Crazy long post! Please help with TDEE vs. MFP calorie counting

Nikkia2112

For reference, I am female, 43 years old, 64 inches tall, and my CW is 186 and my SW was 203. I am a teacher so during the school year I am on my feet and moving around a lot during the day. However now that it's summer time I am pretty sedentary, aside from my morning workouts. On to my question:

I sure could use some guidance regarding how I should be counting calories to lose 1 lb/ week (give or take). I started counting my calories in February via the MFP recommended allowance of 1200 calories/day. I phoned it in and didn't get serious until April. I have since kicked it into high hear and just want to make sure I am optimizing my resources. I don't think I'm eating the proper amount of calories. My exercise routine, which I started 3 months ago, consists of swimming 60-90 minutes 4 days a week. I swim with a local Masters club and work hard throughout my sessions. No lane loitering! I also just began taking strength training classes on my off days from swimming. I rest on Sunday, so I am getting some form of exercise 6 days a week.

I have not been eating my exercise calories back and have been consuming somewhere between 1200-1400 calories/day. Sometimes it's less and on Saturdays it's a bit more. Since April I've been losing about 1 pound/week but I'm starting to see things slow down a bit.
So I did some Googling about the benefits of the TDEE method, and now I am really confused. The on-line calculator I used says my BMR is 1485 and my TDEE to maintain is 2095. So to lose 1lb a week I should be eating around 1674 cals/day. Does this sound right? I actually tried a few different calculators and got very different results...more confusion!

I am not sure if I should stick with the MFP suggested calorie goal, add my exercise in, and actually eat a good bit of those exercise calories. I read a lot of different opinions on eating calories back. The thing is, I am having a hard time believing the MFP exercise calorie counter. For example, after my workout this morning (80 minutes of swimming, most of which was freestyle with a few sprinting interval sets and a total of 3600 yds) the MFP calculator said I burned something like 750 calories. That sounds crazy high to me so I counted it as 60 min. for 589 calories burned. That still sounds high! I haven't invested in a fitness tracker that I can use in the water. I want to, but can't decide on which to buy. Today I thought I'd try to give the TDEE method a go and ate 1650 calories. I have no idea if this is too much, not enough?? I feel like it was too much. Should I stick with the TDEE method for a few weeks and see what happens, or stick to the MFP plan?

I'm really confused and could use some guidance. If anyone has any advice to spare, I would really appreciate the input!

Thank you!!

ziggy2006

If your weight loss is starting to slow down at your current caloric intake level, increasing calories will not increase your weight loss.

To lose weight, CI<CO. Since your activity level has decreased during summer break, it is logical that your weight loss will slow down. Incorporate more activity into your summer routine, decrease your intake, or accept the slower rate of weight loss.

seska422

All calorie calculators are a starting point. You've build up some actual personal data now that you've been logging for a while so that you can see how you are reacting to certain calorie intakes and exercise amounts.

Personally, I've found a calorie intake amount that satisfies me and I just let the rate of weight loss get slower rather than trying to keep the rate of loss the same. Much less stress that way.

WinoGelato

In theory both ways should bring you to close to the same intake. The TDEE method is good for people who have consistent exercise/activity and want to eat about the same amount every day. If your activity is varied and/or inconsistent, then you may want to stick with the MFP method. Some people do find the exercise estimates inflated, they were always pretty accurate for me. At the end of the day though, what matters is to pick one method, stick with it, log as accurately as possible, and monitor the results for several weeks. If you are losing at the desired rate of 1 lb/week, stick with it. If too fast, add back in some cals. If too slow, it may be time to reduce your goal or eat back a few less exercise cals. Keep in mind that as your weight goes down the amount of calories you need also goes down, but as you get closer to your goal (usually within 20 lbs) you may want to change to a deficit of only 0.5 lb/week which would increase your baseline goal.

I used to agonize over the numbers as well but finally realized as long as I was consistent and getting the desired results, the details of the numbers and method didn't matter as much since everything is based off estimates to begin with.

PAV8888

WinoGelato wrote: »

I used to agonize over the numbers as well but finally realized as long as I was consistent and getting the desired results, the details of the numbers and method didn't matter as much since everything is based off estimates to begin with.

I wouldn't actually go as far as "getting the desired results".
I would actually say "as long as you're heading in the right general direction".

stop trying to optimise your weight loss, and try to optimise your performance in the pool, the way you eat and what you're going to be doing... next year at this point of time.

See, optimising my weight loss tells me that you're doing something drastic for the short term to see results.
vs
Optimising the way I eat move and exercise for now and in the future which makes me think you're looking at a multi year time horizon.

