Calorie reduction

festerbeatty

Hi there,

I thought I was doing well, and I'm strictly sticking to my clean diet and calorie limit of 1650/day as recommended by myfitnessspal.

However, having read through tonnes of conflicting information, it appears that my 1650/day is not enough...despite the fact that that's what MFP recommends and it's currently working...?

My BMR is 2070 and my TDEE is about 2700. From what I've read most recommendations say don't ever go more than 25% below the TDEE which means I should be eating 2025 calories per day to lose weight...However, I know myself that I would gain weight if I added an additional 400 cals to my daily diet.

Can anyone shed some light on this extremely confusing issue??

Many thanks!

TavistockToad

if you're using MFP correctly you should NET 1650 cals? (so eat back exercise calories) doing this will should give you a gross number close to your TDEE calculation?

10manda86

if you're using MFP correctly you should NET 1650 cals? (so eat back exercise calories) doing this will should give you a gross number close to your TDEE calculation?

this... because if you earn 400 calories from exercise and then eat them you will be much closer to the 2025 think of exercise as building muscle and you need to eat to build that muscle and you need to eat those back to allow your muscles to recover (as long as you are eating them back as bulk protein)

its been a long day, can you read around my terrible post???

prdavies1949

There is an old saying "If it isn't broke don't fix it". If you have been using MFP since 2011, and what you have been doing is working, then just keep on going as you are.

BenjaminMFP88

if you're using MFP correctly you should NET 1650 cals? (so eat back exercise calories) doing this will should give you a gross number close to your TDEE calculation?

This, basically TDEE shows your GROSS caloris allowed per day. Meaning, that as long as you remain as active as the number you input to arrive at this value, then it'll work. MFP uses NET calories. Meaning, you eat back the calories you burn at the gym. If you set up your TDEE acurately, and are acurate with the calories you burn while working out, then they should be the same in the end.

Honestly, what I find to work better then this? Go with your BMR and purchase a Heart Rate Monitor. Eat at your BMR and eat back the majority of the calories back that your Heart Rate Monitor says you burned at the gym. Do this for a few weeks and see your progress.

If you gain weight, lower your caloric intake by ~200 calories
If you maintained, lower your caloric intake by ~100 calories
If you lost weight, good job

At the end of every month, reavulate the above as your BMR will change as you lose weight meaning your body will require less calories.

Just my two cents...

festerbeatty

Excellent, thanks. I wasn't eating back my exercise cals, but I'll start doing that and see how we go.

Thanks for clarifying, that makes sense now!