Are you discouraged by your TDEE
MinmoInk
Posts: 345 Member
I'm trying to set myself up for maintaining for life and I just want to know how much other people eat to maintain. Mine seems so low, it's almost depressing!
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Replies
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https://supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/
Check this site out, they allow for fairly detailed entry of activities / exercise.....0 -
Yep, plus I'm starting to wonder if my TDEE dropped by 200 in a year or something, judging by my weight fluctuations the last 6 months, even though I've been more active
To be fair, it's more the fact that it will never be enough for me. I'm probably maintaining at 2100/2200, which isn't too bad, but I also weigh all my food so I know it's really close to that. And I exercise 7-10 hours a week to get there.0 -
BrianSharpe wrote: »https://supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/
Check this site out, they allow for fairly detailed entry of activities / exercise.....
Thanks! Wow.. this is so hard. Different calculators give me wildly different answers when I put in the same things. I tried another calculator which told me 1400 to maintain, another said 1500, this one says 1600. I guess I'll have to "just see". I mean how do I go about figuring out whats right? Eat at the lowest answer and see if I lose weight, then up the calories?0 -
BrianSharpe wrote: »https://supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/
Check this site out, they allow for fairly detailed entry of activities / exercise.....
This is extremely vague when it comes to exercise... Exercising once a week is 'moderate' now? Weird...0 -
BrianSharpe wrote: »https://supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/
Check this site out, they allow for fairly detailed entry of activities / exercise.....
Thanks! Wow.. this is so hard. Different calculators give me wildly different answers when I put in the same things. I tried another calculator which told me 1400 to maintain, another said 1500, this one says 1600. I guess I'll have to "just see". I mean how do I go about figuring out whats right? Eat at the lowest answer and see if I lose weight, then up the calories?
Start in the middle and give it at least a month to see if your weight stabilizes.0 -
If you've been losing weight you should have kept accurate records and you wouldn't need an online estimate to set you up to maintain. Just take your current average intake and adjust it up/down by your current loss/gain in weight.
So, I currently eat ~2200 and I'm losing a little over 0.5lb/week, so my TDEE is ~2500, which is reasonable considering I'm no longer playing Ultimate (2 hours of running/week) or walking to the grocery store since it was winter. My TDEE was ~2700 in the summer. And no, I find those levels reasonable for maintaining considering I'm generally happy at 2200 calories as it really only means I have to be mindful of snacking but I still get to enjoy everything I want for my main meals. I'm also 5'11", which contributes to being able to eat so much despite only lifting weights 3x/week and maybe running 1x/week.0 -
2688 to maintain for me.0
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nordlead2005 wrote: »If you've been losing weight you should have kept accurate records and you wouldn't need an online estimate to set you up to maintain..
B-but that's what I've been using MFP for!
I'm terrible at manual record keeping. I'll get there. I'm currently 6lbs away from my stretch goal but I want to get into maintenance mindset.
I just think... eating 1400 calories a day is kinda bleh! Social meals are calorie dense, I'll just always have to eat very lightly. I am just a small person living in a tall people world. People tend to think I'm under eating but they don't understand I can't do 2000 calories to maintain.0 -
MFP easily records food in, but not everyone also uses MFP to accurately record weight change. If you have all of that information in MFP you can go back through the information and do a 4-week average TDEE calculation and it'll get you a good estimtae to start out with (if you are switching from losing weight to maintenance it could actually be low due to the energy you are now going to spend digesting the extra food).0
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I am petite (5'2) and am maintaining around 120 lbs with a desk job. My TDEE is about 2200 according to my FitBit and actual results. I have a desk job but average 15K steps/day.0
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WinoGelato wrote: »I am petite (5'2) and am maintaining around 120 lbs with a desk job. My TDEE is about 2200 according to my FitBit and actual results. I have a desk job but average 15K steps/day.
