Eating at TDEE-20% question

JAT74

It's all very confusing! Most days I suppose I've been eating 1900 or 2000 so that's just a little below my TDEE if 2100 is correct but then again 2300 could also be correct for me, I just don't know. When I haven't done any training I've been eating 1500 though.

Either way, now my MFP net is set to 1350 if I add back exercise calories then the highest I'll be eating is around 500 more so that would be 1850 in total, still less than I have been but maybe not enough to lose 1lb per week as you've said.

Maybe in that case I might try and keep my net cals as they are and make sure I don't eat above 1700 on workout days and keep to my net of 1350 on non-workout days. That way I should be able to create a 3500 calorie deficit easily during the week.

ArroganceInStep

It's all very confusing! Most days I suppose I've been eating 1900 or 2000 so that's just a little below my TDEE if 2100 is correct but then again 2300 could also be correct for me, I just don't know. When I haven't done any training I've been eating 1500 though.

Either way, now my MFP net is set to 1350 if I add back exercise calories then the highest I'll be eating is around 500 more so that would be 1850 in total, still less than I have been but maybe not enough to lose 1lb per week as you've said.

Maybe in that case I might try and keep my net cals as they are and make sure I don't eat above 1700 on workout days and keep to my net of 1350 on non-workout days. That way I should be able to create a 3500 calorie deficit easily during the week.

How far back do you have accurate diet and exercise data? Is it complete? One possibility would be for you to estimate your TDEE from that information. Lets say you have 6 months of contiguous and complete data (if you do I'm jealous).

Go back and find your average calorie intake per day for that time period. Then from that figure subtract:
(Change in body weight in lbs * 3500 calories per pound) / (180 days)

It's a very rough approximation, made worse if you don't have accurate information, but it's one way to look at it.

To answer your weekend calorie question, lets say you did the above and came up with a TDEE of 2200 (that's including exercise calories so you wouldn't eat them back) and want to lose a pound a week (so 1700 calories per day). You could very easily eat 1500 calories per day from Sunday through Thursday, and then have 2100 calories on both Friday and Saturday.

Remember that the equations you plug your numbers into are just averages designed to be 'close' for as many people as possible. It's up to you to tweak those numbers with trial and error and hopefully find a point where you're getting the results you're after.

JAT74

No, unfortunately I only started logging calories over the last 7 weeks I've been on MFP. Before that I gradually put on weight over a couple of years from 124 lbs to 147 at my heaviest a few weeks ago.

I really don't know how many calories I was eating before but I'd say that normally I probably ate around 1200 as I was conscious about portion sizes and carbs but I was also not eating a lot of protein so the calories were probably quite low and I wasn't really exercising more than 2-3 days per week. The thing which made me gain weight I'd say was probably the fact that at weekends my calorie intake almost doubled and I had alcohol too and didn't exercise to conpensate for that. I also had the odd sneaky chocolate bar or pastry which probably didn't help.

I think your suggestion of 1500 per day during the week and 2100 at weekends is a good one. That way I know that I have to be more careful during the week and won't have to worry so much as weekends regardless of exercise.

How would I log that on MFP though, set my cals to 1500 and then igore the amount to eat back when I exercise exept for at weekends?

deksgrl

Again, you are making this too complicated.

Eat one calorie goal every day regardless of how much you worked out. Say, 1700. Don't eat back exercise calories. It will average out over the week. If you eat a little bit more or a little bit less +/- 100 cals, don't worry about it. Do that for 4 weeks.

You are clearly not sedentary. But don't worry about your exact TDEE, because you are not going to know exactly. You need to experiment a little bit with your numbers to figure out where the sweet spot is. Unfortunately, it does take weeks to see if the changes you make are working or not.

lenniebus

I think you are overthinking it. Figure out your TDEE including all exercise and all activities. Remember it is an estimate though. Eat 20% less. Do not keep track of exercise calories, you don't need to, it should all be included in TDEE already. After 4-6 weeks evaluate, did you lose, gain or stay the same? Adjust if necessary.

I think this is spot on! It's so different for everyone I know--so you really need to figure out what works best for you. Set your calories at what you think works best for you (I really like the TDEE -20%), and then give it some time. It's time well spent I think--plus there is no fear by upping your calories with healthy food by 200-300 that you will gain weight with the same activity level.

doubleduofa

I realize that you want quick results and it is frustrating waiting to find the right number of calories - trust me, I know - but, I think you need to give it more time. .5 lbs/week (average) is actually great for the amount you have to lose. Also, weight loss is not linear. While some people lose 1-2 lbs/week like clock work, there are those of us that lose 2 lbs, then hold steady or gain .5 lbs over the next 2 weeks, then lose 2 lbs again. Being on the pill, not being on the pill, starting your period, ovulating - it can all cause you to not lose for a week or two. (I always have a big drop after TOM is over). Anyway, be patient and trust in the process. You are not gaining, and that's a good thing.

