Figuring out your TDEE

Options
Francl27
Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I went through the data of the last two months, and the average seems to be about 2200 calories... but it does seem high. I know Scooby is just an approximation, but it gives me 2100 for moderately active, and I'm really not much more than that (especially now that it's cold and you won't see me go for a walk just because I feel like it). I do weights 15 minutes 3x a week, and cardio 5-6x week (burning 250-400 calories, steady walking at an incline or HIITs, messed up my foot and can't run anymore sadly), and the rest of the time I sit at my desk or do groceries and other housework stuff. I'm 5'5", 36, and 133 pounds - probably around 22% body fat.

The problem is that my food intake isn't linear. Typically I'll eat around 1700 for a few days, then I'll have a 3000-4000 day. I'm trying to change that, but I'm reluctant to use a 2200 TDEE - it's been my impression that when you have one high calorie day, your body is less likely to gain all the extra calories in fat than if you overate by 200 or 300 every day for a week...

Thoughts? I've been maintaining for 5 months but I'd still like to lose a few more pounds... I've eaten 1850 in average the last week and it's been pretty easy, but I haven't reached the part of my cycle when I'm really hungry yet (and it's typically when I blow up my deficit anyway).

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    Options
    My thoughts are it makes no difference in "true weight" if you eat your calories in an even pattern or an irregular pattern. The main impact will be on temporary weight fluctuations which may make determining your true weight range a little harder. Your body is very efficient at tucking away excess food as stored energy.

    The other thought is you won't know if 2200 calories is your true TDEE until you try it for more than a month. Ditto you won't know if 1850 gives you the weight loss you desire until you try that for an extended period.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    Options
    I have a TDEE of 2300 calories and I'm a lot older than you are and only a bit heavier at the same height - plus I'm less active than you. I've eaten it for a few months and haven't gained an ounce. What I did was slowly add calories every two weeks and see how my body handled it. I'm currently doing a cut now that I know my true TDEE and can take a small deficit from it.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Options
    It's just so odd, I mean I see a lot of people saying that they maintain at 1800 for my height...
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    edited January 2015
    Options
    Francl27 wrote: »
    It's just so odd, I mean I see a lot of people saying that they maintain at 1800 for my height...

    I'm 39, 5'6", 138lbs, 24% BF. Pretty close to your stats. My TDEE is close to 2200 (Scooby says 2055). That's going off data analysis of food intake vs. my weight over 3 months. And I'm "just" a walker/SLOOOW jogger, with a whopping 60 minutes a week of body weight training (I average 4-5 hours a week of purposeful, yet light/moderate exercise, nothing intense). I'm a uni student, so I sit on my butt a lot, too.

    I try not to "compare" myself to others in these matters (I fail sometimes, too). If your data says it's true, it is likely so.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    Options
    williams969 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    It's just so odd, I mean I see a lot of people saying that they maintain at 1800 for my height...

    I'm 39, 5'6", 138lbs, 24% BF. Pretty close to your stats. My TDEE is close to 2200 (Scooby says 2055). That's going off data analysis of food intake vs. my weight over 3 months. And I'm "just" a walker/SLOOOW jogger, with a whopping 60 minutes a week of body weight training (I average 4-5 hours a week of purposeful, yet light/moderate exercise, nothing intense). I'm a uni student, so I sit on my butt a lot, too.

    I try not to "compare" myself to others in these matters (I fail sometimes, too). If your data says it's true, it is likely so.

    with regard to the bold above, I agree completely. It's one of the few cases where the "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is" adage DOES NOT fit. No matter how many people of your height/similar stats maintain at 1800, they are not YOU. YOUR data about YOUR body is telling you 2200 is YOUR number. It is, in fact, "likely so," as williams969 has rightly noted.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    edited January 2015
    Options
    There is a big difference in calories from TDEE and how Fitbit calculates calories.

    I only have 1380 calories, but that's NET calories. I actually eat a lot more than that almost every day because I gain hundreds of calories from exercise I do with my fitbit or that I log.

    There's also a HUGE effect of age and height as well as weight. My husband, sister, and brother-in-law get hundreds of calories more than me. They're taller and 70-150 pounds heavier than me. It takes more for them to maintain. The reason I wound up on MFP is that as I got older, my metabolism (calorie needs) slowed down, but my eating didn't. Now they're in balance. If I were younger (when I was younger) I could eat a lot more.

