Has anybody used TDEE...

catbissell
catbissell Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
... to work out how many calories your body needs, then deducted 20% for weight loss?

I'm just using mpf to track calories and not eating back any calories... I hope this is right! Thanks

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,148 Member
    No matter how you calculate it, plan to follow a new routine pretty faithfully for 4-6 weeks (whole menstrual periods if that applies to you), then compare actual to expected weight loss. If the first week or two's loss looks wildly different from what follows, throw out those weeks and go another week or two to get more data.

    If you're close to your planned loss, you're golden. If it's off and you have wiggle room while still being sensibly moderate, adjust your calories up or down in MFP to dial in your intended loss rate. Use the assumption that 500 calories per day is roughly a pound a week.

    Any so-called calculator just gives you a statistical estimate (population average for similar people, basically). You're not an average, you're an individual. The process outlined above will give you an individualized calorie estimate.

    Best wishes!
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,303 Member
    It's all trial and error no matter what method you use. Pick a reasonable amount and stick with it for a month or so and adjust as needed.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,119 Member
    catbissell wrote: »
    ... to work out how many calories your body needs, then deducted 20% for weight loss?

    I'm just using mpf to track calories and not eating back any calories... I hope this is right! Thanks

    Yes, if your calorie goal is 20% less than the number you got from a TDEE calculator, then you should not eat back exercise calories, assuming your actual exercise is within the parameters you told the TDEE calculator. If you suddenly add training for a triathlon on top of whatever you told the TDEE calculator, you're going to need to eat back some of that additional estimated burn.

    And, as said above in the thread, you may have to make adjustments as you get real-world personal data. Think of the TDEE number as a starting point.
  • catbissell
    catbissell Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks all
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    catbissell wrote: »
    ... to work out how many calories your body needs, then deducted 20% for weight loss?

    I'm just using mpf to track calories and not eating back any calories... I hope this is right! Thanks

    I use TDEE because my life and exercise are pretty predictable and routine day to day. When I first started with MFP I used the NEAT method because I was very inconsistent day to day in my exercise activity...sometimes I did it, sometimes I didn't, sometimes I did much more, sometimes I did much less.

    Once I got into the routine of daily exercise and things were more predictable day to day I switched to TDEE. Really, they're six of one, half dozen of the other if you're comparing apples to apples rate of loss targets. MFP would give me 2K calories to lose 1 Lb per week. With exercise I routinely ate around 2300. If I use a TDEE calculator, most give me around 2800 calories per day to maintain...if I cut 500 calories from that, it's 2300.

    The difference is simply where you are accounting for exercise activity. With TDEE it is included upfront in your calorie target (so you wouldn't "eat back" calories). With MFP it is accounted for after the fact when you log it which is why with MFP you "eat back" those calories.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,303 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    catbissell wrote: »
    ... to work out how many calories your body needs, then deducted 20% for weight loss?

    I'm just using mpf to track calories and not eating back any calories... I hope this is right! Thanks

    I use TDEE because my life and exercise are pretty predictable and routine day to day. When I first started with MFP I used the NEAT method because I was very inconsistent day to day in my exercise activity...sometimes I did it, sometimes I didn't, sometimes I did much more, sometimes I did much less.

    Once I got into the routine of daily exercise and things were more predictable day to day I switched to TDEE. Really, they're six of one, half dozen of the other if you're comparing apples to apples rate of loss targets. MFP would give me 2K calories to lose 1 Lb per week. With exercise I routinely ate around 2300. If I use a TDEE calculator, most give me around 2800 calories per day to maintain...if I cut 500 calories from that, it's 2300.

    The difference is simply where you are accounting for exercise activity. With TDEE it is included upfront in your calorie target (so you wouldn't "eat back" calories). With MFP it is accounted for after the fact when you log it which is why with MFP you "eat back" those calories.
    I also find this to be the way to go

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