Honestly, I think you ate too little for too long and really slowed your metabolism. You are bringing it back slowly by eating more and I think that is fantastic. However, it requires patience.

JAT74

I will give it time, I have to! I think that 1500 during the week and up to 2100 at weekends (assuming I'm working out 6 days per week) are good compromises for me. I know it's not keeping it so simple but over the week hopefully the deficit will be enough for me to lose 1lb per week and that's the most important thing. Plus when I'm out with friends I won't feel so guilty if I do eat a little more and have couple of drinks because I'll know I have the calories available to do that. If that doesn't work after 3-4 weeks I'll re-think things and maybe I should be eating less by -100 calories but I'll keep a check on things.

SJ46

I think you are overthinking it. Figure out your TDEE including all exercise and all activities. Remember it is an estimate though. Eat 20% less. Do not keep track of exercise calories, you don't need to, it should all be included in TDEE already. After 4-6 weeks evaluate, did you lose, gain or stay the same? Adjust if necessary.

This, exactly. It really isn't that complicated.

doubleduofa

I will give it time, I have to! I think that 1500 during the week and up to 2100 at weekends (assuming I'm working out 6 days per week) are good compromises for me. I know it's not keeping it so simple but over the week hopefully the deficit will be enough for me to lose 1lb per week and that's the most important thing. Plus when I'm out with friends I won't feel so guilty if I do eat a little more and have couple of drinks because I'll know I have the calories available to do that. If that doesn't work after 3-4 weeks I'll re-think things and maybe I should be eating less by -100 calories but I'll keep a check on things.

I think you are doing well. Your plan seems pretty simple. Are you talking NET cals or total cals? I have a hard time eating my exercise cals back because I'm not sure they are calculated correctly. I usually eat about half of what MFP estimates back depending on hunger (which usually comes the next day). I'm trying to listen to my body though too, so if I'm super hungry, I might eat more, and if not, I might not eat any back.

I think you are doing it right.

thinagain2014

I am about 5 weeks into my weight loss journey. I'm 5'4" 275lbs and still have 109 to go and I'm 42yo.

I don't have a lot in common with you right now but wanted to share my view on TDEE-20%. This is my second week using this method. I do spinning 4-5x a week were I burn anywhere from 500-800 calories per class (using HRM). I have lost 4lbs in two weeks!

As I said before, I know I have a lot more to lose than you do but I just want to let you know to trust the process. I lost 4lbs my first week, gained the second week, maintained the third but then lost 2lbs each in weeks 4 and 5.

It is scary for me to eat that many calories because I've always heard to lose weight you have to eat less, but I feel 100% better and I am not deprived, and I'm losing weight!

Good luck

SJ46

You said you do 30 minute workout 6 days a week? How vigorous is the workout? What is it comprised of?

HRM data is only accurate for steady state cardio, otherwise the calorie burns predicted will be too high.

If I were you I would use TDEE-20% using a moderate activity level, and not eat back your exercise calories. This calculation already figures days in the week without exercise so you do not have to modify your food intake for the days you do not exercise. You seem to be very caught up in the day to day numbers when really this is calculated by weekly averages.

Also, do not count cleaning as exercise unless you are extremely out of shape or you are sprinting around your house with an elevated heart rate and you are out of breath.

mryak750

You might be over thinking your approach...set a daily calorie amount, don't change it...let your body adapt to it, then lower it if your not losing....Try not to stress yourself out...that could be an issue and sleep is very important...good luck and I hope you succeed

JAT74

Hi Doubleduofa

I was talking about the amounts of 1500 cals during the week and 2100 at weekends as total calories to eat, not with eating my exercise calories on top of that.

Up until now, over the past few weeks I've been eating 1500 net plus my exercise calories on top and haven't lost any weight. I was very conscious of not eating below my BMR and as someone quite rightly pointed out I may have actually been eating at TDEE hence why I could not lose weight as most days I ate between 1850-2100 cals so not enough to notice any change in weight.

Now I've had a re-think thanks to some people who have helped me on here and I think that in order to create a deficit big enough to lose 1 lb per week I need to eat 3500 less than my TDEE per week. If I work on a TDEE figure of 2100 and calculate my total weekly cals, subtract 3500 to lose 1 lb and then divide that up over 7 days I end up with 1600 cals per day, however for me I'd rather eat less during the week (say 1400) and have the extra cals at weekends up to 2100. I think that's doable for me, except for the fact that I'm trying to eat more protein and I'm not sure whether in can get all the protein I need in just 1400 cals so maybe I'll make those days lower carb days too.

