TDEE

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    And if 1690 is what I should eat and then I burn 400 with exercise them I'm left with 1290, and that seems low for me!

    Your exercise is already included in the TDEE calculations...you don't eat them back with TDEE. The reason you do that with MFP is because that activity is NOT included in your activity level.

    If you're gaining then adjust down, simple as that. These calculators are a starting point based on statistical averages...nobody has a TDEE of exactly XXXX calories...you have to make adjustments as per real world results. If you're gaining then knock it down a hundred calories or so until you dial in the number that works for you.

    Again, any of these calculators, including MFP are just estimates and good starting points....also, don't blame methodology if it's not working...MFP and TDEE are 6 of 1 half dozen of the other if you're doing it correctly...you have to be very consistent and meticulous in your logging...with TDEE - 20% you're talking about 1 lb per week loss...that's a mere 500 calories per day deficit...if you're not being meticulous in weighing, measuring, logging then it's pretty easy to blow that deficit up...hell, that's a couple handfuls of nuts and deficit is gone.

    Calorie counting requires being as precise as possible regardless of method.
    OK, so since trying to eat 1690 the past few days, i've gained weight! :(

    could be anything...water...waste...weighed in at a different time of day, etc. The body fluctuates a good 3- 5 Lbs day to day throughout the week in weight...when you're talking 1 Lb per week loss that can easily be masked by those fluctuations. One week doesn't represent a trend...a trend is something visible over a much longer period of time...weight loss is a trend, not a linear function. You have not been consistent enough with anything for long enough to even establish a baseline.
  • djwife03
    djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
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    i haven't exercised this week...YET. trying to figure this calorie thing. I do know if I go lower, I find I'm hungry . so i'm either eating the wrong foods, or not eating enough calories to sustain me.
  • djwife03
    djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
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    also, I've been eating below TDEE for some time now, and have been gaining weight/not losing the entire time. that's why i really want to figure this out!
  • _jayciemarie_
    _jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
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    OK, so since trying to eat 1690 the past few days, i've gained weight! :(

    This is what I'm afraid of too! MFP tells me to lose 2lbs a week to eat 1200 calories. If I calculate my TDEE it says to eat 1690. WHAT one do I follow? So frustrating!
  • TX_Rhon
    TX_Rhon Posts: 1,549 Member
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    You stated you were losing inches! That is a loss and congrats. :drinker:

    I use the MFP settings and it's working. Good luck :flowerforyou:
  • projectjamaica
    projectjamaica Posts: 30
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    This whole TDEE thing is like dangling a bone into a pit of snarling dogs, plus you're about to be hit by a wall of conflicting opinions.

    Honestly? Just obsessively log the calories and dont eat them back, that's what's working for me. This whole "eat to lose" nonsense is just confusing and I'm not convinced it's backed up by the research.
    Amen!!
  • Oh_Allie
    Oh_Allie Posts: 258 Member
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    I don't mean to sound like a jerk at all, so please don't take it that way, but if you're gaining weight on a deficit, the only real explanation (aside from waste/water/weighing at a different time, etc.) is that you're not tracking something right and are possibly overestimating your calories in.

    And don't trust online calculators to tell you what you burned. Get a heart rate monitor with a chest strap. They're not 100% accurate, but they're way more accurate than a website.
  • djwife03
    djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
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    your not rude. but, if i'm eating too much, then why am I hungry throughout the day? i do know that calorie burn calculators are inaccurate, that's why when I use them I take at least 100 calories off the total it gives me.

    when I workout, I usually run 3-4 miles and lift or do circuit exercises. so, it's not like i'm not burning ANY calories, you know? I've gained 10lbs in one year, and before that, i ate worse than I do now!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,392 MFP Moderator
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    Whenever you alter a method, then you need to give it 4-6 weeks to adjust. Many people will gain several pounds the first few weeks and then a whoosh of weight will occur. But if you change your routine from the time you calculated your TDEE, then an issue is cause. So if you factored in 5 days of exercise and then stop exercising, then you went from a deficit to probably maintenance as you dont have exercise to create a deficit.
  • djwife03
    djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
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    craaaaaappppp!!! thank you!!
  • 4daluvof_candice
    4daluvof_candice Posts: 483 Member
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    So I just eat 1690 regardless....I don't know why I can't get this!

