TDEE for maintenance?

jeandinco

I am .5 kg away from my goal weight (55kg), I just increased my calories from 1200 to 1300, then increased it to 1400 just today. 1300 is my BMR, so I will still probably lose a bit. Should I follow TDEE calories for maintenance? This is a bit confusing though since different calculators gave different results.

One more thing, I am having a problem on food since I got so used to the 1200 calorie-diet. I am now having a hard time adding more food to fulfil the calories goal.

I don't eat junk food (chips), fast food and red meat. I RARELY eat ice cream and sweets, and I just want to incorporate them to my food intake once in two weeks or less. What are your suggestions?


Thanks!

sijomial

I would suggest that going back to calculators is pointless when you have been logging for a while.
Even if one of the different formulae happened to give you the magic number a little bit of food or exercise logging inaccuracy would throw out your results.

The rate that are you losing weight at your current intake will give you a rough guide.

Simply keep adding calories progressively until your weight stabilises within your chosen maintenance range. Would also suggest after a while in your weight range you experiment by raising your calorie allowance slightly to see if you still maintain on a higher amount - you may be surprised at the outcome.

I RARELY eat ice cream and sweets, and I just want to incorporate them to my food intake once in two weeks or less

So what's the problem with that? This is for life - enjoyment makes adherence easier.

jeandinco

I am asking about food suggestion regarding the quoted line. Thanks btw.

sijomial

jeandinco wrote: »

I am asking about food suggestion regarding the quoted line. Thanks btw.

Ice cream - Häagen-Dazs, yum. Ben & Jerry's is revolting IMHO!


Eat the foods you like but keep in mind the context of your overall diet - doesn't have to be any more complex that that.
Most people have an idea of what a healthy diet (noun not verb) means but the individual components of that diet can vary hugely between people.
Personally nothing is out of bounds for me and treats are an every day occurrence but the foundation and majority of my diet is high quality meat/veg/fruit/grains/dairy.

My treats tend to be savoury but that's just personal taste.

bioklutz

I like Talenti sea salt caramel gelato. I also buy a bag of dark chocolate chips. It is very easy to portion out 100-200 calories to enjoy.

ItsyBitsy246

Mmmm.... ice cream... Nestle Skinny Cow brand ice cream is made with skim milk, but is really, really tasty. Highly recommend the Salted Carmel Pretzel ice cream bars. 160 Cals each. The ice cream sandwiches are pretty good too. Trick is not eating them all at once. Ha ha.

oocdc2

Small portions of the good stuff: a well-made gelato, dark chocolate... Hey, have you had cannoli in a while? Having one isn't as high-calorie/sugar as you might think.

icemom011

Nuts or nut buters, cheese, salad dressings, plenty foods that will add up calories quickly, but not sweets, if that's not what you like.

leejoyce31

This may be a little off topic. But I wanted to note that for me TDEE feels like such a moving target. However, I prefer that to logging exercise in MFP. However, to be honest, I have managed to maintain over the past 4 months using TDEE. I use different methods to compute and compare them. I use my weekly scale weight, happy scale and 7 day moving averages. They all compute a different TDEE. So, I just pick the lowest right now, but I think I could go a little higher. I really applaud the folks on here that have figured there TDEE with a certain level of confidence.


I know as activity changes, TDEE changes, but my activity is pretty steady. But since I retain fluid quite a bit, it gives me huge swings at times, which throws off my numbers. Someone mentioned that they only take 50% of the increase from the day before if it's a fluctuation due to the various known factors (i.e. extra food content, sodium, hydration) instead of logging that inflated weight. I think I might do that too. It may help to get my TDEE in line with the 3 different methods I use to compare since they aren't even close. So, this is using my own data. I'm sure calculators can be more unreliable. Although, some people have said that their TDEE is in line with calculators.

sgt1372

Posted the following in another thread but think it is worth repeating here:

"I'm 65, 5'8" & 173#. My calculated TDEE is about 2400 but I've been maintaining at 173-174 for about a month consuming an average of 2000 net cals/day.

