TDEE/BMR/MFP which one do i listen to?

cortneysmissionpossible

I'm 5'4", 142-143 pounds, female, 23, and I exercise 5x a week (cardio 2 days and lifting with light cardio for the other 3), I have a sedentary job.

Mfp recommends = 1370 calories a day

BMR: 1370

TDEE: 1668

I always get up to at least 1370 and some days a little bit over. I'm confused as to which I should listen to? I haven't lost much weight or inches..could this be due to me eating not enough? This has me very confused.

KarenJanine

I plugged your numbers into the Scoobys Workshop TDEE calculator.

For the info you gave above I would put you at moderately actively (3 to 5 hrs exercise per week) which gave the following:
BMR 1458
TDEE 2261

TDEE - 20% 1808

Therefore you could be eating around 1808 per day to lose weight. So yes, I think you are probably not eating enough. Bear in mind that you do not need to eat exercise calories in addition to the 1808 as they are already accounted for in the TDEE calculation.

KarenJanine

I am assuming the BMR / TDEE numbers you gave are the ones given by MFP? If so then these are the numbers based on no exercise. So alternatively you could eat 1370 but you would need to eat your exercise calories on top of this, which over the course of the week would likely average out somewhere near 1808, it's just a different method which essentially does the same thing. The only difference being that with the TDEE method I gave above you get to eat the same amount every day, whereas the MFP method varies your intake day to day based on your activity level that day.

loricshields47

My husband could have written the last response...he is a big fan of scooby's lol and agrees the mfp suggests far to few calories a day (1200 for me, = wait loss )....so I can relate with your concerns

FluffyMcNutter

MFP's 1370 also means you need to eat back your exercise calories, so that's NET'ing 1370, which probably wouldn't put you in a very different position than your calculations of TDEE most days. So, I don't think it really matters between the two, it's just a preference of whether or not you want to calculate and eat back your exercise calories.

It doesn't look like you have all that much to lose, so make sure that your MFP and TDEE numbers are for losing .5 - 1 lb/wk and either 10 or 15% of TDEE. You don't really have a need to do 2lbs/wk or a 20% deficit because you are closer to maintenance than the people for whom those are appropriate options.

redraidergirl2009

on non exercise days should you still eat up to the TDEE -20%? or less?

Lyadeia

I plugged your numbers into the Scoobys Workshop TDEE calculator.

For the info you gave above I would put you at moderately actively (3 to 5 hrs exercise per week) which gave the following:
BMR 1458
TDEE 2261

TDEE - 20% 1808

Therefore you could be eating around 1808 per day to lose weight. So yes, I think you are probably not eating enough. Bear in mind that you do not need to eat exercise calories in addition to the 1808 as they are already accounted for in the TDEE calculation.

I agree with this.

I am actually 1 inch taller than the OP and weigh about 5 pounds less, and I shoot for 1775-1800 calories a day. I consistently lose fat doing this.

MFP puts me at 1260 calories + exercise calories which is typically around 1500-1600 total for me. I had success with this up to a point. When my body fat got down to below 25%, I flat out stalled. The fat started coming off again when I bumped up to 1775 calories, and I am now wearing clothes that have been tucked away in my closet for a couple of years because they were previously too small.

I think MFP underestimates calorie needs for a lot of people. I didn't even put mine on sedentary and it still told me 1260 was the base. That is actually 200 below my BMR which is quite dangerous from someone as lean as I am. It's not so bad for very overweight or obese individuals, but for me, I don't have much fat to lose and would prefer to keep my lean mass instead of catabolising it away.

Lyadeia

on non exercise days should you still eat up to the TDEE -20%? or less?

Yes, you should still eat TDEE-20% on non-exercise days because the calculation for TDEE takes into account your WEEKLY exercise averages, so the calculation is based on the entire week.

Sarauk2sf

How much have you lost and over what period?