HELP! With TDEE, BMR, EXERCISE etc

lyndys5

I started tracking on MFP on Jan 14th, 2013. For 1.5-2 weeks I was eating about 1200 calories and exercising 200-400 calories. I thought it would just create a bigger deficit and speed things up while still staying in the recommended 1000 max calorie deficit.

Then I found stuff about BMR and TDEE. I cannot figure it all out! Why does MFP allow you to eat below your BMR? My husband is also tracking and i'm working with a friend too so I want to understand what to do to be able to help everybody out.

I'm having trouble figuring out activity level. When you take BMR and do the activity multiplier is that not including extra exercise, but just daily living? I am a stay at home Mom to 3 kids (7,4,2). I cannot consistently get exercise but I normally (when I'm trying) exercise about 3-4 times a week anywhere from 12-35 minutes (I usually use Leslie Sansone walk at home DVD's and walk one to three 12 min miles), I also sometimes walk 1.25 miles to get my son from school when the weather is good.

So should I set my activity at lightly active (for living, chores etc), or is that referring to the walking exercise I might do?'
When I do TDEE calculators and BMR etc my BMR is about 1550 (although MFP says 1460ish why?)

So one example is 1550 x 1.2 (sedentary) = 1860 TDEE - 20%= 1488 but that's lower than BMR!
So if i take 1860 - 16.5% = 1553 but then it's only 306 deficit. I would like to at least lose 1 lb a week. And if I exercise what do i do?

It seems like since I can't have a for sure exercise schedule I shouldn't add it into my TDEE. So then any exercise I do should I eat all those back or can I keep the ones that stay within a 500 deficit for the day total (ex: dietary is 306 +exercise 194= 500 deficit) but then I'm confused because it brings my net below BMR?

HELP! I lost a few pounds when I started and was eating 1200 cals, then I started at least eating my MFP goal of 1480 and I wasn't exercising as much. But now i've gained a pound back. And if i'm supposed to eat BMR then i'm still not high enough maybe, but I need to see some success.

Stats:
age: 29
weight: 170.5
goal weight: 135
ht: 5ft 3in

Abi_bug04

Hi,

I just recently started to use the TDEE/BMR method and was having a lot of trouble understanding it as well.
I was referred to the "spreadsheet" which does all the calculations for you (you just need to put in your exercise amounts for the week, and it calculates the net amount of calories you should be eating.

You can download it from here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/spreadsheet-ver-3-for-bmr-tdee-deficit-calcs-macro-calcs-hrm-zones-426221

I generally stick to the "simple setup" tab because it is straight forward. I may go into it a bit more and tweak it once I have lost more weight, however for now I am sticking to that!

As for the weightloss, if you have been eating 1200 for some time, your body will need a little while to get aquainted with the spike in calories attributed to eating your BMR. I would be patient for a few weeks while your body figures it out. In the meantime, step away from the scale and use other ways to measure your progress (how your clothes fit, measurements, etc).

Good luck!

Akumu

TDEE is TOTAL expenditure. This would include your walking, so I wouldn't use sedentary.

Try this calculator. I have calculated my BMR and TDEE, minus 20% for weight loss, and got similar figures for how many calories to eat each day. When you do this method you don't eat back your exercise calories because they are already accounted for in your total. Hope this helps.

http://calorieneedscalculator.com/index.html

sandradev1

Hi,

I just recently started to use the TDEE/BMR method and was having a lot of trouble understanding it as well.
I was referred to the "spreadsheet" which does all the calculations for you (you just need to put in your exercise amounts for the week, and it calculates the net amount of calories you should be eating.

You can download it from here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/spreadsheet-ver-3-for-bmr-tdee-deficit-calcs-macro-calcs-hrm-zones-426221

I generally stick to the "simple setup" tab because it is straight forward. I may go into it a bit more and tweak it once I have lost more weight, however for now I am sticking to that!

As for the weightloss, if you have been eating 1200 for some time, your body will need a little while to get aquainted with the spike in calories attributed to eating your BMR. I would be patient for a few weeks while your body figures it out. In the meantime, step away from the scale and use other ways to measure your progress (how your clothes fit, measurements, etc).

Good luck!

^^^ THIS^^^^ definitely use this, it is brilliant and gives a better description for calculating your activities. Save your copy and then you can keep going back and change as you lose your weight.

lyndys5

But I don't have a consistent exercise schedule so it's hard to know what exercise level to add.

And I only ate at 1200 calories for maybe 10 -14 days.

And i'm having trouble understanding why to exercise if the deficit is all coming from diet. Of course I like to exercise and understand the cardiovascular health benefits and also that strength training increases muscle mass therefore calorie burn, it just seems confusing like you don't actually need exercise, which goes against everything we hear.

deksgrl

Then I found stuff about BMR and TDEE. I cannot figure it all out! Why does MFP allow you to eat below your BMR? My husband is also tracking and i'm working with a friend too so I want to understand what to do to be able to help everybody out.

Because whatever you choose on the "I want to lose ___ pounds per week" will simply subtract a certain amount of calories from your estimated daily needs. (but to a minimum of 1,200).

So, if you are like most people when they first come on here, they choose "I want to lose 2 pounds per week" it subtracts 1,000 calories a day, regardless of your BMR. If your calorie needs are 2,000 a day, and it wants to subtract 1,000 for the 2 pounds per week loss, then you get the default 1,200 calories a day.

If you use the spreadsheet linked above, you can customize your activity levels and get a pretty good estimate.

sandradev1

But I don't have a consistent exercise schedule so it's hard to know what exercise level to add.

And I only ate at 1200 calories for maybe 10 -14 days.

And i'm having trouble understanding why to exercise if the deficit is all coming from diet. Of course I like to exercise and understand the cardiovascular health benefits and also that strength training increases muscle mass therefore calorie burn, it just seems confusing like you don't actually need exercise, which goes against everything we hear.

Calorie deficit = weight loss
Exercise = fitness

They do not interchange. Yes you can lose weight and never exercise, but as we know, exercise makes us healthier, expecially our heart. Yes exercise burns calories, but your body needs to be re-fuelled to enable it to do the exercise.

Abi_bug04

If you use the spreadsheet, and you have an inconsistent exercise schedule, it doesn't change the numbers too much (unless your exercise regimen is very hardcore). If you add in your stats, and your estimated minutes per week of exercise, and then you try fiddling with it, you will see that it gives you a number around 100 calories different from the original.

It also has options to set your MFP to customize it to your daily needs, and how to add in exercise calories when following the BMR/TDEE method so as not to over estimate!

I highly recommend it!