Thinkagain2014 I can see where you're coming from and I'm not sure what your TDEE is or TDEE -20% but for me it would not create enough of a deficit for me to be able to lose 1 lbs per week. I need to make it a little more than that. Unfortunately at my size, it's hard to shift the weight so quickly because there is not really that big a difference between my BMR and TDEE.

My only concern with all this is that with all the exercise I'll be doing (and the burn for me is more like 350-650 so not as high as you) I don't want to be netting too low a figure and send my body into starvation mode but that's another problem to tackle if this doesn't work I guess!

JAT74

Sorry I didn't see the other replies when I wrote my last message. I know everyone thinks I'm overthinking it but I really think if I'm going to succeed I need to overthink it! I know that in the past I've given up on things like this because I haven't got involved enough in them to follow them through but this way I am hyper aware fo what I'm eating and on what days and I think I can keep on the straight and narrow like that. Plus I know it will be an impossibility for me to try and stick to one calorie level every day as some days I eat out and I don't want to be miserable when I do because I know I can't go over 1600 calories. At least when I'm home if I have 1400 cals it won't be a hardship to do it and then at the weekends I can have something to look forward to, like a kind of cheat day even though I will be sticking within my calorie limits and trying to eat within my macros.

Regarding my exercise, it's actually unrealistic to say I do 30 mins exercise 6 days per week as in reality I've been doing 70 plus mins exercise at least 4 days a week and around 40 minutes on the other 3 days. I also wear a heart rate monitor when I'm working out and I have been logging cleaning as I live in a house with loads of stairs and have found that when moving around the house very quickly with a vacuum cleaner in hand I get an elevated heart rate up to as much as 150! Plus I used a heart rate monitor when I've been doing cleaning like that plus mopping and my heart rate has been up a lot higher than just normal daily activity which never gets it above 115 or so.

mryak750

No need to log your cleaning....just consider it a bonus for those weekend drinks

JAT74

Should I still log any of my workouts anyway if I am going to be eating the same amount every weekday and a higher amount every weekend? It would still be useful to know how much I'm burning and if I lose more or less weight depending on what workouts I've done that week.

I suppose I could ignore the extra cals MFP gives me if I set my net amount to 1400 and then eat 2100 at weekends and ignore the fact it's telling me I'm in the red!

deksgrl

Why are you still thinking you "can't eat more than 1600"? That is nonsense. If you aim for something reasonable based on your TDEE estimates, you could eat as much as 1700 or 1800 every day and lose weight. Now, if on some weekdays maybe you eat 1500 or 1600, and you try to control yourself on weekends, this will even out in the end.

JAT74

You're possibly right but I still need to create a 3500 calorie deficit in order to lose 1 lb per week. Therefore I'd rather start off lower during the week because I don't want to find that I eat 1600 or 1700 each weekday and then at the weekends when I calculate my meal out plus drinks and the rest of my food for the day I have gone way over what I should be eating and I've prevented myself from losing anything that week.

I'm just trying to be realistic about it. During the week I'm at home most days doing nothing, sitting around so I don't feel the need to eat that much so 1450 is plenty on those days. Even if I eat out for lunch during the week it's fairly low calorie so it's the sensible thing to do knowing that at weekends I will eat and drink more naturally.

If I find I'm losing more than 1lb per week I can always increase the amounts I'm eating during the week by 50 or 100 cals per day.

EmmaKarney

Aim to lose 0.5 pounds a week - slow and steady wins the race.

danelledawnc

I, too, use a heart rate monitor, which is part of my bicycling, hiking, running "watch/computer." And, when I dock it on to my laptop and import to the program it is locked with, it is easily shows 500+ calories burned in 1 hour. AND that includes riding at a speed anywhere from 12-16 miles per hour on my bike. To whomever said it is not possible to get 500 calories burned, just wants to rain on your parade. Everything I have read has indicated that using HR for calories burned is more accurate than anything else you can do. If you have a consistent higher heart rate, your are burning more energy. Period. That being said, if you got your heart in tip top shape (like from doing interval training, like P.A.C.E.), your maximum heart rate *could* be higher than the standard 220 minus age=MHR - the most important part of interval training is the length of time it takes your heart to recover to the "recovery HR." Example, I can max out my HR at 195 at a sprint for 1 min, currently it takes my HR to get lower than 125 about 1 min and 30 sec. The faster you can get your heart rate down, the faster your recovery, the healthier your heart; or how it is read through the P.A.C.E. program (by Dr. Al Sears). I did sprints last night for only 20 minutes, my HRM calculated 614 kcals burned, had to minus about 70 cals for regular expenditures, which still left me above 500 cals burned. When you create an "Oxygen deficit" through sprinting, you are making your heart work that much harder, so yes, it is possible to burn that many calories in 1 work out session.