TDEE Advice?

Boosier3

Hello all!

Just wanted a little TDEE help and to see what you all think.

I'm using this awesome resource which I found on this site to calculate TDEE: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

My stats:

194lbs
64 inches tall
39 years old

My job is very sedentary, but at the moment I'm doing 45 to 60 minutes on the treadmill at a walk, but with a slight incline 4 to 5 days a week.

Am I best to put my activity levels as desk job with little exercise, then eat back my exercise cals on the days I'm walking or not log my exercise and up the activity level to 3-5 hours of moderate exercise (Gives TDEE -20% as 1772 cals)?

As it stands now, I custom fit my calories at 1465, but when I walk my Fitbit shows that I am below 1200 calories. I have my diary open if anyone needs to view it. I question my current calorie intake as my weight loss has slowed since I started walking...net calories too low?

I just don't know what to do, and what is best healthy way to go. I'm aware TDEE is often discussed here, but would appreciate any feedback!

Thanks,

Lisa

cathipa

I do the TDEE -20% method too. I recommend setting your activity to 3-5 hours and eating what the calculator gives you. Then you don't need to worry about calculating what you really burned for your workout and you already have a set value in place. Don't let the fitbit sync with MFP since it will give you calories back. I found it to be very confusing and I just use my fitbit now to know how many miles/steps I go in a day and don't worry about the calories.

Hope this helps!!

BTW -your diary is not open to public

Boosier3

Thank you for the feedback. I was debating on un-syncing my Fitbit. I love it, but hate that it throws off my available calorie intake every day. My apologies, I made my diary public, if anyone would like to view and critique.

Happy Tuesday!

Francl27

IMO it depends of your walk, how fast you're going and what % of incline you're using. I walk 45 minutes a day in average and I'm still mostly in the 'lightly active' category from the walks alone, because unless I'm going at 3.5 mph with a 5% incline, it's really only light exercise.

I'm confused about your fitbit numbers though - what does it say you burn in a day when you go to your fitbit dashboard?

Boosier3

Looking at the last week of my dashboard, the calories burned vary from 2300 to 2700 calories. When I looked at the past week of my calorie intake, the numbers are WAY too low. Many days well below 1200.

cathipa

I just did your calculations and I get a higher number than what you originally stated. You should be eating at least your BMR which would be 1611. If you add your exercise into it you could eat up to 1997 calories per day and still lose 1 lb per week. I found when I ate my BMR I began to lose weight faster and then when I switched to TDEE -20% I really saw improvements (and I could eat more without being so cranky..lol).

Boosier3

I guess I just keep getting conflicting info and not sure which way to go. Should I do MFP, set to lightly active (desk job with 4-5 days of walking) OR do I use the Scooby calculator and not eat calories back.

Francl27 - you have done amazing!! Which way do you figure your calories in/out?

Thanks for the help!

Boosier3

Thanks Cathipa! I was thinking I needed to increase my caloric intake as well. Should I just set my MFP to custom at 1650 and see how that works? I wouldn't eat my exercise calories back that way correct?

Boosier3

Bumpity, bump bump!

cathipa

If you are doing TDEE -20% you should calculate your calories with the scooby calculator and set your activity to what best fits your level. It will give you that number. If you are only going to eat 1650 (which is about your BMR) I would then recommend to eat back your exercise calories. I was just as confused, but I found for me just knowing what my TDEE goal was I didn't need to figure what my exercise calories were. I still log my activity on MFP, but I just log the time and not the calories (I just set it to 1).

Boosier3

Okay, thank you for the input! So very much appreciated. I think I am going to set it to TDEE - 20% for 1750, and not eat back exercise calories and see how that goes. It's going to seem weird to eat more, and lose weight.

I'm sure I will get used to it real quick, if I start to see the scale move in the right directions. Now I need to figure out how to fit another 400 calories into the daily eating plan, and keep my macros in check!