Tdee calculator calories

Sandamilaxx

My goal is to lose some fat and be “toned”.
I got my tdee from IIfym calculator. It asked about my weight training days and the intensity. I’m planning to weight train 4 times a week. After the results came up and it said 1700 cals. Is this including exercise calories? Or do I need to eat 1700 cals plus exersise cals? I hope im making sense.

Thanks x

mmapags

If you used a TDEE calulator, it includes exercise calories. What weight loss goal per week did you choose? Eg, 1 lb per week, 1.5 lbs per week?

Sandamilaxx

mmapags wrote: »

If you used a TDEE calulator, it includes exercise calories. What weight loss goal per week did you choose? Eg, 1 lb per week, 1.5 lbs per week?

Thanks for replying. It’s set to lose 0.2kg per week. Mfp gave me a daily goal of 1600 cals to lose weight. My activity level is set to lightly active. I’m thinking not to eat back exercise cals cause the activity level is set to lightly active.

cwolfman13

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

My goal is to lose some fat and be “toned”.
I got my tdee from IIfym calculator. It asked about my weight training days and the intensity. I’m planning to weight train 4 times a week. After the results came up and it said 1700 cals. Is this including exercise calories? Or do I need to eat 1700 cals plus exersise cals? I hope im making sense.

Thanks x

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which would include exercise in your activity level. As such, that activity is accounted for so you wouldn't eat back exercise calories. MFP uses the NEAT method whereby your activity level is only supposed to be your day to day hum drum...ie, going to work and such. It doesn't include deliberate exercise if you set it up as intended which is why you get additional calories to "eat back" when you exercise...it is MFPs method for accounting for that activity.

The two methods are 6 of 1, half dozen of the other if set up correctly and you're comparing apples to apples in regards to rate of loss goals. For example, MFP gives you the option of X Lbs per week whereas most TDEE calculators give you a % option which may or may not be equivalent to X Lbs per week with MFP.

Sandamilaxx

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

My goal is to lose some fat and be “toned”.
I got my tdee from IIfym calculator. It asked about my weight training days and the intensity. I’m planning to weight train 4 times a week. After the results came up and it said 1700 cals. Is this including exercise calories? Or do I need to eat 1700 cals plus exersise cals? I hope im making sense.

Thanks x

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which would include exercise in your activity level. As such, that activity is accounted for so you wouldn't eat back exercise calories. MFP uses the NEAT method whereby your activity level is only supposed to be your day to day hum drum...ie, going to work and such. It doesn't include deliberate exercise if you set it up as intended which is why you get additional calories to "eat back" when you exercise...it is MFPs method for accounting for that activity.

The two methods are 6 of 1, half dozen of the other if set up correctly and you're comparing apples to apples in regards to rate of loss goals. For example, MFP gives you the option of X Lbs per week whereas most TDEE calculators give you a % option which may or may not be equivalent to X Lbs per week with MFP.

Thanks for replying! When I used the IIfym calculator it gave me 1700 cals to eat and that’s including exercise. Mfp gave me 1600 cals because now it’s set to lightly active.
Which method do you think is good?

cmriverside

They should come out the same if you eat back exercise cals using MFP's numbers. I mean, weight training doesn't burn a lot of calories. Both the systems just use set algorithms and it's a science experiment you have to run, like we all do. 100 calories one way or the other is within a range that's so small it doesn't matter. Pick one.



You can use the TDEE calculator number - and people who work out on a set schedule find it easier. Just go into MFP's "Goals" and set your calories to 1700 and then don't eat more on exercise days.

Do that for a month and see how your weight trends, then adjust as needed.

sijomial

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

My goal is to lose some fat and be “toned”.
I got my tdee from IIfym calculator. It asked about my weight training days and the intensity. I’m planning to weight train 4 times a week. After the results came up and it said 1700 cals. Is this including exercise calories? Or do I need to eat 1700 cals plus exersise cals? I hope im making sense.

Thanks x

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which would include exercise in your activity level. As such, that activity is accounted for so you wouldn't eat back exercise calories. MFP uses the NEAT method whereby your activity level is only supposed to be your day to day hum drum...ie, going to work and such. It doesn't include deliberate exercise if you set it up as intended which is why you get additional calories to "eat back" when you exercise...it is MFPs method for accounting for that activity.

