*Total Metabolism Forecaster Thread*

[Robby Coker]

Hello Robby,

Thanks a lot for your excellent work!

You're welcome.

I'd like to ask you - for you Antidepressant section the effect of drugs is to slow down the metabolic rate. Does the same thing happen with 5HTP, melatonin, or other sleep supps (like valerian, etc).

For some reason, I can't seem to get the forecast to quite align for me =)

From what I've researched, those supplements you mentioned do not.

Are you currently taking any of them? If so, make sure not to enter it as an antidepressant.

[ra2commando]

You're welcome.


From what I've researched, those supplements you mentioned do not.

Are you currently taking any of them? If so, make sure not to enter it as an antidepressant.

thanks a lot for the response!

I am taking 5htp, melatonin and valerian to fall asleep - problem is, the next day I feel like a zombie even after 8hrs+ sleep. I was wondering if they slow down the metabolic rate since my maintenance seems lower than the 'forecast' =)

I was sort of suspicious since people claim 5htp cuts down on hunger, I was wondering if that was the reason why

Must be something else I;m not accounting for.

[stevedawg85]

WOW. This spreadsheet is too awesome, Lots of info and not sure if I'm filling things out correctly.

Questions:
Total Daily Calorie Expenditure + Method- Is this how much to maintain current shape (just curious)? Which method is best, it ranges 200 calories from 2487 to 2670 (Navy to Hodgdon)
Occupation / Activity Level - Boring desk job, but heavy lifting almost every morning. Is this considered "Sedentary To Lightly Active" or "Very Active?"
A Date within Regimen - What is this?
Macronutrient Needs As - Per pound of total weight is best for me?

I've read carbs are not important when bulking, so should I just meet the protein and fat macro goals?

[Robby Coker]

WOW. This spreadsheet is too awesome, Lots of info and not sure if I'm filling things out correctly.

Questions:
Total Daily Calorie Expenditure + Method- Is this how much to maintain current shape (just curious)?

The Total Daily Calorie Expenditure up top is the amount needed to maintain current weight.

If you enter an energy balance either by entering a Calorie intake, where the difference between that and your Total Daily Energy Expenditure while at maintenance is evaluated, or you directly enter an energy balance (positive or negative) into the field below it, it will show Total Daily Calorie Expenditure levels for four different starvation mode levels (if you entered a deficit) and four different adaptive thermogenic levels (if you entered a surplus).

The Method field is for selections of body fat % measurement methods.

Which method is best, it ranges 200 calories from 2487 to 2670 (Navy to Hodgdon)

Which body fat % figures does each one of those give? If you are unsure as to which one to use, I'd recommend going to the Post Your Pictures section and posting some pictures so others can give a visual estimation of actual body fat %.

[Occupation / Activity Level - Boring desk job, but heavy lifting almost every morning. Is this considered "Sedentary To Lightly Active" or "Very Active?"

For occupation, it is sedentary.

For weight-lifting, enter the parameters for this into the weight-lifting section in the exercise area.

A Date within Regimen - What is this?

This is a date between the starting date and projected arrival date

Macronutrient Needs As - Per pound of total weight is best for me?

Yes. One gram of protein per pound of body weight is typically recommended.

I've read carbs are not important when bulking, so should I just meet the protein and fat macro goals?

Where did you read it from? Carbs have an importance because they fuel the muscles during workouts, and they play a role in replenishing glycogen stores.

It's the type of carbs that matter. Foods with processed carbs such as candy, pizza, ice cream, soda, crackers, etc. should be kept to a minimum. This will ensure that a higher percentage of the weight that you gain will be muscle.

[boykid28]

ok, i know i shouldnt be asking this but i will:

i clicked on the link in the 2nd post and then the 1st link on that post. an exel starter poped up and i began to fill in the blanks. i noticed 1 of the questions asked were "are you italian". why did they ask that? why did the calories needed for maintanece increase when i put "yes"? what does being italian have to do with metabolism? sorry to bombard you with these stupid questions

[Robby Coker]

ok, i know i shouldnt be asking this but i will:

i clicked on the link in the 2nd post and then the 1st link on that post. an exel starter poped up and i began to fill in the blanks. i noticed 1 of the questions asked were "are you italian". why did they ask that? why did the calories needed for maintanece increase when i put "yes"? what does being italian have to do with metabolism? sorry to bombard you with these stupid questions

The following is from Section II of the FAQ:

23.
============================
What's the "Are You Italian?
============================

This asks whether your ethnicity is Italian.

It is taken into account when determining your resting energy expenditure (REE).

