BMR TDEE Confusion!!!

MommaBelvin

why do people say to Eat MORE than your BMR and LESS than your TDEE. . . . . but MFP gives you what they think you should eat . . idk what to do i just know i want to work out and lose weight.

healthynotthin

Whatever MFP says, go for that - unless you choose the option "maintain my current weight" when setting up guided goals, MFP has already found that balance between your TDEE and BMR, and calculated a deficit for you.

Pebble321

If you use MFP numbers as they are designed (ie eating more on the days you exercise) then it's most likely that you will get around the same numbers in the end.
It's just a different method of taking a guess at how many calories are right for you.
Pick one system and try it for a month or so - after that you can increase or decrease if you need to.

dlbinin

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Awkward30

In theory, they should be roughly equal. If you use the MFP method, you are supposed to eat back your exercise calories, so you basically calculate a sedentary TDEE and then eat back exercise over that.

If you calculate based on a percentage of TDEE, you don't eat back exercise calories. Example:

I want to lose 1 lb per week, (500 cals per day). My sedentary TDEE is 1700, so MFP gives me 1200 calories. I burn 400 calories a day so, I eat those back and end up eating 1600 per day.

Second way, my TDEE including exercise is 1700+400=2100. I subtract the 500 cals for the deficit and again get 1600.

My BMR is 1450, so on days when I don't exercise and MFP only gives me 1200, I probably ought to go a little over.

majikkan

In theory, yes. In practice, MFP tells me to eat below my BMR to lose any weight. It's working so far, so I'm just going to stick with it until it stops working, and then worry about it.