Success with TDEE

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ambsnic17
ambsnic17 Posts: 305 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there! I know this is a topic that can really get heated, but I just want to know if you are using the TDEE "method" for your weight loss. If so, has it been successful for your weight loss? Could you please share your experience with using it. (how much you've lost using it, what your TDEE is and how many calories you eat) thanks!!

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  • jadeyq1
    jadeyq1 Posts: 178 Member
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    I tried the TDEE method for a while. I went from eating the MFP recommended 1200 to 1600 plus exercise calories. I maintained my weight for around 6 or 7 weeks before I decided to drop my calorie intake to 1400. Once I did that I started to lose again.

    It is different for everybody though and if I'd persisted for a few more weeks I think I probably would have started to see a loss again while eating 1600. I've seen lots of people say that the TDEE method worked instantly for them or within a couple of weeks so it definitely varies depending on the individual.
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
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    I simply started eating between my BMR and my TDEE and started losing weight then. I honestly didn't realize how many calories I was burning in a day until I got my FitBit and discovered I had been undereating in a big, bad way because I was underestimating my burn. Once I figured out my burn, I set my goals up properly and the pounds came off. Understand that I only had 8 pounds to lose though....I've been maintaining since June and now my goal is decreasing body fat%
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
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    I've lost all my weight this way. I have a calorie goal of 1800 and a protein goal of 135g. Eating enough calories and protein has afforded me the luxury of not decreasing my calories to lose more, contrary to popular advice. I've kept the same amount of lean body mass because I lift weights 3x/week and eat enough protein. I think it's important to lose FAT and not just "weight"
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    I tried the TDEE method for a while. I went from eating the MFP recommended 1200 to 1600 plus exercise calories. I maintained my weight for around 6 or 7 weeks before I decided to drop my calorie intake to 1400. Once I did that I started to lose again.

    It is different for everybody though and if I'd persisted for a few more weeks I think I probably would have started to see a loss again while eating 1600. I've seen lots of people say that the TDEE method worked instantly for them or within a couple of weeks so it definitely varies depending on the individual.

    Because you're not supposed to eat your exercise calories with the TDEE -20% method.

    If you do it the right way, it's pretty much about the same as MFP, frankly. MFP gives me 1300ish calories a day, plus exercise calories, TDEE-20% gives me 1700ish. It's pretty much the same, except you can eat a bit more with TDEE. People just don't understand how MFP works, that's why they think it's so different.

    I switched to TDEE-20% a couple months ago, just because it's easier than counting my exercise calories. The only annoying thing about it is figuring exactly what your activity level is, because the definitions for lightly active or moderately active are pretty dumb and don't take your general activity level into account at all (what you do when you don't work out kinda matters a lot too). I had to shoot about halfway in between and according to my fitbit, it's pretty accurate.
  • jadeyq1
    jadeyq1 Posts: 178 Member
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    Sorry, I should have explained that I calculated my TDEE with my exercise set as sedentary as I still wanted to be able to log my workouts and calories burned so my exercise wasn't incorporated when I worked out my TDEE.

    So..... TDEE didn't work for me.
  • curvykent
    curvykent Posts: 140 Member
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    I've lost all my weight this way. I have a calorie goal of 1800 and a protein goal of 135g. Eating enough calories and protein has afforded me the luxury of not decreasing my calories to lose more, contrary to popular advice. I've kept the same amount of lean body mass because I lift weights 3x/week and eat enough protein. I think it's important to lose FAT and not just "weight"

    AMEN to that! That is someone who knows what they are doing.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    I was dieting the old fashioned way on another site, counting calories and dropping my intake lower and lower as I lost. Once I reached the 1200-1400 calorie range with exercise my weight loss stalled out for two months. I made the switch to MFP and started reading the forums here. Upped my intake to 1500 and started losing again. Upped it again to 1600 and kept losing. Made the switch to TDEE - 20% and still kept losing. It worked for me.
  • ambsnic17
    ambsnic17 Posts: 305 Member
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    I tried the TDEE method for a while. I went from eating the MFP recommended 1200 to 1600 plus exercise calories. I maintained my weight for around 6 or 7 weeks before I decided to drop my calorie intake to 1400. Once I did that I started to lose again.



    Why did you decrease your calorie intake, if you don't mind me asking. Were you not losing weight?
  • ambsnic17
    ambsnic17 Posts: 305 Member
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    If you do it the right way, it's pretty much about the same as MFP, frankly. MFP gives me 1300ish calories a day, plus exercise calories, TDEE-20% gives me 1700ish. It's pretty much the same, except you can eat a bit more with TDEE. People just don't understand how MFP works, that's why they think it's so different.