The desk job part doesn't matter too much when you are walking 15k steps. I'm lucky if I walk half of that on an average day.0 -
When I got close to goal, I noticed that MFP would set me to 1650 to maintain (sedentary, which I was, outside of purposeful exercise). I wasn't discouraged by that. Rather, it made me determined to make it a habit to be more active in general, because I want to eat in the 2000-2200 range. 10,000+ steps daily plus thrice weekly resistance training (to maintain LBM) for me does the trick.0
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nordlead2005 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »I am petite (5'2) and am maintaining around 120 lbs with a desk job. My TDEE is about 2200 according to my FitBit and actual results. I have a desk job but average 15K steps/day.
The desk job part doesn't matter too much when you are walking 15k steps. I'm lucky if I walk half of that on an average day.
I know, but people assume that desk job = sedentary because of how MFP describes the activity levels during the set up process. When I started, I was more sedentary, and that was an appropriate setting for me at the time, but I worked to become more active and try to fit in more exercise. When I got my FitBit I was averaging 10K steps/day, and got the good advice to change my activity level to lightly active. Now that I move even more, I have raised it again.
The point is that the OP said that she thinks because she is short that she is destined to have a low maintenance level. I'm just using my stats and experience as another perspective.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I am petite (5'2) and am maintaining around 120 lbs with a desk job. My TDEE is about 2200 according to my FitBit and actual results. I have a desk job but average 15K steps/day.
+1 you must be my mfp twin 0 -
Hmm... I have a fit bit but I thought it was way over zealous with my activity level... I should use it again. My activity varies wildly day to day. Some days I bike for miles and walk for miles and miles, other I just laze around. It's pretty hard to get an average. Well I'll give it another chance thanks for the ideas guys.0
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No, I am active purposely so I can have a higher TDEE, I maintain my goal weight range easily on 2100-2300 calories and for being petite and in my 40s that's not half bad
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google reverse dieting
themacroexperiment
you might be able to get yourself to the 2K range0 -
Hmm... I have a fit bit but I thought it was way over zealous with my activity level... I should use it again. My activity varies wildly day to day. Some days I bike for miles and walk for miles and miles, other I just laze around. It's pretty hard to get an average. Well I'll give it another chance thanks for the ideas guys.
What is your height and current weight? What parameters are you giving the calculator to result in the 1400 kcal TDEE estimate? If you are biking and walking "for miles and miles", then you are likely underestimating your activity level for the calculator.
Since you are still several pounds away from your goal, start keeping a trend line of your weight now, using an app like Happy Scales or trendweight.com for the next 8 weeks or so.
Then at the end of that period you can do the backend calculation of your estimated TDEE, like the previous poster suggested.
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What is your height and current weight? What parameters are you giving the calculator to result in the 1400 kcal TDEE estimate? If you are biking and walking "for miles and miles", then you are likely underestimating your activity level for the calculator.
Since you are still several pounds away from your goal, start keeping a trend line of your weight now, using an app like Happy Scales or trendweight.com for the next 8 weeks or so.
Then at the end of that period you can do the backend calculation of your estimated TDEE, like the previous poster suggested.
5'0" 106.5lbs, I put in lightly active with no workout setting because I wanted to get a baseline. I walk everyday for my job but it isn't too much walking, I don't drive everywhere. On the weekends I'm far more active where I walk sometimes 7miles or bike 16-30miles and I exercise on machines at least 3 times a week.. But I add those as eat back calories most of the time, I eat back half half the time and all the other half.
Anyway I downloaded the happy scales app! Will do! I'm also going to try to use my fit bit again. I'm just confused by it really.
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I'm trying to set myself up for maintaining for life and I just want to know how much other people eat to maintain. Mine seems so low, it's almost depressing!
mfp gives me nearly 1700 a day maintenance with light active at my goal weight, which is upper middle healthy bmi for my height.
I'm not happy about it, but I'm getting used to being able to eat less on some days then go over on others. That's working so far.
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Are you discouraged by your TDEE? No.
After 6 years maintenance I have come to accept I am a little old woman with a slightly lower TDEE than the 40yo me would have. (About 50cals per decade)
At 5'1, 62yo, and maintaining at 100-105 lbs MFP gave me 1200 at sedentary.
