Cal goal using TDEE: I have a question! Please help.
Replies
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If you are going by TDEE no need to log calories on here as it is already apart of your TDEE. If you are going by BMR log your calories on here and MFP will tell you what you've burnt and how many extra calories you can eat. I do BMR but I don't log it and I don't eat back exercise calories.
see i thought i understood and then I read this. lol. So... do YOU just aim for your BMR regardless of what you burn?
Yup I do
I do things backwards and what works for me lol. When I log my exercise MFP tells me off for netting under 1200 cals, just a pain in the butt so I don't log any exercise 
I couldn't genuinely guess what my TDEE is. It would differ day to day
It's an average. And you CAN genuinely guess it. In fact, you can compute it empirically based on the past 8 weeks (say) of your daily calorie intake vs the difference in your weight.
The number on the scale isn't an accurate measure0 -
If you are going by TDEE no need to log calories on here as it is already apart of your TDEE. If you are going by BMR log your calories on here and MFP will tell you what you've burnt and how many extra calories you can eat. I do BMR but I don't log it and I don't eat back exercise calories.
see i thought i understood and then I read this. lol. So... do YOU just aim for your BMR regardless of what you burn?
Yup I do I do things backwards and what works for me lol. When I log my exercise MFP tells me off for netting under 1200 cals, just a pain in the butt so I don't log any exercise I couldn't genuinely guess what my TDEE is. It would differ day to day
It's an average. And you CAN genuinely guess it. In fact, you can compute it empirically based on the past 8 weeks (say) of your daily calorie intake vs the difference in your weight.
The number on the scale isn't an accurate measure
That's why I said to do it over the last 8 weeks or so, to average out weight fluctuations.0 -
If you are going by TDEE no need to log calories on here as it is already apart of your TDEE. If you are going by BMR log your calories on here and MFP will tell you what you've burnt and how many extra calories you can eat. I do BMR but I don't log it and I don't eat back exercise calories.
see i thought i understood and then I read this. lol. So... do YOU just aim for your BMR regardless of what you burn?
Yup I do I do things backwards and what works for me lol. When I log my exercise MFP tells me off for netting under 1200 cals, just a pain in the butt so I don't log any exercise I couldn't genuinely guess what my TDEE is. It would differ day to day
It's an average. And you CAN genuinely guess it. In fact, you can compute it empirically based on the past 8 weeks (say) of your daily calorie intake vs the difference in your weight.
The number on the scale isn't an accurate measure
That's why I said to do it over the last 8 weeks or so, to average out weight fluctuations.
:grumble: Lol It sounds too confusing for me, I'll stick with whats working :bigsmile:0 -
Lol, oh man, that was just an example! I just wanted easy numbers to work with....
So then you mean, if my TDEE is 2000 and I burn (TODAY, because every day is different for me) 1500, I should consume 3500???
When I hear "TDEE includes exercise" does that mean I eat my MFP exercise cals? Or do I ignore my exercise cals and net cals (on MFP) and just shoot for my TDEE in cosumed cals based on the calculations I made on another website?
Today I burned just over 1000 which is a little higher than normal for me.... my goal is 500cals 5 days a week, but sometimes I do less, sometimes I do more.
My BMR is 1581
My TDEE is 2174
My TDEE-20% is 1739
Today I consumed 1624 and burned 1095 at the gym. (more than normal, good day) This left me with a net on MFP of 529.
Where do I go wrong if my TDEE is supposed to INCLUDE my average level of activity already?
Thank you!
Not getting the big picture.
If this is the life you plan to live then i'd say TDEE is a lot higher than you think it is.
Hit the gym 3-4x a week.
Thats 3-4 hours a week.
Stop killing yourself please.
Adrenal fatigue.
CNS fatigue.
Overtraining.
All not fun.
Stop killing yourself.0 -
If you are going by TDEE no need to log calories on here as it is already apart of your TDEE. If you are going by BMR log your calories on here and MFP will tell you what you've burnt and how many extra calories you can eat. I do BMR but I don't log it and I don't eat back exercise calories.
see i thought i understood and then I read this. lol. So... do YOU just aim for your BMR regardless of what you burn?
Yup I do I do things backwards and what works for me lol. When I log my exercise MFP tells me off for netting under 1200 cals, just a pain in the butt so I don't log any exercise I couldn't genuinely guess what my TDEE is. It would differ day to day
It's an average. And you CAN genuinely guess it. In fact, you can compute it empirically based on the past 8 weeks (say) of your daily calorie intake vs the difference in your weight.
The number on the scale isn't an accurate measure
That's why I said to do it over the last 8 weeks or so, to average out weight fluctuations.
:grumble: Lol It sounds too confusing for me, I'll stick with whats working :bigsmile:
yeah... lol, and stuff.
my responses were more for the benefit of those who may be reading this thread; to try to steer them around your dubious advice; not for you per se.
lol0 -
OP: if you have a relatively predictable calorie burn during the week, go the TDEE - 15 - 20% as you have been, log your exercise as 1 calorie and if you have an unusually high burn one day/week, log that as at estimated number of excess calories and eat those back.0
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Lol, oh man, that was just an example! I just wanted easy numbers to work with....
