calorie count from MFP or use TDEE approach?

rhileyschubbygranny

I just started on MFP and diet last week. Which is what most people use, counting the calories from MFP (1200 daily is suggested) or using the TDEE approach (2052 calories per day is suggested)after I subtracted 20%). There is huge difference in calories between the two. Because of that, TDEE scares me but maybe that is the best way. . I am a 47 year old female who needs to lose 50 lbs and has a desk job which I never get up from. Cardio 30 minutes 4x week and will be adding weight training within in the next week also.

cwolfman13

If you do it right, it's pretty much 6 of 1. Where people get all hung up is they compare a 2 Lb per week loss goal with MFP to a TDEE - 20% cut, which is more like 1 Lb per week. But really, they're 6 of 1...the only difference is that with TDEE you account for exercise before the fact and include it in your activity level. With MFP, it is not included in your activity level and is accounted for after the fact when you log your exercise and then you're supposed to eat those calories back.

Again, the reason you're getting such a huge difference in calories is because you're probably comparing a 2 Lbs per week goal to a 1 Lb per week goal (that's an extra 500 calories per day) and you probably don't understand that with MFP you're supposed to eat exercise calories back because they are NOT accounted for if you set your activity level appropriately.

Here's my example...MFP to lose 1 Lb per week = 1,850 NET calories....with exercise I was consuming between 2100 - 2200 gross calories per day. My TDEE is 2600 - 2700 calories...with a 20% cut, that puts me 2,080 - 2,160 gross calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week. As you can see...there is very little difference.

The methodology isn't the issue...understanding what you're doing is more important...beyond that, it's all about consistency and patience.

rhileyschubbygranny

Thank you for your help and explaination, I appreciate it!

daftthoughts

I found myself hungry a lot on MFP's calories of 1790. My TDEE - 20% is 2000, so I stuck with MFP's 2060 calories because it's a nicer number to work with and that one snack extra makes me less likely to binge.

ItsCasey

I agree that it's pretty much the same in the end. I use TDEE because it's just more convenient to have the same calorie and macro goals every day and not have to worry about eating back exercise calories. But some people like the idea of "earning" more calories with their workouts and actually seeing those numbers in black and white. So it's really just a matter of preference.

rhileyschubbygranny

Thanks ItsCasey. I think I will start using the TDEE approach starting on Wed 9/18 as that is the beginning of my "new dieting week." I normally don't exercise until shortly before bed time so eating back my calories isn't probably the best thing to do that late at night when I could use them during the day time much more. I don't want to eat them prior to actually working out each day because I quite often have to unexpectedly have to babysit my granddaughter on very short notice if her parents don't get out work on time.

ateneagarza

I'm new to the entire weight loss thing and I really don't want to fail. Would you mind clarifying something for me? If I have my MFP to lose 2 lbs a week at 1430 calories and I'm exercising 600 calories a day I HAVE to eat those back? What happens if I were not to eat them back? Most of the time I have around 200 to 400 calorie deficit when I finish my day. Is this a very bad thing? Thanks for your help! You can see my daily intake and expenditure on my mfp page since it's open to the public.