bigdgeek

I know what my activity level is. There is usually not an option on those calculators that matches my activity level, so I choose 'sedentary' and add my workouts. However, that will still under-estimate my TDEE because I don't only sit on my butt all day then hit the gym. I am netting under my RMR so I don't see how…

That refers me to yet another calculator with vague, unhelpful 'activity levels' that don't match my own activity level. I never know which one to pick. If I go for 'moderately active', which is exercising 4 days a week when I actually work out five days a week, my TDEE x .8 is 1660. I don't eat anywhere near that much.…

I haven't upped my calories because I'm afraid of what will happen when I do, and I don't know by how much to up them anyway. I had my RMR professionally tested, it's 1340...same as my BMR on here with my activity level set to 'sedentary.' I log everything that passes my lips and I work out 5 days a week...I don't just do…

I just have no idea what to do and I keep getting bounced around with different vague advice and referred to various websites and calculators which have only confused me more. I need someone to give it to me straight and pretend I don't know a THING about any of this.

I'm netting under my RMR and gaining.

That's just it, I have no idea what it is. Various calculators have it differing by 500 calories with the same inputs.

I put my activity level at 'sedentary' because I have a desk job, but the amount it has for me at sedentary is 1340. My RMR, which I had tested at the Cooper Institute in Dallas, is 1340! I know I'm burning more calories than just my RMR and my workouts, right? I thought RMR was the bare minimum for what you needed to stay…

I feel your pain; I had my RMR professionally tested (1340, exactly what MFP says it should be) and have been netting UNDER my RMR and am still gaining weight, most of it fat. It's driving me insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been googling around for calculators but they all leap from totally sedentary (which I'm not) to 'lightly active' which they define as exercise 1-3 times a week. :-\

I think MFP underestimates my calories; I have my setting on 'sedentary' because I have a desk job, but that number (1340) is the same as my RMR, which is what I'd burn if I sat on my butt all day...which I don't. I walk around the office at work, walk outside to have a smoke, putter aroudn the house, etc. I'm not sitting…

Thanks; that's what I was thinking too. :) I need to get some gadget to measure my calorie burn; there's a ton of threads here about it but all they do is confuse me more. I'm leaning towards the fitbit flex when it comes out.

So how would I know how many calories I burned?

I've done it a few times; 2 days afterwards, my butt is always VERY sore.

The one that's bugging me the most right now is the gluten-free thing. "If you go gluten-free, you'll lose weight!" How, when most of the gluten-free foods I've seen are higher in calories per serving size than their evil gluten-y counterparts? And when did everyone all of a sudden develop celiac disease?!?!?!?!?

I don't have them because they make me want cupcakes. I burn ones that smell like flowers instead.

I don't have them because they make me want cupcakes. I burn ones that smell like flowers instead.

If the FitBit isn't a HRM...how DOES it measure calories burned through exercise?

Right now I'm leaning towards the Fitbit Flex; I wish it was out already. :-(

JMHO, to me a 'processed' food is a food that is shelf-stable at room temperature, i.e. anything that comes in a can, a box, or a jar. Includes any frozen food where the ingredients contain anything except that specific frozen food, i.e. a bag of frozen broccoli florets to me is not processed but a bag of frozen broccoli…

Apologies if this is a duplicate, but one of the most persistent ones I hear is that some foods (lettuce, celery, apples, etc.) are "calorie negative", i.e. you burn more calories digesting them than you absorb by eating them. Hogwash!

I've had my thyroid levels tested; they are on the low end of normal but not subclinical according to the doc. I do do endurance aerobic cardio and have probably been undereating for a couple of years now. I do also lift; I do at least 30 mins of strength training 5x a week along with at least 30 mins of cardio, usually…

Last time my personal trainer measured my body fat, it was 21-22%. Something like that. Definitely not 33%. The rest of what you said didn't make any sense to me at all???

What IS maintenance?

My RMR came in at 1339. Female, 37, 5'6", 125.4 lbs. That is WAY higher than I thought it would be. The nutritionist told me I should be losing weight at my current expenditure/intake, but she recommended lowering my intake to 1300 in order to lose weight. That strikes me as mildly insane. She also said that I can only…

Well benflando, I've been as honest and thorough as possible.

RMR came in a smidge faster than 'predicted normal', which means my metabolism is 'normal' for a woman my age, height, and weight. Makes NO sense.

That seems to be the general consensus on these threads; we'll see what the RMR results are. I think intellectually I do need to eat more to increase my metabolism, it's just hard to actually do it because I'm afraid of the initial weight gain.

On paper and according to every BMR calculator I've seen, it's a deficit. But those calculators assume that my metabolism is normal, and I think at this point it almost certainly isn't. We'll see what the test says on Monday and go from there.

I'm in a similar situation...gaining weight and getting flabby while in a deficit and working out very well. I'm having my RMR tested on Monday morning and I'm expecting it to be very low. Two doctors and two panels of bloodwork say my endocrine/metabolic/hormone/liver functions are all within a normal range, though my…

Booked an appointment for RMR testing at the Cooper Clinic at the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. Going in on Monday morning.