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Various BMR methods to identify maintenance cals

Stewstews

Small Fry
Hi all, would welcome some input - hopeful some answers here might help out others also.

I have spent 12 months just trying to bulk up, and although conscious of the quality of food and protein content, and have not really focused on the volume of my food. This change will come online in the new year (not now - no chance of being "good" over xmas/new years). Getting myself prepared for it now however, and am researching food plan options now (e.g. CKD).

But first step is to work out my daily calorie requirements, BMR etc. There seem to be various methods to calculate this. Most accurate I suspect would be to catalogue everything I do and eat and track changes to my weight/body composition. But I'd like a starting point, from which I can adjust cals up or down depending on how my body responds.

Anyone care to critique the below methods for me??

Katch McArdle BMR
(Free calculator here Katch-Mcardle BMR Calculator)

Based on my last DEXA scan (~73kg and 17.41 bf%), I get a BMR of 1,672.28.

Based upon an activity factor of 1.6 (slightly more than moderately active), I have a real metabolic rate of 2675.

Online calculator comparison - Harris-Benedict / Mifflin
As a comparison, I entered my age, weight and height and activity factor into the following BMR & RMR Calculator and got:
BMR of 2713
RMR of 2609

Not 100% clear on the difference between the two, but they're close.

DEXA Scan Recommendation
Not sure how they calculate it (DEXA was with Bodyscan), but it gives me a RMR of 1816 + 300 for "Daily Activities" = 2179. So I am calling this my "real" metabolic rate, without considering exercise. So I need to build that on for my maintenance cals allowing for exercise.

Using this (Activity Calculator) to establish what cals I spent in exercise weekly as an estimate:
Bball 40 mins = 389 cals
1.5hr gym session = 329 cals
Cycling = 219 cals / per 30 mins

I would thus average say 390 cals of exercise, 4 times a week.

Under the DEXA Scan I should be at daily maintenance 2569 for exercise days. And a lower 2179 for non-exercise days. Or 2401 averaged over a week.

Which to use??
I have 2675 vs. 2713 vs. 2569 / 2179 or 2401...
I'm inclined to believe the DEXA in some respects, as has accurate representation of my body, but it is a fair bit lower given the non-exercise days implication.

I assume with the other BMR's using activity factors etc, that is an average amount over a week. i.e. I could drop the maintenance cals on non-exercise days by say 300, but catch these up on exercise days.

Anyway welcome any input!!
 
I would be going off the DEXA scan results and trialing this for a periods of time and then going back and getting another DEXA scan to see your progress and then discussing option with the people from Bodyscan if the results arent what you were hoping for.

As you are obviously aware the online calcs can vary quite a bit, if you want more information on how things are calculated perhaps ask the people from Bodyscan more questions during your appointments.
 
What's you goal?

Add weight

Lose weight

Or maintain?

I figured establishing maintence cals would be the first step regardless, and then what I actually consume is adjusted based on what the goals are?

But at this point I want to drop the bf% a little in the short term. That year of adding weight has given me a little 'extra' in the mid-section that I want to get rid of.

And then continue to add weight in mid to long term, albeit slower/smarter if necessary to prevent a large bf% increase.
 
Don't worry about the BMR calculators they are very poor estimators for maintenance calories.
 
Don't worry about the BMR calculators they are very poor estimators for maintenance calories.

this. based on that i suggest picking the lowest and just go from there. commit for a month and track your bodyweight closely and see where you are. no one ever complained about getting results too quickly.

edit: katch-macardle is about the closest to mine, but we're all different.
 
this. based on that i suggest picking the lowest and just go from there. commit for a month and track your bodyweight closely and see where you are. no one ever complained about getting results too quickly.

Yep that's all I want is a starting point. I'll learn to adjust it from there if I see changes.
 
Plug in what you're eating today into a nutrition/fitness app, keep eating the same amount for 2-4 weeks - see what happens on the scales and in the mirror. There's no need to be that precise or bog yourself down too much.

I did that, then I held my food intake roughly at that amount (just weighed myself each morning and checked myself in the mirror). I held that weight for a while (possibly even recomped a little bit), then dropped my cals a bit more and when my weight stalls I will drop them again. Just roughly eat the same each day and it's all good (weekends are harder and i will sometimes plug these into a calculator, but during the week i mainly watch my protein intake eg if i haven't had enough i'll have an extra shake).

To answer your question though I just do 15xBW in pounds (15 because I'm active outside work, but work in an office).
 
Yep - if I play sport (eg 40 min indoor soccer game or a full outdoor game), then I definitely will eat a bit extra (even if it's say rice with dinner when I normally wouldn't bother or a couple of bananas, 1 before and 1 after).

I only say don't be too anal about it (on the assumption that this is for general fitness, getting lean cause you want to, rather than to compete - if it's to compete, then hopefully someone else can advise!), because it's not worth getting too bogged down. If it doesn't fit your lifestyle, you don't stick to it. I measure my cals once or twice a week, just to see how i'm tracking, but again I find the measuring on the scales the easiest way to tell if I'm over or under eating.
 
I'm hopeful that working out a food plan for the week, and getting organised for the week, will make sure I'm roughly doing the right cals. I should really need to track anything at that point, if I'm doing the meals planned and close to the right portion size per the plan.

Where I've failed before is having to try and track everything as I'm making it. Some of those apps (MFP, Calorie Counter) help, but they can suck when you're cooking a "mixed up" meal, that is then served to multiple people / eaten over multiple nights. What a chore to record the recipe in full, then give yourself a portion!

And when the options in the cupboard/fridge don't help... pays to be stocked in advance I guess.
 
Yeah man that sounds like a good idea. I find that by eating the same breakfast, morning tea, afternoon tea and night time snack then if my lunch and dinner vary slightly.. it doesn't matter too much (as long as they have a good serve of meat in each)!

I wouldn't worry so much - you can see from a plate of food, how much protein it has (eg fist size portion of meat should have ~20-40g protein). If you are trying to lean up, it's the protein that matters (just hit 2-2.5g per kg BW). If you are losing weight on the scales, not losing strength in the gym and visibly look good, you obviously are getting what you need!

This morning I woke up and I'd dropped a bit too much on the scales, so I'm going to hit nandos up at lunch and get the paella (good serve of carbs) just to slow down the weight loss a bit.

That and keep the intensity up at gym. Having spent the last couple of years being too anal, I just think it's not worth it. You keep it simple and do it in a way that you will be able to keep it up for years to come (eg it's not a chore to weigh yourself each morning after you take a dump!).
 
So I had a look into what the DEXA scan recommendation used to calculate a maintenance cals starting point. It uses the Cunningham equation.

Comparison of several equations - this says that the Cunningham typically underestimates (but also says similar about the others for certain age groups).

Which Equation to Calculate My Daily Maintenance Calories? - this gives the following recommendation:

For most, the Harris Benedict or Mifflin would work just fine. If you know your body fat percentage and if you are quite active, Cunningham should be your first choice to find your RMR.

I'm going to take the DEXA scan recommendation and adjust up a touch, and use that as my starting point. After that it really won't matter!
 
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