Thoughts on TDEE calculators and switching from MFP to TDEE.

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  • 89nunu
    89nunu Posts: 1,082 Member
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    Well said!
    here is a gif basket to show my appreciatipn:

    the-gif-basket.gif
  • krm0789
    krm0789 Posts: 134 Member
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    I feel like I used to understand TDEE, but now it's all jumbling together. Do net calories ever play a role in eating for TDEE? I thought I read that you should at least net 1,200 every day. But I see people with extreme burns that are netting less than 1,000 & losing, & now I'm reading about starvation mode being a myth, & I'm confused!
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
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    Bump
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
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    I did not see any progress in body composition until I switched to this method.

    +1 for SideSteel!

    Same. TDEE method had me consistently losing fat mass where as MFP had me stalled for two months straight with no changes in inches or weight.
  • krm0789
    krm0789 Posts: 134 Member
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    I feel like I used to understand TDEE, but now it's all jumbling together. Do net calories ever play a role in eating for TDEE? I thought I read that you should at least net 1,200 every day. But I see people with extreme burns that are netting less than 1,000 & losing, & now I'm reading about starvation mode being a myth, & I'm confused!

    Don't be confused.

    1. Starvation mode is a myth, unless you are actually starving. If you are eating 1200 or 1000 or 800 calories, you are NOT starving. But, it's not healthy at some point. But, there is no magic 1200 number. You don't eat 1,100 and all the sudden go into starvation mode. LOL
    2. TDEE doesn't have a net because exercise is already calculated into the formula.

    If you are getting confused, you don't understand TDEE. TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It includes ALL YOUR ACTIVITY for the day INCLUDING exercise. So, it doesn't vary. Most people that get the 1200, usually females, like TDEE better because they get to eat more everyday. With MFP, you eat 1200, unless you exercise, and then you eat more.

    Gotcha. That's how I've always understood it, but I've read some things recently that confused me - information overload. Thanks for clearing that up!
  • lucyloutoo
    lucyloutoo Posts: 522 Member
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    Commenting so I can come back and read later
  • Kimsoontobe
    Kimsoontobe Posts: 110 Member
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    Bump to read later
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I feel like I used to understand TDEE, but now it's all jumbling together. Do net calories ever play a role in eating for TDEE? I thought I read that you should at least net 1,200 every day. But I see people with extreme burns that are netting less than 1,000 & losing, & now I'm reading about starvation mode being a myth, & I'm confused!

    Don't be confused.

    1. Starvation mode is a myth, unless you are actually starving. If you are eating 1200 or 1000 or 800 calories, you are NOT starving. But, it's not healthy at some point. But, there is no magic 1200 number. You don't eat 1,100 and all the sudden go into starvation mode. LOL
    2. TDEE doesn't have a net because exercise is already calculated into the formula.

    If you are getting confused, you don't understand TDEE. TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It includes ALL YOUR ACTIVITY for the day INCLUDING exercise. So, it doesn't vary. Most people that get the 1200, usually females, like TDEE better because they get to eat more everyday. With MFP, you eat 1200, unless you exercise, and then you eat more.

    Gotcha. That's how I've always understood it, but I've read some things recently that confused me - information overload. Thanks for clearing that up!

    Starvation mode as it is used most often here is a myth - in that you stop losing weight at any level of calories. Starvation mode in the context of adaptive thermogenics (slowing of your metabolism outside what you would expect due to weight loss alone) is not. Dieting causes AT. Extreme dieting makes it worse. It is reversible however. Extreme dieting also risks permanent reduction in your metabolism due to muscle loss.
  • adinutzyc21
    adinutzyc21 Posts: 5 Member
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    I haven't read the whole thread and I apologise for that, but I was wondering.

    Say I calculate my TDEE without factoring in any fitness whatsoever and I set that as my MFP goal. Then I can eat the calories back without worrying about anything. Is there any flaw in this judgement?

    (I've counted calories before, this is the first time I've heard about TDEE)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I haven't read the whole thread and I apologise for that, but I was wondering.

    Say I calculate my TDEE without factoring in any fitness whatsoever and I set that as my MFP goal. Then I can eat the calories back without worrying about anything. Is there any flaw in this judgement?

    (I've counted calories before, this is the first time I've heard about TDEE)

    That is what MFP is doing already.
    It factors a non-exercise TDEE based on your selection of activity level.

    Then you eat back exercise calories. Just exactly what you said.

    The only difference is being aware of selecting a reasonable deficit amount. Match the 20% with block of calories.

    MFP Home - Goals - calories eaten in normal daily activities x 0.2 = amount of calorie deficit.

