Confused newbie!

fontinathefox
fontinathefox Posts: 124 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello there, I'm new to the site although I've been using the MFP app for about 6 weeks. So far I've lost 3kg which I'm pretty pleased with, but I'm a bit confused about a few issues, and I'm hoping someone can help me.

I've been reading the 'newbie read me' document but I really need some advice specifically for me - I have a desk-based job, but go to the gym twice a week for strength training and do dancing once a week, so I figure that covers my cardio needs. First question is, should I log my lifestyle as sedentary or lightly active? I've had it as the latter, and I just tried changing it and now it'll only let me eat 1290 calories a day! Which brings me onto my second question - I've been reading a few posts about BMR versus what MFP will "allow" you to eat, and I'm not sure which I should be aiming for? I'm 5'6 / 170cm and weigh 152lbs / 69kg. Should I aim for: a) BMR = 1460 calories; b) lightly active MFP allowance = 1470 calories; or c) sedentary MFP allowance = 1290 calories?

Any help most appreciated! :smile:

Replies

  • fontinathefox
    fontinathefox Posts: 124 Member
    Anyone?... To further confuse matters, I had a go this afternoon at calculating my BMR and TEED, and they both came out in the 1400s - surely that can't be right?? So now I'm even more confused about how much/little I should be eating!
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    BMR and TDEE shouldn't come out the same.

    If you log it as sedentary, eat the exercise calories, but make sure you calculate them as accurately as you can. If you log it as lightly active, don't. Either should give you results.

    I see on your profile you're only trying to lose 5 kilos total. Have you chosen half a pound or one pound per week? I am assuming from the BMR you gave that you chose one pound per week and MFP calculated maintenance at 1790 for sedentary. Given that you're only trying to lose a bit more, I'd drop your goal to half a pound per week. That'd give you 1540 to eat.
  • fontinathefox
    fontinathefox Posts: 124 Member
    Thanks for replying. To be honest, I started at 72kg and only put 68 in initially to see how I did. Then when I realised I'd already lost 3kg I amended it. I sort of work best when I'm trying a little bit at a time rather than trying to lose the full 10kg at once, if that makes sense.

    I'll try keeping it at sedentary so that I'm being fully honest with the logs (also helps me with motivation) and change the weight loss rate. But yeah, I did think that it was weird my BMR and TDEE came out the same! Do you know a good TDEE calculator online?

    Thanks again :smile:
  • skitow17
    skitow17 Posts: 3
    i have somewhat the same issue the only thing is i have been working out 5 days a week for 5 weeks and havent lost a pound and i have no clue what i am doing wrong...
  • MasterZeddicus
    MasterZeddicus Posts: 35 Member
    Honestly I have myself set as sedentary, I'm 6'4 and not a small guy by any stretch. MFP only alots me 1670 calories per day, which for most people seems like a snack, or at most a single meal. That being said I don't feel tired or uncomfortable in the least.

    The best thing to go by is how you feel, if you can sustain yourself at the calories mfp suggest, and you don't feel tired or starving all the time (you will be hungry in the begining since your stomach is used to more food than it's getting, but i'm talking a few weeks in). Then adjust the settings in MFP.

    If you are listing yourself as sedentary it is absolutely imperative that you eat back your exercised calories, your body will not be too happy with you if you don't but again it's by how you feel. So log those cardio and training hours, and you'll have more to eat.
  • fontinathefox
    fontinathefox Posts: 124 Member
    i have somewhat the same issue the only thing is i have been working out 5 days a week for 5 weeks and havent lost a pound and i have no clue what i am doing wrong...

    My trainer at the gym has been measuring my arms, waist, hips and thighs for a while and does that as well as weight me when we have check-ins, and it's so much more helpful than simply weighing yourself - most importantly because muscle weighs more than fat, so while my weight stalled a while ago, my measurements were telling me what I was doing was working. Oh, she also measures my body fat and muscle mass, and they showed the same thing.
  • fontinathefox
    fontinathefox Posts: 124 Member

    If you are listing yourself as sedentary it is absolutely imperative that you eat back your exercised calories, your body will not be too happy with you if you don't but again it's by how you feel. So log those cardio and training hours, and you'll have more to eat.

