TDEE-%20 questions for 5ft 5in women

Sparkie134

UPDATE!
I have been logging my TDEE (and honestly, with the events this weekend, only one day have I done minus %20), AND I LOST A POUND SO FAR! Which is exciting for me after being on a plateau for so long. The rest of that 25lbs better look out, because Im going to get rid of it too! ;-D

Sevio

UPDATE!
I have been logging my TDEE (and honestly, with the events this weekend, only one day have I done minus %20), AND I LOST A POUND SO FAR! Which is exciting for me after being on a plateau for so long. The rest of that 25lbs better look out, because Im going to get rid of it too! ;-D

Awesome job!! So glad you posted an update!!

reach4thestar

I just started the TDEE method, which is 2046 Calories and 20% TDEE- 1637 Calories.. One question for all of you that found this successful.. are you eating this calorie amount and NOT eating calories back? so if I eat 1637 but burn 200-300 calories, still just eat that 1637? Thanks! (I've been in a weight loss plateau for over a year and I'm really trying to break it)

If you have calculated tdee 20% with 'idle' activity level then u can eat back your exercise calories. ...

amanda07425

I did it at "light active" because I work out about 30 mins 5 days a week.. I just wanted to make sure I shouldn't eat those back and that I'm suppose to eat 1637 even on days that I don't work out?

MyJourney1960

I'm 5'3 and i set mine at -30% (because i am quite obese, CW ~220) and i work out 5-7 times a week (cardio and cardio/weight mixture), and i got a very similar number. I am a little under sometimes, but mostly very close to my numbers and i am losing, very slowly, but definitely losing (especially in terms of clothing becoming baggier and baggier...)

Mischievous_Rascal

I'm doing TDEE-10% (I only have aboout 10 more pounds to go) and my cals are 2000, 35P/35C/30F. I've only lost 7 lbs in the past year, but my BF% has been dropping like crazy since I increased my calories. I aim to hit my protein and fat macros first, and fill in the rest with whatever carbs I want. Once your body accepts you're going to feed it good stuff regularly it will let go of the excess.

amanda07425

I apologize, I read through all the posts and I see that you eat the same amount of calories even when you don't work out. I'm going to try toe 20%TDEE method and hopefully it works because this year long plateau is soooo frustrating! Thanks for the thread, it was really helpful information..

WendyTerry420

Hi!
I have been wondering if my calories are too low. So I read on here to find a TDEE calculator, enter my info and then deduct %20. I am 5ft 5inches, 29 years old, & 160lbs. I do 40minutes of cardio in the morning and 35 minutes of weights in the evening. I work at a desk job 9 hours a day.

I entered my information on this site http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
It told me that my TDEE is 2322 calories per day.
If I calculated right, to deduct %20 from that would be appx 1850 calories a day to lose weight, without eating back my workout calories (since I put my workouts into the TDEE calculator).

1850 seems way to high for me to lose weight. I was anticipating close to 1500.

Are there any women out there with similar stats that lose weight on a diet of 1800-1900 daily calorie intake?

For me it is too low. I found that my actual TDEE is much higher. I'm 5'4" and losing while eating 2000-2100. I work a desk job, do about 15 minutes of exercise a day, plus normal housework, and such, so it seems my activity level is much less than yours. I don't do a 20% cut though. I only cut by 200-300 calories.

amanda07425

QUOTE:
Just keep in mind (based on your ticker) that you don't have much to lose, so the loss will still be pretty slow, but it should still happen. Been there myself.



I figured it'd be slow, but as long as I see some movement downward I'll be happy.. it's alot better than staying the same! Did you lose the last 10 using the 20% TDEE method?

WendyTerry420

I read about meeting calories goals and such. But do you guys eat all the carbs they allot us? I mean 199. I keep mine between 50-60.

I eat between 200-250g carbs daily. Unless someone is totally sedentary, just lying around watching TV all day, then it's appropriate to eat carbohydrates to provide energy for daily activities. Someone who doesn't leave their bed shouldn't need very many carbs. For others, personal preferences are what they are.

WendyTerry420

QUOTE:
Just keep in mind (based on your ticker) that you don't have much to lose, so the loss will still be pretty slow, but it should still happen. Been there myself.



