Are you discouraged by your TDEE
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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
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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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I'm sorry. I meant my BMR is 1880 and my maintenance calories is 2600.
I'm not exactly sure how much I want to lose. I weigh 248 and want to be somewhere between 140 and 160 (I keep changing my mind but I'm not too worried about that right now.) So let's say 98 lbs. That would put me at 150.0 -
I don't have the appetite to eat much more than my current TDEE of ~2500 (assuming a nutritious diet), so I can't say that I'm disappointed.
A daily step count of 10,000 steps is widely considered as "active". While it's true it doesn't say anything about the intensity of those steps, one can burn significantly more calories doing low intensity exercises that add up to 10,000 steps in a day. Last summer I had a job that kept me on my feet all day and was getting about 8000 steps on the days that I worked. My calorie burn was substantially higher than if I was sedentary (500-600 more according to my Fitbit), even though I was only getting a very small number of active minutes a day.BikeTourer wrote: »
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.
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I've gotten such different estimates from different TDEE calculators; I have no idea what the real one is. My exercise is also sporadic; if I actually ran 3x/wk and did strength 3x/wk like I intend, it would be higher.
I hit goal weight and plan to just gradually increase my calories by 100 every 1-2 weeks until I level off.0 -
Try multiplying your weight (that you want to maintain) by 11.1 and see what you think of the product as your maintenance calories in a sedentary life. At my weight this morning 254, the product is 2819.4. On my good days, I consume 1200-1300 calories. My average weight loss since Jan 25 is nearly .5 lb per day. Look at the math. My daily calorie intake is 1600 less than my sedentary needs. 1600 is a little less than half of 3500. 3500 is the calorie loss that loses 1 lb. My avg daily weight loss is a little less than 1/2 lb per day. It certainly seems to me that the 11.1 number is a darn good number to use.0
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What MFP gives me is 1,530 (I choose sedentary). Because I started walking 20k steps a day, I'm probably supposed to be having around 2000 a day. I'm a bit short too (5'4 and 102-104lbs), so the low number motivates me to keep moving haha0
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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.
Don't do TDEE method then - MFP eating back exercise calories would seem a much better fit.
TDEE method would be hopeless for me, varies too much day to day, week to week and even season to season.0 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Try multiplying your weight (that you want to maintain) by 11.1 and see what you think of the product as your maintenance calories in a sedentary life. At my weight this morning 254, the product is 2819.4. On my good days, I consume 1200-1300 calories. My average weight loss since Jan 25 is nearly .5 lb per day. Look at the math. My daily calorie intake is 1600 less than my sedentary needs. 1600 is a little less than half of 3500. 3500 is the calorie loss that loses 1 lb. My avg daily weight loss is a little less than 1/2 lb per day. It certainly seems to me that the 11.1 number is a darn good number to use.
Are these numbers accurate? You are running a 1600 cal/day deficit and losing about 0.5 lb/day? This is far too aggressive, unhealthy, and not something you should be advocating on these boards.
Your 11.1 number gives me a target of 1210 calories which is below my BMR, so no, this is not a darn good number to use...
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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.
Don't do TDEE method then - MFP eating back exercise calories would seem a much better fit.
TDEE method would be hopeless for me, varies too much day to day, week to week and even season to season.
I agree with this. If your activity is so varied OP, then why not set up your stats and goals in MFP and track/eat back your exercise?
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I'm sorry. I meant my BMR is 1880 and my maintenance calories is 2600.
I'm not exactly sure how much I want to lose. I weigh 248 and want to be somewhere between 140 and 160 (I keep changing my mind but I'm not too worried about that right now.) So let's say 98 lbs. That would put me at 150.
Then set up MFP with accurate stats and a goal to lose 1.5 or 2 lbs/week. Accurately track your food, when you exercise, log and eat back a portion of those exercise calories. When you get to 200 lbs probably change your goal to lose 1 lb/week.
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You might want to post in the 'lose weight' section and not the maintenance section.0
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