    Yes!
  • 4daluvof_candice
    4daluvof_candice Posts: 483 Member
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    Whenever you alter a method, then you need to give it 4-6 weeks to adjust.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    This is what I'm afraid of too! MFP tells me to lose 2lbs a week to eat 1200 calories. If I calculate my TDEE it says to eat 1690. WHAT one do I follow? So frustrating!

    If you have your goals set correctly they shouldn't be that far off. 1) Your weekly weight loss is too high - 2 pounds per week was even a bit high for you when you started - 1.5 per week would've been more realistic. With the amount of weight you have left ot lose, your goal should be 1 pound per week. 2) MFP doesn't include exercise calories but TDEE does. This can make a huge difference in the numbers depending on how active you are.

    For instance, if I do guided goals with MFP, choosing 1/2 pound per week (realistic goal for me). it gives me 1610 per day. That's net so add in what I burn for exercise over the week and my actual consumed would be about 1860 (average burn of 350 times 5 days, divided by 7 to get a weekly average).

    If I go to Scooby, I'm somewhere between 1-3 and 3-5 hours of exercise per week so I took an average of the two and came up with 1894 for a daily goal. That's with a 15% calorie deficit. Pretty closer to what MFP game me
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
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    You gotta do what works for you.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    This is what I'm afraid of too! MFP tells me to lose 2lbs a week to eat 1200 calories. If I calculate my TDEE it says to eat 1690. WHAT one do I follow? So frustrating!

    The two methods are six of one if you do them right. The only difference between the two methods is where you account for exercise. Your MFP 1200 calorie goal is NET of exercise...meaning that activity isn't accounted for...you get credit for it when you log it which is why MFP gives you extra exercise calories to eat back. Exercise activity is accounted for on the *kitten* end of the equation.

    TDEE makes some estimation of your exercise burn in your activity level...therefore those addition calories MFP gives you after the fact are already estimated in your activity level and therefore included in you calorie goal on the front end of the equation. Therefore you overall goal up front is higher.

    You also have to do an apples to apples loss goal comparison....your 1200 calorie goal is 2 lbs per week...TDEE - 20% is closer to 1 Lb per week loss goal for most people.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    This whole TDEE thing is like dangling a bone into a pit of snarling dogs, plus you're about to be hit by a wall of conflicting opinions.

    Honestly? Just obsessively log the calories and dont eat them back, that's what's working for me. This whole "eat to lose" nonsense is just confusing and I'm not convinced it's backed up by the research.
    Amen!!

    It's 5th grade math...it's not hard at all...all it is, is calculating a reasonable calorie deficit for weight loss...people just like to overcomplicate the uncomplicated.
  • _jayciemarie_
    _jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
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    This is what I'm afraid of too! MFP tells me to lose 2lbs a week to eat 1200 calories. If I calculate my TDEE it says to eat 1690. WHAT one do I follow? So frustrating!

    If you have your goals set correctly they shouldn't be that far off. 1) Your weekly weight loss is too high - 2 pounds per week was even a bit high for you when you started - 1.5 per week would've been more realistic. With the amount of weight you have left ot lose, your goal should be 1 pound per week. 2) MFP doesn't include exercise calories but TDEE does. This can make a huge difference in the numbers depending on how active you are.

    For instance, if I do guided goals with MFP, choosing 1/2 pound per week (realistic goal for me). it gives me 1610 per day. That's net so add in what I burn for exercise over the week and my actual consumed would be about 1860 (average burn of 350 times 5 days, divided by 7 to get a weekly average).

    If I go to Scooby, I'm somewhere between 1-3 and 3-5 hours of exercise per week so I took an average of the two and came up with 1894 for a daily goal. That's with a 15% calorie deficit. Pretty closer to what MFP game me

    Really? You think that me starting at 230lb and shooting for 2lbs a week is too high? My BMR was (I believe) 37---I am way obese!!! I was honestly projecting myself to lose 2lbs a week until 175, and then hopefully try to inch it down from there. I'm happy with 175 though.

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