Experience switching to TDEE method?

sheahughes

This might be a stupid question, but if you choose to switch from the MFP method to the TDEE method, how do you set the MFP calorie goal?

ETA - never mind! I found it!

michikade

I like TDEE-20% because I like to eat about the same amount every day regardless of if it's a work out day or a rest day. It also gives me more flexibility without feeling like I need to earn whatever it is.

It's come out about the same for me so far as deficit goes. Still pretty consistent with 1 - 1 1/2 lbs per week. I'll take it

matthawthorneisamyth

Starvation mode is a myth...one that just won't die

It's not a myth in the respect that the body will hold on to fat stores, it is a myth in the respect that the body will stay the same weight if you lower your calories enough. The body will lose weight if you lower the calories, but it won't lose the weight from fat.

See: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199706193362507

wonderwoman234

I switched from the MFP method to TDEE. The weight loss was basically the same but as someone else said, I get to eat the same number of calories every day regardless if I exercise or not (I work out 5-6 days a week).

I will caution you to weight and measure everything. I have not lost a thing in a month, but haven't gained, either. I suspect it is because I have gotten lazy about meticulously weighing everything. It makes a huge difference, at least for me.

Regarding starvation mode - you will of course lose weight when you reduce calories. Your weight loss may slow a bit, however, if you eat too few calories but I think it has to be pretty low (less than 1000). But you DO lose weight even if you cut back your calories significantly. But why do that?

The biggest reason to use TDEE is to lose slowly and in a way that can be maintained for a lifetime. I am NEVER feeling deprived or hungry using TDEE. I just have to get back to tracking accurately...

susieqtx123

Hi everyone! After a lot of stalled weight loss efforts, I read up about the TDEE method of losing/maintaining weight. I've calculated my TDEE and subtracted 20% and am going to start on this path.
I was doing the 1200 calorie plan (and eating back exercise cals) but after reading about BMRs etc I truly feel I may have been starving my body, and slowing down metabolism.
I AM worried about weight gain for the first few weeks on the TDEE regime, and I don't want to be discouraged. I understand that in order for my body to perform, I need to feed it. But it feels very counter-intuitive, and I'm easily discouraged by weight gain.
I do, mostly, eat a healthy diet with the occasional splurge, but I'm new to calorie counting and it is eye-opening for sure!
I'm just looking for anyone to share their experiences of switching to the TDEE method for losing weight, and how it played out the first few weeks. Maybe share how long you've been doing it, and why you decided to try it in the first place.
I'd also love to hear any challenges or struggles you met with this method.
Thanks for sharing!
[/quote]Really sounding very ignorant, but what does TDEE mean??

susieqtx123

Really sounding very ignorant, but what does TDEE mean??

RSEC75

Really sounding very ignorant, but what does TDEE mean??

This is my understanding from reading this forum for a few weeks. Hope I've got it right.

TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure and it's the calories used by your body on an average day. As a weight loss method people measure their calories to eat that number (which should lead to no weight loss and no weight gain) or to eat a percentage under, and then exercise to loose weight/ more weight.

I use what I think is called the NEAT method, which is what MFP leads you in to doing so people often refer to it as the MFP method (but you can use MFP for other ways of counting if you set your own goals). In this method you calculate your TDEE then your goal is set to around 500 calories less for 1lb weight loss per week (a different deficit for different rates of loss). In that method though you eat back exercise calories to maintain a 500 calorie deficit. So if I do 100 calories worth of exercise I would eat 100 calories more that day. This means my calorie deficit remains the same (and theoretically my weight loss is the same each week) but my daily intake varies with how much exercise I do.

Personally I prefer NEAT/MFP because I'm not good at exercising and this method allows me to loose weight even if I don't exercise. I do try and exercise whenever I can but that's done for fitness rather than for weight loss.

SezxyStef

First, your TDEE - 20% is 1,746 calories per day.

Second, you're supposed to eat back exercise calories with MFP's 1200 goal...that's how you account for exercise with MFP

Third, your 1200 calorie goal is most likely based on a 1.5 - 2 Lb per week rate of loss...whereas your 20% cut from TDEE is right around 1 Lb per week rate of loss.

Fourth, TDEE is an estimate just like anything else...you may in fact be overestimating your activity...or you may be underestimating it. This is why, with either method, you can't just set it and forget it....adjustments have to be made as per real world results.

personally, I would recommend sitting down with the math...understanding the math and understanding the methods and how these tools work before I switched anything up. The methods are 6 of 1...if you're not losing, it's not the method that is to blame...they are simply two slightly different ways of arriving to the exact same place.

^^ All of this.

A *properly set* MFP + exercise goal should be somewhere near a properly set TDEE-% goal.

Agreed...and TDEE requires...consistent exercise.

and it is just an esitmate when done from a website. Using my own data vs Scooby I found scooby over by about 200 calories a day...iifym is closer but still over.

And the other thing is that if you weren't eating back exercise calories prior to this and you suddenly jump calories up by 300-400 a day...you will find you gain at first. If there is that big of a difference then increase slowly over the next couple of weeks.

When I switched there was no change in my intake...

MFP was 1360 calories + 240 exercise calories =1600....TDEE-20% was 1600...