So, based on the data, my "real world" TDEE is 2000 cals/day and I would probably gain 1-2 lbs/week at 2400 because at 1600 net cals, my calculated BMR, I was actually losing 1-2 lbs a week."

In other words the TDEE & BMR calculations are just estimates and your individual results will vary. They only offer a starting point and only thru regular weight measurement and logging of your food intake and exercise will you find the right numbers for you.

Good luck!

jeepinshawn

I found the easiest way is to figure out your activity level, sedentary, lightly active or active, and plug that into MFP eat and weigh yourself daily, if you continue to lose at the number MFP suggests log your exercise and eat a portion of that back. If you gain eat less, if you lose eat more, it might take 4-6 weeks, but you should be able to get a decent number down in that time.

For instance, for me I'm 39 5'9" and 170lbs, I can eat approximately 2350 calories as long as i get 5K steps or so in a day and weigh pretty consistently at 169 or so. On days I run 6 miles I get another 500 calories or so, weight training days I might eat a couple hundred extra. I'm trying to build muscle right now so Im eating a bit more and appear to be gaining slowly. I think I will hit 175 next month, then I will cut 250cals off and eat about 2100 calories till Im back down to 165.

_piaffe

I love ice cream and treats. TDEE doesn't really work for me - I prefer to monitor my net calories. I prefer seeing how many calories I've earned from exercise on a particular day when planning how much ice cream to have that day - or whether I should skip it.

I started with TDEE but found (and still find) it too much of a moving target. I workout 6 or 7 days a week, but I do different things at different levels of intensity. My most intense days are, of course, ice cream days!

leejoyce31

_piaffe wrote: »

I love ice cream and treats. TDEE doesn't really work for me - I prefer to monitor my net calories. I prefer seeing how many calories I've earned from exercise on a particular day when planning how much ice cream to have that day - or whether I should skip it.

I started with TDEE but found (and still find) it too much of a moving target. I workout 6 or 7 days a week, but I do different things at different levels of intensity. My most intense days are, of course, ice cream days!

TDEE is definitely a moving target, which can be frustrating. I use TDEE though because my activity level is pretty consistent overall even if I do different levels of activity daily. My overall weekly activity level is pretty consistent week by week. I guess I trust my estimate earned from exercise even less, so that's why I don't do the MFP NEAT method. I use my own data in 3 data computations, (7 day moving average, happy scale moving average, and home scale weight). Each gives me a different TDEE. So, for now I take the one in the middle range and use that. That changes too due to big swings in weight fluctuations due to water retention. Therefore, at times, I will take the lowest depending on high the numbers come out to be.

WinoGelato

jeandinco wrote: »

I am .5 kg away from my goal weight (55kg), I just increased my calories from 1200 to 1300, then increased it to 1400 just today. 1300 is my BMR, so I will still probably lose a bit. Should I follow TDEE calories for maintenance? This is a bit confusing though since different calculators gave different results.

One more thing, I am having a problem on food since I got so used to the 1200 calorie-diet. I am now having a hard time adding more food to fulfil the calories goal.

I don't eat junk food (chips), fast food and red meat. I RARELY eat ice cream and sweets, and I just want to incorporate them to my food intake once in two weeks or less. What are your suggestions?


Thanks!

I just realized this is an older post so you may have figured this out already but... I would set your maintenance calorie goal using the same approach you did for losing. If for losing, you used the MFP NEAT estimates and logged/ate back exercise calories, then let MFP calculate your maintenance cals (which will still be NEAT) and then log/eat back exercise cals in maintenance. If for losing you did a cut from your TDEE, then use whatever calculator you used to determine your deficit and set a TDEE goal but don't eat back exercise cals....

I'm in maintenance and I use the MFP estimate but with a FitBit so that I eat back those calorie adjustments, I also know from my FitBit a fairly accurate estimate of my TDEE so I know that whichever way I approach it, the numbers should even out at the end of the day.

What specific suggestions are you looking for with regards to food? Ways to increase your calories? There are lots of good suggestions here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1

It should come as no surprise that my suggestions would be wine and gelato.