BMR Calculations and other frustrations...

F

fenrael23

0
I have been trying to determine my BMR. I am getting confused by the different results. I have been taking in 2800cals/day and have been gaining 2-4lbs a week! I time my carbs around workout only. I have read everything Berardi, et al. have put out. I have read the stickies....I'm losing my faith in this.

I eat clean. Very clean. No HFCS. Only veggies, lean proteins (1g/lb), Fish oil w/each meal, and a tbsp of Udo's blend 3x/day. PWO is usually 52g carb/25g protein. PCF Ratio is 40/20/40...if not less in carbs. Saturated fat intake in 10% or less daily.

Can someone help me out? Should I calculate my BMR based off of my LBM weight? or my total weight? Why am I gaining so much weight? It can't be muscle.

I work a desk job. I work out for 30-45 mins 5 days/week in the PM (cardio mostly, tendonitis put my off the weights for now). Right now, I just want to get leaner. After which, I want to build muscle (once the shoulder heals).

5'10", 250lbs, 32%BF, Goal: Fat Loss

Suggestions?
 
It looks like you are eating too much. You're not lifting any weights at the moment correct? I would lower the calories.

~Nicole
 
calcium said:
It looks like you are eating too much. You're not lifting any weights at the moment correct? I would lower the calories.

~Nicole
Click to expand...

Right, I am not lifting at the moment due to shoulder inflammation. But I do about 30-45 mins of cardio. Can you tell me how to figure my caloric needs out?
 
2800 is likely too high, considering you can't strength train right now - a typical session of weights for 30-40 mins will burn 300-ish calories.

I'd drop to 2,500 and see what happens. vary the cardio too while you can't lift. one day do very light, slow steady state cardio first thing in the morning (like a 40 minute brisk walk). then on the next day, do something more like HIIT in the evening.

You may need to carb cycle, as giving yourself carbs and only doing cardio provides you with enough carb energy to exercise, instead of tapping into the fat for cardio energy.
 
malkore said:
2800 is likely too high, considering you can't strength train right now - a typical session of weights for 30-40 mins will burn 300-ish calories.

I'd drop to 2,500 and see what happens. vary the cardio too while you can't lift. one day do very light, slow steady state cardio first thing in the morning (like a 40 minute brisk walk). then on the next day, do something more like HIIT in the evening.

You may need to carb cycle, as giving yourself carbs and only doing cardio provides you with enough carb energy to exercise, instead of tapping into the fat for cardio energy.
Click to expand...

Malkore, can you tell me how you figure what I should be taking in? I don't want to go through this when I start strength training again. My fitDay tells me 3300 (-500 for 2800), other sites have told me anywhere from 2200 - 3000cals. Is there really ANY science to it, or is it just trial, error, and frustration?
 
Formulas can only give you a general idea of where you need to be. To find out for sure requires some effort and time on one's own, trying different things until you hit on what works for you. (So, yes, trial and error...)
 
stingo said:
Formulas can only give you a general idea of where you need to be.
Click to expand...

Winner!

Stingo's right...BMR calculations are nothing more than educated guesses. the only true way to find your maintenance intake is to track your food intake religiously for 2 weeks, and if you didn't gain or lose a pound, that's your maintenance intake.
Then drop 10-20% off that number for a fat loss intake, or add 10-20% for a bulking intake.

The bigger question is, "were you truely faithful during the time you say you were on 2800cals and gained weight?" It only matters for you if you cheat on your diet, or if you weren't accurately measuring your food and over-did it.

eating too much salty food the day before your final weigh in can easily add a couple pounds of water weight.

Fitday's required calorie calculator is crap. it seems to assume people are REALLY active because I broke down the math they use, and they jump from 'bedridden' to 'moderately active 1.4' multiplier for what they call seated desk work.
They put me super high too for calorie intake. And my poor wife who's got a weight problem....well fitday doesn't take that into account either...it says she should eat 3600cals a day!
I'm sure that would keep her at her current weight, or increase it. Fitday uses the Harris-Benedict formula, but doesn't apply activity modifiers correctly, and doesn't take bodyfat percentage into account at all.

