Fitnessdivak's Blog - Get a Free Diet Blog at MyFitnessPal.com

MFP vs BMR & TDEE Re-post

I guess my attempt to add an image really screwed the original post up...I'll work on the image thing later...here's how the post should read without driving you crazy...

For a while now I've seen several forums on the topic of eating more to lose weight. I pretty much stayed out of it because I never really understood what it was all about. I just thought that as long as I ate 1200 cals a day I would lose....After my recent weigh-ins I started to question the whole 1200 cals thing, and decided to look more deeply into this whole BMR & TDEE thing...Here's what I've found (I'm no expert...this is just from one day of research):

What is BMR? Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories you burn in a day when you do absolutely nothing. In effect, this is the number of calories your body "needs" in order to keep your organs functioning and keep you breathing on a daily basis.

The theory is that you need to eat AT LEAST your BMR calories every day. And depending on your activity level, you will need to eat more to fuel your body.

To find my BMR I went to this website:

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

My BMR is 1430. That's the number of calories my body burns if I just sit and watch tv all day.

Now that the BMR thing has been explained let's move on to the next component...TDEE.

What is TDEE? Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the number of calories you need to consume per day to maintain a certain weight based on your activity level.

TDEE that was generated for me based on my goal weight of 130 lbs was 1673 sedentary.

What this means is that if I were 130 pounds (my goal weight), I would have to eat 1673 cals on a day that I do nothing to MAINTAIN that weight.

Since I am not yet 130 pounds, I can subtract a couple hundred calories (no lower than my BMR) to lose weight faster.

The idea is that by eating as if you were the weight you want to be, you will get to that goal in a safer way. As one poster on a forum said: "Dieting doesn't work. Why? because you cannot eat 1200 calories for the rest of your life. its not fun or sustainable. Go for slightly slower weight loss for life!! You will learn how to eat to be the size you want." That's why many of us lose the weight and then put right back on. The whole point of the BMR/TDEE method is that you're not on a diet...you're just eating the number of calories it takes to maintain your goal weight.

Combining the BMR/TDEE principle with MFP: If you're like me, MFP has set your daily calorie intake to significantly less than your BMR, so if you want to do the BMR method all you have to do is change your settings. You do that by choosing the custom setup instead of the recommended.

There are 2 routes you could take:

1. You can set your daily calories based on your activity level without working out. (This is the route I would choose, because although I work out 6 days per week, I exert different amounts of energy based on my routine for the day). If you choose this route you will still enter exercise into MFP and EAT BACK THOSE CALORIES.

2. You can choose your daily calories based on how often you work out. If you choose this route you will NOT log exercise into MFP and DO NOT EAT BACK EXERCISE CALORIES.

Moving Forward: I do not want to write off the MFP method just yet...I'm moving into week 4 of being serious about my workout routine and eating habits. I started on April 23 at 137.6. I've gone up and down since that time and as of my weigh-in yesterday I was 138.2...that's UP .6 pounds. I have decided to finish out the month of May eating 1200 calories, just to get a consistent look. Whether I lose or not, starting June 1st I am upping my cals to match my BMR. At the end of June I will compare the results and decide which method works best for me.

A Final Note: What works for some does not work for all. That's why I've looked into this and am going to try it for MYSELF. If you're one who has been thinking about the methods listed here, I would suggest you do the same.

Thanks for reading! I hope this helps someone else who is just as confused as I was :-)

1 votes + -

Posted on 2012-05-12 by FitnessDivaK
0 Comments

MFP vs. BMR & TDEE

The theory is that you need to eat AT LEAST your BMR calories every day. And depending on your activity level, you will need to eat more to fuel your body.

To find my BMR I went to this website:

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

My BMR is 1430. That's the number of calories my body burns if I just sit and watch tv all day.

Now that the BMR thing has been explained let's move on to the next component...TDEE.

What is TDEE? Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the number of calories you need to consume per day to maintain a certain weight based on your activity level.

