cedarghost Member

Yep. Fear is a ***** and that's what holds people back. What is 6 weeks in the long run? A small price to pay for removing all that doubt and guesswork.

Hiya!

I read your first sentence and stopped there, because I do NOT want to know anything else......lol

6'5" 217 and 19% measured with calipers at the doctors office.

6'5" Looking to hit 200 to 205 with < 15% body fat. So I will probably have to bulk a bit. Then re-cut fat. I am currently 216 at 19% bf.

It doesn't really matter. the anabolic window is 24 to 48 hours and the most important thing is that you hit your macros. Timing is debatable at best.

I personally don't worry about what MFP tells me, BUT I already know my TDEE, so I just select custom and set it where I want. If you want to use it, I preferred to set it at "no exercise" then log exercise manually.

What is your height, weight and how much do you exercise?

Yep. I don't know what my goal weight should be, because I don't know what my body is going to look like when I get there. My initial goal is 15% bf. I started at 30%

lol :drinker:

No, no.....Bacon is the key to bliss.....

Well said. And I think everyone should do this. If not a spreadsheet, then record the data in a notebook. Once people start to be able focus on the big picture instead of obsessing over the day to day details, this whole thing gets a whole lot more enjoyable.

*bump* for the new guys

Just make sure you give it time to even out. At least 4 to 6 weeks. One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to figure their TDEE out is not giving it long enough because of initial weight gain. Depending on how big of a jump in calories you make at a time, you may initially gain some weight. But you will…

You had me at "spreadsheet".... :flowerforyou:

1. Yep, 10, 3 I did myself. :P 2. been an ongoing process 3. I am into black and grey, tribal and animal oriented stuff MOSTLY, I have a couple tribal on one arm/shoulder/collarbone/neck, a tribal dragon on one side of my chest and a tribal tiger on the other (from my martial arts days), a deer skull across my stomach, a…

It's possible, but you shouldn't be worrying about it this soon. This is a lifelong process and I put emphasis on the LONG in that word. :wink: There are going to be period of gains and losses and you are going to second guess the hell out of yourself until you have put in enough time to be able to look back and realize…

I try not to worry until I approach at least 6 weeks with no change as too many times I have seen the weight stay the same for that long then drop all at once or in a couple of days. As for your calorie amount, you never want to eat below your RMR. Now I know some people can get away with it if they have more to lose, but…

Don't guess girl! Own it!!! I promise you, once you find your TDEE you will feel completely different about this thing. Don't be afraid. This is a lifestyle change a month or two or three means nothing. Also, check out that link I posted for the 7 minute workout or google 15 minute workouts. I know you have to be tired…

What MFP has given you is based on your TDEE and BMR, so I assume you are saying you stay away from the numbers given to you by calculators? Those are only a starting point. One number is 100% correct and it is different for every person. And the only way to find it is to record everything you eat for at least a month and…

Doesn't matter. If she is at a deficit, she will lose. The problem is, she doesn't really know what a deficit is for her. She has calculator numbers, but has never proven them. So many people live in fear of gaining a pound or two that they neglect to take the time to find out what their TDEE is. And the only way to do…

It really is a slow process, but the value of taking out all that guesswork is priceless and well worth the wait. And hey, we are all in this for the long haul anyway right?

Have you tried consistently eating at 1700 a day to see what would happen over a sustained amount of time? Say a month? When I upped my calories, to what I should be eating, I gained the first few weeks. Then I started losing. Think about it. If you increase from 1300 to 1700 that increase is only 400 per day, or 2800 per…

^^^^ I have personally found that if I make sure to eat certain foods or more specifically hit my protein macro-nutrient, I am not as hungry as often. A lot of it depends on how long food takes to digest. This is why empty calories can be bad for you.

Maybe you had a glass of water.... Don't weigh every day. Once a week at the most.

Don't look at it by the time you spend doing it, but by how many repetitions you do and at what weight you do them at. Also, if you don't have much time, 15 minutes or so of lifting is fine if you do metabolic resistance training http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/metabolic-resistance-training-build-muscle-torch-fat.html That…

Your moment of enlightenment will come when you find that magic number. And the only way to do that is to up your calories and keep them there for at least a month until you find the number where you start to gain. Once you figure that out (and it can be an excruciating, slow process) you have got this thing beaten.

How much can you eat before you start to gain consistently? And by consistently, I mean over a month or more.

Might not? How? If you weigh one month and are down 11 pounds, then weigh the next month and are down some more, you TRULY lost the weight. Without having to worry about little fluctuations every....single...day.... To the OP, try it. What have you got to lose? It is actually quite liberating to not be a slave to the…

Personally, I just watch my macros and even more specifically, protein. I try to make sure I hit my protein and then eat whatever I want. I have cut out a lot of junk, but I don't totally deny myself. If junk had enough protein in it to hit my macros, I would eat more junk. :wink: Anyway, this is what works for me. People…