TDEE -20% help

choosingsara

Female, 64.5 inches, current weight (also used this as goal weight) 165 lbs. Measurements, neck 13.5, waist 33, hips 44. Military body fat 39.1%.
BMR Harris-Benedict = 1507
BMR Katch-McArdle = 1352
TDEE Sendentary = 1808
TDEE Lightly Active = 2072
TDEE ModeratelyActive = 2336

Because I work a desk job but do get up to walk pts back to rooms and am doing 30 day shred 6 days a week I would say I'm lightly active? I'm actually scared to use moderately just b/c that number is so high even with a 20% deficit off of it. So say i use 2072 - 20% I would set me calorie goal to 1658 and not log exercise calories. Does this sound right?

Greenrun99

Your more moderate than lightly active.. I would eat 1860 everyday and not eat exercise calories.

cyberiarob

Most likely if you have a desk job you should put sedentary. Any workouts you do (like 30DS) would be in addition to your normal TDEE. At your size, 1800 is probably about right.

coe28

I was just going to post something about this. I'm trying to figure out the TDEE theory and I'm completely confused. This is what I've come up with:

***********
Based on your information your details, the TDEE calculator puts your daily calorie requirement at 1926

This means that you burn roughly 1926 calories every day, provided your energy levels do not change from the numbers you entered above.

If you eat this exact amount of calories per day, you will have a calorie/energy balance and will neither gain nor lose any weight.

To lose weight, it is suggested that you either consume 15- 20% less calories than your TDEE, or increase your energy output by 15-20% TDEE while eating 1926 calories. In either case, the deficit will force your body to use your stored body fat as fuel. More men this percentage tends to hover around 500-600 calories. For women it seems to end up at 300-500.

To gain weight, it is suggested that you consume 10% more calories more than the number the TDEE, Caluclator spit out, (1926) in which case the extra calories will be used to repair and grow muscle. Beware though, because you are in a caloric surplus some of those calories also spill over and get stored as fat. Be careful with how much extra you eat while bulking up. More is not always better!

(IIFYM.com)
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So based on this taking the 1926-20% I should be eating 1540 calories/day? That seems like a lot to me, and MFP has me set at only 1200... Which advice do I follow?

Justkritter

I was just going to post something about this. I'm trying to figure out the TDEE theory and I'm completely confused. This is what I've come up with:

***********
Based on your information your details, the TDEE calculator puts your daily calorie requirement at 1926

This means that you burn roughly 1926 calories every day, provided your energy levels do not change from the numbers you entered above.

If you eat this exact amount of calories per day, you will have a calorie/energy balance and will neither gain nor lose any weight.

To lose weight, it is suggested that you either consume 15- 20% less calories than your TDEE, or increase your energy output by 15-20% TDEE while eating 1926 calories. In either case, the deficit will force your body to use your stored body fat as fuel. More men this percentage tends to hover around 500-600 calories. For women it seems to end up at 300-500.

To gain weight, it is suggested that you consume 10% more calories more than the number the TDEE, Caluclator spit out, (1926) in which case the extra calories will be used to repair and grow muscle. Beware though, because you are in a caloric surplus some of those calories also spill over and get stored as fat. Be careful with how much extra you eat while bulking up. More is not always better!

(IIFYM.com)
*************

So based on this taking the 1926-20% I should be eating 1540 calories/day? That seems like a lot to me, and MFP has me set at only 1200... Which advice do I follow?

MFP doesn't count your exercise calories. It expects you to eat back your exercise calories so given its set at 1200 with eating back you cal lost, you would still be eating around 1540 a day.

psuLemon

It depends if you want to follow the 20% less than TDEE crowd or if you want to follow MFP's guidance. I am a TDEE person. Since 30DS isn't a high calorie burner, I generally would use lightly active. In most cases, I see women burning 250-350 calories. I would monitor progress for 1 month. If you aren't see much weight loss, why not try moderately active for 1 month. Or you can start with moderate and if you don't see weight loss, but it down. But when I run numbers, it's generally lightly for those doing 30DS.

coe28

So eating 1200/day versus 1540/day would do what exactly? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound stupid, but this stuff confuses me and I just want to make sure I'm doing things correctly.

psuLemon

So eating 1200/day versus 1540/day would do what exactly? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound stupid, but this stuff confuses me and I just want to make sure I'm doing things correctly.

if you are sedentary, no workouts 1200 may work, but the more active you are, the more calories you need. With only 17 lbs to lose, you can't really aim for much more than 1/2 - 1 lb per week. Generally, you want to eat between your BMR and TDEE.