Here is the TDEE chart that was generated for me based on my goal weight of 130 lbs:

What this means is that if I were 130 pounds (my goal weight), I would have to eat 1673 cals on a day that I do nothing to MAINTAIN that weight.

Since I am not yet 130 pounds, I can subtract a couple hundred calories (no lower than my BMR) to lose weight faster.

There are 2 routes you could take:

2. You can choose your daily calories based on how often you work out. If you choose this route you will NOT log exercise into MFP and DO NOT EAT BACK EXERCISE CALORIES.

Thanks for reading! I hope this helps someone else who is just as confused as I was :-)

0 votes + -

Posted on 2012-05-12 by FitnessDivaK
0 Comments

Weigh-In Update

Today is my official weigh-in day, and I am proud to report that I am down from Tuesday's 140 lbs!!! I dropped down 1.8 LBS to 138.2.

Now the bad news...Although I dropped since Tuesday, I am up .6 LBS since last Friday :-(

I hope this isn't the beginning of a yo-yo trend for me and I can continue to lose from this point.

0 votes + -

Posted on 2012-05-11 by FitnessDivaK
5 Comments

Oh Hell No!!! Time to Switch it Up

SOOOO...yesterday was weigh in day for the May Buddy Challenge. I weighed in today and I gained 1.4 pounds in a week! WTF!!?

If you've been reading my blog you know that I have been ON IT! Working out 6 days per week...staying under calories...so why the gain???

I can only think that either it's muscle or I need to eat more of my exercise cals back.

If it's muscle, that's great, but it's hard for me to believe that I gained 1.4 lbs of muscle in one week...Then again I have been working my but off so maybe it's possible...

For the next week, I am going to eat back all of my exercise calorines and see if that helps me lose.

My next official weigh in is Friday, so I'm not logging my weight until then. I'll check back in Friday (Official weigh in) and next Monday (Buddy Challenge weigh in) with my final results...hopefully the outcome is a loss.

ASIDE from what the scale says, I still feel great and I'm seeing a difference, so I'm not discouraged, but it is a little disappointing to work super hard only to see the number go up...

0 votes + -

Posted on 2012-05-08 by FitnessDivaK
5 Comments

Week 2 and 3

So...today starts the 2nd week of May and the May Buddy Challenege; It's also the start of the 3rd week of my transformation plan!!!

I'm feeling great and STILL excited!!!

Last week was GREAT!!! I did go a little overboard on Friday and Saturday...but I had done so well the rest of the week, that I was still under my weekly calorie goal!!! I call that success!!!

This week is also off to a good start...I worked out for 66 minutes today...circuit training, crunches and sit-ups, elliptical and treadmill! My legs were a little sore...calves especially, but I pushed through :-)

I'll weigh in tomorrow!!!

1 votes + -

Posted on 2012-05-07 by FitnessDivaK
0 Comments

Cinco De Mayo!!!

Yaaaayyyyyy!!! It's Cinco De Mayo!!!

So...I cannot go into today without a plan! I've been on top of my game this whole week...minus the extra sushi rolls my husband encouraged me to eat last night saying, "you can just work it off tomorrow"...LOL!!! Well I fell for it and went over by a couple hundred calories, but I'm still under for the week, so I'm not sweatin it!

Anywho...here's the plan for Cinco De Mayo:

Breakfast: Protein Shake (232 Cals)

Workout: Walk/Jog for 20 minutes; Charger440's Daily Challenge (Calisthenics) for 10 minutes; Elliptical Weight Loss Program: 33 minutes. Bu my estimation I should burn between 400-500 Calories :-)

Post Workout: Luna Protein Bar (170 Cals)

Lunch: 2 Doritos Locos Taco Supremes from Taco Bell (400 Cals) *SN: I have been craving these for the longest...my hubby says they're delicious, so in honor of Cinco De Mayo, I am budgeting them in!!!

