Confused with FitBit's Numbers and More - in regards to weight loss

[SunsetRunner]

Maybe someone can help me be less confused. 

I have set up my FitBit food plan to be in a 750 calorie deficit. And when I'm going through my days, I burn (based on my Charge2) anywhere between 3000 to 4300 calories daily depending on whether it's a gym day, etc.

So, I assume my TDEE is between 3000 to 4300. Maybe?

I workout 5 days a week, 1.5 hours per workout. I do weight training and LISS fast walking cardio. My Charge2 tells me (depending on what body parts I am working on with the weight lifting) I burn anywhere to 1000 to 1300 calories per workout. Of course, being conservative as I am, I cut that number in half and log in my food tracker (https://www.nutritionix.com) the calorie burn number that would go with my overall daily calorie intake. (ex: 525 calories burned from my workout)

Now, my daily calorie intake is 1800-2000 and has been since August 2017. Prior to that, I didn't log any of my foods, etc.

Now, I use this site to figure out my TDEE/BMR:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator

My current weight is 286 lbs.

My height is: 68.4 inches (5'7").

My age is 53.

I choose the 3-5 days a week moderate exercise option with the Lose Fat/20% Calorie Reduction.

The results:

TDEE = 3650 Calories (Daily) <------ Recommended daily calorie intake needed to maintain weight

BMR = 2355 Calories (Daily) <------ Recommended daily calorie intake

Lose Fat/20% Calorie Reduction = 2920 Calories Daily (1.6 pound loss per week)

Now, there are days that I do go over my daily 1800-2000 calorie intake (say roughly to about 2200), so I know I'm up over on some days, but based on the calculator info, far below the 2920 that the calculator is asking me to consume.

But even so, if I am hitting the 2200 overflow, I still can deduct the 500-ish calorie burn from my *deliberate exercise*, which would still bring me down to 1700. I ONLY use deliberate exercise to minus from my total calorie intake, and NOT the total number my FitBit tells me from my daily total calorie burn.

Also, lets bear in mind that I have been loosing weight very well since the end of December 2016.

Starting Weight: 420

Current weight: 286

Goal weight: 250

Total loss to date: 134

By no means should I complain about my weight loss. I mean, I’m very proud of myself with the commitment and dedication I have been able to achieve with this loss.

However, all the numbers right now should bear out that I should be losing 1 to 1.6 pounds a week.

However, I’m not. I am more like losing 1 pound a month. I just don’t understand how to get the numbers I need.

I am trying to do this healthy, and I have been told over and over NOT to eat below BMR and every time I *crunch* the numbers with different calculators I get a daily calorie intake of anywhere from 2300 to 2900 calories daily.

Now, my weight loss doctor told me that because I was so heavy to start (at 420) that most of these calculators are not really accurate for obese people.

Lets also address other issues as well. Do I track everything that goes into my mouth? I’m like 98-99% accurate, and I do not think I’m off in regards to how much my total calorie intake is. I track ketchup, mayo, cheese and other stuff I add to my foods, and man do those add up. too. Do I reach 2200 sometimes? Yes, maybe 3-4 times a month, but it’s not like I’m eating foods outside my diet. I’m not sneaking to MickyDs to have a double quarter pounder twice a week.

And I ONLY go out to a restaurant like once every 2 months, so it’s not like I’m over doing it.

Any help and suggestions would be great. Thank you.

[Dominique]

So you lost about 130 lbs in two years, which is very impressive. Let’s assume it was fully linear (which probably wasn’t the case), ie. you lost 65 lbs in 2016 and 65 lbs in 2017. If you kept the same deficit during the next five years and therefore lost the same amount of weight every year, you would be 225 lbs in early 2019, 160 in 2020, 95 in 2021 and would basically vanish in thin air some time in 2023. Obviously, it’s not going to happen: there are survival mechanisms that activate to prevent this. Your calculations (and Fitbit’s estimates) are based on formulas that do not necessarily apply to your situation: for instance, you assume your BMR (and thus TDEE) is that predicted for a 53-yo male who’s 290 lbs and 5’7". However, the formula applies to someone who has been maintaining their weight at that level for some time. You, OTOH, arrived there as the result of dropping a large amount of weight in a relatively short period of time. Because of that (metabolic adaptation), your actual BMR is likely lower than what the formula predicts. Similarly, your actual TDEE is likely lower than what your Charge 2 estimates.

What it boils down to is it’s very hard to keep losing weight without any interruption, because your body is programmed to fight against it. You may have seen the Losing All Your Weight At Once video I keep referring to, but here it is again.

[SunsetRunner]

I fixed a mistake in my original post. I've been doing this since December 2016 (Not January 2016)  🙂 So, this will be my 14th month (Feb 2018)

So, I have lost 134 pounds in 14 months 

[SunsetRunner]

@Dominique I'll check out that video. Thanks.

