Question re: TDEE & eating back exercise calories

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  • Broejen
    Broejen Posts: 414 Member
    OMG i think this is the same confusion Im having. According to mfp my body naturally burn 2,230 calories a day not including what I burn by exercising. Does that count as part of the 3,500 needed to loose a pound

    Technically yes, but not really. Your body needs those calories to run, therefore you need to eat to keep it going. As long as your intake is 3500 less than what you ate, then you will lose. Make sure you don't eat too little though or you will plateau like me. If your TDEE is 2300, I would think you could eat about 1700 per day.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    OMG i think this is the same confusion Im having. According to mfp my body naturally burn 2,230 calories a day not including what I burn by exercising. Does that count as part of the 3,500 needed to loose a pound

    if you eat at 500 a day deficit then you will lose one pound per week...500 * 7 days a week = 3500 calories burned per week aka one pound...in your case 2230 - 500 = 1730 per day. You could go for 700 a day and that would be 1530 per day....


    If you are doing TDEE -20% then you do not eat back your exercise calories as they are included in TDEE calculation..

    if you are not doing TDEE - 20% then you eat back exercise calories ....
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
    I think I see what you're asking . . . The problem is the concept of "net" doesn't really apply if you are doing the BMR/TDEE thing, it only applies to the MFP method. So dont worry about net. As you point out, how you burn the calories doesn't matter. I think you can simplify it by choosing a TDEE for your typical day (that's how TDEE is meant to be, it's not meant to change each day) and eat at a cut off that (say a 500 cal per day or a 15-20% cut). If once in a blue moon you exercise and think you've burned 500 extra calories that day, eat a bit more if you think you need it. I think you are overthinking it.

    ETA: The whole purpose of "net" is to make sure people don't eat too little on the MFP plan becaue the deficit is taken from basic activity level, not exercise, and they assume people are going to exercise so don't want the deficit to increase. With TDEE, especially if you have a fitbit, you can just take a cut off whatever your calorie expenditure is that day, don't worry about netting any specific amount. And yes, it's fine to net below your BMR. It's necessary if your BMR and TDEE are very close.

    If you are correct about not worrying about net calories, then I believe you have answered my question. Thank you! I was wondering why I needed to eat back calories when I exercise, but not when I'm just more active overall.

    And yes, GamerLady, doing errands and cleaning can certainly burn more than just "very minor" calories.

    Good! To me, net calories is a silly concept, and your question illustrates why. It's about what you expend vs what you take in. I think net can only be applied in the specific context of the MFP "plan".

    You hear a lot of people around here advising not to eat below or net below your BMR and I think it's a great way to keep a moderate deficit but there is no physiological reason for it. In cases like yours it limits you to a 200-300 cal deficit or approx 1/2 lb per week rate of loss. I think it's generally agreed that a moderate deficit is better than a large deficit (if slower) so you have find a balance between sustainability and rate of loss that you are comfortable with.
  • Mock_Turtle
    Mock_Turtle Posts: 354 Member
    Well I'm going to be the lone wolf like usual but if you have 60 lbs to lose I don't see any issue with trying for 1.5 lb/wk which is roughly a 750 cal/day deficit.

    You're going to have to move more if you want to eat more and still have that deficit.
  • Broejen
    Broejen Posts: 414 Member
    Well I'm going to be the lone wolf like usual but if you have 60 lbs to lose I don't see any issue with trying for 1.5 lb/wk which is roughly a 750 cal/day deficit.

    You're going to have to move more if you want to eat more and still have that deficit.

    It's not that I want to eat more, I just want to make sure I am not starving my body by being too low, but I still want the best deficit possible. I was netting between 1100-1250 most days in the fall but since January I have only lost 5lbs doing the same thing, so obviously something isn't right. I can't get the deficit to lose 1.5lbs a week because my TDEE is too close to my BMR!

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