TDEE - 10/15/20% HAS IT WORKED FOR YOU?

bobbybromley

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has ate at TDEE -10/15/20% and successfully and continually lost weight? How many calories did you eat a day, how many times did you workout? If you could share you experience that would be great!
I'm thinking of eating at my TDEE -20% but I'm so used to eating at 1500-1600 a day + exercise calories (which hasn't been working out great so far) I'm still dubious about this method!

Thanks in advance x

AnexRavensong

It's the only way I started losing weight! O_o before that I was trying to eat like 1200 ish and nothing was happening.. then I started gaining >.>

TDEE with a deficit is long term sustainable and encourages you to burn fat as opposed to muscle. I highly recommend it. I'd give you my cals but it is different for everyone depending on their activity level etc. When I was doing things (which I'm not after surgery recovery) I was eating at 1900 cals and losing weight also, but mainly fat and inches (which is what matters more!). Now, that I'm doing nothing but bumming at home lazy, I eat about 1565 cals which is hard to get used to compared to 1900, but until I can do things again, this is my cal rate with a cut (barely over BMR ).

Id also like to point out that I had previously lost much more weight, but I fell off the tracking wagon about a year ago and gained it all back going crazy in the US (visiting my family). Thing is I only gained about a size during that time as opposed to the 2 sizes bigger I had been before I started. What matters more is how the clothes fit than a number on the scale and TDEE with a cut is more about burning fat... so its successes are mainly measured in inches.

Liftng4Lis

I've been on the 1300 calories for three months and hit a plateau. Now I'm on TDEE -20% and although I haven't lost yet, I haven't gained either. After a week of this raised calories that's pretty impressive to me.

OllyJ_79

A 20% reduction from the TDEE value will almost certainly result in a fairly quick weight loss, as it will be around 500 cal per day of deficit roughly, which is around 1 l/b a week.

The most important item for this to work is to ensure you aren't consuming more than you think inadvertently. Everyone will always automatically say they know exactly how much they are eating, and it couldn't be that, but unless you are weighing every single item on a digital scale, and measuring all liquids, oils and calorie containing drinks, then you are not being accurate. Cups and eyeballs are not going to cut it.

The body is like an engine, what you put in and what you take out has to match up, it doesn't decide what it wants to lose etc. If you are not losing or gaining it is likely you are eating at your maintenance level. If it goes on for more than a week or two, cut 100 calories and check again a week later, as this will likely put you back into deficit and mask any logging inaccuracy. If you have started a rigorous exercise regime recently, then your body will retain some extra water, but this is only going to account for a couple of pounds, so if after two weeks there is nothing, you must assume you need to reduce the calories a bit further, or be more accurate with your logging techniques.

SezxyStef

TDEE-20% = MFP calories+ exercise if goal =1lb a week.

I did MFP for the first 2 months...lost 1lb a week
I have done TDEE-15% since then and lost 3/4lb a week till goal in May of this year.

Technically TDEE is not more calories it's jsut a different method

I ate on average 1600 calories a day exercises 3x a week (heavy lifting) from Sept - Dec 2013 and lost on average 3/4lb a week

From Jan 14 - Goal in May I ate 1850 a day exercised 5x a week and lost 1/2lb a week (exercise was heavy lifting and HIIT) which included 4lb gain in Feb on vacation.

From Goal to today I ate on average 2010 and exercised 5x a week and still am losing 1/4lb a week (heavy lifting and walking)

TDEE works as good as MFP method or any other. But is good only if you have consistent exercise, weight and measure your food/liquids and calculate your TDEE properly (websites are high typically) Logging accurately comes into play as well...

Ninkyou

I've done MFP + exercise as well as TDEE-20%. Both worked really well. I like the TDEE method more though, simply because I eat the same amount of calories everyday, regardless of my activity.

persistentsoul

My TDEE is 2500, I started a ketogenic plan and i thought i would aim for 1200 cal a day. I lost a lot fast then got stuck for two weeks and after more reading decided to increase my calories. I am now up to 1600 and have not gained. 1600 feels better to me and is what MFP set as my 2lb per week loss target. I thought eating less would mean losing more but that was not a good thought. I am glad i increased calories even though i was afraid i would gain. I may continue and raise them some more but will probably stay at 1600 a little while to monitor situation. I think it is a matter of personal experimentation to see what each person feels best at, what is most long term sustainable and what is achieving personal goals. For me I think the hardest thing is accepting there is no cheat to reach my goal super fast. It would not be healthy to do so anyway. Time keeps moving and if I eat healthy on a life long sustainable plan then i will reach my goal and when i get there I will be grateful to myself for doing it sustainably.

When I achieve my final goal my new predicted TDEE will be 2000 calories a day. It makes sense to me that if i aimed for eating that amount now that would be good because then I could keep eating same way for whole journey and in to rest of my life.

I will continue tweaking and observing but I have no intention of dropping my calories as low as 1200 again. I intend to be eating 1500 - 2000 from now on and to be patient with scales.

Lemongrab13

It's working wonderfully for me.
I've lost almost 8 inches in three weeks. Before it would take ages to lose that amount.

michikade

I've done MFP + exercise as well as TDEE-20%. Both worked really well. I like the TDEE method more though, simply because I eat the same amount of calories everyday, regardless of my activity.

I feel exactly the same way.

OP -- that's the difference. Either you eat a little less on rest days and a little more on workout days, or you eat the same amount every day regardless of activity, but at the end of the week the deficit is about the same, give or take a couple calories. I have been consistent for a couple weeks now with TDEE-20% and I personally like having the same amount of calories to eat each day - makes meal planning easier.