*Total Metabolism Forecaster Thread*

[Robby Coker]

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)

This program factors in additional parameters besides resting energy expenditure and activity factor.

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.

To be more precise, on this section, because you eat cottage cheese on workout days and milk on your off-days, enter 3/7 under cottage cheese (as you workout out 3 days/week) and 4/7 under milk (the other days). Fractions are accepted as numerical inputs here.

So your telling me that I need almost 3K in calories to gain weight? Attachment 3629473I'm only 127lbs at 9% bf. Jheez is my metabolism really that fast?

At your current age, it will be faster.

[JesseWilliamson]

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.

I do know how to build web apps and I think this would be a great one. Let me know what you think. I may do it locally just for the fun of it, but I think it would be great to do a full release.

[marcellius27]

This program factors in additional parameters besides resting energy expenditure and activity factor.


To be more precise, on this section, because you eat cottage cheese on workout days and milk on your off-days, enter 3/7 under cottage cheese (as you workout out 3 days/week) and 4/7 under milk (the other days). Fractions are accepted as numerical inputs here.


At your current age, it will be faster.

Alright thank you. Your program is amazing. 3033 calories is what I need to gain 0.5 lbs a month. But I have another question: what is the Maximum suggested rate of gain. Is that muscle or fat gain? Or both. For me it says mine is 1lb a week. So should I eat for that? I'm eating for 0.5lbs a week (2lbs a month)..anything more is most likely fat.

[Robby Coker]

I do know how to build web apps and I think this would be a great one. Let me know what you think. I may do it locally just for the fun of it, but I think it would be great to do a full release.

I'm not sure yet as I will have to get a license key for Microsoft Office 2010 first as I'm not currently able to access the .xls and .xlsx files.

Alright thank you. Your program is amazing. 3033 calories is what I need to gain 0.5 lbs a month. But I have another question: what is the Maximum suggested rate of gain. Is that muscle or fat gain? Or both.

That's for total body weight.

For me it says mine is 1lb a week. So should I eat for that? I'm eating for 0.5lbs a week (2lbs a month)..anything more is most likely fat.

It's higher at very low body fat %'s.

However, if you're currently eating for 1/2 lb per week (as your mentioned) and finding that it's working well for you, just stick with that for now.

[Wantstobestrong]

Is this app ready for the Apple iPhone 5 or the iPad 3 ?

[Robby Coker]

Is this app ready for the Apple iPhone 5 or the iPad 3 ?

Not currently. The functions and formulas would first have to be taken from the mechanics area of the spreadsheet and then coded using the programming language(s) for these.

However, I have very little experience in this type of software programming, so I would not be able to do this on my own.

Would anybody like to partner up with me and help out with this?

[JesseWilliamson]

Not currently. The functions and formulas would first have to be taken from the mechanics area of the spreadsheet and then coded using the programming language(s) for these.

However, I have very little experience in this type of software programming, so I would not be able to do this on my own.

Would anybody like to partner up with me and help out with this?

Again, no skill with those specific languages, but I have programming experience and I can glean what I need from your spreadsheet. If you don't mind me taking your work and building a web app around it (so it would be platform agnostic), I would be happy to take it on as a side project.

[Robby Coker]

Again, no skill with those specific languages, but I have programming experience and I can glean what I need from your spreadsheet. If you don't mind me taking your work and building a web app around it (so it would be platform agnostic), I would be happy to take it on as a side project.

I looked through the thread, and there appears to be a greater demand for porting to iPhone, iPad, Android, other portable device, etc. platforms although a few other users have also suggested porting it to a web service.

However, I believe that it may be somehow possible to do both.

To do this, we will need to form a team.


Before proceeding, I need to do the following first:

1) Get a license key for Microsoft Office. I won't be able to do anything on the project until I get one.

2) In the mechanics area, everything needs to be re-labeled as much of the labels are currently abbreviated.

3) In the current version, there are some bugs that need to be fixed. One is in the body fat calculation section where it is not currently accepting certain measurements such as waist circumference in centimeters. Another one is in the Regimen Forecaster area involving By Body Fat % for Method For Desired Rate. This feature apparently got broken in one of the last few releases as it works fine on version 1.82. After I fix these bugs, I will put out a bug fix version.

