My TDEE and my MFP calorie goals are WAY different?

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MarKayDee
MarKayDee Posts: 196
in Health and Weight Loss
Just did my TDEE expecting to not see much of a difference between it and MFP. It's about 200calories more for my TDEE minus 25%. It's 500 calories more at the 15% everyone suggests.
Which is more accurate, and should I up my intake again? (I had a tendency to forget to eat before I joined MFP and my food intake has already doubled)

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  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    it all depends on what you have your goal set up in MFP as and if you used the same activity factor in both cases.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    Your settings for MFP are probably different than your TDEE calculation. I don't quite understand your explanation of the differences (probably because I just have a mental block when it comes to doing math over the forums), but just pick a method and go with it, assuming you have realistic goals.
  • Brandolin11
    Brandolin11 Posts: 492 Member
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    I noticed that same thing when I started on here. For kicks, I decided to try an online calculator to figure out my TDEE on my own (and the calculator I picked factored in my activity level) and the amount the calculator was telling me to eat was more than MFP.

    I input that amount manually into my MFP profile and just stuck w/that.

    I didn't eat back my exercise calories (because that was already factored in). I just ate what the calculator told me to eat.

    I recalculated every 10 lbs I lost and re-entered that amount each time into MFP.

    I soon came to find that I was losing weight so consistently that I could predict the date I would lose my next 10 lbs! I predicted that weight 7 times over w/in three days each time. I reached my goal of ~70lbs in approx one year.

    Just my experience, wanted to share.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    MFP is not a TDEE based calculator, so yes, they would be different. MFP does not include exercise in it's calculation, it gives you a flat deduction of calories off your estimated needs depending on what rate of loss you choose. Then you are expected to eat more when you exercise.

    A properly set MFP + exercise calories goal should be in the same ballpark as a properly set TDEE - % goal.
  • Brandolin11
    Brandolin11 Posts: 492 Member
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    MFP is not a TDEE based calculator, so yes, they would be different. MFP does not include exercise in it's calculation, it gives you a flat deduction of calories off your estimated needs depending on what rate of loss you choose. Then you are expected to eat more when you exercise.

    A properly set MFP + exercise calories goal should be in the same ballpark as a properly set TDEE - % goal.

    A ha! That explains it. Thank you for that.

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