My TDEE and MFP numbers differ - Need advice

johnguitarman

Hi all.

I started with MFP about 6 weeks ago. Since then I have lost about 15 lbs. I am 6'2, currently 260 lbs and 40 years old. Before starting MFP weight was 285. Officially started MFP at 275 lbs. My goal is to drop about 70-80 pounds on my cut and then start a mass building phase after I get to my goal weight.

In my younger years I was very active in Karate, weight lifting, Tai Chi, Basketball etc but since hitting my 30's I became more sedentary and didnt exercise that much. I ballooned up to 285 pounds and during this past february I decided I needed to make a change. I stopped my 6 can a day diet pepsi addiction cold turkey, stopped eating daily fast food and started eating healthy and drinking only water. I lost a good 10 pounds just from doing that.

I eventually found MFP and started doing it with complete dedication. I did mostly cardio and soon added weight lifting to my routine. MFP said my calories per day to lose 2lbs a week is 1920 calories. I've stuck to that really close and I have lost about 15 lbs in 6 weeks. The last two weeks though my progress has seemed to slow from 2-3 pounds a week to barely a pound this last week even though I am eating great and exercising. I am wondering if I am starting to plateau and may not be getting the proper cals I need to lose weight.?

I now read about TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and I am wondering if MFP has led me astray and may not be calculating my calories correctly? Maybe it is resulting in me getting alot lower calories than I should be getting?

According to the FitnessFrog TDEE calculator my TDEE is 3,647 with moderate exercise. When I multiply it by .80 I get 2,917 and .70 I get 2,552. That is quite a difference from the 1920 calories a day that MFP is saying I should be getting. Now one thing I haven't been doing on MFP is eating back my workout calories. So If I am consuming 1920 calories a day and burning about 500 calories per workout I am netting about 1420 calories per day. Am I not getting enough calories for my body to function normally at 1420 cals a day? According to the calculators on FitnessFrog my BMR is 2353 and my RMR is 2351.

Am I right to assume when I multiply the TDEE by .80(20%) or .70(30%) That is the calorie deficit I should be trying to hit? So if I wanted to lose about 2 pounds a week I would multiply my TDEE by .70 and get 2,552 calories per day. I dont have to eat back more calories ontop of that 2,552 calories since the activity level was included in my TDEE calculation do I? Why the big disparity from the 1920 calories per day MFP says I should be getting and the TDEE deficit number of 2,917 or 2,552 calories per day?

Forgive me if my questions are basic, I want to make sure I completely understand all of this before I go upping my cals from my current 1920. I dont want to put back on some of the weight I just lost. I thought I was good to go with MFP but then I started learning more and now that I learned about TDEE it makes me wonder if I am getting enough calories. I was losing great but now I seem to be slowing down. I desperately want to get in shape, lose the weight and stay on the right path. I already see my body transforming and I dont want it to stop. I need to make sure I am doing it healthy and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.

One other question I have is if I am netting 1420 calories a day since I dont eat back my calories and my TDEE deficit is 2552 should i slowly raise my calories up to that number or just start right away?

Thank you for your time,

John