[VGPOP]

Fantastic tool!

I will take a look at it.

[meddy76]

I downloaded the OO.org one for Ubuntu, however the fields are misaligned. Very good tool though!

[jwilliamson76]

I looked through the thread, and there appears to be a greater demand for porting to iPhone, iPad, Android, other portable device, etc. platforms although a few other users have also suggested porting it to a web service.

However, I believe that it may be somehow possible to do both.

To do this, we will need to form a team.


Before proceeding, I need to do the following first:

1) Get a license key for Microsoft Office. I won't be able to do anything on the project until I get one.

2) In the mechanics area, everything needs to be re-labeled as much of the labels are currently abbreviated.

3) In the current version, there are some bugs that need to be fixed. One is in the body fat calculation section where it is not currently accepting certain measurements such as waist circumference in centimeters. Another one is in the Regimen Forecaster area involving By Body Fat % for Method For Desired Rate. This feature apparently got broken in one of the last few releases as it works fine on version 1.82. After I fix these bugs, I will put out a bug fix version.

With my line of work, I have been a Microsoft TechNet subscriber to help make my life easier and cheaper. If you guys are serious about further development of this program I would be happy to donate a MS Office 2010 license to help out. Let me know.

[Robby Coker]

With my line of work, I have been a Microsoft TechNet subscriber to help make my life easier and cheaper. If you guys are serious about further development of this program I would be happy to donate a MS Office 2010 license to help out. Let me know.

I got one back in October, but thanks anyway.

[t12jm]

first of all, great program, unbelievably thorough.

but quick question:

After a quick input of my estimates, the program estimates I'm currently running a 1000 calorie deficit.

-24 y/o male
-2200 daily intake
-70" 175 lbs at ~13% bf
-30 min 5 mph run 2x per week
-mod. intensity weights 4x per week (30 min)
-sedentary day job

If this is the case, I should obviously eat a substantial amount more as I have a target deficit of around 500 per day. This seems radically different from all the other calculations I've used. Do you see an error in the way I'm interpreting the data?

In general, how should one approach the "starvation mode" section? Shoot to avoid that by eating less of a deficit?

[Robby Coker]

first of all, great program, unbelievably thorough.

but quick question:

After a quick input of my estimates, the program estimates I'm currently running a 1000 calorie deficit.

-24 y/o male
-2200 daily intake
-70" 175 lbs at ~13% bf
-30 min 5 mph run 2x per week
-mod. intensity weights 4x per week (30 min)
-sedentary day job

If this is the case, I should obviously eat a substantial amount more as I have a target deficit of around 500 per day. This seems radically different from all the other calculations I've used. Do you see an error in the way I'm interpreting the data?

In general, how should one approach the "starvation mode" section? Shoot to avoid that by eating less of a deficit?

I went ahead and ran the program with the parameters you listed, and it gives a calculated deficit of 494 Calories.

These are based on the standard parameters you listed above.

Could you list your auxiliary parameters?

[Incarnate]

Found it, thanks
All the stuff it wants to know makes me feel like I've got a LOT to learn o.O

[gingersgym]

Seems to predict my calls a bit high... 2800 to maintain it believes... When bulking i gained fat on 3200 a day and am currently cutting on 2100 per day...

[fjsuarez]

There seems to be a problem with the body fat calculation when "centimeters" is chosen for height unit. It kept giving me INVALID for the waist circumference (85.5 cm). I had to choose "inch" and do the conversion myself. It could be a bug, thought I would report it.

[Robby Coker]

There seems to be a problem with the body fat calculation when "centimeters" is chosen for height unit. It kept giving me INVALID for the waist circumference (85.5 cm). I had to choose "inch" and do the conversion myself. It could be a bug, thought I would report it.

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

Thanks for reporting the bug. I will fix it and put out a bug fix release.

[Robby Coker]

Here is a minor update of Total Metabolism Forecaster. This release fixes a couple bugs in the Body Fat % Calculation section and the By Body Fat Percentage section in the Regimen Forecaster area. The gauges for Metabolic Rating and Energy Balance had to be redone as they were not displaying in Microsoft Excel 2010.

