Good, Better, Best?

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baggyapple
baggyapple Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
For those on this site that care about their TDEE, what calculator would be ideal for finding out a fairly accurate number? I have utilyzed two different calculators for this purpose, and have come up with two wholly different numbers. I first used one that asked you to quantify every action in a twenty four hour period and was given a number of 2,988! Not at all the number that I expected as MFP had me set at 2,060 with fairly good results. I then searched further and came across a more "standardized" calculator basing the number off physical activity by week and that gave me a number of 2,644; a huge difference based on the first number but still well above what is set by MFP. So my questions are as follows: Which is the more ideal calculator as far as accuracy? also, why are the numbers in sharp contrast to what MFP sets? Are the numbers high because they expect you to customize macros? Can a person take in this amount of calories and still hope to maintain without going over? Does anyone have any suggestions concerning a "better " calculator?
Sorry if I have caused anyones head to explode, but to save people a headache, I would prefer to hear from people that are familiar with TDEE numbers and have followed them with success as opposed to people with friendly suggestions. God forbid we create a glut of information over such a boring topic.

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  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    So TDEE is all about the activity level, which can mean vast differences depending on what the calculator deems your activity level to be.

    the BEST way to get your TDEE is to go to a testing facility and do an indirect calorimetry test (actually a direct calorimetry test is best, but those are a huge pain in the *kitten* as you have to sit in a hermetically sealed room for a number of hours ). you can find locations from your doctor or google them for your area. They're usually a few hundred bucks but the good news is, once you have one, it won't change a ton even as you lose weight (fat is metabolically inactive, so unless you're dropping lots of muscle mass, your TDEE won't change a ton, assuming your exercise time and intensity stays constant).

    For instance, before losing 55 lbs, my TDEE was about 2700, now it's about 2800 (and I work much harder now than I did back then exercise wise)

    Other than that, just pay close attention to how they define activity level and try to be as accurate as possible with that part.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
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    My TDEE changes from day to day depending on the workout. Last night I swam 5K. But i don't do that every day. Some days my "workout" is helping my kids with their physics homework.
    For swim calories I found one that is much more accurate than the one on MFP. I adjust the time on the MFP calculator to match count from the other calculator.
    FitBit is supposed to help track stuff better as well. But I haven't tried that.

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