So then you mean, if my TDEE is 2000 and I burn (TODAY, because every day is different for me) 1500, I should consume 3500???
When I hear "TDEE includes exercise" does that mean I eat my MFP exercise cals? Or do I ignore my exercise cals and net cals (on MFP) and just shoot for my TDEE in cosumed cals based on the calculations I made on another website?
Today I burned just over 1000 which is a little higher than normal for me.... my goal is 500cals 5 days a week, but sometimes I do less, sometimes I do more.
My BMR is 1581
My TDEE is 2174
My TDEE-20% is 1739
Today I consumed 1624 and burned 1095 at the gym. (more than normal, good day) This left me with a net on MFP of 529.
Where do I go wrong if my TDEE is supposed to INCLUDE my average level of activity already?
Thank you!
Not getting the big picture.
If this is the life you plan to live then i'd say TDEE is a lot higher than you think it is.
Hit the gym 3-4x a week.
Thats 3-4 hours a week.
Stop killing yourself please.
Adrenal fatigue.
CNS fatigue.
Overtraining.
All not fun.
Stop killing yourself.
lol what? I go 2 hours a day 5 days a week and I'm hardly "killing myself" half the time it's light exercise like yoga and 3 days a week the other half is only Zumba and a quick 20 minutes of weights (including resting in between)
just because I'm at the gym 10 hours a week doesnt mean im burning max cals 10 hours a week. i would say I'm at my aerobic level of heart rate only 2-3 hours a week. estimated.
that excell thing is telling me to eat 3000 cals. to maintain. I'm not buying it
that seems literally impossible.
when i get to where I want to be I plan to cut down to 2-3 days a week.0 -
how am i supposed to know when i go over if i log it as 1 cal?0
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If you are going by TDEE no need to log calories on here as it is already apart of your TDEE. If you are going by BMR log your calories on here and MFP will tell you what you've burnt and how many extra calories you can eat. I do BMR but I don't log it and I don't eat back exercise calories.
see i thought i understood and then I read this. lol. So... do YOU just aim for your BMR regardless of what you burn?
Yup I do I do things backwards and what works for me lol. When I log my exercise MFP tells me off for netting under 1200 cals, just a pain in the butt so I don't log any exercise I couldn't genuinely guess what my TDEE is. It would differ day to day
It's an average. And you CAN genuinely guess it. In fact, you can compute it empirically based on the past 8 weeks (say) of your daily calorie intake vs the difference in your weight.
The number on the scale isn't an accurate measure
That's why I said to do it over the last 8 weeks or so, to average out weight fluctuations.
:grumble: Lol It sounds too confusing for me, I'll stick with whats working :bigsmile:
yeah... lol, and stuff.
my responses were more for the benefit of those who may be reading this thread; to try to steer them around your dubious advice; not for you per se.
lol
Actually, there is nothing wrong with my advice. I'm entitled to my own opinion and I like to share my own story/journey.
Thanks:devil:0 -
how am i supposed to know when i go over if i log it as 1 cal?
Go over what? The TDEE you use includes exercise. If you do more that the activity you assumed in your base, then you should think about either upping your base or including more than 1 calorie to eat back.
Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf0 -
when i get to where I want to be I plan to cut down to 2-3 days a week.
this is backwards0 -
how am i supposed to know when i go over if i log it as 1 cal?
Go over what? The TDEE you use includes exercise. If you do more that the activity you assumed in your base, then you should think about either upping your base or including more than 1 calorie to eat back.
Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
sorry, how should I be keeping track of my cals burned if they're usually.... all over the place? Should I not use TDEE?0 -
when i get to where I want to be I plan to cut down to 2-3 days a week.
this is backwards
how? not being snarky, honestly don't understand why it's backwards. doesn't it make sense to exercise more and eat less while trying to lose? And then eat to maintain and keep up regular exercise (but maybe not as vigorous) to stay at my goal weight?0 -
assuming of course i re-evaluate my BMR often throughout this entire journey0
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when i get to where I want to be I plan to cut down to 2-3 days a week.
this is backwards
how? not being snarky, honestly don't understand why it's backwards. doesn't it make sense to exercise more and eat less while trying to lose? And then eat to maintain and keep up regular exercise (but maybe not as vigorous) to stay at my goal weight?
Maybe saying it's backwards was a bit over the top. I think your exercise program should be sane and sustainable forever. If you feel the need to cut back on exercise when you get to where you want to be, that suggests you're overdoing it.
Also, when you drop some weight and increase your fitness, you may find that you want to do MORE, because you will be capable of more.
