Calorie deficit

MeganD_96

Ok so I've been reading a lot about TDEE and calorie deficit but I still can't make sense of it so can anyone explain it to a simpleton like me? according to a TDEE calculator it's 2498 and my net calorie goal daily on MFP is 1,310. What does this mean and how much weight will I lose a week? Thanks!

malibu927

The two numbers really aren't connected. TDEE estimates all the calories you'll burn in a day. The method MFP uses, it only calculates the calories you burn just through living and going about your day. So when you exercise, you burn more than MFP believes, and you can eat more to keep your deficit the same. How much you'll lose per week is dependent on how much you told MFP and accurate logging.

MeganD_96

Thanks for clearing that up for me! I was getting so confused!

rileysowner

As stated you are comparing numbers for different things.

Lets see if I can make things more clear.

1) Your body is burning calories all the time. They are the measure of the energy needed to keep your body functioning--heart beating, lungs breathing, brain functioning, and the like. That means throughout the day you will burn a certain number of calories every hour even if you don't do anything. The term for those calories you burn just because you are alive is Basal Metabolic Rate which is usually shortened to BMR.

2) The other place calorie are burned is by the things you do through the day. Once you get out of bed you start burning more calories than your BMR. Walking around, showering, brushing teeth, cooking, cleaning, and all the rest burn calories above your BMR. These burned calories are call Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis--a big name that basically means the calories burned from activity that is not exercise. This is usually shortened to NEAT.

So far what you have is BMR (the calories you burn simply because you are alive) and NEAT (the calories you burn from activity other than exercise).

There is still one more category, the calories you burn from exercise which would be added to BMR and NEAT. When you add all these together for a day you come up with a number call Total Daily Energy Expenditure, that is, the total calories you burn for the whole day. Your Fitbit is meant to give a good estimate of this number, thus you are supposed to wear it all day, every day to allow it to calculate this number by tracking your activity. That means when you wake up you will find that you have burned calories because your BMR has been going all night keeping you alive. Based on your activity through the day the number will go up both because of your normal activity (NEAT) and your exercise.

With this in mind to lose weight you need to eat less than the total number of calories you burn for the whole day (TDEE). That is why your first question was so confusing. You are burning calories all the time, and that means simply looking at that tiny portion of time that you walk to get breakfast is not particularly helpful. It is the overall picture of you total day of eating and activity that is important. If you are eating less than that total number, you are losing weight. When you eat or how often you eat is unimportant in terms of this as it is the total daily number that is important.

PikaKnight

TDEE is total daily energy expended. That's the total amount of calories you burn. Many people will do TDEE -15 or 20%. This number would include exercise calories so you wouldn't eat those back.

MFP is based on the NEAT Method. This means it gives you a calorie goal to net - which means you eat back your exercise calories. If you choose you want to lose, the calorie net goal will be one already at a deficit.

both methods are fine and pretty much come out roughly the same. Just some people do better with the mindframe of earning additional/exercise calories while others might do better just eating the same amount each day.

Liftng4Lis

MFP already has your deficit built in. If you set it for a pound a week, the number it gives you will be the amount to eat and you should lose a pound.

MeganD_96

Hi guys thanks for explaining all that to me! Definitely all makes sense now