RMR calculation confusion

brianz72

Hi all,

I am confused about RMR, TDEE, and required calorie intake. I'm not talking about MFP's calculations, just the general principles here. I am 5'8" male, 39 years old, 174 pounds, trying to get to about 155 pounds.

For myself, my RMR is about 1700 calories. If you exclude my 5x per week cardio, you apply a 1.2x adjustment for my office job type of daily life, and you get a TDEE of 2040 calories. If you include my 5x per week cardio, you apply a 1.5x adjustment, and you get a TDEE of 2550 calories (which apparently implies 510 calories of cardio per day).

So here's my confusion. If I want to create a 500 calorie daily deficit, then first of all, which TDEE should I use? And if I use the TDEE of 2550 which includes workouts, then I can't deduct my daily exercise calories from gross caloric intake, because I'd be double-counting the exercise, right?

So to create a 500 calorie deficit per day, I think I should either target 2040-500=1540 net calories per day, or 2550-500=2050 gross caloric intake per day.

Is my thinking correct here?

luvbwfc

Sounds it. Like you say you can't use the exercise to bump you an activity level, and then log the same exercise to gain calories. I personally would go with the 1.2* and then log the cardio on days where you do it and try to net your goal.

ElizabethRoad

Use 2040 as your TDEE, and then add the calories you burn through exercise.

vmbourg

I personally would use the 1.2 adjustment and if you complete your excercise goal , add back in the calories if needed. But my philosophy is that these adjustments and resting metabolic rates are just estimations. I try to be a little more conservative to make sure I reach my target weight loss.

erickirb

Hi all,

I am confused about RMR, TDEE, and required calorie intake. I'm not talking about MFP's calculations, just the general principles here. I am 5'8" male, 39 years old, 174 pounds, trying to get to about 155 pounds.

For myself, my RMR is about 1700 calories. If you exclude my 5x per week cardio, you apply a 1.2x adjustment for my office job type of daily life, and you get a TDEE of 2040 calories. If you include my 5x per week cardio, you apply a 1.5x adjustment, and you get a TDEE of 2550 calories (which apparently implies 510 calories of cardio per day).

So here's my confusion. If I want to create a 500 calorie daily deficit, then first of all, which TDEE should I use? And if I use the TDEE of 2550 which includes workouts, then I can't deduct my daily exercise calories from gross caloric intake, because I'd be double-counting the exercise, right?

So to create a 500 calorie deficit per day, I think I should either target 2040-500=1540 net calories per day, or 2550-500=2050 gross caloric intake per day.

Is my thinking correct here?

Either way would work, but if you use the 2040 you would eat 1540 and eat back the cals you burn from exercise. If you use the 2550 you would eat 2050, but not eat back cals burned from exercise. At the end of the week you would be at the same place assuming you actually burn what you planned on burning, for this reason I think MFP is superior as you only eat what you actually burn, not what you plan on burning, which may be under over over actual burn.

other sites use the higher TDEE which includes planned exercise, but not everything always goes according to plan.

brianz72

Great stuff, thanks for all the replies. I think I'm clear.

amonkey794

I have no idea about any of the abbriviations or info for that matter! ???