Yet another TDEE question

AmberB519

I calculated my BMR and my TDEE. My BMR is 1866, and my TDEE is 2476. So, cutting back 20% on my TDEE puts me at 1981 cals for the day. That seems like so much for me considering I ballooned up on not much more that that in the past. But, I'm fighting against my whacked out frame of mind for weight loss and admitting that I have screwed up my metabolism by constant yo-yo dieting and doing it wrong. Obviously the 1200 a day that use to work so well for me, no longer does.

My question is, Did I calculate this right or does that seem like a high amount? Am I understanding correctly, that as long as I stay above my BMR and below my TDEE, I should start losing again? Maybe an adjustment period for my jacked up metab

Mokey41

If in doubt set yourself to sedentary and add exercise as you do it to get a handle on what a realistic number is for you. That way you control your calorie intake rather than assume the TDEE is right.

AmberB519

Thanks for the feedback!

HMVOL7409

Hard to say without knowing your stats. But FWIW, I'm 5'2 113lbs and 32 yo and my TDEE is around 2300; so no it is not high to me. If you actually sat down and tried to log what you were eating over a period of time to gain weight you'd be surprised to find its more than you think.

AmberB519

Stats would have been helpful, huh? Noob here. I'm 34, 5'8" and 175lbs. I played with the activity level, and 20% below would have been lower than my BMR. So maybe my BMR is a good number to stick with? I really should dig through the forums more. Thanks for replying!

5stringjeff

BMR is the *minimum* you should eat.

AmberB519

Ok, thanks. There is not much difference between my BMR and mt TDEE -20. I'll just stick between the middle of the 2 and see how it goes. Thanks for the help all!

HMVOL7409

I'm not sure how you're getting your BMR bc I've done 4 different calculators and your BMR based on your stats is 1550. The only thing I noticed was if you didn't choose female it gave you a BMR of 1800.

TDEE based on activity:
Little Exercise: 1800
1-3 Hrs/wk: 2100
3-5 Hrs/wk: 2400
5-7 Heavy: 2800

As far as activity, be honest with yourself. What are you doing and what is the intensity? Take that level, take a 15-20% cut from the TDEE and eat close to that and over your BMR.

AmberB519

I'm not sure how you're getting your BMR bc I've done 4 different calculators and your BMR based on your stats is 1550. The only thing I noticed was if you didn't choose female it gave you a BMR of 1800.

TDEE based on activity:
Little Exercise: 1800
1-3 Hrs/wk: 2100
3-5 Hrs/wk: 2400
5-7 Heavy: 2800

As far as activity, be honest with yourself. What are you doing and what is the intensity? Take that level, take a 15-20% cut from the TDEE and eat close to that and over your BMR.

I used the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) BMR calc, and their TDEE calc. Several times. Hmm, wonder if my TDEE is off, too, if they are giving me the wrong BMR. I double checked and made sure I checked the female box, still gives me 1866 I put myself pretty much sedentary for the TDEE and it gave me a 2476. I'll go do a few more calcs.

Thanks!

ETA- What about eating 10 x my weight? I've seen that recommended.

DrBroPHD

BMR is the *minimum* you should eat.

Oh yeah? Why is that?

HMVOL7409

I'm not sure how you're getting your BMR bc I've done 4 different calculators and your BMR based on your stats is 1550. The only thing I noticed was if you didn't choose female it gave you a BMR of 1800.

TDEE based on activity:
Little Exercise: 1800
1-3 Hrs/wk: 2100
3-5 Hrs/wk: 2400
5-7 Heavy: 2800

As far as activity, be honest with yourself. What are you doing and what is the intensity? Take that level, take a 15-20% cut from the TDEE and eat close to that and over your BMR.

I used the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) BMR calc, and their TDEE calc. Several times. Hmm, wonder if my TDEE is off, too, if they are giving me the wrong BMR. I double checked and made sure I checked the female box, still gives me 1866 I put myself pretty much sedentary for the TDEE and it gave me a 2476. I'll go do a few more calcs.

Thanks!

ETA- What about eating 10 x my weight? I've seen that recommended.

Ah I see! Yea I've tried that site before but with my shift splits I can never really account for how much of each individual activity I do in a day. I've always done the Scooby site and its been very accurate for me. Never tried the 10x's the body weight idea.

skydiveD30571

I've noticed the IIFYM calculator comes up with numbers for me that are quite a bit higher than the other calculators. I like the fat2fitradio calculator myself.

LeenaRuns

I'm not sure how you're getting your BMR bc I've done 4 different calculators and your BMR based on your stats is 1550. The only thing I noticed was if you didn't choose female it gave you a BMR of 1800.

TDEE based on activity:
Little Exercise: 1800
1-3 Hrs/wk: 2100
3-5 Hrs/wk: 2400
5-7 Heavy: 2800

As far as activity, be honest with yourself. What are you doing and what is the intensity? Take that level, take a 15-20% cut from the TDEE and eat close to that and over your BMR.

I used the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) BMR calc, and their TDEE calc. Several times. Hmm, wonder if my TDEE is off, too, if they are giving me the wrong BMR. I double checked and made sure I checked the female box, still gives me 1866 I put myself pretty much sedentary for the TDEE and it gave me a 2476. I'll go do a few more calcs.

Thanks!

ETA- What about eating 10 x my weight? I've seen that recommended.

