TDEE - 30%? Seems high. HALP.

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DalekBrittany
DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
At the advice of many other users, I went to a thread that shows how to eat at a certain percentage under TDEE for weight loss. Here's the thing:

5'6"
Obviously female (I hope!)
305 pounds (don't judge)
20 years old
I exercise 3x/week, cardio, 1 hr per session.

According to http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html <---that calculator, my TDEE is 3,016.
According to that thread, I should be eating only 70% of that (30 percent less)
That would mean I theoretically should be eating approx. 2,100 cal/day. Right now I am eating 1,700, just going by MFP's deficit.

My thing is that 2,100 seems like a lot to eat. Like a whole lot. Am I off? How will I lose weight eating all that damn food?! Halp?!

Replies

  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Bump :(
  • HeatherSBrighterFuture
    HeatherSBrighterFuture Posts: 27
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    I am 5'1, 235lbs, female and I keep getting told I should be eating 2086 cals . I am at the lowest exercise/activity level on everything I check. It's all so confusing to me, hoping you get some answers.
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
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    I am 5'1, 235lbs, female and I keep getting told I should be eating 2086 cals . I am at the lowest exercise/activity level on everything I check. It's all so confusing to me, hoping you get some answers.

    Me too! Thanks.
  • Textmessage
    Textmessage Posts: 387 Member
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    Do you exercise? If so, you're supposed to be eating more than the 1700 MFP starts you at because they assume you eat back those cals.

    What are you eating on workout days using MFP's guidelines?
  • emmalousmom1
    emmalousmom1 Posts: 121 Member
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    how much calories do you burn with cardio? If you added that to mfp 1700, how much do you get for your exercise days?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,045 Member
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    Pick one or the other and stick with it.

    You understand, MFP expects you to enter Exercise and eat those additional calories, right?

    If you use TDEE minus 30%, you don't do that.

    So the numbers are the same, essentially.
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Ohhh okay. So TDEE does NOT require you to eat back your cals? I said in my OP that I exercise 3x per week, yes, I do eat my calories back and I NET 1700. I actually changed it just today to reflect 1 pound per week rather than 2. I burn about 500 to 600 calories per session.

    Also, I have not switched anything around. If it's not working for someone how can you expect them to pick one and stick with it? It is working for me at the moment, but I didn't want to get caught on a plateau. But it sounds like I am probably already eating the same amount.
  • HappyElizabeth
    HappyElizabeth Posts: 231 Member
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    That sounds about right (assuming you do the cardio 3x per week). I am 42 years old, 5'.8" and 163 pounds. My TDEE is about 2700 (this is the number I have determined based on months of wearing a fitbit and a HRM) and I have lost weight eating at around 1900-2100 calories per day. Strangely, I lost very little weight eating 1200-1300 calories per day (makes no sense, but it's true). I went to the TDEE calculator you mentioned and it listed my TDEE at 2600, which is pretty darned close to my semi-verified TDEE of 2700. So, I think it's an accurate TDEE calculator, and I can attest to TDEE minus 20 or 30%% working.
  • Textmessage
    Textmessage Posts: 387 Member
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    .
  • Textmessage
    Textmessage Posts: 387 Member
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    Ohhh okay. So TDEE does NOT require you to eat back your cals? I said in my OP that I exercise 3x per week, yes, I do eat my calories back and I NET 1700. I actually changed it just today to reflect 1 pound per week rather than 2. I burn about 500 to 600 calories per session.

    Also, I have not switched anything around. If it's not working for someone how can you expect them to pick one and stick with it? It is working for me at the moment, but I didn't want to get caught on a plateau. But it sounds like I am probably already eating the same amount.

    Exactly. TDEE includes an estimate of your daily activity/exercise in the figure and accommodates an allowance to come close to the method of what MFP expects you to net. So, if you use TDEE- x%, you either log exercise on mfp is 1 cal or log it normally, but make sure you end your day being under by the exercise amount for that day.
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Thanks for the help everyone! It sounds like most days I am eating the right amount but on rest days I am not sure?

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