TDEE

thielke2015

I think I am finally getting it. Can I just check on something.
Can a persons TDEE change ? Or will it always be the same?
And if 3,500 calories = 1lb then that means as long as you are in a 3,500 deficit over a 7 day period then you should lose 1lb of weight?
And should you use your own TDEE to work out what your weekly amount is then minus the 3,500 per week

malibu927

Yes. As you lose weight, your body burns fewer calories. It's recommended to recalculate your numbers after every 5-10 pounds lost.

And yes, TDEE-500 calories should give you a 3500 calorie deficit for the week.

jemhh

Can a persons TDEE change ? Or will it always be the same?

Your TDEE changes easily because you burn a different amount of calories every single day since you do different amounts of activity each day. It will also generally decrease as you weigh less.

And if 3,500 calories = 1lb then that means as long as you are in a 3,500 deficit over a 7 day period then you should lose 1lb of weight?

No. If you have a 3500 deficit over a week, you will lose around a pound per week on average over the long term.

And should you use your own TDEE to work out what your weekly amount is then minus the 3,500 per week

It is fine to do it that way.

daniip_la

Your TDEE also changes depending on your activity. Yesterday, for example, I laid on a couch all day and barely moved. My estimated TDEE through my Fitbit was ~2400. On a normal day (like today), it should be at least ~2800 without extra exercise.

thielke2015

malibu927 wrote: »

Yes. As you lose weight, your body burns fewer calories. It's recommended to recalculate your numbers after every 5-10 pounds lost.

And yes, TDEE-500 calories should give you a 3500 calorie deficit for the week.

I'm finally understanding it all! Thank you so much.... it's much easier when you understand how it works

thielke2015

daniip_la wrote: »

Your TDEE also changes depending on your activity. Yesterday, for example, I laid on a couch all day and barely moved. My estimated TDEE through my Fitbit was ~2400. On a normal day (like today), it should be at least ~2800 without extra exercise.

Can you explain.... so you wear a fit bit and it tells you how many calories you have burned daily even without moving?
So do you adjust your intake daily according to what your Fitbit says?

daniip_la

thielke2015 wrote: »

daniip_la wrote: »

Your TDEE also changes depending on your activity. Yesterday, for example, I laid on a couch all day and barely moved. My estimated TDEE through my Fitbit was ~2400. On a normal day (like today), it should be at least ~2800 without extra exercise.

Can you explain.... so you wear a fit bit and it tells you how many calories you have burned daily even without moving?
So do you adjust your intake daily according to what your Fitbit says?

It gives your estimated daily calorie expenditure, depending on your movement throughout the day. I don't alter my intake, since a day like that is rare.

lemurcat12

thielke2015 wrote: »

daniip_la wrote: »

Your TDEE also changes depending on your activity. Yesterday, for example, I laid on a couch all day and barely moved. My estimated TDEE through my Fitbit was ~2400. On a normal day (like today), it should be at least ~2800 without extra exercise.

Can you explain.... so you wear a fit bit and it tells you how many calories you have burned daily even without moving?
So do you adjust your intake daily according to what your Fitbit says?

Your Fitbit estimates how many calories you actually burn WITH movement. (You never have a day without movement, and calories without any activity would be BMR -- a number not useful except for estimating TDEE.)

There are two ways to calculate calories:

Estimate what your daily TDEE is on average. Calculators can help you do this or, after wearing the Fitbit for a while, it will give an average for the past 30 days (probably also the past week, I don't remember, as I haven't worn one for a while). You would use this number and subtract the planned deficit (say 500 for a lb a week). So if it estimates (or you estimate) TDEE of 2100, you'd eat 1600 and not worry if one day (rest day) it was 1800 and another day (big workout day) it was 2300 -- it evens out.

The other is the usual MFP way -- estimate what your burn is without intentional exercise (this is called NEAT) and then add on exercise for the day and subtract the deficit from it (MFP does this when you set a calorie goal and then add back in exercise or sync it with the Fitbit). Then you'd maybe eat 1300 on your rest day but up to 1800 on a hard workout day, rather than 1600 every day.

Key is not to mix up the two methods.

cwolfman13

thielke2015 wrote: »

I think I am finally getting it. Can I just check on something.
Can a persons TDEE change ? Or will it always be the same?
And if 3,500 calories = 1lb then that means as long as you are in a 3,500 deficit over a 7 day period then you should lose 1lb of weight?
And should you use your own TDEE to work out what your weekly amount is then minus the 3,500 per week

Your TDEE is variable based on whether or not your stats change as well as activity level. In the winter my TDEE is around 2,800 calories because I'm a bit less active...when I'm in cycling season my TDEE can be anywhere from 3,000 - 3,500 or more calories...

And in reality, your TDEE isn't one specific number...you may twitch more one day to the next...or you're doing yard work all day Saturday, etc...it's a range based on overall activity.

cwolfman13

thielke2015 wrote: »

daniip_la wrote: »

Your TDEE also changes depending on your activity. Yesterday, for example, I laid on a couch all day and barely moved. My estimated TDEE through my Fitbit was ~2400. On a normal day (like today), it should be at least ~2800 without extra exercise.

Can you explain.... so you wear a fit bit and it tells you how many calories you have burned daily even without moving?
So do you adjust your intake daily according to what your Fitbit says?

When you're using TDEE, you're really looking at average values over time, not day to day minutia...I'm in maintenance so there are days where I'm over calories and other days when I'm under...it all averages out over time.

Francl27

TDEE varies every day. Typically you just average it out to come with a number, that's what TDEE calculators do for you.

Fitbit definitely helps figuring out what your TDEE is though (mine can go from 1600 calories if I don't do anything, to 2850 on very active days, for example).