Proper calculation of TDEE?

meridianova

i'm really confused about something...

i understand the concept behind TDEE... total daily energy expenditure. i understand that it's BMR + a given factor based on how active you are during the day. i've got the data importer graph from EvgeniZyntx, which i think is awesome and has been very helpful in tracking my progress.

however, when i look at the tab marked "graphs", somehow the calculators are figuring my average observed activity level at 1.04, with an average calorie expenditure of 1899 +/- 98. yet i've got a katch-mcardle BMR of 1834.

am i crazy, or would a 1.04 activity level mean that i'm not even getting out of bed, or MAYBE just going to the bathroom once or twice? and a little note pops up on the graph saying "Activity level seems very low, is the data accurate?" even "sedentary" shows at a 1.2 multiplyer.

i weigh and log everything i eat, and i log all my exercise based on the workout reports off the treadmills i use at the gym. i have a desk job, but work out 3-5 times a week (cardio and circuit training), so i've got everything listed as "lightly active". am i wrong in that classification?

i'm already extremely sluggish in my weight loss. i used scooby's calorie calculator and basically came up as only losing at a rate of 70% of where MFP thinks i should be. am i charting something incorrectly, or am i really only burning 60-160 calories on top of my BMR daily (which would also mean i'm not burning the calories the treadmill says i am)?

ana3067

Are you using a spreadsheet or something? Chances are something was improperly inputted.

I like these websites for an idea of estimated TDEE:
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

Can average them out or use the one that you think looks the most reasonable (you need to manually subtract your desired deficit % from the last 2 links)

Also, don't bother using the info on machines as a guideline. Just note how many minutes on average you workout in a week at a certain intensity and use that to determine a potential estimated TDEE for yourself. Personally I live a very sedentary lifestyle but I work out ~5+ hours a week, about 4 of those lifting weights. I consider myself to be moderately active, not lightly active. If I were lightly active, I'd be doing things like going for mild walks, a bit of housework, dishes, etc.

ETA all calculators are estimates. I've used the calculators above and they are all pretty accurate for me. the last one is a high estimate, exrx is a low, and scoobys is low-moderate. I've been losing over a lb a week on average, give or take, so for me I'm guessing that either Scooby's or the average from the other 2 calculators is liekly close to my maintenance needs (2400-2600), losing on 2000-2100.

meridianova

the spreadsheet i use pulls the data directly from MFP and inputs everything, spitting out a series of graphs and charts. considering that i'm weighing everything i eat, my intake shouldn't be off.

i used scooby's and got a BMR of 1658, TDEE of 2280, daily calories of 1710. i've already dropped my calories down to 1580 per day.

Just note how many minutes on average you workout in a week at a certain intensity and use that to determine a potential estimated TDEE for yourself.

ok... how do i do that? i'm doing 30 minutes of cardio (plus 3-4 minutes of cool-down), averaging 1.3 miles per workout (so 2.6ish miles per hour), figure 3-5 times per week with that. how do i determine the caloric burn for that? my heart rate is usually in the 130 range by the time i'm done, and is in there for the last 10 minutes of my workout.

ana3067

I still recommend trying a few websites, see how they differ, and try the ones I linked as well since they have you input averages of time spent doing different intensities of activity. So while you may work out 5x a week, maybe you're also on your feet 9 hours a day on top of that; standard calculators don't take these variances into account.

If your TDEE came up as 2300, then you should not be eating 1600 as a deficit. You clearly seem to be doing the math wrong, or are using the 25% deficit (which you should not be doing) and then creating an additional deficit on top of that. With 2300 being your estimated maintenance needs, 1850 would be enough of a drop in calories to start losing weight at a healthy, reasonable pace.

As for estimating, you simply.. estimate. Here's my example. I strength train ~55 minutes 4x a week, followed up with 15-20 minutes of low to moderate intensity cardio. Based on my own perceived level of exertion, I rate the cardio as being moderate intensity, and I follow the idea that strength training is moderate intensity (for the average person). So overall, that's about ~300 minutes or 5 hours of moderate intensity activity. Average that out over 7 days, and that's about 43 minutes on average spent doing moderate activity every day. So that is what I enter into the calculator (0.72 for exrx.net and 40 minutes for health-calc). I do not include my warm up into my calculations, simply because it's like 2-3 minutes of added movement a day, nothing worth noting. If I were cooling down on the cardio machine, assuming I'm still working out at moderate intensity then I add that to my count. Otherwise I'd just not bother with it, since a cool down is just a few minute extra that probably won't affect calorie consumption all that much. Then I add in all my other daily activity: average of 9 hours sleeping/reclining, at least 1 hour sitting/standing or 1.5 for the health-calc calculator, etc. Just put in my averages. I do not look up how many calories x exercise should burn based on my heart rate. It's all averages. Put in some averages, spit out some numbers, test them for a while and see how things go. Change your calorie goal up or down depending on how your body is responding.

meridianova

ok... thank you. i'm going to work more on this after i get home tonight.