Can you keep swimming this way for 5 years? Can you keep eating like you do now for 5 years? The deficit you're trying to maintain is 500 Cal. That's a couple of chocolate bars, a large ice cream, 3-4 cookies... it is easy to add it all back

Here are the estimates from the compendium of physical activities for your caloric burn
18280 10.0 swimming, crawl, fast speed, ~75 yards/minute, vigorous effort
18230 9.8 swimming laps, freestyle, fast, vigorous effort
18290 8.3 swimming, crawl, medium speed, ~50 yards/minute, vigorous effort
18240 5.8 swimming laps, freestyle, front crawl, slow, light or moderate effort
18250 9.5 swimming, backstroke, general, training or competition
18255 4.8 swimming, backstroke, recreational
18260 10.3 swimming, breaststroke, general, training or competition
18265 5.3 swimming, breaststroke, recreational
18270 13.8 swimming, butterfly, general
18300 6.0 swimming, lake, ocean, river (Taylor Codes 280, 295)
18310 6.0 swimming, leisurely, not lap swimming, general
18320 7.0 swimming, sidestroke, general

Based on a BMR of 1500, you would spend a total of about 625 Calories if you were to engage in activity code 18280 for 60 minutes at the intensity specified...

Then you would have to deduct the 62.5 x 1.25 = 78 Cal that MFP would have assigned you for the same amount of time if you chose to claim yourself as sedentary.

The goal (at least for me) is to have a reasonable caloric deficit... about 15% - 20% of your total daily energy expenditure including all activities and exercise

lynn_glenmont

Nikkia2112 wrote: »

So I did some Googling about the benefits of the TDEE method, and now I am really confused. The on-line calculator I used says my BMR is 1485 and my TDEE to maintain is 2095. So to lose 1lb a week I should be eating around 1674 cals/day. Does this sound right? I actually tried a few different calculators and got very different results...more confusion!

No, this doesn't sound right. Regardless of whether you use MFP's method or the TDEE method, 1 lb a week loss requires a daily calorie deficit of about 500 calories. 2095 - 1674 is only 421 calories. It's close, but it's going to be slightly slower than trimming the full 500 calories off of your maintenance calories (TDEE). It looks like 1674 is the result of subtracting 20% from your calculated TDEE of 2095. If 20% of TDEE equaled 1 lb a week for everyone (500 calories a day), that would mean everyone has the same TDEE. Obviously that's not the case.

As for increasing your calories from your current 1200-1400, at which you're currently losing a bit less than a pound a week (you say you were losing 1 lb a week but it's starting to slow down, so I'm assuming that means a bit less than a pound a week now), to 1674 calories a week, the expected result would be that your weekly weight loss would drop to somewhere between a half pound and zero pounds. Eating more is not the answer to increasing your rate of weight loss.

Are you using a food scale to determine how much you are eating? I suspect you are underestimating your calorie consumption, because at your height and weight and described activity, I would expect you to be dropping more than a pound a week even if you were eating 1400 every day. So you could get a food scale if you don't have one, and make sure you're using it for everything if you have one but don't use it regularly. But it really wouldn't make a difference -- you'd still be eating the same amount of food to lose the same amount of weight. You'd just know that it actually is 1600 or 1700 calories rather than 1200 to 1400.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, because you never come right and say what it is you want to achieve by changing what you're doing. Because you mentioned slowing weight loss, I've assumed in my answer that you want to increase your rate of weight loss back to 1 lb a week. Is that right? You're the one who needs to decide on your goal. You have about 40 lbs left to lose to hit the upper range of your normal/healthy BMI at your height, so 1 lb a week doesn't seem too fast. You almost certainly have plenty of fat to meet a daily energy deficit of 500 calories, so there's no reason to think it's not a muscle-sparing rate of loss. Given all that, it's up to you to decide whether you want to be losing a pound a week or if you're happy with whatever your current rate of loss is. But adding 300 to 500 calories to what you're currently eating when you're currently losing less than a pound a week is not a good solution if you want to continue to lose weight, unless you plan to add significantly more activity.

Nikkia2112

Thank you all very much for the thoughtful responses. You've given me a lot of great advice. I am happy with a loss of 1 lb/week, and truth be told, while I tell myself I weigh ALL food, that isn't true. I eyeball fruit and veggies more often than I should. Instead of weighing Triscuits and bread, I just look at the package and count out. I am going to make my goal to stick to the MFP calorie goal, be conservative with adding my burned calories and weigh all foods whenever possible.

The info and support in the MFP community is invaluable and more helpful to me than any paid weight loss program I've every attempted in the past. So thanks!!

Francl27

I used TDEE because it's much less of a hassle than to have to worry about every single workout (and walks, as I walk a lot). Worked great for me!

lemurcat12

OP, they should be about the same (as someone else mentioned, assuming that you cut 500 off TDEE). I prefer TDEE because my exercise is pretty consistent and I don't like to mess with counting exercise calories, but if you like to eat more on workout days or don't have consistent exercise, MFP may work better.

One thought is that if you have been doing this since Feb (and have been serious since April), you can figure your TDEE from those numbers, which will be more accurate than the calculators. Start with April, calculate total calories eaten + 3500*lbs lost and then divide by the number of days.