TDEE For Tall Ladies?

cat_lady77

I'm having a hard time figuring out my TDEE/BMI from the online calculators/MFP. I'm wondering if they're accurate for tall women or are they just based on average women?

I'm 6'2" & carry most of my weight in my lower body (hips, thighs, butt), but I'm thin in the upper body. At 210, according to the calculators I am overweight bordering on obese...not sure how I feel about that.

While I would like to lose some weight, the "ideal weight" of 159-171 seems very low to me. It's been a while since I was close to that weight in my teen years, but at my height I looked extremely thin & had no curves. I don't feel the need to be that thin again!

On TDEEcalculator.net, my maintenance would be about 2100 cal/day. MFP says it's about 2200. So recently I've been trying to stick to about 1700 cal/day to lose weight & it has been working.

Do any other tall ladies just stick to the traditional TDEE or have you found another calculation that might work better? I'm not that stuck on numbers, I just want to know if I'm on the right track so I don't set myself up for failure. TIA!

rachelr1116

Well, any calculator I've used always asked my height so I'm assuming that information is used in whatever I'm calculating. I'm 5'10" and I've found MFP's calorie calculations to be pretty spot on for me.

As far as BMI, because we're tall we often don't look as heavy as we are. For the majority of the population BMI is an ok indicator of healthy weight. When I started on MFP I was almost 240 lbs and didn't think I looked obese. I'm about 15 lbs away from a normal BMI now and looking back at pictures from when I had an obese BMI I can definitely tell that I needed to lose quite a bit of weight. Even now people tell me I don't look overweight but I also know how to dress to camouflage the extra weight I'm still carrying.

mangrothian

In relation to the original question: if a TDEE site doesn't ask for your height, age, sex and activity levels at a minimum, it's never going to be even close to accurate, it is based off averages, so it's not going to be spot on for everyone. I find that I feel like they calculate TDEE at sedentary levels just fine, but when I move up the activity levels many sites tend to overestimate them a bit, but that's probably just me. Also, in case you weren't aware, MFP does not calculate your TDEE; it's calculates your NEAT, which is a different thing.

In regards to the healthy BMI range for taller women...

BMI is based on averages, and outliers in the population, whether they be excessively tall, short, or muscular will not suit the BMI equation as much as the average Joe (or Jane, as the case may be).

Granted, when I decided to start losing weight at 186cm /6'1 and 160kg/350lbs (BMI of 46), I assumed I was 'big boned' and the healthy weight range in the BMI charts was total *kitten*. Now, at 96kg and a BMI of 28, I'm starting to look at that range as pretty accurate and have no problem aiming for it.

rachelr1116

Also, I just realized you say you are 6'2" but the "ideal weight" but the charts I'm looking at have a healthy weight range of 150-190 for someone that is 6'2" so you only have about 20 lbs to get to the top of the range.

moogie_fit

I'm currently bulking, but am eating like 3000+ calories and have gained approx 2-4 lbs in the past 6 weeks. I honestly think that it really depends on your activity level though and muscle mass. I would start out with a calculator's approximation, and based on the pace of the weight loss (if too rapid, increase calories, if too slow, decrease calories) adjust. Or adjust exercise.

amandammmq

I'm just aiming for a weight where I felt comfortable and healthy in the past. After losing 30 pounds, it's now only 10 pounds away, so I really am not stressing too much about it!