Ah I see! Yea I've tried that site before but with my shift splits I can never really account for how much of each individual activity I do in a day. I've always done the Scooby site and its been very accurate for me. Never tried the 10x's the body weight idea.

Yikes! If I tried 10x weight, I'd only be eating 1200 cals/day. I do 2000.

HMVOL7409

I'm not sure how you're getting your BMR bc I've done 4 different calculators and your BMR based on your stats is 1550. The only thing I noticed was if you didn't choose female it gave you a BMR of 1800.

TDEE based on activity:
Little Exercise: 1800
1-3 Hrs/wk: 2100
3-5 Hrs/wk: 2400
5-7 Heavy: 2800

As far as activity, be honest with yourself. What are you doing and what is the intensity? Take that level, take a 15-20% cut from the TDEE and eat close to that and over your BMR.

I used the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) BMR calc, and their TDEE calc. Several times. Hmm, wonder if my TDEE is off, too, if they are giving me the wrong BMR. I double checked and made sure I checked the female box, still gives me 1866 I put myself pretty much sedentary for the TDEE and it gave me a 2476. I'll go do a few more calcs.

Thanks!

ETA- What about eating 10 x my weight? I've seen that recommended.

Ah I see! Yea I've tried that site before but with my shift splits I can never really account for how much of each individual activity I do in a day. I've always done the Scooby site and its been very accurate for me. Never tried the 10x's the body weight idea.

Yikes! If I tried 10x weight, I'd only be eating 1200 cals/day. I do 2000.

Lol exactly! Mine would be 1000-1100. I don't think so.

tschaff04

I'm not sure how you're getting your BMR bc I've done 4 different calculators and your BMR based on your stats is 1550. The only thing I noticed was if you didn't choose female it gave you a BMR of 1800.

TDEE based on activity:
Little Exercise: 1800
1-3 Hrs/wk: 2100
3-5 Hrs/wk: 2400
5-7 Heavy: 2800

As far as activity, be honest with yourself. What are you doing and what is the intensity? Take that level, take a 15-20% cut from the TDEE and eat close to that and over your BMR.

I used the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) BMR calc, and their TDEE calc. Several times. Hmm, wonder if my TDEE is off, too, if they are giving me the wrong BMR. I double checked and made sure I checked the female box, still gives me 1866 I put myself pretty much sedentary for the TDEE and it gave me a 2476. I'll go do a few more calcs.

Thanks!

ETA- What about eating 10 x my weight? I've seen that recommended.

Ah I see! Yea I've tried that site before but with my shift splits I can never really account for how much of each individual activity I do in a day. I've always done the Scooby site and its been very accurate for me. Never tried the 10x's the body weight idea.

What site are you talking about?(Scooby site). I use fat2fitradio to figure out my bmr and IIFYM for my TDEE. Is there another site for figuring TDEE?

HMVOL7409

I'm not sure how you're getting your BMR bc I've done 4 different calculators and your BMR based on your stats is 1550. The only thing I noticed was if you didn't choose female it gave you a BMR of 1800.

TDEE based on activity:
Little Exercise: 1800
1-3 Hrs/wk: 2100
3-5 Hrs/wk: 2400
5-7 Heavy: 2800

As far as activity, be honest with yourself. What are you doing and what is the intensity? Take that level, take a 15-20% cut from the TDEE and eat close to that and over your BMR.

I used the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) BMR calc, and their TDEE calc. Several times. Hmm, wonder if my TDEE is off, too, if they are giving me the wrong BMR. I double checked and made sure I checked the female box, still gives me 1866 I put myself pretty much sedentary for the TDEE and it gave me a 2476. I'll go do a few more calcs.

Thanks!

ETA- What about eating 10 x my weight? I've seen that recommended.

Ah I see! Yea I've tried that site before but with my shift splits I can never really account for how much of each individual activity I do in a day. I've always done the Scooby site and its been very accurate for me. Never tried the 10x's the body weight idea.

What site are you talking about?(Scooby site). I use fat2fitradio to figure out my bmr and IIFYM for my TDEE. Is there another site for figuring TDEE?

There are many sites out there, no one size fits all. Fat2Fit has a TDEE calculator as well as I've used that too. Scoobys workshop has what's given me best idea since I know my actual body fat % and I've done well with it the last 9 mths or so.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator

AmberB519

Thanks, all! I'll try the other sites. Yes, I imagine if I weighed much less than I do, 10x my weight would be too low. For now 1750 seems like a good number to go off. I'll recalculate my numbers from the other sites and see what I get

AmberB519

I like that Scooby site. Thanks for the suggestion. It set me up with a BMR of 1569, TDEE of 2157 (light activity 1-3hr/wk) and Cal goal of 1726 (basically 10% of my weight). Sounds good. I'll adjust as I adjust and increase my activity levels.

Thanks for the help! Hoping that now that I've got it down, things will start progressing in the right direction.

jaygreen55

Here's a link to a site that will calculate RMR by a number of different formulas,.

The Harris -Benedict equation (The one used on MFP) is based on height ,weight, age, gender and BMI It is most accurate if you are of average body composition. It doesn't account for either high lean muscle mass and low body fat or vice versa

The Katch McCardle method is based on body composition but it requires you to know what your body fat/ lean body weight percentages are. A 210 pound NFL running back with 6 percent body fat has a much higher RMR than a 210 Lb couch potato
with 35 percent body fat

http://www.dontstayfat.info/calorie-calculators.html