Dinner: Going to a friend's fight party, where there will be plenty of treats and drinks...If my work out goes as planned, I will have 700-800 calories to dedicate solely to the fight party...I know my weaknesses...not only delicious junk foods, but delicious junk foods in a room full of other people eating them...I need to give myself as much room as possible here. Lol!!!

I'll report back on my success :-)

0 votes + -

Posted on 2012-05-05 by FitnessDivaK
0 Comments

May 2nd!!!

So...I'm still feeling great! I'm pushing my body, but I'm proud to report that I'm not sore at all!!! (Hopefully I haven't spoken too soon...those 75 tricep dips might kick in overnight...ouch!)

So this is what I did today (I just copied and pasted from my group report...no need to double work :-)):

"In addition to my routine today I did 5 sets of 2 minutes of JJs (with small breaks in between) to complete the 10 minutes. I also completed the 35 sit-ups and did an additional 75 tricep dips (from another challenge). No cardio for me today...other than walking to and from my apartment gym.

I've had 7 cups of water so far :-)

I'm kickin this day's @$$!!! We all are! everyone should be super proud...RED TEAM is rockin!!!"

BOOM!

1 votes + -

Posted on 2012-05-02 by FitnessDivaK
1 Comment

A Great Day!!!

It's a new month!!! And today was the first day of a new challenge for me :-)

This is my second week of my transformation plan...In addition to my regular routine (which was to walk 15 minutes), today's challenge was to walk an additional mile and do 50 jumping jacks.

I ended up walking a total of 50 minutes!!! And I knocked my jumpng jacks out with no problem!!!

I also ate well -

Breakfast: A protein shake and 2 muffins (only 126 cals each) from a recipe I found on skinnytaste.com...so delicious!!!

Lunch: A salad with a portabellini mushroom and sauteed onions

Dinner: Cajun Tilapia recipe from skinnytaste.com

I was doing so well that I had to find something else to eat just to get my net cals up to 1200!!! I also drank 9cups of water :-)

I'm feeling so good about my goals for this month! Today really confirmed for me that I can do this!!!

7 votes + -

Posted on 2012-05-01 by FitnessDivaK
2 Comments

All Caught Up

Ok...so here's what's been going on the last couple of days:

Friday and Saturday: My body was waaayyyy over-worked the 1st four days of the week! I had planned to walk on Friday and do circuit training Saturday, but that didn't work out quite how I had planned. I ended up using both of those days as rest days and my body was extremely thankful!

Sunday: Sunday morning I felt like a new woman...hardly any pain! The rest was much needed and I'm so happy I listened to my body :-) I actually made up Friday's circuit training workout before church! I'm happy I waited because I know I wouldn't have executed the moves correctly had I attempted on Friday :-)

Monday: This morning I was still feeling good...no real soreness from yesterday, so I completed today's scheduled circuit training AND made up the walking/jogging exercise I missed Saturday!!! BAM! and with that, I am back on track!

Tuesday: Tomorrow I start "The Official May Buddy Challenge" (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/5309-the-official-may-buddy-challenge)! I'm excited! This challenege will add some extra umph to my daily workouts! After the pain I put myself through last week, I am much more aware of my body's limits and I feel confident that I can complete the challege!!!

0 votes + -

Posted on 2012-04-30 by FitnessDivaK
0 Comments

Days 4 & 5

The Pain Doesn't Stop!!!

So this morning I planned to get up and work out before going in to the office...FAIL! I was in so much pain! My limbs were so stiff...especially my arms! So I soaked in a hot epsom salt bath for about 30 minutes. That was a little helpful in loosenening me up, but gave me minimal pain relief.

Because I'm so sore, I've decided to do my circuit training tomorrow and just walk during my lunch break today. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be better equipped to go hard!

0 votes + -

Posted on 2012-04-27 by FitnessDivaK
0 Comments

« Newer Entries Older Entries »

About Me

Tools