    Pick a system and use it. As long as your weight is stable, it's working fine. :)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Options
    Francl27 wrote: »
    It's just so odd, I mean I see a lot of people saying that they maintain at 1800 for my height...

    I'm the same stats as you but a couple of ears younger and I maintain on 2000 cals plus exercise, so probably about 2200, if that makes you feel any better?
  • kungabungadin
    kungabungadin Posts: 290 Member
    Options
    Well I hate to be the stupid person here, but I have just recently been hearing about TDEE and to be quite honest I have no clue about how it works and how you calculate it your TDEE. I mean someone has messaged me about it but I need it explained more simly if anyone feels up to the challenge. I mean are you just suppose to guess what your body fat is and all the rest I have no idea seems to me like my whole body is fat lol. So again if anyone wants to explain this to a simpleton then please do.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Options
    kungabungadin wrote: »
    Well I hate to be the stupid person here, but I have just recently been hearing about TDEE and to be quite honest I have no clue about how it works and how you calculate it your TDEE. I mean someone has messaged me about it but I need it explained more simly if anyone feels up to the challenge. I mean are you just suppose to guess what your body fat is and all the rest I have no idea seems to me like my whole body is fat lol. So again if anyone wants to explain this to a simpleton then please do.

    It's the number of calories you burn in a day, being alive and doing whatever activity and exercise you do, that's all. Total daily energy expenditure. There are various calculations for it, and knowing your bodyfat can make the calculation more accurate.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Options
    It's just very hard to know what your body fat is. Most methods are not accurate, and the only accurate one requires you to be immerse in water or something and I'm guessing it's not exactly cheap. A lot of people use calipers, but if you have loose skin it will mess up the results too.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Options
    ^^^^^^^
    like she said
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    Still a better estimate to start with if you can get even a 5% rough BF%, compared to gender, age, weight, height foundation to the math.
    Because many people that have yo-yo dieted a bit have burned off a decent amount of muscle mass, and have higher BF% than average. Shoot, even those at goal weight with the skinny fat syndrome have done that.

    You don't have to be super accurate, it merely gives a first best estimate to start with, then after 4 weeks you let results dictate the math.
    Of course, if your workout/daily life routine varies wildly, then that isn't really meaningful either.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    kungabungadin wrote: »
    Well I hate to be the stupid person here, but I have just recently been hearing about TDEE and to be quite honest I have no clue about how it works and how you calculate it your TDEE. I mean someone has messaged me about it but I need it explained more simly if anyone feels up to the challenge. I mean are you just suppose to guess what your body fat is and all the rest I have no idea seems to me like my whole body is fat lol. So again if anyone wants to explain this to a simpleton then please do.

    Check out the spreadsheet on my profile page. Stay on the Simple Setup tab.
    Look at the sample data already there, and the results.
    Change stuff in the activity calculator, notice how TDEE changes.
    And that is average daily TDEE based on what you do average weekly.

    As stated above, literally the number is different each day, that's what the daily activity monitors are attempting to do better.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Options
    heybales wrote: »
    Still a better estimate to start with if you can get even a 5% rough BF%, compared to gender, age, weight, height foundation to the math.
    Because many people that have yo-yo dieted a bit have burned off a decent amount of muscle mass, and have higher BF% than average. Shoot, even those at goal weight with the skinny fat syndrome have done that.

    You don't have to be super accurate, it merely gives a first best estimate to start with, then after 4 weeks you let results dictate the math.
    Of course, if your workout/daily life routine varies wildly, then that isn't really meaningful either.

    My BF is 22%ish I believe. Measured twice in 3 months by an inaccurate measurement (the one where they put something on your arm and enter your measurements I think?) and it was within 0.5% each time. It was a while ago though so I might have lost a bit of body fat since, but I'm not really seeing a difference. I have a lot of loose skin so it's hard to get any kind of accurate estimate anyway.

    My workout routine doesn't vary that much, I mean obviously there were the couple times when I was sick, otherwise it's pretty much the same, I just switch up between running (when I can... foot still bothering me), elliptical, stationary bike, walking at an incline, either steady or HIITs... and I do more when it's not crazy cold outside.

    I'm strongly considering getting the new Jawbone Up when it comes out though (or for my birthday in April) so that will probably help. For what it's worth, my fitbit used to be pretty much on par with Scooby (a year ago), but now that I do some stationary bike and elliptical I haven't bothered with it as I know it won't be accurate anyway.
  • ageofsteel
    ageofsteel Posts: 2
    Options
    Bump

Categories