Confusion / Question over BMR & TDEE

ibleedunionblue

First, I'm not smart about this stuff. I've read the threads and I'm still confused.

5'8" 154.4 pounds male 47 years old. ( i used 5'7: in calculations because my I'm about 5'7.5" inches tall).

Reason I ask, I just hit my goal weight and would like to work towards maintenance.

I have a sedentary desk job where I sit 6 hours a day, and up around plant for the other 2. Where I get confused however is with exercise activity. I run 70 miles or more a week. So I go to fitness frog and did the TDEE calculator and I dont know what to do for activity level.

But I picked moderate because it is in between no exercise and heavy exercise. I get a value of 2416. So is that the number of calories (roughly) I can eat on a day I run 10 miles or more so I can maintain my current weight?

And on a rare exercise day off, I should limit calories to 1871 (TDEE for no exercise activity) ? Or do I use my BMR (1559) for calories I can eat on days I dont exercise?

Queen8shaq

BUMP. I'm still trying to figure out my TDEE/BMR numbers.

nxd10

You are the perfect person to set yourself at sedentary, let MFP calculate your maintenance calories, and then log your exercise.

When you log in your runs, MFP will add those burned calories to your daily allotment so you will maintain. If you decide not to run that day, you won't have the calories. If you decide not to eat them the day you run, you can eat them the next day and watch your weekly calorie goals.

If you have a smart phone, you can also use an app like RunKeeper to get a better estimation of calories burned. It will sync with MFP and add those calories burned in automatically. Alternatively, a pedometer like fitbit will do it too. Look under the Apps options.

jacksonpt

Trial and error.

Pick an activity setting that seems reasonable. Do it for a month. Adjust as necessary.

erickirb

BMR is just an estimate at how many cals your body uses to live (if you were in a coma), so if you are trying to maintain weight eat TDEE, the only thing you need to know about BMR is that it was used to get to your TDEE

akaMrsmojo

It is my understanding, that your daily goal does not fluctuate if you exercise or not because it calculate in to your TDEE. The way I did it. I used my calorie goal daily. It worked well. You run so much, it is my understanding that keeps you metabolism up. Rest days are good. It is a cumulative thing. Of course, people differ. I saw the same success. I was a moderate, my goal was 1800 and that is what I ate, running or not.

Debbjones

You are the perfect person to set yourself at sedentary, let MFP calculate your maintenance calories, and then log your exercise.

When you log in your runs, MFP will add those burned calories to your daily allotment so you will maintain. If you decide not to run that day, you won't have the calories. If you decide not to eat them the day you run, you can eat them the next day and watch your weekly calorie goals.

If you have a smart phone, you can also use an app like RunKeeper to get a better estimation of calories burned. It will sync with MFP and add those calories burned in automatically. Alternatively, a pedometer like fitbit will do it too. Look under the Apps options.

I agree... using this method is how I achieved my weight loss and how I continue to maintain. It may not work for everyone but remember counting/tracking calories is an approximate science...

j6o4

Eat your TDEE everday and do not eat back you exercise calories doing this method.

jacksonpt

For the sake of your own knowledge, no one should be basing their calorie goal on BRM. I don't care how sedentary they are. If you follow MFP's approach, it should be based on BMR + NEAT + TEF. You then log your calories and eat them back. If you follow the TDEE - 20% apporach, then it's based on TDEE, which factors in EVERYTHING, and as such, there is no need to log or eat back exercise cals.

Definitions:

by joejvcca71 in this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/510406-tdee-is-everything

1. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): This is the amount of calories you need to consume to maintain your body if you were comatose (base level).

2. NEAT (Non-Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): The calorie of daily activity that is NOT exercise (eg: washing, walking, talking, shopping, working). ie: INCIDENTAL EXERCISE! It is something that everyone has a good amount of control over & it is the MOST important factor in your energy expenditure. It is what helps keep 'constitutionally lean' people LEAN (they fidget)!