Justkritter

So eating 1200/day versus 1540/day would do what exactly? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound stupid, but this stuff confuses me and I just want to make sure I'm doing things correctly.

TDEE includes already your exercise calories so eating at MFP 1200 cal and lets say you burned 300 cal in cardio and you eat that back you will still net around 1500 a day so you would still end up at near to the TDEE value. I'm not sure if the way I presented it is clear.

newjourney2015

Bump to refer back. Very clear explaination! Thanks!

coe28

So eating 1200/day versus 1540/day would do what exactly? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound stupid, but this stuff confuses me and I just want to make sure I'm doing things correctly.

if you are sedentary, no workouts 1200 may work, but the more active you are, the more calories you need. With only 17 lbs to lose, you can't really aim for much more than 1/2 - 1 lb per week. Generally, you want to eat between your BMR and TDEE.

Ok, so ideally I should eat about 1500 calories (regardless of my daily activity), and any calories I burn outside of my normal daily activity would just be added to my deficit. Am I getting this?

psuLemon

So eating 1200/day versus 1540/day would do what exactly? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound stupid, but this stuff confuses me and I just want to make sure I'm doing things correctly.

if you are sedentary, no workouts 1200 may work, but the more active you are, the more calories you need. With only 17 lbs to lose, you can't really aim for much more than 1/2 - 1 lb per week. Generally, you want to eat between your BMR and TDEE.

Ok, so ideally I should eat about 1500 calories (regardless of my daily activity), and any calories I burn outside of my normal daily activity would just be added to my deficit. Am I getting this?

So we don't thread hijack, why don't you shoot me a PM and we can run your numbers. Most women I know are eating 1700-2100 calories but it depends on the type of exercise and what you do for a living.

choosingsara

So how did you come up with 1800 or 1860 for me?

sassy_sadie

I'm confused by all this as well. I have no idea what I'm doing. Experimenting, I guess, until I figure out what works. Good luck to you!

coe28

So how did you come up with 1800 or 1860 for me?

I think that would be your TDEE (2336) minus 20%.

choosingsara

OK yes thank you. So I guess I just have to now figure out if I'm light or moderately active....

choosingsara

Or I guess I could just go for a happy medium between the two. I think I'll shoot for 1763 cals since I'm probably somewhere in the middle. Wow that seems like a big number.

choosingsara

Thanks for the help by the way!

coe28

Or I guess I could just go for a happy medium between the two. I think I'll shoot for 1763 cals since I'm probably somewhere in the middle. Wow that seems like a big number.

That's what I thought! I've been doing MFP for 2 years and have always struggled to eat only around 1200-1300 calories. Now I learn that I should be eating 1540 and it seems a little scary to me!

choosingsara

Or I guess I could just go for a happy medium between the two. I think I'll shoot for 1763 cals since I'm probably somewhere in the middle. Wow that seems like a big number.

That's what I thought! I've been doing MFP for 2 years and have always struggled to eat only around 1200-1300 calories. Now I learn that I should be eating 1540 and it seems a little scary to me!

Sounds scary and refreshing at the same time. I'm just going to make sure I eat above my bmr, although I had 2 different values for that and shoot for around 1763 and see how it goes. My problem is patience. I going to try to really try to give it time to work. Good luck to you!

coe28

Thank you, and good luck to you too!

cwolfman13

The TDEE method is great. As others have stated...you have to remember that the 1,200 goal MFP sets is a.) usually more than 1 Lb per week and 2.) doesn't take into account any exercise. You should really only be at 1,200 calories if you're doing no exercise at all or are willing and able to log exercise calories and eat those back. For most people, using the TDEE - 20% method yields about 1 Lb per week (or thereabouts) loss on average which is simply safer and healthier weight loss, though it does take longer. In the meantime, however, you get to not be miserable, which is WINNING in my book.