    See, I didn't realise that you were only supposed to log your exercise if you had yourself down as sedentary - I had myself down as lightly active for the first month or so, and still logged my exercise. Was this wrong then??
  • winterwolf227
    winterwolf227 Posts: 10 Member
    i have somewhat the same issue the only thing is i have been working out 5 days a week for 5 weeks and havent lost a pound and i have no clue what i am doing wrong...

    Weight is an important calculations, but so are your body measurements. I have dropped 20lbs (Almost) but my waist and neck measurements have dropped significantly. I burn about 600 cals per days in my workouts, and I am replacing fat with lean body muscle, which may be what your doing also? Just a suggestion.
  • BigDaddyBRC
    BigDaddyBRC Posts: 2,395 Member
    If you spend the majority of the day on your rump....it's sedentary.
    BMR is the basis on age height and weight that you need to maintain your current level.

    Now, based on what you set in your settings, MFP will adjust for the weight loss/gain goals you set.

    Example: I'm 6', 39yo, 264, m. I require 2355.8 to lose 1 pound per week, it is averaged at 500 cals decrease per day = 1855; 2 pounds = 1000 Cals decrease. Add back in what I burn (DO NOT use the MFP estimates, Get an HRM ).

    Here is an online calculator...http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html
  • angelashay42
    angelashay42 Posts: 286
    i have somewhat the same issue the only thing is i have been working out 5 days a week for 5 weeks and havent lost a pound and i have no clue what i am doing wrong...

    Your calories might be set too low. Try eating more. I know it sound counter-intuitive, but your body will hold on to weight if it feels like food is scarce. Up your calories by 100 - 200 per day and see if that helps.
  • darlilama
    darlilama Posts: 794 Member

    If you are listing yourself as sedentary it is absolutely imperative that you eat back your exercised calories, your body will not be too happy with you if you don't but again it's by how you feel. So log those cardio and training hours, and you'll have more to eat.

    See, I didn't realise that you were only supposed to log your exercise if you had yourself down as sedentary - I had myself down as lightly active for the first month or so, and still logged my exercise. Was this wrong then??

    I have a desk job and I have my setting as "sedentary". I log my calories burned (I use a HRM) and track closely as I can burn different amounts of calories doing the same workout on any given day... or obviously if I do different workouts every day. And, since I'm also more active on the weekends - cleaning, running around, etc. - I do log part of that time under exercise. I think this gives me a more realistic view than does setting myself as "lightly active".

    Good luck!
  • fontinathefox
    fontinathefox Posts: 124 Member
    Add back in what I burn (DO NOT use the MFP estimates, Get an HRM ).

    Here is an online calculator...http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html

    Another possibly stupid question - how do you work out your calorie burn from a heart rate monitor? I think you're right about this though, because when I go to the gym I work HARD for 45-50 minutes, and it tells me I've only lost around 300 calories - it certainly feels like a lot more than that!
  • djsupreme6
    djsupreme6 Posts: 1,210 Member
    Sedentary is pretty much when you sit at work all day without getting up..whether that be running errands or whatever...then go home and sit around there too...if this doesn't apply to you then you are lightly active...concentrate on the inches lost and the way you feel...those may be better indicators rather then a scale...muscle doesn't weight more then fat...its just denser...1kg of fat weights the same as 1kg of muscle :)...put your information into MFP and just follow along using the recommended settings
  • djsupreme6
    djsupreme6 Posts: 1,210 Member
    not all HRM's are accurate...what does the monitor say for heartrate during these sessions
  • skitow17
    skitow17 Posts: 3
    4 months later and still no weight loss still working out 5 to 6 days a week and eating super healthy
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    Sedentary is pretty much when you sit at work all day without getting up..whether that be running errands or whatever...then go home and sit around there too...if this doesn't apply to you then you are lightly active...

    mfp rates lightly active as
    "Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. nurse, salesman)"
    Desk jockeys do nothing like this,
    The lightly active is so you don't have to work out how may hours a day you were on your feet doing stuff and try to work out the cals for that.
    I am not on my feet, so although I may not feel as sedentary as a Grande Dame waited on by staff or a person in a nursing home, I am sedentary by this scale.
    Don't fear the word, it's just a calorie measuring tool not a judgement on your life.

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