How I'm doing what I'm doing

I've been using myfitnesspal.com to track my calories and exercises.  In addition to the food and exercise database, it has an active and diverse message board.  As with any Internet forum, there are many contradicting opinions on what works best for dieting and exercise.  Some people insist on heavy weight training, some insist on high intensity cardio, some say fasting or fresh food only or shakes or whatever fits in your calories...  It can be confusing if you don't have a clear plan.

Me? I'm of the opinion that the best diet is the one that works best for you and is one that you can maintain indefinitely.  If you like drinking a shake for breakfast and cereal for lunch, a big mac for dinner and you're losing weight then who am I to tell you that you're wrong?

Here's what I did.  Please remember that I am not a fitness expert or have any type of medical knowledge.  I know that our bodies require a certain amount of calories to just function.  It's called your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).  It's the amount of calories your body would need to keep things working if you did nothing at all.  Then there's something called your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).  This is the amount of calories you burn all day.  It includes the BMR amount and anything extra like getting dressed, walking around, etc.

I googled BMR and TDEE and found a site that calculates those 2 numbers based upon variables like weight, height, sex, age, etc...and used it to find the BMR for my goal weight.  It lists the BMR for that weight at 1783 calories, and the TDEE for that weight with a light activity level (light exercise 1-3 days a week) at 2452 calories.  I figure if I eat the amount of calories for my goal weight, I will lose the excess weight and be used to that amount of food and be able to maintain that goal weight when I get there.  A good site to calculate this is fat2fitradio.com.

I set my limit at 2000 calories, knowing that I'm under-estimating on some foods, and don't log certain things like the cream I put in my coffee.  Between the under-estimating and things that aren't logged, I figure I'm eating around 2500 calories a day.  But this is also where it gets a little hairy...

At my current weight, my BMR is 2886 calories.  I am eating under my BMR which is something you shouldn't do, unless you are morbidly obese.  Unfortunately, I fit that category.  Using the military body fat calculator on fat2fit, I have a body fat percentage in the 35-40% range.  The acceptable range for men is 18-25% and the range to be considered fit for men is 14-17%.  By eating 2500 calories, my body is using up it's store of fat a little faster.  At some point, I may plateau because my body will become used to the lower calorie amount and my metabolism will slow down, adjusting to the lower calorie range.  I'm hoping that I'll get to the weight where 2500 is my BMR before the plateau.  If not, I will probably have to start eating more calories to speed things up again, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.  Also, I think my cheat day will help keep my metabolism up with the boost of calories.

There's also contradicting opinions on eating your exercise calories back.  Say I eat my 2000 calories, but burn an extra 150 on the treadmill, should I eat them back?  It depends.  There are 5 levels given for TDEE.

Sedentary - no exercise and a desk job
Lightly active - light exercise 1-3 days a week
Moderately active - moderate exercise 3-5 days a week
Very active - hard exercise 6-7 days a week
Extremely active - physical job, hard daily exercise or 2x a day training

If you calculate your tdee for moderately active and you exercise 3-5 days a week, then no, you shouldn't eat back your exercise calories because that number is worked into your tdee.  If you calculate based on sedentary and start exercising like a fiend, then yes you should be eating those calories back or you risk dropping below your BMR and causing a metabolic slow down and plateau.

So if you want to lose weight and you want my OPINION, based on no medical training or fitness background, calculate your BMR and your TDEE and then eat around 80 or 90% of your TDEE.  So if your current TDEE is 2000 calories and you eat 1600 calories, you'll lose weight.  It's not recommended to go below 70% of your TDEE, unless you are morbidly obese.

I know it might seem confusing, but I think it's better than randomly picking a number and trying to stick to it.  Let's face it, why would you try to stick to 1200 calories a day which might be below your BMR when you could eat 1600 calories a day and lose weight just as fast if not faster?

One of the members of myfitnessplan.com created a post that he called a roadmap to weight loss.  He provides more detail and offers custom plans.  Here is the link to his post:  Roadmap

As for the type of foods, I eat whatever I want as long as I stay under 2000.  I do find, however that home made, non-processed food satisfies me more than processed foods do.  See last month's post on Pop-Tarts as an example.  It helps that I enjoy cooking.  If you don't like to cook and want to live on frozen micro-waved meals, then have at it!