[WavyDavey]

Can you describe the strength training component? From your post, it looks like you're getting over 7 hours a week of weights? That's a lot, and will certainly add muscle and weight.

Is your goal primarily weight loss, or strength? If both, which would you prioritize?

[SunsetRunner]

@WavyDavey

Sure...

I do a 2 day on, one day off routine, so that equals 5 days a week. However, I work my entire body over a 4 day period, so it would look like this (example)

Day 1: Chest, Triceps, Abs.

Day 2: Back, Biceps, Lower Back

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Legs, Shoulders, Traps

Total amount of exercises for each workout: 6-8

Sets per lift: 3 with resting no more than a minute between sets

Rep Range: 12-15. I try to go to failure on each set. I work towards more endurance then getting big.

Between each exercise I do 5 LISS fast walking laps around the weight area to keep moving and keep my HR elevated after I do a lift.

My HR ranges from 107 to 135 at any given time.

This gives me a 1.5 hour workout, give or take 5 minutes (mostly just a little over 1.5 hours tho, as I do extra laps)

My main goals are: Lose weight and gain strength

On my days off, I usually do a 3-4 mile walk outside. We have a green park area near our house, so I take advantage of those trails. It's actually quite a nice area for walking and other activities.

[WavyDavey]

Nice routine, sounds like you're getting a good variety of work. I would guess you are seeing some body re-composition with the added muscle.That might be part of the diminishing bodyweight loss?

I'm always hesitant about caloric deficits with weight lifting, but ultimately, you'd have to further restrict calories to get more loss quicker. HIIT is an effective alternative to jumpstart the metabolism so you burn more.  I've had to add about 400 calories a day coming in to counterbalance the HIIT to maintain. It might be good for a couple more pounds a month weight loss no problem.

Keep up the good work.

[SunsetRunner]

@WavyDavey

Between September 2017 to the end of December 2017, I incorporated HIIT (2 times a week, alternating moderate intensity rowing on all the other days) with the concept2 rower. Well, once I started that, it pretty much destroyed my weight loss. I went 4-5 weeks of no weight loss at all. Was it *true* HIIT? Maybe not to the extend I was falling over after the workouts, but dang, I was tuckered out big time. It was wearing me out too. And, yeah, it made me very hungry. That's the reason I stopped doing it.

Honestly, I have had a lot of recomping over the last 6 months, so I know my weight routine is beneficial to me, and frankly, I enjoy it more than anything which is why it's the mainstay of my workouts. I will say this, my belt is looser now than it was a month ago, so I know I'm getting victories, just not on the scale. Maybe I should just stop weighing myself for awhile and focus on the non-weight loss victories.

Mind you, I'm still very fat, soft, somewhat pear shaped, etc. However, my wife grabbed my arm the other day and she sure felt a lot of muscle, and mentioned it.

My chest is fuller and my lats have increased, arms are more muscled, and I can squat a decent amount.

With my intensity, I just can't see myself going under 1800 calories a day. I will NOT starve myself.

I'm not giving up tho. I'm just going to be the pig headed person I always am just plow thru.

[SunsetRunner]

Try changing your macros. A high protein, low carb diet should help. Take the number of grams of carbs you are currently eating and gradually decrease it. Sometimes other factors come into play when the math for CICO doesn’t work. That happened to me. I got to a point where I got stuck. It didn’t matter how many fewer calories I consumed. It just didn’t work. I started a weight training program and started a high protein, low carb diet. At first, my weight wasn’t budging. In fact, I gained 2 pounds but I was expecting that starting weight training. Then in the second week, I lost 1.8 pounds and a whole pant size. I actually eat more now than I did before. I don’t even really count calories anymore. I’ve done it enough times to have an idea of how much I eat but I concentrate more on macros now than calories.

[Baltoscott · Accepted solution]

@SunsetRunner - I agree that you should not lower you calorie intake.  Even if 1800 worked for a while it would leave you nowhere to go after the next stall.

 @Dominique probably has it right that this is metabolic adaptation.  If I were you I would add a few hundred calories — shoot between 2500-3000/day for a month or two to see if your body can maintain your current weight with that intake.  It probably will, but you might see a bump up for the first couple of weeks so you will need some resolve to see the experiment through.  After that you can try going back to the 2000-2200/day diet and you will resume getting weight loss results from it.  

As as you well know by now, your weight loss goal is a multi-year project and maintainence will be the rest of your life.  Knowing that it is psychologically a good idea to think in terms of shorter time frames and to have a willingness to try different strategies over those time frames.

[SunsetRunner]

@Baltoscott

I have no issues eating more  

[SunsetRunner]

Dominique | Finland, the video you linked to is a good reminder and very sound in practice. Thanks for posting it.

[Dominique]

You’re welcome, @SunsetRunner! I’m sure you’ll get it right this time.