BMR/TDEE

debbie6868

Confused after reading many posts on bmr an tdee i put my details into the scooby calculator an the figures it came up with are
BMR 1553 TDEE 2407
so what daily calories am i supposed to be eating....... confused

dangerousdumpling

TDEE 2407 - 20% = 1925. If your TDEE is correct you should eat 1925 or around 1925 to lose weight.

jonnythan

How active ar you? That's like 500-600 of exercise/activity calories a day.

Assuming it's right, then yeah about 1900-1950 calories a day is your target for weight loss.

Sarauk2sf

^^I agree that it seems on the high side. At first glance, and without more details, I would eat to about 1,700 - 1,800 (no eating exercise cals back) and see what results you get - give it 4 weeks and tweak accordingly.

Make sure you are really accurate with logging. Weigh (anything not completely liquid) and measure your food. Don't forget the log condiments etc.

debbie6868

The exercise calories is where im getting confused......i put in that i do around 5 hours exercise per week ie boot camp an gym 3 times a week so do i have to eat exercise calories back on top of the 1950 daliy calories.

jonnythan

The exercise calories is where im getting confused......i put in that i do around 5 hours exercise per week ie boot camp an gym 3 times a week so do i have to eat exercise calories back on top of the 1950 daliy calories.

I like to keep it more simple. When calculating TDEE I assume I'm sedentary, then add my exercise calories on top of that as I do the exercise. That way I don't have to try to do any averaging over an entire week in my head and put myself into one of the categories.

Start with "sedentary" and add exercise calories on top of that. That's my recommendation anyway.

So with BMR 1533, that's sedentary TDEE of 1840 calories. Minus 20% is a net calorie target of about 1450 a day. Then add in exercise; if you spend half an hour on the treadmill and burn 275 calories, your calorie intake that day should be 1450+275 = 1725.

WinnerVictorious

here's the way i think about it:

BMR is a measure of what your body needs to function normally without external energy demands. alot of people call this "being in a coma" or "sleeping all day"

however, most of us go about our daily lives and that burns calories too. it's nearly impossible to quantify what those energy demands are, so we use an estimate. these include things like making coffee, brushing your teeth, checking the mailbox, etc. everything that you do during the day that is not specific exercise designed to burn calories, should be accounted for using this estimate. this estimate it provided by the Harris-Benedict equation. for sedentary/office workers, this is a x 1.2 multiplier. for lightly active, this is 1.375. etc.

additional exercise that you do every day specifically to burn calories (or for fun, like a game of pickup basketball) is treated as additional calorie burn for that specific day. these are the amounts you are logging with the MFP exercise diary.

use all of these to determine your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)

TDEE = BMR x Harris-Benedict multiplier + exercise for the day

then, subtract your desired calorie deficit from your TDEE.

daily calorie goal = TDEE - desired calorie deficit

for example.,

for a person whose BMR = 1650, is sedentary normally, wants to lose 1lb per week (i.e., a 500 calorie per day deficit), and has burned 650 calorie playing racquetball today.

TDEE = 1650 x 1.2 +650 = 2630
daily calorie goal = 2630 - 500 = 2130

therefore on this day, this person should eat 2130 calories to meet their goal.

debbie6868

ok thanks for advice will try that

roguex_1979

^^I agree that it seems on the high side. At first glance, and without more details, I would eat to about 1,700 - 1,800 (no eating exercise cals back) and see what results you get - give it 4 weeks and tweak accordingly.

This.

rileysowner

Since I am very consistent with exercise I include it in my TDEE calculation so I know what I have to work with every day. Are there days when I exercise a lot more, sure, I still eat the same. Are there days I don't exercise at all, yup, I still eat the same as those exercise calories are averaged over the week. Frankly, the set my activity at sedentary and eat back exercise calories thing just drove me nuts. My most successful approach in terms of compliance to my calories has always been a fixed number. That is not the case for everyone. My suggestion pick an approach and try it for 3-5 weeks. See how it works for you. If you find including them in your TDEE calculation and having a more or less fixed goal every day works for you to keep you on track, do that, if not do the sedentary and add exercise calorie approach.

doubleduofa

My tdee if sedentary is low - 1484. With moderate exercise, it's 1915. I try to stick somewhere in between...about 1750 most days. I exercise 4-6 times/ week for 1-2 hours. I'm losing slowly....very slowly.

I'm 5'10 and 32 years old... I think yours sounds a bit high and echo what others are saying. However, play around and see what works.

kazitykaz

I've calculated my BMR and TDEE too.

BMR 1414
TDEE 2192

I want to lose a further 25 lbs. Would eating 1400 calories a day be too low? MFP calculated I should eat 1200 so 1400 will be upping my I calories.

Thank you

debbie6868

confusing though if i go on different web sites they all come back with different results.

jonnythan

confusing though if i go on different web sites they all come back with different results.

There are different algorithms. The one that MFP uses is my favorite.

karenhray7

The exercise calories is where im getting confused......i put in that i do around 5 hours exercise per week ie boot camp an gym 3 times a week so do i have to eat exercise calories back on top of the 1950 daliy calories.

If you have 4 children under 7, AND hit the gym that much, then you are most likely somewhere between moderately active and very active. Since they're all boys, I'd bet that you're very active. Very, very active.

You don't need to eat your exercise calories back. The 1950 takes into consideration your calorie deficit from exercise already. Even though it may seem ridiculously high, I wouldn't cut back on calories unless your activity level changes. That being said, a person's BMR will decrease with weight loss, so it's a good idea to recalculate every now and again.

karenhray7

I've calculated my BMR and TDEE too.

BMR 1414
TDEE 2192

I want to lose a further 25 lbs. Would eating 1400 calories a day be too low? MFP calculated I should eat 1200 so 1400 will be upping my I calories.

Thank you

According to your numbers, it appears that you have a moderate level of activity. So yes, 1400 is way too low for any substantial amount of time (more than a week). Using a 20% reduction, you'd still need 1753cal/day unless your activity level drops. MFP calculated me to be 1200cal, while my bariatric specialist put me at 1500.

Sarauk2sf

I've calculated my BMR and TDEE too.

BMR 1414
TDEE 2192

I want to lose a further 25 lbs. Would eating 1400 calories a day be too low? MFP calculated I should eat 1200 so 1400 will be upping my I calories.

Thank you

Same comments as for the OP, and the same calorie range.

WhataBroad

I do a combination of these, lol. I have MFP set to sedentary with a 1.5lb loss goal so it gives me 1620, which is just over my BMR. I then eat back my calories up to 1800. It took a bit for me to simplify because I was getting all caught up in these calculators too but in the end, you will find what works for you, good luck!