Was your actual TDEE per BB/BFM higher or lower?

DaysFlyBy

I've been trying to figure out an accurate TDEE estimate for myself and struggling, I have a notebook with pages of figures based on various research models and my head is swimming. I have a Fitbit and a Polar FT4 but neither is accurate for weight lifting and that makes up half my workouts right there. Before I shell out a small fortune can anyone tell me how your BodyBugg or BodyMedia-generated TDEE compares with your calculated TDEE? Did you find your actual TDEE to be much higher or lower than what you got trying to calculate it? I'm seriously wide awake at 1 am worrying about this stuff lol.

chrisdavey

I tested a BMF & fitbit & found that if I added 250 cals for strength training for fitbit it matched up with my BMF numbers which had proven to be fairly accurate over 9 months of use. The calculators are only estimates but IMO BW in lbs x 14-16 is generally pretty close. There is no magic number though

mcarter99

The Fitbit is pretty accurate for me. The only way to tell for sure is log your intake really accurately, and your workouts, and monitor your weight loss and see how it compares to your deficits.

Your weights workouts probably don't account for that much of your weekly calorie burn. Unless you're obese, the hardest cardio will burn about 10 calorie/min, and weights less. So figure maybe 7/min. for 45 mins, 3 times a week? That's like 1000 calories out of over 15,000 you burn in a week, so maybe 5-6%.

So don't lose sleep over it! The only way to know is to log for a while, and you don't NEED to know any exact numbers, just aim for what you know is below your total burn and adjust as you go.