The two methods are 6 of 1, half dozen of the other if set up correctly and you're comparing apples to apples in regards to rate of loss goals. For example, MFP gives you the option of X Lbs per week whereas most TDEE calculators give you a % option which may or may not be equivalent to X Lbs per week with MFP.

Thanks for replying! When I used the IIfym calculator it gave me 1700 cals to eat and that’s including exercise. Mfp gave me 1600 cals because now it’s set to lightly active.
Which method do you think is good?

Either method can be "good". Averaged out over time the calories should work out roughly the same.

Think about if you prefer a same every day eating goal (TDEE method) or a goal that varies in line with your exercise (MyFitnessPal) - purely personal preference for most people.
For me a varied goal suits my eating preferences and exercise choice. For someone with a consistent and fairly low exercise burn then TDEE might be more popular.

Both methods involve estimating exercise calories but with TDEE you do it before the event based on your projection/expectation, with MFP you do it after the event. Both methods may need adjustment based on results over an extended period of time.

Sandamilaxx

cmriverside wrote: »

They should come out the same if you eat back exercise cals using MFP's numbers. I mean, weight training doesn't burn a lot of calories. Both the systems just use set algorithms and it's a science experiment you have to run, like we all do. 100 calories one way or the other is within a range that's so small it doesn't matter. Pick one.



You can use the TDEE calculator number - and people who work out on a set schedule find it easier. Just go into MFP's "Goals" and set your calories to 1700 and then don't eat more on exercise days.

Do that for a month and see how your weight trends, then adjust as needed.

sijomial wrote: »

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

My goal is to lose some fat and be “toned”.
I got my tdee from IIfym calculator. It asked about my weight training days and the intensity. I’m planning to weight train 4 times a week. After the results came up and it said 1700 cals. Is this including exercise calories? Or do I need to eat 1700 cals plus exersise cals? I hope im making sense.

Thanks x

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which would include exercise in your activity level. As such, that activity is accounted for so you wouldn't eat back exercise calories. MFP uses the NEAT method whereby your activity level is only supposed to be your day to day hum drum...ie, going to work and such. It doesn't include deliberate exercise if you set it up as intended which is why you get additional calories to "eat back" when you exercise...it is MFPs method for accounting for that activity.

The two methods are 6 of 1, half dozen of the other if set up correctly and you're comparing apples to apples in regards to rate of loss goals. For example, MFP gives you the option of X Lbs per week whereas most TDEE calculators give you a % option which may or may not be equivalent to X Lbs per week with MFP.

Thanks for replying! When I used the IIfym calculator it gave me 1700 cals to eat and that’s including exercise. Mfp gave me 1600 cals because now it’s set to lightly active.
Which method do you think is good?

Either method can be "good". Averaged out over time the calories should work out roughly the same.

Think about if you prefer a same every day eating goal (TDEE method) or a goal that varies in line with your exercise (MyFitnessPal) - purely personal preference for most people.
For me a varied goal suits my eating preferences and exercise choice. For someone with a consistent and fairly low exercise burn then TDEE might be more popular.

Both methods involve estimating exercise calories but with TDEE you do it before the event based on your projection/expectation, with MFP you do it after the event. Both methods may need adjustment based on results over an extended period of time.

Thank you for replying. I understand now. I think I will stick with Mfp one which is 1600 cals including exercise since my activity level is set to lightly active. I’m sorry but I have another question. I noticed when I changed my activity level to not active, Mfp gives me 1400 cals to eat. So that would mean I would need to eat 1400+ exercise cals? For eg I burn 100 from exercise, that would be 1400+100= 1500? So that would mean for the day, I had altogether 1500 cals not 1400 cals?

Lietchi

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

Thank you for replying. I understand now. I think I will stick with Mfp one which is 1600 cals including exercise since my activity level is set to lightly active. I’m sorry but I have another question. I noticed when I changed my activity level to not active, Mfp gives me 1400 cals to eat. So that would mean I would need to eat 1400+ exercise cals? For eg I burn 100 from exercise, that would be 1400+100= 1500? So that would mean for the day, I had altogether 1500 cals not 1400 cals?

