Confused about TDEE calculation vs MFP calorie intake

EauRouge1

Hello, I hope someone can help make things a bit clearer for me because all this lingo is new to me.

I am 34, female, 5'4" and 150lb. I am looking to get back to under 135lb, so not a huge loss. I would like to reach my goal by the end of April, which seems realistic to me but I'm happy to be corrected.

I have put 1.5lb a week weight loss into MFP along with my activity levels etc and it says 1200 calories a day. I put the same into a TDEE calculator and it says my TDEE is 1773. If I can reduce it by up to 25% then that is 1330 minimum.

I'm lightly-moderately active, I take the dog for a walk every day but that is slow walking for about 30 mins. I also run three times a week, but only 5k and I'm not very fast at that either!

I'm trying to cut out refined carbs because they play havoc with my digestion. My macros are pretty evenly split and I have no trouble sticking to 1200 if that is what I need to do. As long as it's not harming me!

So how many calories should I be consuming? If anyone has any tips or links that I should read then I would be very grateful Thank you.

3dogsrunning

TDEE includes exercise in the calculation. MFP does not.

So MFP will give you a lower number but you enter the exercise in and are told to eat those calories.

Also TDEE - 20% is closer to a 1 lb a week goal which is probably where you should be aiming.

If done correctly TDEE -20% and MFP at 1 lb a week plus exercise should average out to roughly the same over the week.

Pick which method you prefer - eating a consistent number of calories everyday or getting extra calories on days you exercise.

jemhh

With 15 lbs to lose I would change your weekly goal to .5 or, at most, 1 pound per week. The end of April is 17 weeks away so I'm not sure why you'd think 1.5 pounds per week was necessary in order to lose 15 pounds by then.

3dogsrunning

jemhh wrote: »

With 15 lbs to lose I would change your weekly goal to .5 or, at most, 1 pound per week. The end of April is 17 weeks away so I'm not sure why you'd think 1.5 pounds per week was necessary in order to lose 15 pounds by then.

Yes. I came back to suggest if you follow MFP choose .5-1lb a week.

StaciMarie1974

If your TDEE is truly 1773 then a 1.5 pounds per week goal is not realistic for you. You got 1200 from MFP because you 'bottomed out'. If you're burning an average of 1773 per day AFTER exercise (which is implied from TDEE) then at most a .5-1 pound goal per week would be reasonable. At 250 cals per half pound, the math says .5 pounds per week would be to eat about 1523.

Of course, if you can find room to be more active - then TDEE goes up.

EauRouge1 wrote: »

Hello, I hope someone can help make things a bit clearer for me because all this lingo is new to me.

I am 34, female, 5'4" and 150lb. I am looking to get back to under 135lb, so not a huge loss. I would like to reach my goal by the end of April, which seems realistic to me but I'm happy to be corrected.

I have put 1.5lb a week weight loss into MFP along with my activity levels etc and it says 1200 calories a day. I put the same into a TDEE calculator and it says my TDEE is 1773. If I can reduce it by up to 25% then that is 1330 minimum.

I'm lightly-moderately active, I take the dog for a walk every day but that is slow walking for about 30 mins. I also run three times a week, but only 5k and I'm not very fast at that either!

I'm trying to cut out refined carbs because they play havoc with my digestion. My macros are pretty evenly split and I have no trouble sticking to 1200 if that is what I need to do. As long as it's not harming me!

So how many calories should I be consuming? If anyone has any tips or links that I should read then I would be very grateful Thank you.

EauRouge1

Thanks for the explanations! I'll tweak my goals then. I wanted to give myself a bit of leeway but I guess there's no rush.

I'm hoping to increase the amount of exercise I get by going for longer dog walks but my dog is only 6 months and isn't allowed to walk too far yet.