We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Can someone explain BMR and TDEE to me in SIMPLE terms?

freckles88
freckles88 Posts: 44 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
A friend of mine just told me about BMR and TDEE to lose weight but I am totally confused! Basically I want to know:

1) What is it and how does it benefit me?
2) How can I calculate it?
3) How do I know which one is accurate? I just did a BMR caculator and they came up with all different results with up to 150 calories difference!
4) What is classed as sedentary? I work in a school so am sat down most of the day but then walk around a bit, go on a walk on the weekend and sunday I spend all weekend doing DIY on my house and barely sit down all day...so I really dont know if i'd be sedendary or light exercise or what!

Help, I'm so confused!

Replies

  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    1) What is it and how does it benefit me? - BMR is the amount of calories the average person of your age/height/weight burns at rest. TDEE is the average number of calories that a person of your age/height/weight/avtivity level burns in a day. It's beneficial to know these numbers to get a good guess of how many calories will properly fuel your body without causing weight gain.

    2) How can I calculate it? There are a number of online calculators. http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ is a popular one.

    3) How do I know which one is accurate? I just did a BMR caculator and they came up with all different results with up to 150 calories difference! They are just general recommendations based on averages. They won't be 100% accurate but they will likely be close. You may have to tweak it a bit to find the right amount for you.

    4) What is classed as sedentary? I work in a school so am sat down most of the day but then walk around a bit, go on a walk on the weekend and sunday I spend all weekend doing DIY on my house and barely sit down all day...so I really dont know if i'd be sedendary or light exercise or what! It's a personal preference but since I have a desk job during the week, but I'm also fairly active on the weekends, I like to figure my TDEE at sendentary and then just log my activities and add calories for it.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories