TDEE QUESTION

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SenoraMacias
SenoraMacias Posts: 305 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I've been reading a lot about TDEE in the forums. I decided to calculate mine, and it's 2341 cals. I read that you should subtract 20% from that, and that should be your calorie goal. That puts me at 1867. I am really scared to eat that many cals!!! Can this be right?
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  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Yes, assuming that you were honest about your activity level when you calculated it.

    For what it's worth, I'm a 5'8" 30-year-old woman who loses weight on 1700-1900 a day. I couldn't lose a pound when I dropped down to 1200-1400 while working out.
  • SenoraMacias
    SenoraMacias Posts: 305 Member
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    I actually underestimated my activity level. Right now my calorie goal is set at 1430... and like you, I'm not losing.
  • shannonmarie752487
    shannonmarie752487 Posts: 30
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    Yes and yes. I didn't start losing weight until I started watching my TDEE. I quit paying attention to the MFP goal. I rarely go under that goal. Since I started eating my TDEE, I have lost two pounds in two weeks. I am purposely doing this slowly because every time I lose weight fast it comes back. Prior to eating my TDEE, I was staying under 1,000 calories and somehow managed to gain weight. Luckily, a MFP friend looked at my diary.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,082 Member
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    Yes eat that many.


    OR go by MFP's numbers (use "Lose one pound per week") AND eat back exercise calories. Comes out the same.

    If you do decide to go with the TDEE method, you eat that every day. Don't eat more on Exercise days, and keep up with the amount of exercise you used when figuring your TDEE. That's the difference, not a lot of wiggle room to skip workouts.
  • Marieevans813
    Marieevans813 Posts: 45 Member
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    If you use TDEE, do you eat back your exercise calories or are all of them included with your activity level?
  • crista_b
    crista_b Posts: 1,192 Member
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    If you use TDEE, do you eat back your exercise calories or are all of them included with your activity level?
    If you use TDEE, you don't eat back exercise. They should be included in your activity level as long as you entered your activity level honestly.
  • SenoraMacias
    SenoraMacias Posts: 305 Member
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    Thank you guys! I work out 4-5x a week (running, strength, pilates), and I the scale is just not moving. I'm honest with my logging as well. I only have about 10-15lb to lose, so I thought maybe that's why nothing was happening, but I've been dedicated to this for 9 weeks and have lost maybe 3lb.
  • RoyBeck
    RoyBeck Posts: 947 Member
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    Based on your OP if your TDEE is 2300ish then I'd Definately eat 1800 a day 1400 could cause you to plateau. You don't look like you need to lose 2lb per week based on your photo so I'd set it to 1/2 pound a week personally but that's your call.

    Give your body more fuel to burn off :)
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    If you use TDEE, do you eat back your exercise calories or are all of them included with your activity level?

    If you set your TDEE up accurately you don't want to eat back your exercise calories. They should all be included in your calculations already.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    So I've been reading a lot about TDEE in the forums. I decided to calculate mine, and it's 2341 cals. I read that you should subtract 20% from that, and that should be your calorie goal. That puts me at 1867. I am really scared to eat that many cals!!! Can this be right?

    Yep, eat that many!
  • crista_b
    crista_b Posts: 1,192 Member
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    Thank you guys! I work out 4-5x a week (running, strength, pilates), and I the scale is just not moving. I'm honest with my logging as well. I only have about 10-15lb to lose, so I thought maybe that's why nothing was happening, but I've been dedicated to this for 9 weeks and have lost maybe 3lb.
    Since you only have about 10-15lb to lose, don't go down to -20%. Only do TDEE -10%. I know that's even scarier because that's going to increase your calories more, but believe me, it's right.
  • SenoraMacias
    SenoraMacias Posts: 305 Member
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    Okay, so I manually changed my calorie goal on MFP. Since I'm supposed to eat the same amount regardless of exerices (right?), should I just not log exercise? And just eat the same cals every day no matter how much or little I work out?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Okay, so I manually changed my calorie goal on MFP. Since I'm supposed to eat the same amount regardless of exerices (right?), should I just not log exercise? And just eat the same cals every day no matter how much or little I work out?

    Yes, you eat the same amount daily regardless of exercise. You can either not log exercise, log it and ignore it, or log it and manually change the calories burned to 1. It just depends on whether or not you want to keep track of your exercise here.
  • SenoraMacias
    SenoraMacias Posts: 305 Member
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    Thank you so much! I'm going to try this. Here's hoping!
  • lambchristie
    lambchristie Posts: 552 Member
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    Bump
    (one of the more clear discussions on the topic)
  • born2drum
    born2drum Posts: 731 Member
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    So I've been reading a lot about TDEE in the forums. I decided to calculate mine, and it's 2341 cals. I read that you should subtract 20% from that, and that should be your calorie goal. That puts me at 1867. I am really scared to eat that many cals!!! Can this be right?

    GO lower. My TDEE is 2750 and I'm cutting at 1810. You could do 1600 and be well off. DO IT!! :)
  • SenoraMacias
    SenoraMacias Posts: 305 Member
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    I bumped my activity level down to "little to none", and then took 20% of that number. It put me at 1635. That's what I'm going to start with for now! Thanks everyone!
  • RoyBeck
    RoyBeck Posts: 947 Member
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    Yesterday I manually increased my calories and stopped logging exercise on the advice of someone on here. It worked for them, here's hoping it works for me and you too :)
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,775 Member
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    So I've been reading a lot about TDEE in the forums. I decided to calculate mine, and it's 2341 cals. I read that you should subtract 20% from that, and that should be your calorie goal. That puts me at 1867. I am really scared to eat that many cals!!! Can this be right?

    GO lower. My TDEE is 2750 and I'm cutting at 1810. You could do 1600 and be well off. DO IT!! :)

    uh, maybe OP doesn't want to cut right now.
  • crista_b
    crista_b Posts: 1,192 Member
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    So I've been reading a lot about TDEE in the forums. I decided to calculate mine, and it's 2341 cals. I read that you should subtract 20% from that, and that should be your calorie goal. That puts me at 1867. I am really scared to eat that many cals!!! Can this be right?

    GO lower. My TDEE is 2750 and I'm cutting at 1810. You could do 1600 and be well off. DO IT!! :)
    Based on the stats I've seen you post in the forums, 1810 is below your BMR so you shouldn't be going that low.

    OP, make sure that you're entering your activity level honestly. With such a small amount to lose, you really shouldn't be under TDEE -10% (or 15% if you really want to push it). If you don't follow the TDEE method correctly, it's not going to work.

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