Estimating estimates and TDEE

SharpieV

Happily enough, I have eaten exactly what my goal was for the month.

You know, according to MFP and the errors inherent in how I eyeball food amounts (DFAC/cafeteria eating), how I have to make my best guess on what everything is or how many calories might be in it, and then eat back calories based on similar estimates of "Well, this seems sorta like that exercise" and just go with it.

My goal was to maintain weight, so I'll truck down to the gym tomorrow to weigh in since they're the only ones with a working scale, and hope that this one-moment-in-time measurement compared to that other-moment-in-time measurement from 30ish days ago will be about the same and that female cycle and gut fill issues don't confound anything. And then, after estimating the estimates and the questionably consistent weights, we will see if MFP's estimate of my TDEE resembles reality or not.

So many of the threads go off on tangents about how everyone's TDEE is different, and I am sure it truly is, but a huge part of that has to be how we estimate, log, measure, and use the MFP tools. I am certain that there are others out there who would have wound up with completely different numbers even given the exact same circumstances I have.

Are there any truly accurate ways to determine TDEE? The bodypod or something like that measures BMR, if I recall correctly? I am doing the best I can, but when cooking for yourself is not an option, highly accurate calorie counts are challenging to obtain. Am I the only one that doesn't think that really matters, even if you DO find out your perfect 'real' TDEE number? I mean, even if I am significantly WRONG, so long as I am consistent, it should all cancel out, right? For example, say I underestimate calories in my food or food amounts (common problem) and then think that my TDEE is lower than it really is, so long as I consistently underestimate but am shooting for a lower number of calories consumed to maintain weight (because that underestimation has made my TDEE estimate lower than my TDEE really is), I will still end up in the right ballpark for keeping steady, right? Cookies if that made sense to you.