is the Scooby tdee calculator accurate?

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zfitgal
zfitgal Posts: 492 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey,
Does anyone use the Scooby tdee calculator? If so do you find it accurate?

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  • Bj0223
    Bj0223 Posts: 133 Member
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    I use the numbers from Scooby and its worked well for me. I'm losing about a pound a week.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Just like any calculator it’s an estimate and a decent starting point. After 4-6 weeks you can evaluate whether you need to increase or decrease calories.
  • zfitgal
    zfitgal Posts: 492 Member
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    it's telling in order to maintain my weight I need to eat 2100...I workout 6 days a week 4 days weight and 3 days cardio. I put in activity 3-5 days strenuous because that's all it gave me and my workout are hard. I'm just afraid to eat that much lol
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    It's been fairly accurate for me, but using your own data, collected over time, is going to be most accurate.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    zfitgal wrote: »
    it's telling in order to maintain my weight I need to eat 2100...I workout 6 days a week 4 days weight and 3 days cardio. I put in activity 3-5 days strenuous because that's all it gave me and my workout are hard. I'm just afraid to eat that much lol

    I don’t know how tall you are, or what you weigh, but I’m 5’4”, upper 120s, and my maintenance is 2150, with 6-7days a week working out, so 2100 for another person who is active makes sense.

    Have you tried eating maintenance level in the past?
  • zfitgal
    zfitgal Posts: 492 Member
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    collectingblues wrote: »
    zfitgal wrote: »
    it's telling in order to maintain my weight I need to eat 2100...I workout 6 days a week 4 days weight and 3 days cardio. I put in activity 3-5 days strenuous because that's all it gave me and my workout are hard. I'm just afraid to eat that much lol

    I don’t know how tall you are, or what you weigh, but I’m 5’4”, upper 120s, and my maintenance is 2150, with 6-7days a week working out, so 2100 for another person who is active makes sense.

    Have you tried eating maintenance level in the past?

    im 5"5 and i weigh 132-134 I was maintaining on 1800, never tried ton go higher then that, but then I lost my period...So i know i was eating to low but how was i maintaining at 1800 wjen i might be able to eat 2100
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    zfitgal wrote: »
    collectingblues wrote: »
    zfitgal wrote: »
    it's telling in order to maintain my weight I need to eat 2100...I workout 6 days a week 4 days weight and 3 days cardio. I put in activity 3-5 days strenuous because that's all it gave me and my workout are hard. I'm just afraid to eat that much lol

    I don’t know how tall you are, or what you weigh, but I’m 5’4”, upper 120s, and my maintenance is 2150, with 6-7days a week working out, so 2100 for another person who is active makes sense.

    Have you tried eating maintenance level in the past?

    im 5"5 and i weigh 132-134 I was maintaining on 1800, never tried ton go higher then that, but then I lost my period...So i know i was eating to low but how was i maintaining at 1800 wjen i might be able to eat 2100

    Bodies can surprise us.

    Since 1800 was too low, try 2000 and see how that feels.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,838 Member
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    shadow2soul wrote: »
    Just like any calculator it’s an estimate and a decent starting point. After 4-6 weeks you can evaluate whether you need to increase or decrease calories.
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    It's been fairly accurate for me, but using your own data, collected over time, is going to be most accurate.

    ^^^ Those people are right.

    "Calculators", no matter which one(s), give you estimates.

    You own data - carefully tracked - is more accurate.

    Most calculators say I'd maintain around 1500. Reality? Low to mid 2000s. Some few people - sadly - find they need to eat below the estimates.

    Most people find most of the calculator estimates to be close. That's the inherent nature of statistics.

    If your results say you can eat more, believe them. Be brave! (100 excess calories daily, above maintenance, for a month . . . < 1 pound gained: Manageable. :) If you're trying to lose, and just starting out, go with the estimate for 4-6 weeks, but do increase eating if you feel weak or fatigued. You can figure this out!)

    Best wishes!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,925 Member
    edited October 2018
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    zfitgal wrote: »
    im 5"5 and i weigh 132-134 I was maintaining on 1800, never tried ton go higher then that, but then I lost my period...So i know i was eating to low but how was i maintaining at 1800 wjen i might be able to eat 2100

    Loss of period can have other causes but low energy availability is a definite possibility.

    3-5 HOURS of strenuous cardio, that you have chosen, corresponds to an activity factor of 1.55 (called by Scooby in the "alternate" description you will find at the bottom of the "accurate calculator's" web page: "moderate exercise 3-5 days a week"). I note that 1.55 is BELOW MFP's "active" setting which represents a factor of 1.6.

    You SOUND as if you are closer to a 1.8 factor which would be called "very active" in MFP speak. The 1.8 factor would align closer with Scooby's alternate description of Heavy exercise 6 to 7 days per week, which Scooby pegs at 1.725.

    Scooby ignores day to day activity when he uses factors. I personally find day to day activity to be a major differentiator.

    MFP ignores deliberate exercise and expects you to log all exercise separately.

    At the end of the day these are all BMR multiplier ESTIMATES to give you a starting point.

    Your loss of period STRONGLY argues that the number you are able to eat is CONSIDERABLY higher than where you're at right now. In my opinion well past the 2100 level if the extra calories also provide you with a bit of extra pep during your workouts.

    The "explanation" is that prolonged or large deficits--at any weight but even more so within the normal weight zone--results in your body trying to compensate for the lack of available energy so as to slow down the reduction of your energy reserves.

    Some ways of doing so include reduced fidgeting, lower body temperature, slow down of nail and hair growth, loss of menses, etc.

    When you start eating more and remove the inadvertent (and compensated for) deficit pressure you have been applying, your hormonal levels will hopefully respond and you may notice yourself having more effective workouts that you recover faster from.

    And if this does happen then you may well end up closer to 2500 than the 22-2300 you're probably at today.

    Of course your actual numbers may well vary etc. That's when your trending weight app's weight trend and +/- 5lb maintenance ranges come into play...

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    zfitgal wrote: »
    Hey,
    Does anyone use the Scooby tdee calculator? If so do you find it accurate?

    It gave me the same numbers that MFP did (less than 50 calorie difference). Either both are right or both wrong and since I am losing, I guess it is right.

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