3. EAT (Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): The calorie requirements associated with planned exercise. Unless someone is doing a whole heap of exercise (eg: two or more hrs training a day) it usually doesn't add a stack of calories to your requirements (30 minutes of 'elliptical training isn't going to do it')

4. TEF (Thermic effect of feeding): The calorie expenditure associated with eating. REGARDLESS of what myths you have been told - this is NOT dependent on MEAL FREQUENCY. It is a % of TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED (and 15% of 3 x 600 cal meals is the same as 15% of 6 x 300 cal meals). It varies according to MACRONUTRIENT content and FIBER content. For most mixed diets, it is something around 15%. Protein is higher (up to 25%), carbs are variable (between 5-25%), and fats are low (usually less than 5%). So -> More protein and more carbs and more fiber = HIGHER TEF. More FAT = LOWER TEF.

5. TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expedenture): Total calories burned. BMR + NEAT + EAT + TEF = TDEE

FrontBoard

You are the perfect person to set yourself at sedentary, let MFP calculate your maintenance calories, and then log your exercise.

When you log in your runs, MFP will add those burned calories to your daily allotment so you will maintain. If you decide not to run that day, you won't have the calories. If you decide not to eat them the day you run, you can eat them the next day and watch your weekly calorie goals.

If you have a smart phone, you can also use an app like RunKeeper to get a better estimation of calories burned. It will sync with MFP and add those calories burned in automatically. Alternatively, a pedometer like fitbit will do it too. Look under the Apps options.

I agree. Also, be aware the sedentary TDEE might not fully account for the calories burned in the 2 hours "around the plant" you describe. It depends on what you are doing in those hours. Even light walking for 2 hours is going to burn more calories than truly sitting at a desk.

glreim21

I you chose to follow the TDEE method, you would eat the same amount of calories everyday. Even on non exercise days, you would eat the same number of calories than on the days you run.

heybales

Ditto to just following MFP's method, perhaps selecting Lightly Active since you truly aren't sitting all day.

Because for you and marathon training and long runs, you are going to really want those extra calories on the day you do the longer exercise.
Spreading them out over the week isn't going to help in your case.

Besides, the TDEE Deficit method is really a help in losing weight when you need to learn to plan your meals correctly, so you eat the same amount daily.

You got this already.

Set activity level to Lightly Active, set goal loss to maintain.

Start eating 100 extra calories daily a week at a time, to get up to your new goal.

Use one of the suggested methods to get decent calorie burns, though MFP will be very accurate too from 4-6 mph, if you run flat and the stated pace exactly.

Eat those calories back that day. A pre-run snack to top off glucose stores, post run chocolate milk, bigger meal, ect. That'll have you ready for the next day.

And yes, sometimes it will seem like a big amount to eat back, let the extra fall over in to the next day.

Slrajr

Bump

OMGeeeHorses

I you chose to follow the TDEE method, you would eat the same amount of calories everyday. Even on non exercise days, you would eat the same number of calories than on the days you run.

That is not true.. your calories change for the amount of exercise you do each week.

go here http://www.fat2fitradio.com/

click all calculators and enjoy

It goes off of how many days you workout in a week for me if I did nothing my Sedentary amount is 1490 and if I work out 1-3 times a week its 1690ish and my working out 3-5 days is 1800ish.

heybales

I you chose to follow the TDEE method, you would eat the same amount of calories everyday. Even on non exercise days, you would eat the same number of calories than on the days you run.

That is not true.. your calories change for the amount of exercise you do each week.

go here http://www.fat2fitradio.com/

click all calculators and enjoy

It goes off of how many days you workout in a week for me if I did nothing my Sedentary amount is 1490 and if I work out 1-3 times a week its 1690ish and my working out 3-5 days is 1800ish.

That is true, your TDEE literally does change every day, and the MPF method is much closer to reality.

But the normal TDEE deficit method is taking the average weekly routine as you correctly described, and spreading those calorie out over the week to eat the same amount daily.

You do not vary from workout to non-workout day.

Also, days a week is so flimsy, is someone walking 45 min daily x 7 really Very Active, compared to someone running 1 hr x 5 days a week at Moderate Active? One will gain weight, badly.