MFP vs TDEE- opinions??

ewennmacher

i lost 60 pounds in 2011 with this site. i got pregnant, gained most of it back, and am now trying to lose it again. i have been reading about TDEE recently (never heard of that the last time i was losing) and decided to see what mine was. with a 20% deficit for weight loss it's telling me to eat 1750 calories. MFP tells me to eat around 1450 (for a 2 pound a week weight loss. I'm about 80 pounds over weight so 2 pounds a week is doable right now) So what do you think is a better? i'm thinking maybe i gained the weight back last time because i had myself at too low of a calorie intake?? maybe 20% of my TDEE isn't enough for a 2 pound a week loss?? opinions??

Ready2Rock206

Do you exercise? If I understand it right - TDEE you don't eat back your exercise calories, but you do w/MFP. So if you ate back your exercise calories - say you earned a few hundred of exercise calories and ate them back you'd be at TDEE anyway.

I always think 2 lbs a week is a bit over ambitious and only sets people up for disappointment, but that's a whole other issue.

kcallas88

I enjoy TDEE more so then MFP. With TDEE, i eat the same amount everyday and don't worry about exercise calories. I think that was the most annoying part about it all. I also like that i can eat around my TDEE amount every day and don't feel the need to skimp on rest days. I was stuck at a plateau for 8wks going by MFP standards and only recently have come out of my plateau by doing TDEE-20%.

DanaDark

MFP sets itself up only by the numbers. It does not account for your weight and how much you should safely lose.

At 80 pounds to lose, 2.0 pounds is not suitable for you. 1.5 pounds a week is. This is also closer to the TDEE - 20% number.

Exercise calories depends on HOW you calculated TDEE. If you calculated TDEE with exercise, then do not eat them back and BE SURE to exercise. If you calculated TDEE without exercise, then eat half them back.

Just be sure to find your BMR as well and eat above that.

neandermagnon

MFP tells me to eat 1500 calories to maintain. I don't know what it'd say for fat loss as I'm maintaining, I expect it'd say 1200 calories a day

I actually maintain at 1800-1900 calories (based on real world results)

the Katch McArdle formula predicts that I'd maintain at 1870 cals/day, and TDEE - 20% would be 1496 cals/day, i.e. almost what MFP gives as my maintenance calories.

Katch McArdle is more accurate because it's based on body fat percentage and weight, rather than height and weight.

Ultimately, you have to go with real world results, no calculator is going to be right for everyone. It gives you a starting point where you can adjust the calories up or down as necessary. If you're suffering from signs of undereating (lack of energy, difficulty sticking to your eating plan, a tendency to binge, feeling grumpy, excessive hunger, etc) then you need to increase your calories. If you're not losing then you need to increase your activity or decrease your calories (increasing your activity is probably the better of the two)

My real world results match Katch McArdle formula, not MFP's predictions.

ldrosophila

Hides and ducks for cover.

Poor thing swimming out there alone with the sharks she just wanted to dip her toes into the ocean of knowledge. I see them they are circling.

auddii

Someone else posted this article, and I found it an interesting read:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/setting-the-deficit-small-moderate-or-large.html

I personally use the spreadsheet in the in place of a road map group, and it has me losing at 27.1% under TDEE because I have over 75lbs to lose and I strength train. As my weight drops, the deficit will drop as well.

I'd read the article and read all of the pros and cons for each of the types of deficits. He does state that moderate deficits have the fewest cons and most pros. Although, he also defines a moderate deficit as 20-25%. You'll need to decide what works best for you.

concordancia

Would you like to know how much you can eat everyday or does earning calories to eat motivate you to workout?

TDEE averages it out, so you eat the same amount everyday.

With MFP, you only get the extra calories when you work out.

For most people, the final numbers are very similar. TDEE believers will usually compare their MFP base number to their TDEE calculations without telling you how much they work out - to wit all of the posters with numbers at the time I started writing this post. That is only fair if you never work out.

llkilgore

Would you like to know how much you can eat everyday or does earning calories to eat motivate you to workout?

TDEE averages it out, so you eat the same amount everyday.

With MFP, you only get the extra calories when you work out.

I use the MFP method for the most part but compromise by averaging the calories I earn from running over 2 days - the day they're earned and the non-run day that follows. On day 3 I either earn another couple of days worth of exercise calories or just eat my base calories. This has the advantage (for me) of imposing a higher level of accountability than the TDEE method would. The numbers work out to be about the same, though, so the advantage is purely psychological. I've never considered exercise calories to be "extra" and never had any objection to "eating them back," but it seems that a lot of people do. They may find that TDEE method has the psychological advantage.

ewennmacher

Thanks for your responses. I appreciate the feedback.

ewennmacher

Hides and ducks for cover.

Poor thing swimming out there alone with the sharks she just wanted to dip her toes into the ocean of knowledge. I see them they are circling.

Yeah, I get nervous asking questions in these forums. People get crazy.

cwolfman13

MFP sets itself up only by the numbers. It does not account for your weight and how much you should safely lose.

At 80 pounds to lose, 2.0 pounds is not suitable for you. 1.5 pounds a week is. This is also closer to the TDEE - 20% number.

Exercise calories depends on HOW you calculated TDEE. If you calculated TDEE with exercise, then do not eat them back and BE SURE to exercise. If you calculated TDEE without exercise, then eat half them back.

Just be sure to find your BMR as well and eat above that.

This is why DanaDark is pretty awesome