Eating at TDEE?
glasshalffull713
Posts: 323 Member
I know if you are trying to lose fat, eat below TDEE, and if you are trying to gain muscle eat above TDEE and work out/lift heavy. But what happens if you eat AT TDEE and are doing resistance exercise and working out? Do you lose fat? Build muscle? Both? Neither?
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Replies
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Umm I have been wondering the same about eating at TDEE and weight lifting but don't like starting threads ha.
I'm assuming if you do it right you can recomp, but I've read that it either takes a crap ton of time, or it's not realistic.
Interested to hear what some on here say.0 -
I am just curious because I pretty much destroy my deficits on a regular basis by eating at my goal one day and then eating over the next. I haven't lost much weight in a long time, which I am sort of ok with. I exercise all the time, and I can tell that I have gained tons of strength by my performance. I am pretty sure I have gained muscle too as I feel like I am firmer. Just curious if I am realllllly slowly doing a body recomp, or what. If so I think I am fine with that as I kind of like eating. I think at some point I will have to commit to eating at a deficit though to get rid of the layer of fat over my abs
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If you're eat AT TDEE and OVER TDEE, but rarely under-then you could be gaining weight.0
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Yes, you'll likely do both, but the progress of each will be EXCEEDINGLY slow.
It's call recomping.0 -
I am not gaining weight. I have been steady where I am for a while. I have averaged it out and it comes out that I am pretty much eating AT TDEE.
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arditarose wrote: »
It's very realistic, but it does put increased importance on patience and consistency as progress will be virtually immeasurable over weeks and months.
IMO, the circumstances in which you maintain/recomp aren't any different than those in which you cut or bulk. Eat as clean as you want, be as close to your calorie goal as you can as often as you can, etc.
I do think nutrient timing becomes a bit more important if you are trying to recomp at 15% BF vs 25%, but that's just an opinion based on some of the reading I've done.0 -
arditarose wrote: »
It's very realistic, but it does put increased importance on patience and consistency as progress will be virtually immeasurable over weeks and months.
IMO, the circumstances in which you maintain/recomp aren't any different than those in which you cut or bulk. Eat as clean as you want, be as close to your calorie goal as you can as often as you can, etc.
I do think nutrient timing becomes a bit more important if you are trying to recomp at 15% BF vs 25%, but that's just an opinion based on some of the reading I've done.
Cool. I've been considering giving it a try. I know it's hard work..I'm wondering if I keep a teeny tiny deficit if it will help push along the fat loss a little faster, or if it defeats the purpose of recomping.
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arditarose wrote: »arditarose wrote: »
It's very realistic, but it does put increased importance on patience and consistency as progress will be virtually immeasurable over weeks and months.
IMO, the circumstances in which you maintain/recomp aren't any different than those in which you cut or bulk. Eat as clean as you want, be as close to your calorie goal as you can as often as you can, etc.
I do think nutrient timing becomes a bit more important if you are trying to recomp at 15% BF vs 25%, but that's just an opinion based on some of the reading I've done.
Cool. I've been considering giving it a try. I know it's hard work..I'm wondering if I keep a teeny tiny deficit if it will help push along the fat loss a little faster, or if it defeats the purpose of recomping.
Speaking very literally... that is cutting, not recomping. But ultimately, the body is always adjusting and adapting, so in reality, the difference is very hard to predict especially given how much of this weight loss/gain thing is based on estimates and assumptions.0 -
arditarose wrote: »arditarose wrote: »
It's very realistic, but it does put increased importance on patience and consistency as progress will be virtually immeasurable over weeks and months.
IMO, the circumstances in which you maintain/recomp aren't any different than those in which you cut or bulk. Eat as clean as you want, be as close to your calorie goal as you can as often as you can, etc.
I do think nutrient timing becomes a bit more important if you are trying to recomp at 15% BF vs 25%, but that's just an opinion based on some of the reading I've done.
Cool. I've been considering giving it a try. I know it's hard work..I'm wondering if I keep a teeny tiny deficit if it will help push along the fat loss a little faster, or if it defeats the purpose of recomping.
Speaking very literally... that is cutting, not recomping. But ultimately, the body is always adjusting and adapting, so in reality, the difference is very hard to predict especially given how much of this weight loss/gain thing is based on estimates and assumptions.
Right...duh. Okay, I have some thinking to do. Sorry I hi-jacked your thread OP!
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No worries, your questions are of interest to me as well.
I am pretty sure this is inadvertently what I have been doing. I have lost about 1lb a month on average, or maybe even less at times. However, I am a size or 2 smaller, and there is a noticeable increase in strength, muscle endurance, and appearance/shape.
