Can someone please explain TDEE

sazroy
sazroy Posts: 262 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So my TDEE is about 2165.

What does this actually mean?
How much should I eat, and how much should I burn to lose weight if this is my TDEE?

Replies

  • PrncessBre
    PrncessBre Posts: 444 Member
    Bump. Im confused about this too.
  • badapdos
    badapdos Posts: 132
    Your BMR is how many calories your bodies needs to survive in a day. So basically how much you burn if you were to sleep the whole day. TDEE is a rough estimate of the calories that your body requires for you to function on a typical day. This means driving to work, sitting at your desk, walking up the stairs-basically how much you burn on a daily basis. Your TDEE is higher if you exercise since you need to consume more calories.

    Sorry I'm not the best at explaining.
  • sazroy
    sazroy Posts: 262 Member
    Your BMR is how many calories your bodies needs to survive in a day. So basically how much you burn if you were to sleep the whole day. TDEE is a rough estimate of the calories that your body requires for you to function on a typical day. This means driving to work, sitting at your desk, walking up the stairs-basically how much you burn on a daily basis. Your TDEE is higher if you exercise since you need to consume more calories.

    Sorry I'm not the best at explaining.

    So if I want guaranteed weight loss and my current TDEE is 2165 or whatever I said earlier LOL what am I supposed to do? Eat less than 2165? Aim for 2165 and burn some off or what?
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
    Rule of thumb is 15-20% below your TDEE, without going below your BMR. Just how quickly you lose will depend on the calorie deficit this creates.
  • sazroy
    sazroy Posts: 262 Member
    Rule of thumb is 15-20% below your TDEE, without going below your BMR. Just how quickly you lose will depend on the calorie deficit this creates.

    So doing that calculation I should consume 1732 cals a day and that's a difference of 433.
    I had been on 1200 cals a day lost 8kgs then plateaued for ages. Upped to 1500 and lost 1kg in two days, then haven't lost anything since then.. So would my body be in starvation mode? If I should be eating 1732?
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
    So doing that calculation I should consume 1732 cals a day and that's a difference of 433.
    I had been on 1200 cals a day lost 8kgs then plateaued for ages. Upped to 1500 and lost 1kg in two days, then haven't lost anything since then.. So would my body be in starvation mode? If I should be eating 1732?

    It's possible if you've been doing it for a long time. You can eat at maintenance for a few weeks, and then drop it to weight loss.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It's the number of calories your body uses to maintain itself. Eat below it for weight loss, eat above it for weight gain.
  • fuschiadiamond
    fuschiadiamond Posts: 16 Member
    There is a group called "eat more to weigh less" and Kiki and Lucia explained this at length. Good luck.
  • sazroy
    sazroy Posts: 262 Member
    Okay, so I still don't know.. lol sigh.
  • Ttopeka
    Ttopeka Posts: 151 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

    I'm not saying you should follow his advice, but after reading through that (a couple times, actually...I kept getting confused), it helped me figure out a lot of the different "lingo" so I had a better idea of what I should be eating.

    Keep in mind though, that advice is different from the basic method on MFP, and differs from what a lot of people say...but I'd still say give it a read, it might clear some things up for you. Helped me, at least.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    TDEE is Total daily energy expenditure.

    The total amount of calories your body uses in a day.

    BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate. This is calculated using a variety of methods using your sex, age, weight and is the amount of caloies you would use in bed all day. Just your body doing it's thing to survive.


    TDEE is calculated by multiplying a number that represents your activity level (either PAR or PAL) by your BMR.

    The confusion may come in due to the use of TDEE on a site that doesn't include your exercise calories in your goal calories, but adds them at the point you log them.
  • ladyace2078
    ladyace2078 Posts: 460 Member
    TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure. If you wanted to stay at your current weight you would eat the same amount of calories as your TDEE every day. If you want to lose weight you would eat less than your TDEE . 1 lb = 3500 calories, so in a week to lose one pound you would want to eat your TDEE minus 500 calories (500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories = 1 lb). However you also want to try to stay above your BMR. This is what you burn just to keep your body functioning--fuel that by eating the minimum number of calories or BMR calories. As you get closer to your goal weight, you will probably have to slow down your weight loss to manage eating less than TDEE but more than BMR.

    Make sense?
  • sazroy
    sazroy Posts: 262 Member
    Well following the calculations I should eat 2052 for weightloss.

    This is hard for me to understand as I currently eat 1500.

    I do realise I'm not currently losing weight so somethings needs to change, but I'm actually terrified of upping my calories because I'm terrified of even a one kilo gain.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    My advice would be to put your details into MFP, let it calculate your BMR, which it will then multiply by your working activity level (PAR), and then log any exercise or physical activity as accurately as possible.
  • sazroy
    sazroy Posts: 262 Member
    My advice would be to put your details into MFP, let it calculate your BMR, which it will then multiply by your working activity level (PAR), and then log any exercise or physical activity as accurately as possible.

    MFP suggested 1540 cals a day, I eat about 1510. I find I can eat well for a few days then I have massive cravings for anything, don't crave sweet or savoury foods, I just crave food.

    I never used to eat alot until I started to diet.. I was a two pieces of toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, microwave meal for dinner kind of person, now I have huge breakfast, lunches, dinners and snacks and want more! So frustrating.
  • PrincessMom08
    PrincessMom08 Posts: 120 Member
    Hahaha I am so lost myself. Are these specific numbers on the site? Or do I have to do math? :bigsmile: I know my goal is 1260 calories but of course it goes up when I exercise. So in other words we need to hit the 1260 (well in my case) and if we are under our goal that includes exercise calories we'll loose? I swear I am weight loss dumb I think... :bigsmile:
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    It depends what you set your goals for, you can choose between losing 0-2kg per week. It sounds like your diet is too restrictive, leading to binge cravings. If you've got it set to 2kg per week, reduce that to 1kg.

    Something else to look out for, if you make a bad food choice and have a high GI food, the insulin spike and crash can lead to hunger pangs a short while later.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member


    So doing that calculation I should consume 1732 cals a day and that's a difference of 433.
    I had been on 1200 cals a day lost 8kgs then plateaued for ages. Upped to 1500 and lost 1kg in two days, then haven't lost anything since then.. So would my body be in starvation mode? If I should be eating 1732?

    Eat 1732 daily.
    Protein and Fats 30% each.
    Enjoy your fat loss!

    This number is static so dont concern yourself with eating back calories unless you are overtraining.
  • cynthiaj777
    cynthiaj777 Posts: 787 Member
    No calculator is magical and going to give you the right answer.

    Buy a HRM.

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