I figured it'd be slow, but as long as I see some movement downward I'll be happy.. it's alot better than staying the same! Did you lose the last 10 using the 20% TDEE method?

Not to mention that you will be happier if you just Eat The Food, avoid hangriness. :flowerforyou: :drinker:


I started off losing about 2 pounds a week on 1700-1800 calories. Once I got below 200 pounds (a major milestone for me), I increased my calories to eat closer to my goal weight maintenance. By doing so, I hope to have an easier time maintaining my metabolic function, lean body mass, skin/hair, etc. I just Eat The Food and log the losses as they come.

Sparkie134

I apologize, I read through all the posts and I see that you eat the same amount of calories even when you don't work out. I'm going to try toe 20%TDEE method and hopefully it works because this year long plateau is soooo frustrating! Thanks for the thread, it was really helpful information..

Good luck Amanda!

I am finding that by eating around 1800-2000 calories, I am pretty ecstatic ha ha, and it makes me have the energy to WANT to work out more. Plus, a better mood always helps too :-)

amanda07425

I apologize, I read through all the posts and I see that you eat the same amount of calories even when you don't work out. I'm going to try toe 20%TDEE method and hopefully it works because this year long plateau is soooo frustrating! Thanks for the thread, it was really helpful information..

Good luck Amanda!

I am finding that by eating around 1800-2000 calories, I am pretty ecstatic ha ha, and it makes me have the energy to WANT to work out more. Plus, a better mood always helps too :-)

Thanks good luck to you as well!

Sparkie134

Just a quick update. I have been eating close to 2000 calories a day and I plan to drop it back to 1800 next week. But today I was sitting here. FEELING GOOD. FEELING ENERGETIC. HAPPY. It has been a long time since those things were a normal part of my day. I am excited to get a gym membership next week, and I will get my body fat percentage checked, and my specific metabolism levels checked, as well as my measurements. I am feeling like the TDEE-%20 could be the best eating plan I have done in YEARS. I will monthly post my weight updates.

amandaleigh_

5ft 5 ladies! Just ramped my cals back up yesterday. I dropped 20 pounds in a little over 6 months doing TDEE-20%. Since early June I've been in a rut again. I attempted to cut to 1550 for a month to no avail so I did my calculations again (which I guess was a smart thing to do!) and I'm looking at 1740 now. Hoping to get over this new plateau just like I got over my last one with this method. I've got only about 10 more lbs to go so it's a slow slow slooow game!

kiramaniac

Really interesting thread. Thanks for having posted this! Here's some more food for thought ;-)

I'm 5'5", SW=231; CW=177; GW 141 (I think - it's a moving target). I've done low carb since Sept 2012 - target macros are 70% fat, 5% carbs, 25% protein. I do crossfit 3-5 x per week.

I use TDEE-20%, but I enter data for sedentary; and then I eat back calories on days that I exercise. Currently, this means I target 1500 calories a day, and on days I exercise, I get an additional 300-400 calories to eat.

I just used this TDEE calculator: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ (note - I used to use the Fit to Fat Calculator, but it bugs me that it does the calcs based on GOAL, instead of current weight --- I like this one better).

Comparing the two approaches.
Using pure TDEE-20% method, and exercising 4 per week, I'd target 1662 -1751 calories (depending on the method used). I'd probably go middle of the road, and use 1700 calories. So, per week, I'd be targeting 11900 calories.

Using the other approach, where I use "sedentary" for my TDEE and eat back calories, I should be targeting 1435 calories per day. Unfortunately, that's below my BMR. So keeping my BMR as my base, I'd use 1500 calories per day. I typically exercise 4 x per week, and about 350 calories per session. This means, I'd basically be targeting 1400 more calories per week, for a total of 11900 calories per week.

So for me, they both come out to be the EXACT same calories per week. It's therefore more of a preference thing. Do I want to spread the extra calories over all days? Or eat more on days that I exercise, and eat less on days that I don't? I think I like using the sedentary approach, so that if my exercise varies, my eating adjusts accordingly.

gevaisa

bless this post, seriously. i've been feeling lightheaded and grumpy lately with the mindset i'm overeating, while all along my tdee -20% is 1722! i've been eating 1400 and been pretty miserable about it.

m0ll3pprz

*Bumping to use for future reference :-) Thank you!