The Harris-Benedict REE formula is used if your ethnicity is Italian. According to an ADA Evidence Analysis done on March 25, 2005, the Mifflin-St.Jeor REE formula tends to underestimate the REE of Italian men and women.

[KickStarts]

guys i'm stuck. Don't have a clue how to use this calculator :S

[Robby Coker]

guys i'm stuck. Don't have a clue how to use this calculator :S

For instructions on using it, consult the Readme file found in the DOCS folder.

[K0pe]

Is this accurate? My maintence came out to 3800 cals lol

[Robby Coker]

Is this accurate?

The accuracy is similar to that of a weather forecast.

The program provides a more detailed way of calculating energy requirements and bases the calculations on other diverse factors (such as sleep hygiene, alcoholic beverage intake, caffeine intake, fat-burners, etc.) along with the standard ones.

Based on other users' feedback, the newer versions should be more accurate than the older ones.

There are also certain guidelines, found in the Guidelines and Occupational Activity Guide documents in the DOCS folder, that should be followed for getting most use out of the program.

My maintence came out to 3800 cals lol

If you don't mind, could you list your parameters?

[K0pe]

Oh alright gotcha, sorry for taking so long to reply, but here it is:
stats:
age 17
height 71 in
weight 167
Bodyfat: 13-14 (estimate)

Paramters:
Endomorph
Ratio: I normally have 42 % protein, 34% dietary fat, 24% carbohydrates
Occupation: Moderately active, 0 hours worked (I go to school though)

Aerobic exercises:
I walk at least 14 miles a week (to school, to and from the gym, and I'm usually on my feet or walking around at home)
# of days, 6, average mph 3.0

Anaerobic exercises:
5-6 days per week (put 5 to be safe since 6th is very light)
I train intensly but I put mod-high to be safe also
60 minutes per session
8 hours of sleep a night

I also eat mulitple servings of cottage cheese, 1-2 servings of milk, and multiple mozerella and greek yogurt per day which ended up raising my maintence. Re enterring data like that I came out to 3583 calories maitenence.

thnx 4 the help

[Robby Coker]

Oh alright gotcha, sorry for taking so long to reply, but here it is:
stats:
age 17
height 71 in
weight 167
Bodyfat: 13-14 (estimate)

Paramters:
Endomorph
Ratio: I normally have 42 % protein, 34% dietary fat, 24% carbohydrates
Occupation: Moderately active, 0 hours worked (I go to school though)

Aerobic exercises:
I walk at least 14 miles a week (to school, to and from the gym, and I'm usually on my feet or walking around at home)
# of days, 6, average mph 3.0

Anaerobic exercises:
5-6 days per week (put 5 to be safe since 6th is very light)
I train intensly but I put mod-high to be safe also
60 minutes per session
8 hours of sleep a night

I also eat mulitple servings of cottage cheese, 1-2 servings of milk, and multiple mozerella and greek yogurt per day which ended up raising my maintence. Re enterring data like that I came out to 3583 calories maitenence.

thnx 4 the help

Do you use a ****meter to track the walking mileage?

The occupational activity level for a student is Sedentary To Lightly Active. Selecting that, the maintenance comes to 3072.

[K0pe]

Do you use a ****meter to track the walking mileage?

The occupational activity level for a student is Sedentary To Lightly Active. Selecting that, the maintenance comes to 3072.

Nope, but I've mapquested the distance to my school which came out to .85 miles and 1.5 miles to my gym. I walk from school and to and from the gym everyday. (saturdays only to and from gym and sunday is rest)

I also often walk with my mom on evenings because she wants to get some cardio in but doesn't like walking herself.

[mayodt]

I tried this program, it seems great. But I have one question, it says if I want to lose 1% bodyfat per week, or 0.5%, obviously the calories are different, but the lean body mass afterwords is the same. So, what's the disadvantage of eating less, if I won't lose any more muscle, but lose more fat?

[Robby Coker]

I tried this program, it seems great. But I have one question, it says if I want to lose 1% bodyfat per week, or 0.5%, obviously the calories are different, but the lean body mass afterwords is the same.

So, what's the disadvantage of eating less, if I won't lose any more muscle, but lose more fat?

The Calorie needs here are based on the Projected Fat Loss % (which is the Fat/Muscle Loss ratio) you entered.

The reason the lean body mass is the same for both is that with both rates of loss, it is assuming that you would be achieving them with the same fat/muscle loss ratio.

However, since it also requires eating fewer Calories to lose a higher % body fat per week, you likely would not be able to maintain this same fat/muscle loss ratio over the course the program if you were to go with the higher rate of loss, thus losing more muscle per pound of body weight.