At the current moment, I am ok with this approach i think b/c I am quite burnt out on trying to maintain a deficit (mentally). At least if I accept that I am eating at TDEE, I can lose the guilt on days that I don't eat at a deficit
In regards to cutting vs. bulking, I think it should be noted that our bodies are not black and white and I am not sure that you can do either exclusively. When ppl bulk they do gain some amount of fat, thus cutting afterwards. I imagine the same is true in reverse, if you have a slight deficit it's not like you will ONLY lose fat. Or at least that has been my experience.0 -
Ps- thanks for the helpful replies!0
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glasshalffull713 wrote: »In regards to cutting vs. bulking, I think it should be noted that our bodies are not black and white and I am not sure that you can do either exclusively. When ppl bulk they do gain some amount of fat, thus cutting afterwards. I imagine the same is true in reverse, if you have a slight deficit it's not like you will ONLY lose fat. Or at least that has been my experience.
yep. thats why people recommend strength training and eating plenty of protein while in a deficit, to try and retain as much muscle as possible.
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glasshalffull713 wrote: »No worries, your questions are of interest to me as well.
I am pretty sure this is inadvertently what I have been doing. I have lost about 1lb a month on average, or maybe even less at times. However, I am a size or 2 smaller, and there is a noticeable increase in strength, muscle endurance, and appearance/shape.
At the current moment, I am ok with this approach i think b/c I am quite burnt out on trying to maintain a deficit (mentally). At least if I accept that I am eating at TDEE, I can lose the guilt on days that I don't eat at a deficit
In regards to cutting vs. bulking, I think it should be noted that our bodies are not black and white and I am not sure that you can do either exclusively. When ppl bulk they do gain some amount of fat, thus cutting afterwards. I imagine the same is true in reverse, if you have a slight deficit it's not like you will ONLY lose fat. Or at least that has been my experience.
A couple of things that might be worth noting...
1) gaining strength is not the same as building muscle. People quite often get stronger while in a deficit, so don't think that getting stronger = more/new muscle.
2) if you're happy with how you look and what you see in the mirror, then that's probably the ultimate decision maker (assuming you feel reasonably decent, too). Based on what you said about progress and appearance, I'd keep doing what you're doing.
3) when eating at a deficit, you have some leeway to "slip up". For example, if your goal is a deficit of 500 cals per day, but you go over by 500 cals, that puts you at maintenance for that day. However, if your goal is maintenance, and you go over by 250 cals for the day, you are in a surplus. This is one reason many people find maintaining harder than cutting.
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glasshalffull713 wrote: »No worries, your questions are of interest to me as well.
I am pretty sure this is inadvertently what I have been doing. I have lost about 1lb a month on average, or maybe even less at times. However, I am a size or 2 smaller, and there is a noticeable increase in strength, muscle endurance, and appearance/shape.
At the current moment, I am ok with this approach i think b/c I am quite burnt out on trying to maintain a deficit (mentally). At least if I accept that I am eating at TDEE, I can lose the guilt on days that I don't eat at a deficit
In regards to cutting vs. bulking, I think it should be noted that our bodies are not black and white and I am not sure that you can do either exclusively. When ppl bulk they do gain some amount of fat, thus cutting afterwards. I imagine the same is true in reverse, if you have a slight deficit it's not like you will ONLY lose fat. Or at least that has been my experience.
A couple of things that might be worth noting...
1) gaining strength is not the same as building muscle. People quite often get stronger while in a deficit, so don't think that getting stronger = more/new muscle.
2) if you're happy with how you look and what you see in the mirror, then that's probably the ultimate decision maker (assuming you feel reasonably decent, too). Based on what you said about progress and appearance, I'd keep doing what you're doing.
3) when eating at a deficit, you have some leeway to "slip up". For example, if your goal is a deficit of 500 cals per day, but you go over by 500 cals, that puts you at maintenance for that day. However, if your goal is maintenance, and you go over by 250 cals for the day, you are in a surplus. This is one reason many people find maintaining harder than cutting.
Great points. I guess I am not too concerned with building actual muscle. It is definitely more about how I look. I just don't want to slip backwards and gain fat. My "slip-ups" seem to average me out to eating at TDEE over the long haul. I guess my body loves maintaining! Ultimately I would like to get leaner, so at some point when I get more motivated, I would like to get back into a deficit and get rid of some more fat at a more aggressive rate. But as you said, I think for now I may be ok with staying as is and not feeling like I'm "on a diet" for a while. It has been a very difficult mental shift for me to think about losing fat vs. losing weight. I still get attached to wanting to see the scale go down!0
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