    Is it closer to 250, 500, 750?
    Then select weight loss goal of 1/2 lb weekly, 1 lb, or 1.5 lb weekly.

    Then do exactly what you stated.

    But before you log exercise calories, take the same 20% off the total. Because if it had been included in the TDEE, it would have gotten 20% off there.

    So just use MFP the way it was designed, except with reasonable weight loss goal instead of max available.
  • ibillinger
    ibillinger Posts: 1 Member
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    Just curious.....is that Dolly Parton? And who is the other lady?
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Haven't read through all the posts to see if someone else as mentioned this but shameless plug for MFP user EvgeniZyntx's awesome Excel macro for importing your MFP logged data to calculate your TDEE from your own results just as Sidesteel suggests here in his post.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/EvgeniZyntx/view/new-mfp-data-export-tool-major-update-659927
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,452 Member
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    This is so true! I'd been reading so much on here about people eating loads of food and urging others to eat more, that I somehow imagined that I'd been eating more with the TDEE method than with the MFP method. But I usually had MFP set to lose 1/2 lb a week (250 calories). My 20% deficit with the TDEE method was around 350 calories. I was eating 100 calories less, which confused me initially!
  • jrhanna84
    jrhanna84 Posts: 66 Member
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    Bumping
  • mtruitt01
    mtruitt01 Posts: 370 Member
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    Thanks for this info!
  • Delilahhhhhh
    Delilahhhhhh Posts: 477 Member
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    Thank you so much, I got confused for a while, but all is now well in my little world.
  • Ldecker4
    Ldecker4 Posts: 2 Member
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    I am new to this thread and I realize it's an older discussion so hopefully this gets seen. I have recently begun strength training and working out every day for the past 3.5 weeks. However, the scale is not moving. MFP tells me to eat 1360 to lose 2lbs a week, but after I've added in my exercise, it gives me an additional amount of calories earned through exercise. I had been sticking to my 1360 number regardless of adding in strength training and cardio, and now I'm beginning to understand I should be upping my calorie intake as well because I'm working out. I'm just unsure exactly how much I should increase it, how much of those calories I should be eating back. The equations are a bit confusing to me so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm 5'8" and 189 lbs, and I've been following a strength training and cardio program through bodybuilding.com The scale has been stuck at 189 for over 2 weeks now, and while I know some of it is due to increased muscle (my clothes fit a little better and I can tell I've gotten a little smaller) it's still frustrating because I have about 40-50lbs of excess fat I need to get rid of and I don't feel like I'm making progress in that area. Any help or advice would be really great! Thank you!
  • jporter1183
    jporter1183 Posts: 43 Member
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    @Ldecker4 I started out at 183 at 5'9 and was eating about 1700-1900 gross, depending on if I worked out that day, to lose a pound a week and I was working out maybe 4 days a week for an hour at most. I feel like 1360 gross combined with working out everyday is too little, and you need to eat back some of those calories. I found when I ate at 1400/or didn't eat back some/all of my exercise calories I stalled. Trial and error with eating back the calories will help you figure out how many to eat. For me, I found that eating back almost all of my calories (I use a HRM) helped me a lot.

    I know its easy to set it to 2 pounds because we all want to lose the weight as quickly as possible. It has taken me 8 months to lose 25 pounds, and I am okay with that. I personally feel that setting it to 1 pound a week is the way to go, and eat back some of those exercise calories!
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Ldecker4 wrote: »
    I am new to this thread and I realize it's an older discussion so hopefully this gets seen. I have recently begun strength training and working out every day for the past 3.5 weeks. However, the scale is not moving. MFP tells me to eat 1360 to lose 2lbs a week, but after I've added in my exercise, it gives me an additional amount of calories earned through exercise. I had been sticking to my 1360 number regardless of adding in strength training and cardio, and now I'm beginning to understand I should be upping my calorie intake as well because I'm working out. I'm just unsure exactly how much I should increase it, how much of those calories I should be eating back. The equations are a bit confusing to me so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm 5'8" and 189 lbs, and I've been following a strength training and cardio program through bodybuilding.com The scale has been stuck at 189 for over 2 weeks now, and while I know some of it is due to increased muscle (my clothes fit a little better and I can tell I've gotten a little smaller) it's still frustrating because I have about 40-50lbs of excess fat I need to get rid of and I don't feel like I'm making progress in that area. Any help or advice would be really great! Thank you!


    How long have you been on a strength training program? If you started recently (such as the past 3-4 weeks) you are very likely to just be retaining fluid. This can cause the scale to stall but it doesn't actually halt fat loss.

    As far as exercise calories go, I'd recommend eating about 50% of them back, give or take.

    Most importantly though you just need to be observant with results, and adjust as needed.


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