TDEE Method

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I apologize for the many questions that I am about to ask, so please just answer what you are able to.
I appreciate it!

I was wondering how switching to the TDEE method effects your body. Will you gain weight at first and then lose a lot more? Or will you just continue losing? Also, to figure out what you should be eating, you subtract up to 20% from your TDEE and eat that, so if you are not using that method, is it healthy/safe to eat below that? My current calorie goal is 1400. I used a TDEE calculator and subtracted 20% and it gave me 1780. On the website I used, it said it's not safe to subtract more than 20%, so does that mean I'm not eating enough, or is it okay because I'm not using that method? I eat back my exercise calories, but my net is usually only around 1200-1300.

Thank you for the help!

Replies

  • babybeegurl
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    I don't have an answer for u but I'm in the same boat. I eat back my exercise calories and net 1200 to 1400. So my food intake alone is like 1350-1550. The tdee numbers seem so high. Looking forward to the answer.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    TDEE vs MFP really should generally work out to being six of one, a half dozen of the other. Switching to TDEE typically happens because

    a). You want to eat the same known, fixed amount everyday
    b) You're tired of chasing around exercise calories burned, or your chosen form of exercise may not have a fixed or easy to calculate burn associated with it (such as weight lifting with rest periods)

    When you calculate your TDEE , you input how often you exercise. Whereas when your MFP goal is calculated, it doesn't take exercise into consideration but you're supposed to log those on a daily basis and "eat back" your exercise calories.

    No, if you did your calculations correctly, you shouldn't gain weight by switching to TDEE method. You should, however keep an eye on things for the next few months. If after a month or so, you're not losing at the rate you expected, you're too hungry, feel run down, etc, adjust your daily calorie intake up or down as needed by about a hundred calories, rinse, repeat

    If you've been logging accurately and like your results , you could simply average out your total (not net) food intake and use that as your daily food goal (no exercise calories logged or eaten back)