[thedarkshade]

Thanks a lot for the spreadsheet, appreciate it a lot.

I take Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine) as a medication, it's not an SSRI but an SNRI, would that have some affect on the results? No idea which of those products listed are close to what I take

[Robby Coker]

Thanks a lot for the spreadsheet, appreciate it a lot.

You're welcome.

I take Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine) as a medication, it's not an SSRI but an SNRI, would that have some affect on the results? No idea which of those products listed are close to what I take

I looked into it, and from what I found, weight gain is not a common side effect of this medication. According to the official website, in the clinical studies, there was no difference in weight gain between the medication and placebo. This was with the recommended dose of 50mg.

[IamJonsCranium]

Lol at the Italian thing. So that's why my metabolism is higher than everyone else's

[vanessa40]

Good Morning
Does this download work on Mac's or just PC's
I tried to open it but i could not get it to work
Thank you

[Robby Coker]

Good Morning
Does this download work on Mac's or just PC's
I tried to open it but i could not get it to work
Thank you

The Open Office (OO.org) version should work on a Mac if you have OpenOffice.org Aqua for Mac OSX. If you don't have it, you can get it from here.
http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/aqua.html

[Asad91]

Hi ive got a question,

My Calorie Expenditure is 2768, and my aim is to cut, would this mean i have to lower my Calorie Expenditure?

I added a screenshot aswell of my spreadsheet stats

[Robby Coker]

Hi ive got a question,

My Calorie Expenditure is 2768, and my aim is to cut, would this mean i have to lower my Calorie Expenditure?

I added a screenshot aswell of my spreadsheet stats

Welcome to the forums. It's nice to have you here.

Your Calorie Expenditure is the amount of Calories needed to maintain your current weight. To cut, you have to lower your Calorie intake below this.

[SwedeMuscleMob]

hey Robby i think i've screwed up but don't know what i've done wrong



as you can see in the pic:

-Initial LBM is wrong
-Weight required to reach BF goal is wrong
-LBM after reaching goal is wrong

[Robby Coker]

hey Robby i think i've screwed up but don't know what i've done wrong

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...1&d=1309614322

as you can see in the pic:

-Initial LBM is wrong
-Weight required to reach BF goal is wrong
-LBM after reaching goal is wrong

Did you enter the units for Weight and Height in the User Stats correctly?

[Robby Coker]

Since this is now on page 28, here are the links to the current version of Total Metabolism Forecaster.

TMF v1.982 (MS Excel)
TMF v1.982 (MS Excel 2007+)
TMF v1.982 (OO.org)

[SwedeMuscleMob]

Did you enter the units for Weight and Height in the User Stats correctly?

yes brah

[Robby Coker]

yes brah

Could you list your parameters for each section?

[StephanieShine]

When are you going to turn this wonderful tool into an Android App?!?

[Robby Coker]

When are you going to turn this wonderful tool into an Android App?!?

This is currently beyond my skill level. I'm not sure I would be able to do this.

I had been using Microsoft Excel 2003 to create the program. However, back in January 17 of this year, I had a computer failure which resulted in the re-installation of Windows XP. During this process, I lost Microsoft Office 2003, and instead, I had to go with a trial version of Microsoft Office 2010 when the computer was up and running again. I began the next version of TMF on this on the last week of January as we were planning to get MS Office 2010 registered in the spring of this year. However, due to some stuff that happened in the second week of March that affected my dad's business, we ended up eventually not being able to register it. When the trial ran out in May (I had downloaded another form of MS Excel 2010 in March so I could use it for another 2 months), I had to stop work on it. I have not been sure where I wanted to go with it since.

My interest in the project has also lessened a bit over the year as I began to get more into composing music.

[marcellius27]

I do not think I am using your program right. I used the Katch McArdle method and it said my maintainance was 2314 calories. But your program says I need about 2800 calories at maintainance and almost 3000 to gain weight. I've attached a screenshot to it. I've been on an off at the gym because of family issues. But is my metabolism really that fast? Is 2800 calories really not enough?I workout 3 days a week but do 3 days a week and do part time work 24 hours a week (broke college student...another reason why I need to get back into the gym)
I had to make two different forecast because of your 'dairy feature'. I eat cottage cheese on the days I workout and milk on off days
only. But I put "1" in both rows anyways. So your telling me that I need almost 3K in calories to gain weight? caseyforcastresults.PNGI'm only 127lbs at 9% bf. Jheez is my metabolism really that fast?