I have managed to slowly reverse diet that to around 1300, and average 1400-1500 with 5x60 exercise a week.
I am totally satisfied with the amount I eat and am not feeling deprived.
This is all estimates as I rarely log.
I think I have improved my BMR by always including some resistance work, body weight to begin with heavy lifting more recently.
Cheers, h.0 -
What is your height and current weight? What parameters are you giving the calculator to result in the 1400 kcal TDEE estimate? If you are biking and walking "for miles and miles", then you are likely underestimating your activity level for the calculator.
Since you are still several pounds away from your goal, start keeping a trend line of your weight now, using an app like Happy Scales or trendweight.com for the next 8 weeks or so.
Then at the end of that period you can do the backend calculation of your estimated TDEE, like the previous poster suggested.
5'0" 106.5lbs, I put in lightly active with no workout setting because I wanted to get a baseline. I walk everyday for my job but it isn't too much walking, I don't drive everywhere. On the weekends I'm far more active where I walk sometimes 7miles or bike 16-30miles and I exercise on machines at least 3 times a week.. But I add those as eat back calories most of the time, I eat back half half the time and all the other half.
Anyway I downloaded the happy scales app! Will do! I'm also going to try to use my fit bit again. I'm just confused by it really.
The thing is, sedentary is not an appropriate choice for you, even as a baseline. The "sedentary" physical activity level (1.2 x BMR) should only be used by someone who is truly not moving much at all. You sound like a fairly active young person, who walks places instead of driving to them, and does other activities, so "lightly active" (1.375) is a more appropriate selection for you.
Even at your goal weight of 100 pounds (which, at 5', would put you at a 19.6 BMI), your estimated TDEE would be on the order of 1520 (BMR of 1106 x 1.375).
But again, this is just an estimate. As suggested, using your own real-world data (weight fluctuations and actual calories eaten over a period of weeks) will yield an "observed TDEE".
Your Fitbit may help you to see how active you really are, if you start using it again. There are some Fitbit related threads and groups on MFP that should help you to sort through your confusion about it.0 -
Thanks for all the replies! It's interesting to see what others think.
I understand that the numbers are so much more complex than they seem... Such a weird thing to track all this invisible energy that matters so much 0 -
Yep. I maintain on 1800. I'm bulking on 2000-2100 and it depressing to be gaining weight at this rate. I can't imagine doing enough cardio per week consistently to up it anymore...I have an appetite for 2500 calories daily. I literally have to teach myself to eat and be happy at this new weight0
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What is your height and current weight? What parameters are you giving the calculator to result in the 1400 kcal TDEE estimate? If you are biking and walking "for miles and miles", then you are likely underestimating your activity level for the calculator.
Since you are still several pounds away from your goal, start keeping a trend line of your weight now, using an app like Happy Scales or trendweight.com for the next 8 weeks or so.
Then at the end of that period you can do the backend calculation of your estimated TDEE, like the previous poster suggested.
5'0" 106.5lbs, I put in lightly active with no workout setting because I wanted to get a baseline. I walk everyday for my job but it isn't too much walking, I don't drive everywhere. On the weekends I'm far more active where I walk sometimes 7miles or bike 16-30miles and I exercise on machines at least 3 times a week.. But I add those as eat back calories most of the time, I eat back half half the time and all the other half.
Anyway I downloaded the happy scales app! Will do! I'm also going to try to use my fit bit again. I'm just confused by it really.
The thing is, sedentary is not an appropriate choice for you, even as a baseline. The "sedentary" physical activity level (1.2 x BMR) should only be used by someone who is truly not moving much at all. You sound like a fairly active young person, who walks places instead of driving to them, and does other activities, so "lightly active" (1.375) is a more appropriate selection for you.
Even at your goal weight of 100 pounds (which, at 5', would put you at a 19.6 BMI), your estimated TDEE would be on the order of 1520 (BMR of 1106 x 1.375).
