Another annoying TDEE/BMR question

ravenmiss

Ok, I've been at this a while and been reading and reading and reading and learning and now my head hurts a little.

I've gone from trying to eat 1200 and do no exercise to working out my BMR, TDEE, lifting 3 times a week and doing cardio, getting a HRM etc in the space of 2 months and feel better for it. I take an estimated resting rate off the cals burned from my HRM and eat back around half of them now, I used to eat them all back but I'm not seeing much in the way of losses so will try 50% for now.

I am slowly losing the weight due to lapses in eating (takeaways and a couple of heavy wine weekends) it's not coming off as fast as I'd like but there's only me to blame for that I am however losing inches which is awesome.

I am currently 233 pounds, I'm 5ft6, 34yo and female. According to calculators my BMR is 1820 and my TDEE using the sedentary setting (I like to manually input my exercise cals into MFP) is 2184. I have read that a 20% reduction in my TDEE is about right for the amount I have to lose but this puts me at 1747 (I have MFP set to 1750). But this is less than my BMR which I see people shouted at for eating under....

Soooo my question is, am I ok to keep it at 1750 even though it's less than my BMR? Am I even working this out right?!

SezxyStef

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr

no it's fine to eat under your BMR...

However do not use your HRM for weight lifting...it will be very inaccurate.

JennyKCarty

There is no such thing as a sedentary TDEE unless all you do is lay on the couch all day. What is your TDEE factoring in your exercise and activity??? Find that number and subtract the 20% off of that.

Or use MFP as intended and eat back your exercise calories.

ravenmiss

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr

no it's fine to eat under your BMR...

However do not use your HRM for weight lifting...it will be very inaccurate.

Thanks Stef that's super helpful

And nope, HRM is only used for steady state cardio.

ravenmiss

There is no such thing as a sedentary TDEE unless all you do is lay on the couch all day. What is your TDEE factoring in your exercise and activity??? Find that number and subtract the 20% off of that.

Or use MFP as intended and eat back your exercise calories.

Huh?

There's different levels when calculating your TDEE, one includes "If you are sedentary (little or no exercise)". Take it up with the site I looked at hun, not me!

And I do eat back my exercise calories....

I was just asking if eating under my BMR was ok....but, erm thanks anyway!

bajoyba

There is no such thing as a sedentary TDEE unless all you do is lay on the couch all day. What is your TDEE factoring in your exercise and activity??? Find that number and subtract the 20% off of that.

Or use MFP as intended and eat back your exercise calories.

Huh?

There's different levels when calculating your TDEE, one includes "If you are sedentary (little or no exercise)". Take it up with the site I looked at hun, not me!

And I do eat back my exercise calories....

I was just asking if eating under my BMR was ok....but, erm thanks anyway!

Well she's kind of right. TDEE = total daily energy expenditure, which means you're supposed to calculate your TDEE by taking into account ALL of the activity you do in a day, including exercise. Technically, having a sedentary TDEE means that you never do any exercise and are pretty inactive all day long. Most people who use the TDEE method don't eat back their exercise calories because they've already accounted for them in their TDEE.

So if you're calculating your TDEE as sendentary and taking a 20% cut from that number, it makes sense that your 20% deficit is less than your BMR. If you were to actually take into account all of your activity, it would raise your TDEE, and your 20% cut would probably be higher than your BMR.

But if you're going to eat at or under your BMR and then eat back your exercise calories, I guess you could do it that way too. That's basically the way MFP works anyway.

3dogsrunning

The confusion here is that TDEE includes your exercise. It it Total Daily Energy Expenditure. The method you are using is essentially the same as MFP, figuring NEAT, not TDEE.

You are supposed to account for exercise in some way, whether it is included in the formula outright by using the TDEE method and choosing the level that reflects your actual activity level. Or by using the NEAT method where you figure your daily activty without exercise and log it separately. If figured correctly, you should end up in the same place when averaged over the week with both methods. Its 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

Also, as mentioned, HRMs are reliable for steady state cardio at moderate intensity only. Once you go outside that, the accuracy decreases. It is not effective at all for low level intensity like daily life. Strength training, with maybe the exception of circuit training, will also have low accuracy.

ravenmiss

Ok well my apologies to that previous poster as I couldn't understand what she meant as I do eat back my exercise calories. I was just trying to work out the NEAT method but am apparently getting it wrong?

My exercise can be all over the place so how would I calculate my TDEE when one week I do cardio once and the next week I do it 5 times?

If I use MFP as a guide and set it to 2lb a week, which considering how much I have to lose I am given 1220 which feels almost impossible for me

So I have set it to 1.2lb a week loss which gives a nice round 1600 and will try and stick to that and eat back half my exercise calories. I don't count strength training only the steady state cardio.

Hopefully that's right?

Aaron_K123

Ok, I've been at this a while and been reading and reading and reading and learning and now my head hurts a little.

I've gone from trying to eat 1200 and do no exercise to working out my BMR, TDEE, lifting 3 times a week and doing cardio, getting a HRM etc in the space of 2 months and feel better for it. I take an estimated resting rate off the cals burned from my HRM and eat back around half of them now, I used to eat them all back but I'm not seeing much in the way of losses so will try 50% for now.

I am slowly losing the weight due to lapses in eating (takeaways and a couple of heavy wine weekends) it's not coming off as fast as I'd like but there's only me to blame for that I am however losing inches which is awesome.

I am currently 233 pounds, I'm 5ft6, 34yo and female. According to calculators my BMR is 1820 and my TDEE using the sedentary setting (I like to manually input my exercise cals into MFP) is 2184. I have read that a 20% reduction in my TDEE is about right for the amount I have to lose but this puts me at 1747 (I have MFP set to 1750). But this is less than my BMR which I see people shouted at for eating under....

Soooo my question is, am I ok to keep it at 1750 even though it's less than my BMR? Am I even working this out right?!

Sounds pretty good to me and it seems to be working for you so I would recommend not second guessing it to much, try to just get in that zone where you can coast on your routine for a while and slowly lose the weight. If you fully stall for like 3 months then maybe its time to question but until then enjoy the ride. Sounds like you are doing it healthily.

ravenmiss

Sounds pretty good to me and it seems to be working for you so I would recommend not second guessing it to much, try to just get in that zone where you can coast on your routine for a while and slowly lose the weight. If you fully stall for like 3 months then maybe its time to question but until then enjoy the ride. Sounds like you are doing it healthily.

Thanks, I kinda knew what I was doing was around right but I do have doubts at times, it's just the way I am.

I do appreciate everyone taking the time to respond, I will try my best to stick at this now.