Just Thinking Out Loud

cassique

This whole TDEE business has got me thinking--and probably stating the obvious now but I never thought of it this way before.
Now that i am very close to my goal weight I am thinking about starting to increase calories. My TDEE at the weight I want to be is about 2000 calories. So I am thinking of increasing to that amount and my body would then naturally settle at that weight.

But then it got me thinking. Why do we wait until we hit our goal weight to start eating our goal weight maintenance? I could have just cut my calories to the goal weight TDEE from the beginning and I would have been eating more all of this time. It would take me longer to get there, but eventually I would hit that weight and stay there without having to adjust. I think I finally fully understand the concept of lifestyle change. Change your lifestyle to the weight you want to be and you will eventually get there and settle there.

I guess impatience usually wins out, eating at a cut to lose a specific amount of pounds each week. But for a real lifestyle change cutting calories to your goal weight maintenance would change the attitude from, "hit my goal, diet over" to "This is the new way I eat and move forever" and end up hitting and staying at your goal as a result.

MelodyandBarbells

This whole TDEE business has got me thinking--and probably stating the obvious now but I never thought of it this way before.
Now that i am very close to my goal weight I am thinking about starting to increase calories. My TDEE at the weight I want to be is about 2000 calories. So I am thinking of increasing to that amount and my body would then naturally settle at that weight.

But then it got me thinking. Why do we wait until we hit our goal weight to start eating our goal weight maintenance? I could have just cut my calories to the goal weight TDEE from the beginning and I would have been eating more all of this time. It would take me longer to get there, but eventually I would hit that weight and stay there without having to adjust. I think I finally fully understand the concept of lifestyle change. Change your lifestyle to the weight you want to be and you will eventually get there and settle there.

I guess impatience usually wins out, eating at a cut to lose a specific amount of pounds each week. But for a real lifestyle change cutting calories to your goal weight maintenance would change the attitude from, "hit my goal, diet over" to "This is the new way I eat and move forever" and end up hitting and staying at your goal as a result.

I've heard of this principle. However consider that when a person is big enough, the MFP supplied daily target could be more than their goal weight TDEE, so they could be missing out on an opportunity to eat more food and more gently transition from the old lifestyle to the new. Besides can you really know what your final TDEE would be - would you be more active, less active, etc. Finally you can adjust your goals to be as conservative or aggressive as you want. Just have to work quite a bit harder to hit the bigger numbers each week

I think I'm just throwing out some thoughts too. I don't have any real answers lol

FlowerFairy493

I've thought about doing this before. And that really would be a lifestyle change. For me it'll take YEARS to get there because I only have 3kg to lose. So that deficit is super super small. Like 50 calories a day lost.

cassique

Yes, I guess it would depend on how much you have to lose if it is a good idea or not. I have always been a believer of eating as much as you can while still being able to lose weight--because deprivation has never worked for me.

I'm just thinking that since my old "set point weight" for many years has been 155, that means that my normal eating and activity habits for many years has had me eating at a TDEE of that amount--sometimes I'd weigh more, sometimes less, but when things just played themselves out normally, that is the weight I would settle at. It could be another approach for those beginning their journey. If there goal is to lose 30 pounds in six months, what happens after six months or after the goal is met? Hopefully, they will continue to work to maintain, but if they have come to believe they are no longer that person who was 30 pounds heavier then it shouldn't feel like working towards a goal, but just their new reality. Another approach could be--you want to be 30 pounds less, start behaving like you already are and you will eventually get there.

Now that I want my new set point weight to be 135 (which I have hit this week! YAY!!) that means I have to eat like 135 pounder with my established activity level--I can't go back to acting like a 155 pounder unless I want to become that again. It's like the mystical idea of becoming what you think, or the psychological idea of "acting as if". I always wanted to believe in those concepts but it seemed so far fetched to me. However, if you are believing you are that weight, you will be eating like you are that weight, and you will eventually become that weight. The science behind the magic.

I'm sure I am stating the obvious to so many of you who have been successful, but for me, maintenance has never worked because I always viewed it as, I'm happy where I am so now I will stop. I just had the epiphany that there is no stopping, or working towards, or trying to--it just has to become my new reality.

vismal

The problem with this method is that you aren't able to eat the TDEE of what your goal weight will be because you don't know what your tdee will be at your goal weight. All you have is a number a TDEE calculator spits out. If I went by a TDEE calculator I would maintain at 2700ish calories depending on the calculator. In actuality I maintain on 3300 calories. This works both ways too, some people have a TDEE less then what the calculator spits out. The number is also not a static number. It varies. My TDEE is usually 200 or so calories higher in the summer vs the winter because I am simply more active in the summer. Prolonged calorie deficits can lower TDEE while prolonged calorie surpluses can raise it. When I start a bulk it takes me 3500 calories to gain 1/2 a lb a week. After 6-9 months of bulking, that number is sometimes as high as 3800.

TL/DR: Calculators are just an estimate of TDEE and TDEE is not a static number.

cassique

Good point. That is one thing I am a little worried about. I tend to be less active in the winter and I need to make sure I adjust my calories to reflect that.