But again, this is just an estimate. As suggested, using your own real-world data (weight fluctuations and actual calories eaten over a period of weeks) will yield an "observed TDEE".
Your Fitbit may help you to see how active you really are, if you start using it again. There are some Fitbit related threads and groups on MFP that should help you to sort through your confusion about it.
Disagree many people who are not consistently active choose to set a baseline based on their normal daily routine and eat back their exercise calories. I don't like to eat an average amount daily because I don't want it when I'm not active and want a lot more when I do a century ride or a fifteen mile hike. Yes I'm active enough often enough to do these things without killing myself but I also have days that I don't register as active at all. Sometimes more than a few days in a row.
Steps are not a good measure of activeness it is 100% possible to reach 10,000 steps and have your Fitbit show 0 active minutes. I did so last weekend. Yes, I burnt some extra calories because I wasn't sitting but never raised my HR into the active range so I don't confuse busy or simply moving with active.0 -
BikeTourer wrote: »Disagree many people who are not consistently active choose to set a baseline based on their normal daily routine and eat back their exercise calories. I don't like to eat an average amount daily because I don't want it when I'm not active and want a lot more when I do a century ride or a fifteen mile hike. Yes I'm active enough often enough to do these things without killing myself but I also have days that I don't register as active at all. Sometimes more than a few days in a row.
Steps are not a good measure of activeness it is 100% possible to reach 10,000 steps and have your Fitbit show 0 active minutes. I did so last weekend. Yes, I burnt some extra calories because I wasn't sitting but never raised my HR into the active range so I don't confuse busy or simply moving with active.
Yeah this is pretty much me... Some days I am 0% and others i'm 100%. Generally I'm the same with food intake but it's hard to keep it really low (1100-1300 for weight loss?) I guess.0 -
I'm discouraged by my TDEE but for different reasons. My TDEE is 1880, but my maintainence calories is 2600. I'm 5'5" and currently weigh 248. I want to lose 2 lbs a week. That requires a deficit of 1000 cals a day. That would put me at 1600 and below my TDEE. SO to stay at 1880 a day and burn enough calories for 2 lbs a week I have to burn another 720 a day through exercise. I don't eat back the calories I burn, but if I took the advice of eating back 50% of what I burn through exercise, then I'd have to burn 1440 through exercise and that's just not possible with my schedule. I walk on the treadmill with an incline of 1.5 for 2 hours max (most of the time 1 hour) at 2.5 mph and burn around 500 cal.
Wait. I did my math wrong hold on.
Ok I did the math over and over. If I ate half my exercise calories back, it'd be impossible to burn enough calories to lose 2 lbs a week with a TDEE of 1880 and maintainence calories at 2600.0 -
I'm happy. I eat what I want. I'm not hungry. It's a bit harder in the winter, but that's because it's been too sloppy outside to exercise much. Four years of logging and still fine.0
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I'm discouraged by my TDEE but for different reasons. My TDEE is 1880, but my maintainence calories is 2600. I'm 5'5" and currently weigh 248. I want to lose 2 lbs a week. That requires a deficit of 1000 cals a day. That would put me at 1600 and below my TDEE. SO to stay at 1880 a day and burn enough calories for 2 lbs a week I have to burn another 720 a day through exercise. I don't eat back the calories I burn, but if I took the advice of eating back 50% of what I burn through exercise, then I'd have to burn 1440 through exercise and that's just not possible with my schedule. I walk on the treadmill with an incline of 1.5 for 2 hours max (most of the time 1 hour) at 2.5 mph and burn around 500 cal.
Wait. I did my math wrong hold on.
Ok I did the math over and over. If I ate half my exercise calories back, it'd be impossible to burn enough calories to lose 2 lbs a week with a TDEE of 1880 and maintainence calories at 2600.
I'm not following any of your numbers. Your maintenance is 2600? That would be your TDEE then. In order to lose 2 lbs/week you would eat 1600. You don't eat back exercise calories if working off of your TDEE as they are included in that estimate. What is the total you are trying to lose?
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