Additionally, the FAQ was updated, and in the Readme, there is now a warning for users below 18 years old. For these users, the results yielded by the program will not be as reliable due to the increased energy requirements for growth. The program does not currently factor this in.

02/03/12 - Version 1.982 to Version 1.99
---------------------------------------

* This is a bug fix version.

-In the Body Fat % Calculation section, INVALID would appear when entering circumference measurements in centimeters. This was because there were no conversion factors for the circumference caps. This caused circumference measurements entered in as centimeters to be taken in as values over the cap, thus leading to an invalid entry. This is now fixed.

-In the Regimen Forecaster area, in the By Body Fat Percentage section, the Desired Rate by body fat percentage was not accepting entries. This was due to the cell format being set as fraction. I set it to percentage, and this part is now working again.

-On Microsoft Excel 2010, I noticed that the gauges for Metabolic Rating and Energy Balance were not displaying. I ended up having to basically redo them, and they are now working properly again.

* In the program in general:

-I updated the FAQ.

-In the Readme, there is now a warning for users below 18 years old. For these users, the results yielded by the program will not be as reliable due to the increased energy requirements for growth. The program does not currently factor this in.

[onelifenoregret]

I've tried downloading all three of these and opening them. Both with and without the zip7. None of them are working. Ideas?

[ThousandEyes]

I've tried downloading all three of these and opening them. Both with and without the zip7. None of them are working. Ideas?

You should only need one...if you're running a Mac get the OO.org version, if you have the older version of Excel get the one w/o 2007...if it's the newer version get the 2007 version.

You will also need a program to unzip the files like winzip.

[onelifenoregret]

I have attempted each and every file there, with zip7 which is what Robby recommended. I have Excel 2007 so I tried that one first, when it failed I just went ahead and gave the others a shot just for ****s and grins. Still doesn't work which sucks because I'm trying to build a diet plan for myself right now and have no realistic idea of what my total calories burned daily are.

[Robby Coker]

I have attempted each and every file there, with zip7 which is what Robby recommended. I have Excel 2007 so I tried that one first, when it failed I just went ahead and gave the others a shot just for ****s and grins. Still doesn't work which sucks because I'm trying to build a diet plan for myself right now and have no realistic idea of what my total calories burned daily are.

Are you getting an error message when you try to open it?

[deepriverwolf]

If I'm trying to loose weight do I follow the "The Total Daily Calorie Exp." or "cumm. activity factor" and why are the 2 amounts different? Should they be"

[onelifenoregret]

Wow, that's weird. I just re-downloaded it for like the sixth time and it worked.... odd. Thanks for the help though

[Robby Coker]

If I'm trying to loose weight do I follow the "The Total Daily Calorie Exp." or "cumm. activity factor" and why are the 2 amounts different? Should they be"

Go to the Regimen Forecaster area. select Cutting in the objective field. Then enter your parameters in the By Body Weight or By Bodyfat Percentage sections. In the Calorie Needs display area, the energy requirements for your objective will be shown.

Wow, that's weird. I just re-downloaded it for like the sixth time and it worked.... odd. Thanks for the help though

You're welcome.

[Robby Coker]

Since this is now on page 29, here are the links to the current version of Total Metabolism Forecaster.

TMF v1.99 (MS Excel)
TMF v1.99 (MS Excel 2007+)
TMF v1.99 (OO.org)

[ThousandEyes]

I got it to work after downloading the other excel version...question: what is the definition of starvation mode, i.e. how do I figure out or where do i look to for starvation mode calories so I can avoid this. I mean if I take the TDEE in the not in starvation mode category and subtract it from the actual calorie deficit then I should be eating the number I get from this equation to prevention starvation...? i.e. TDEE not in starvation mode is 2439 - actual cal deficit 759 = calorie intake goal of 1680. ???

There's a FAQ page that comes with the download.....read it.

[averageben]

Subbed so I can download this on the laptop later on

[AdamWW]

Dude.. OP, 5' 11" and 137lbs...?

Your Bodyspace also says your goal is to "lose fat"...