To be clear: the MFP activity level does not include exercise. Your activity level includes your activities in daily life (job, housework,...) and exercise needs to be added on top of that to calculate how much you can eat.

So yes, if you exercise, those calories get added to the number of calories you can eat that day (no matter what activity level you choose, since the activity level doesn't include exercise).

Sandamilaxx

Lietchi wrote: »

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

Thank you for replying. I understand now. I think I will stick with Mfp one which is 1600 cals including exercise since my activity level is set to lightly active. I’m sorry but I have another question. I noticed when I changed my activity level to not active, Mfp gives me 1400 cals to eat. So that would mean I would need to eat 1400+ exercise cals? For eg I burn 100 from exercise, that would be 1400+100= 1500? So that would mean for the day, I had altogether 1500 cals not 1400 cals?

To be clear: the MFP activity level does not include exercise. Your activity level includes your activities in daily life (job, housework,...) and exercise needs to be added on top of that.

So yes, if you exercise, those calories get added to the number of calories you can eat daily (no matter what activity level you choose).

Thank you for replying. On day to day basis, I am kinda sedentary cause I’m at home chilling, no house work or anything like that. I’m 19 and I still live with my family. So I was thinking if I put my activity level to lightly active then I don’t need to add back exercise cals cause iam already sedentary. I hope I’m making sense.

Lietchi

I understand, but that's not really how the system was designed to work. "At home chilling, no housework" sounds very sedentary to me. I'm not convinced that weight training 4 times a week will get you to the same calorie burn as "lightly active", weight training doesn't burn a huge amount of calories.

I have my activity level set to sedentary and use an activity tracker that adjusts my allowed calories.
On days when I go to the office, I easily exceed sedentary level (walking from home to the train station, from the train station to the office, etc.)
On days when I'm working from home and not doing housework, however, I need to walk quite a few laps around my living room to even reach sedentary level.

As has been said above, in the end it's up to you if you prefer eating the same number of calories every day (which would be the case if you choose lightly active and don't log exercise) or if you prefer eating more on days when you work out. The important bit is seeing the evolution of your weight and adapting up or down accordingly.

sijomial

Don't use MFP for your calculations if you want a TDEE goal - the activity (ONLY) multiplier will not be the same as a TDEE site which uses a combined activty AND exercise multiplier applied to your estimated BMR.

Simply take the goal given by the TDEE site and set that as your MFP calorie goal (and don't log/add exercise calories).

cwolfman13

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Sandamilaxx wrote: »

My goal is to lose some fat and be “toned”.
I got my tdee from IIfym calculator. It asked about my weight training days and the intensity. I’m planning to weight train 4 times a week. After the results came up and it said 1700 cals. Is this including exercise calories? Or do I need to eat 1700 cals plus exersise cals? I hope im making sense.

Thanks x

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which would include exercise in your activity level. As such, that activity is accounted for so you wouldn't eat back exercise calories. MFP uses the NEAT method whereby your activity level is only supposed to be your day to day hum drum...ie, going to work and such. It doesn't include deliberate exercise if you set it up as intended which is why you get additional calories to "eat back" when you exercise...it is MFPs method for accounting for that activity.

The two methods are 6 of 1, half dozen of the other if set up correctly and you're comparing apples to apples in regards to rate of loss goals. For example, MFP gives you the option of X Lbs per week whereas most TDEE calculators give you a % option which may or may not be equivalent to X Lbs per week with MFP.

Thanks for replying! When I used the IIfym calculator it gave me 1700 cals to eat and that’s including exercise. Mfp gave me 1600 cals because now it’s set to lightly active.
Which method do you think is good?

Either one is good, but you're not using MFP as intended by setting it to lite active for your exercise. The difference you're getting in the case is due to different multipliers being used by two different methods.

I did MFP method when I first started because I wasn't exercising much or consistently and didn't do much more than walk my dog around the block. I started exercising more and working out and continued to use the MFP method until I eventually switched to TDEE because I felt I was consistent enough.

The two methods were 6 of 1. When I did MFP I had a target of 1900 calories to lose 1 Lb per week. With exercise calories I was regularly eating around 2300 calories. When I switched to TDEE I got a target of 2400 calories to lose 1 Lb per week...so in the end, the numbers were pretty similar.