If you're over a certain bodyfat you've gotta adjust the weight you use in the Harris formula.
 
malkore said:
Winner!

Stingo's right...BMR calculations are nothing more than educated guesses. the only true way to find your maintenance intake is to track your food intake religiously for 2 weeks, and if you didn't gain or lose a pound, that's your maintenance intake.
Then drop 10-20% off that number for a fat loss intake, or add 10-20% for a bulking intake.

The bigger question is, "were you truely faithful during the time you say you were on 2800cals and gained weight?" It only matters for you if you cheat on your diet, or if you weren't accurately measuring your food and over-did it.

eating too much salty food the day before your final weigh in can easily add a couple pounds of water weight.

Fitday's required calorie calculator is crap. it seems to assume people are REALLY active because I broke down the math they use, and they jump from 'bedridden' to 'moderately active 1.4' multiplier for what they call seated desk work.
They put me super high too for calorie intake. And my poor wife who's got a weight problem....well fitday doesn't take that into account either...it says she should eat 3600cals a day!
I'm sure that would keep her at her current weight, or increase it. Fitday uses the Harris-Benedict formula, but doesn't apply activity modifiers correctly, and doesn't take bodyfat percentage into account at all.

If you're over a certain bodyfat you've gotta adjust the weight you use in the Harris formula.
Click to expand...

I can say with confidence that my diet is truthfully accounted for, religiously. No cheats, no salty foods. I have absolutely no cravings for High GI carbs of very fatty foods. The thought of processed foods makes me ill. Being about 30+% BF, I think the Harris-Benedict formula would be my way to go. The activity modifiers, overall, are very subjective though. Aside from working out 30-45 mins/day ... I would say I am rather sedentary. I work a desk job from 7am-4pm, workout from 5p~6pm, and from 6p-10p I am preparing dinner & our meals for the next day...and relaxing on the couch before bedtime.

I am also trying out sparkpeople.com...it seems to have yet another calorie range (1900-2200) for my lifestyle. I guess I will keep tweaking until I see healthy results.
 
Personally, I use fitday to track my caloric intake and that is about it. I don't pay attention to their daily caloric requirements because I find them to be ridiculously high. According to Harris Benedict I should be at about 2700 calories a day to maintain - fitday lists me at about 3300. I checked out sparkspeople and thought their daily caloric recomendations were too low. According to them if I want to lose weight I should be at a maximum of 1750 calories per day - but my bmr is 1920, and going below your bmr is a bad idea. Of course you can search the web and find 20 sites that will give you 20 different caloric amounts. I would say find your bmr and use the Harris-Benedict multipliers to determine how many calories you should be taking in throughout the day.

Best of Luck!
 
I have a free trial on this website



I decided to calculate your maintance calories for you because that website helped me so much to lose weight.

For your stats that you said above (your age, height, weight, etc.) Your BMI (body mass index) is 36. the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight is 2600 calories. So it appears that the reason you might have been gaining weight was because you were going over your maintance. Still though you shouldn't have gained 2-4 pounds in one week because of that ( one pound is 3500 calories). Be sure to weigh yourself at consistent times. I mean you should weigh yourself in the morning only. Most likely the reason you gained 2-4 pounds is because you weighed yourself at different times, weight fluctuates, so it's most accurate to measure it at a consistent time.

With your maintance calories of 2600 to lose one pound per week you should be eating 2100 calories per day. A half pound is 2350. Two pounds would be 1600 (but I think that'd be too little calories it would probably slow your metabolism a lot). So I would go for one pound per week. That's what i've chosen to do and it's helped me out a lot I've lowered my bodyfat about 10 percent.

The best way to do this is to keep track of all the calories you eat. I made a document on my computer and write down everything I eat. Otherwise you might just think you are eating healthy and you shouldn't be gaining weight, but you might be eating way too much healthy food and you gain weight anyway.
 
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