Can I *know* my TDEE?

jonnythan

OP says "3 months" and then uses "170" as the number of days.

In the equation I gave, the weight loss and calories consumed must be over the same period of time. Don't use 3 months of weight loss and 5 months of calorie consumption. That doesn't work out.

amusedmonkey

Since you lost weight, your TDEE may have changed, and if you had been exercising that could have too affected it somewhat (if you gained muscle), It would actually be more accurate if you only use the last week calculations since they are closer to your target weight. Now your math is great but 3 cavities:

1- Unless you keep increasing the difficulty of your exercise in a linear way, you are likely to start burning less.
2- Every year you are getting older which means you will be burning less.
3- Neither calories consumed nor calories burned are an exact number, they are both estimates.

Here is what I suggest to gradually find your exact TDEE:
1- Fast or eat very low calorie for a day or 2 and weigh yourself next morning right after a number 2 bathroom visit.
2- Now indulge and eat high calorie/volume for a day or two and weigh yourself at the end of the day right after a meal.

Those are your lowest and highest weight points and their average is likely closer to what you will be seeing most often. To maintain you should be staying within that range. A few days at one end or another is fine, but a trend towards either end means something is not working. If your weight goes over or under these values within the first week, use it as a new endpoint.

Now starts the long and painful process of troubleshooting. Eat the calories you calculated as your TDEE for a month or 2 and watch the trend closely. If you find your "average" weight gradually climbing towards the upper end of your range or exceeding it, you will need to decrease your calories, and vice versa. Once your weight settles fluctuating around the middle of the range, you will know you've hit the golden number so keep tweaking till then. If for any reason your weight starts creeping towards either of the ends in the future, you will be able to notice the trend and adjust accordingly.

shapefitter

Alternatively, check out www.fitnessfrog.com for your TDEE, and other questions.

424a57

OP says "3 months" and then uses "170" as the number of days.

In the equation I gave, the weight loss and calories consumed must be over the same period of time. Don't use 3 months of weight loss and 5 months of calorie consumption. That doesn't work out.

Thank you. After you said this, I realized I was using my latest "diet-to-date" data, instead of the last 3 months. The weight change was for 3 months. But the food/exercise data was wrong.

Calories: 178824 / 90 = 1986 CHO/FAT/PRO: 51/28/21 Chol: 263.1mg Sodium: 3223.2mg Fiber: 32.4g
Exercise: 88 TotCal: 41427 TotMin: 7213 Cal/day: 470 Cal/min: 5.7

Net: 1526
TDEE: 2788 ( this is using the ((weight lost in pounds) * 3500 + (calories consumed)) / (number of days over which you measured) formula)

joan23_us

OP, you got it right in your OP.

Your TDEE is the number of calories you'd need to eat in order to maintain your current weight. If you are looking to maintain now, then start eating at your calculated TDEE now. If you gain weight for several weeks then you are over, so drop it down some at that time.

Also keep in mind that when you go from deficit to maintenance your body will do things like refilling glycogen stores and you are going to gain several pounds at the start no matter how you approach it. That is not indicative of fat gain or that you are overeating or doing something wrong. (Unless it continues, at which point, again, you readjust.)

(If you are unhappy with your maint weight being 3-5 lbs more than you weigh now, then you need to go 3-5 lbs lower before going to maintenance.)

this + 1, conservative approach and based on own experience by the sound of it.