    I switched to TDEE-20% a couple months ago, just because it's easier than counting my exercise calories. The only annoying thing about it is figuring exactly what your activity level is, because the definitions for lightly active or moderately active are pretty dumb and don't take your general activity level into account at all (what you do when you don't work out kinda matters a lot too). I had to shoot about halfway in between and according to my fitbit, it's pretty accurate.
    [/quote]



    Mine was kinda the same way. MFP gives me 1270 and TDEE gives me 1500. I was getting headaches and migraines and getting dizzy too. Just not feeling myself and decided to look into this TDEE thing. I understand that my exercise is already built into my TDEE?? So I don't have to worry about eating my exercise calories correct? I never ate my exercise calories back on MFP.
  • born2drum
    born2drum Posts: 731 Member
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    Hi there! I know this is a topic that can really get heated, but I just want to know if you are using the TDEE "method" for your weight loss. If so, has it been successful for your weight loss? Could you please share your experience with using it. (how much you've lost using it, what your TDEE is and how many calories you eat) thanks!!

    I've lost 16lbs (20 total) since I started my cut. Went off my TDEE and subtracted 800calories and have been losing 1.77lbs per week on avg.
  • born2drum
    born2drum Posts: 731 Member
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    I've lost all my weight this way. I have a calorie goal of 1800 and a protein goal of 135g. Eating enough calories and protein has afforded me the luxury of not decreasing my calories to lose more, contrary to popular advice. I've kept the same amount of lean body mass because I lift weights 3x/week and eat enough protein. I think it's important to lose FAT and not just "weight"

    Great job. Kepeing Lean body mass is more important than losing overall weight. Most girls just swear losing weight will make them look great when in actuallity it's their lean body mass that makes them look great. Lifting weights, that it.

    Great job :)
  • Lmns218
    Lmns218 Posts: 155
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    I looked at TDEE and I just wasn't comfortable eating 2300 calories...maybe I should have set it to sedentary...but I work out 6x a week!!!! It just seemed to high for me!!!! Maybe I will try it again at sedentary....my workouts are not that intense....I don't burn any more than 300 calories a workout
  • Docpremie
    Docpremie Posts: 228 Member
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    I started at the "magical" 1200 calls as set by MFP. I initially dropped quickly, but lost too much lean body mass, then stalled in my weight loss all together. I switched over to the TDEE method about 3 months ago & started strength training. I've only lost about 1 pound of lean body mass since then, but lost 13 pounds of fat mass! I've also lost >12-15 inches! My current calorie goal is 1800 & I usually eat 1700-1800 cals/day. I also eat at least 110 grams of protein, but usually closer to 120-130 grams. I've lost 4 dress sizes as well. The TDEE method is much more efficient, especially when paired with a minimum 1 gram protein/pound lean body mass & weightlifting. I'd much rather lose fat than muscle!

    By the way, I'm 5-8 & currently 169 pounds. I'm also over the "dread age" of 50 y.o.! Age doesn't have to be a barrier to weight loss or muscle gain!
  • jadeyq1
    jadeyq1 Posts: 178 Member
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    Why did you decrease your calorie intake, if you don't mind me asking. Were you not losing weight?

    No I wasn't, I just stayed the same for weeks and weeks. I didn't gain which was obviously good as I was eating waaaay more calories but I wanted to see a loss so I reduced it back down a little.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Sorry, I should have explained that I calculated my TDEE with my exercise set as sedentary as I still wanted to be able to log my workouts and calories burned so my exercise wasn't incorporated when I worked out my TDEE.

    So..... TDEE didn't work for me.

    Were you logging the full calorie burns?

    According to a spreadsheet I had on my computer awhile back (I'll have to find it again), if you do it the way your talking about your supposed to take the same deficit off of your exercise calories that you took off your TDEE. So if you were doing TDEE -20% then burned 400 calories through exercise, you would only log the exercise as a 320 calorie burn.
  • Danni3ll3
    Danni3ll3 Posts: 365 Member
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    Sorry, I should have explained that I calculated my TDEE with my exercise set as sedentary as I still wanted to be able to log my workouts and calories burned so my exercise wasn't incorporated when I worked out my TDEE.

    So..... TDEE didn't work for me.

    Were you logging the full calorie burns?

    According to a spreadsheet I had on my computer awhile back (I'll have to find it again), if you do it the way your talking about your supposed to take the same deficit off of your exercise calories that you took off your TDEE. So if you were doing TDEE -20% then burned 400 calories through exercise, you would only log the exercise as a 320 calorie burn.

    Here is the url for the spreadsheet.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE#gid=14


    If you are going to eat your calories back, after you fill out the Simple Set Up tab (don't include any exercise on that page), go to the MFP Tweak tab and fill that out. At the bottom is a chart for you to input your exercise calories and time so that you can included a reduced number on MFP.

    This is what I am using. Progress is super slow but I was within 2 lbs of my goal and I have decided to try losing another 5 so I have 7 to go now.
  • ambsnic17
    ambsnic17 Posts: 305 Member
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    Ok, so my BMR is 1551 ( which I understand that you shouldn't eat under this???) My TDEE is 2036 and with a -20% it comes out to 1629. So I should be eating 1629 without worrying about exercise calories correct? (b/c it's already incorporated into my TDEE) Going from 1200 to 1629 just seems like a big jump. I guess I'm just nervous that i'll gain. How long until you all saw the weight drop since using TDEE? thanks for being so helpful!

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