Looking ahead to goal weight maintenance calories: This is a lifestyle change

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  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    at 1600 your TDEE sounds low even for your height. I'm only 1" taller than you and mine is 2300. I know I am very active but perhaps even realising if you were to become more active means that you could maintain on a higher amount. Take this journey one step, one day at a time and don't think long term. Focus on short term goals and discover new and sustainable habits that will mean you wont gain what you've lost.

    One step, one day at a time is why it's so low. I'm terrible about committing to an exercise program and actually following through with it. It's hard to change so many habits all at the same time, so for the moment, I'm focusing on my eating habits. My exercise habits have always been seasonal and inconsistent, and I'm just trying to be realistic about the fact that I HATE the gym and often do spend most of my time sitting in front of a desk at work.

    I will gradually introduce more exercise into the equation and that should hopefully up those TDEE numbers and calorie allowances. I've just signed up for a spinning class, and ski season's right around the corner. But what I don't want to do is set it up as all or nothing. In other words, if I fail to stick to my exercise goals, I don't want to mentally say, oh well, I've failed, might as well toss this whole thing out the window and stop with the food tracking too. Instead, I'm going one step at a time, if that makes sense.

    So yeah. The 1600 TDEE is estimated at a fairly sedentary activity level, just about 250 calories a day above BMR.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    How is it possible that your maintenance calories will only be 100 calories more than your diet calories? I find that really hard to believe. I'd say make sure you're exercising regularly...

    My net calories to lose weight was around 1,850 (2200 - 2300 gross)...my net calories to maintain are around 2,300 calories (2,800ish gross)

    It's different for men. I'm a 5'1" woman. Even small calorie variations make a big difference. My estimated BMR is ~1350 calories/day, and my TDEE is ~1600. I'm eating around 1290 now on average, which is a 20% deficit. At my goal weight, my projected BMR will be ~1150 and projected TDEE will be around ~1390. So, yeah, only about 100 calories over my "diet" calories. (I don't like the word diet since it implies short-term thinking, but I'll use it here in the same way you used it, for lack of a better word.) Again, all values are estimated, and I'm busy tracking actual results to gauge their accuracy.

    And I'm talking about net calories, with exercise on top of that. Since my exercise habits are inconsistent at best, I'm using the sedentary/little exercise setting and not building those workout calories into my meal plan, since if I skip exercising, I'll end up eating too much.

    I can't follow your math because you seem to be mixing concepts. First you state that you are eating net 1290 and then state that you eat TDEE-20%. TDEE-20% and net calories are not the same thing. TDEE = total daily energy expenditure, or the total number of calories you burn doing everything all day long, including exercise. TDEE is 20% below that. Calories net of exercise would be the total number of calories you eat less the number that you burn while exercising.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    It's okay. I was a bit confusing there. I meant TDEE calculated at a sedentary activity level less 20%. If I add workouts to that, I add some calories back, too. It's a bit of a hybrid method but it's working for me so far.

    Anyway, this isn't about the math. This is about the long view of changing eating habits indefinitely, as opposed to short term for a 'diet'. That would be true regardless of what that magic number is.

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