As for the TDEE stuff. I think you are way over-thinking it. Use a simple TDEE calculator. I like this one because it's simple - http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html Subtract out a deficit, and eat at that level.0 -
I'm starting to think I should just go off my BMR and add on the days I burn. Because there is nothing "regular" about my exercise routines. At least not YET.
Maybe I'll come back to this topic after I've gotten over the hurdle of maintaining a regular exercise routine that I can expect to repeat week-to-week. Because right now I just do what I can fit in, take classes when they happen to coincide with when I can make it to the gym, and I never really know how much I expect to burn but like to burn at least 500 5 days a week.... thats my goal but it doesn't always happen and other times i go way over....
maybe I just suck at all of this. lol.0 -
Okay see, that one is giving my 1961 and that's based on 3-5 days a week which I plan to maintain after I get to my goal. (at least 3 anyway). So that matches up[ more with what i was thinking. The last one said 3000 or so..., that's why this is so confusing, some of these sites say "light, moderate, etc" but they have obvious differences in what they consider to be "moderate". Because there's NO WAY I'd be losing at 3000 cals intake, even if i was burning my high levels every time.0
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Okay see, that one is giving my 1961 and that's based on 3-5 days a week which I plan to maintain after I get to my goal. (at least 3 anyway). So that matches up[ more with what i was thinking. The last one said 3000 or so..., that's why this is so confusing, some of these sites say "light, moderate, etc" but they have obvious differences in what they consider to be "moderate". Because there's NO WAY I'd be losing at 3000 cals intake, even if i was burning my high levels every time.
If your calories burns are all over the place, find your TDEE that does not include exercise, deduct the 15 - 20% off, set that as your base, then log exercise as you do it. I would only log 50 - 75% of the estimate to take into account inaccuracies. Eat to the level MFP gives you.0 -
OP, i dont mean to be rude but you are making this ridiculously harder than it needs to be.. this is just arithmetic, not differential equations!
im doing something similar as you.
i have based my calorie goal on my TDEE. TDEE meaning I've taken into account my normal daily activity as well as 6 hours a week of exercise that I can easily get.
i log my workout time on here as 1 calorie burned. since i want to lose 2 pounds a week, i eat 1000 calories less per day than my TDEE
if by some chance i workout more than 6 hours a week, then i log those additional workouts with the real calorie burn and will eat those calories back.0 -
You need to stop confusing yourself and just use MFP the way it was designed, since your workouts are all over the place and you can't nail any of it down.
You didn't hit 3000 calories recommended in that spreadsheet either unless you have a lot to lose, or forgot to remove sample data or filled out the activity calculator wrong.
Use the MFP settings - Lightly Active for your non-exercise level. Desk jockeys with FitBit's and BodyMediaFits discover this applies on their non-exercise days, more active than they thought. The weekend makes up for it unless you are a gamer on your butt all day Sat and Sun.
Select 1 lb weight loss goal, though you'll probably lose more.
Log your exercise calories when you do them, be honest with the speeds and such, because those are accurate if you really did that speed level incline. Eat those back daily.
Don't worry if it seems inflated, that'll just make up for too much deficit on other days, it'll balance out.
Done.0 -
Okay see, that one is giving my 1961 and that's based on 3-5 days a week which I plan to maintain after I get to my goal. (at least 3 anyway). So that matches up[ more with what i was thinking. The last one said 3000 or so..., that's why this is so confusing, some of these sites say "light, moderate, etc" but they have obvious differences in what they consider to be "moderate". Because there's NO WAY I'd be losing at 3000 cals intake, even if i was burning my high levels every time.
If your calories burns are all over the place, find your TDEE that does not include exercise, deduct the 15 - 20% off, set that as your base, then log exercise as you do it. I would only log 50 - 75% of the estimate to take into account inaccuracies. Eat to the level MFP gives you.
THIS... is what I'm thinking I'll do... since I'm obviously stupid and over-complicating things.... sorry, this is my first time trying to do things correctly and with so many different opinions I'm just asking a lot of questions to figure out whats right for me....0 -
Okay see, that one is giving my 1961 and that's based on 3-5 days a week which I plan to maintain after I get to my goal. (at least 3 anyway). So that matches up[ more with what i was thinking. The last one said 3000 or so..., that's why this is so confusing, some of these sites say "light, moderate, etc" but they have obvious differences in what they consider to be "moderate". Because there's NO WAY I'd be losing at 3000 cals intake, even if i was burning my high levels every time.
If your calories burns are all over the place, find your TDEE that does not include exercise, deduct the 15 - 20% off, set that as your base, then log exercise as you do it. I would only log 50 - 75% of the estimate to take into account inaccuracies. Eat to the level MFP gives you.
THIS... is what I'm thinking I'll do... since I'm obviously stupid and over-complicating things.... sorry, this is my first time trying to do things correctly and with so many different opinions I'm just asking a lot of questions to figure out whats right for me....
Not stupid - just over-thinking it - happens a lot. As you say, there are a lot of different ways of approaching it.0
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