Which Calorie Goal?

janivl

Hey all,

On IIFYM I calculated my BMR and TDEE. Using the Lean Body Mass formula I end up with a BMR of 2353 calories/day. I excercise 5 times/week, but calculated my TDEE with a 4 day/week 60 min/day average, ending up at 2963 calories.

Right now I've set my goal at 2400, which is higher than my BMR but at a big enough deficit to my TDEE to lose the weight that I want to lose.

Now since I calculated my TDEE including an excercise estimate, I'm not tracking calorie expenditure from excercise.

Is this correct? Am I eating too little?
I've been doing the MFP "program" for 2 weeks now and I do not feel a lack of energy at work, nor during my excercise routines (went running yesterday and it felt better than it had in a long time).

191cm, 27yo male at 137 (sadly) kg, sedentary lifestyle due to desk job.

RoxieDawn

So you customized MFP to use TDEE? If you did keep in mind MFP uses NEAT (non exercise activity thermo) and wants you to eat back exercise calories..

So if you are now using TDEE and you feel the calculations are right based on what you gave the calculator you are doing this right. If you want to use another check for a second opinion you can also use the Scooby calculator as well. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

janivl

That one seems to overestimate my BMR tremendously. It lists it at 2728. If I input my excercise level it stated I need to eat 1000 calories per day more than I'm eating now.

That's huge. Most BMR calculator put me at 2300-2400, which is probably still an overestimate for someone like me who is overweight and has a high % of body fat.

I did customize MFP to use TDEE, as I'm not logging excercise in MFP (for the simple reason that it's hard to estimate calorie expenditure through excercise). So I'm eating a daily calorie goal based on the following:
-BMR (as I don't want to eat less than my body strictly needs for vital functions)
-A weekly estimate of calories spent due to excercise (as I'd like to have 1 goal for every day instead of variable daily calorie goals due to excercise schedule).

I'm just a bit anxious because I know that undereating is as detrimental as overeating. I'm looking for a slow & steady weight loss plan that is sustainable in the long term.

jemhh

I think 2400 is fine to start. When you hit a 3 week span with no loss, I'd drop it down. Either redo the calculation you did for the 2400 or lop off an even 100 or so calories.

janivl

Thanks for the reply!

The problem is that I've tinkered with the Scooby calc a bit and all 3 methods list a minimum of 3000 cals/day (TDEE method).

That would mean I'm undereating by 500 per day.

All these different calculators have got me confused, especially considering they almost all give different outputs.
I don't want to risk undereating as it has an adverse effect on my progress.

I calculated with 6'3, 303lbs, 27 years old and 3-5wk excercise. Even if I give different body fat inputs of 30%-35%, I still get a 3000cal per day necessary intake for a TDEE-20% loss.
That seems like such a massive amount i'm not sure how to even eat it

I suppose it's better to err on the side of eating maybe slightly too much (but still comfortably below my TDEE, so in a deficit). I'm gonna stick to 2500 for a few weeks (3-4) and evaluate whether I feel like I have enough energy to perform at work and in the gym, and whether i'm actually losing weight.

I think this is a good approach

jemhh

I think you're on a good track. It is refreshing to see somebody who has a healthy "in it for the long haul" attitude straight out of the gate. We tend to see so many people who want to eat as little as possible in order to lose as quickly as possible. I think there tends to be a bit of self punishment mixed in with that attitude. It's far better to start slowly, erring on the side of eating slightly too much as you mentioned, than to drop calories way low, hike activity up way high, and burn out within a month.

If you haven't already, get a digital kitchen scale and weigh all solid foods. Even the foods with labels that give serving sizes in cups. Those labels also list grams and that's what you want to go by. The cup portions are notoriously off for many foods plus we can have a tendency to jam measuring cups full to get extra bites.

Measure liquids with a liquid measuring cup. If you're out and about, do your best to eyeball portions. Google "serving size chart" and look at the image results for visual cues.

When it comes to logging, use food label info from packages you have in hand or entries that match the USDA database, which is online. An easy way to find those entries is to search like this in the MFP database--"usda strawberries" or "usda ground beef 93% cooked." Then just confirm against the USDA site and the next time you go to use it, it should show up as a "recent" item in the app.

Best of luck to you.

janivl

Thanks a lot for the pointers, it's a nice confirmation for me as this was exactly what I've been doing so far.

Got me a digital kitchen scale to measure everything I eat (from my daily portion of Weetabix at breakfast to how much proteine i'm putting in my shake) rather obsessively, but I like to know exactly instead of estimating (and we humans always have a tendency to underestimate amounts).

I'm also entering my own items in my own database, but this is a bit dependent on how correct manufacturer food labels are. I'll try the USDA site and see how useful it is for a Belgian guy.

Great tips, I appreciate it!