm just too impatient and was anxious to try something new....and something a little more challenging to help build more muscle. I loved the JMBR program and it gave me a wonderful start but the thought of repeating 11 and 12 for even just one more week bored me!0
