TDEE & MFP - two totally different numbers!

sarahwilson12
sarahwilson12 Posts: 70 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone!
So, I've been doing MFP (this time around) for almost 60 days. According to MFP, I should only be eating 1270 calories/day if I want to lose 1lb/week. I'll give my "stats":

Weight: 148lbs
Height: 5' 5.5"
Level of Activity: Sedentary
Work-outs/week: 2 @ 30 minutes each
Goal Weight: 125-130ish

According to the TDEE calculator on Fitness Frog, my TDEE should be 2036. I've heard that consuming 80% of that will help you lose 1lb/week - so, that should be 1629 calories/day.

Any suggestions? Any idea why the numbers are so off?
Almost every evening, I feel hungry & peckish. It's very frustrating! And, I'm not even losing 1lb/week, because often I go over since I'm so hungry!

Please help! :smile:

Replies

  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    ok - 7 days of your 20% from TDEE calculates out to 2849 calories - it takes ~3500 for 1 lb/wk loss.

    TDEE takes into account your activity level and very few people are actually sedentary - not even those with desk jobs.
    What is the TDEE that MFP calculates for you - not the calorie count, the calories burned you see under Goals?

    How does that compare to the Fitness Frog calculation. Remember you set it to sedentary.
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    Oh, and at your weight and amount to lose, you should probably be aiming for around 0.5 lb/wk anyway. Finally, eat back your exercise calories!
  • sarahwilson12
    sarahwilson12 Posts: 70 Member
    According to MFP, the calories burned from normal daily activity is 1770.

    Should I change it to lightly active? And, adjust my weight loss/week?
    So, I just did that... and, it gives me 1660 calories/day. Is that better?
  • RawCarrots
    RawCarrots Posts: 204 Member
    I've heard that consuming 80% of that will help you lose 1lb/week - so, that should be 1629 calories/day.

    Whoever set that was incorrect, you are talking percentages not absolute values here. If 20% of your TDEE (which is your deficit per day) happens to be 500 kcal, then you should lose a lb a week :smile:

    Sorry can't really help with what to tweak, I'm still experimenting myself
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    Hey everyone!
    So, I've been doing MFP (this time around) for almost 60 days. According to MFP, I should only be eating 1270 calories/day if I want to lose 1lb/week. I'll give my "stats":

    Weight: 148lbs
    Height: 5' 5.5"
    Level of Activity: Sedentary
    Work-outs/week: 2 @ 30 minutes each
    Goal Weight: 125-130ish

    According to the TDEE calculator on Fitness Frog, my TDEE should be 2036. I've heard that consuming 80% of that will help you lose 1lb/week - so, that should be 1629 calories/day.

    Any suggestions? Any idea why the numbers are so off?
    Almost every evening, I feel hungry & peckish. It's very frustrating! And, I'm not even losing 1lb/week, because often I go over since I'm so hungry!

    Please help! :smile:
    I just tried the Scooby calculator for you.

    At sedentary level:
    BMR is 1483
    TDEE is 1779
    TDEE - 20% = 1423 (that is below your BMR, so you should probably eat at BMR/1483)
    The 20% deficit will only give you a 0.7lb/week weight loss, even less at the BMR number.
    (on exercise days you would eat back calories burned).

    If you change the activity to light (1-3 hrs/week)
    TDEE is 2039
    TDEE - 20% is 1631.
    That will give you a 0.8 lb loss.
    (you would eat at this number every day).

    You have MFP set to sedentary with a 1 lb loss per week.
    1 lb equals approximately 3500 calories (500 per day).
    So take the TDEE of 1779 minus 500 and that gives you 1279 - the number MFP is giving you.
    This is why you are feeling hungry and tired, it is well below your BMR of 1483 and actually works out to about a 30% deficit.
    As someone said above, with the amount you have to lose, you should eat at a smaller deficit anyway.
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    Try it out and see how it goes - see how you feel. Bear in mind the less you have to lose the slower the loss will generally be. Don't give up after a week!

    If you're starving and going over on calories anyway, then bumping things up a bit should help with that. It's often a mental issue -seeing all those red numbers and feeling like you failed. As long as you are under your TDEE you are in deficit and the weight will eventually come off.
  • sarahwilson12
    sarahwilson12 Posts: 70 Member
    You guys are wonderful! Thanks for all your help :smile:
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    You guys are wonderful! Thanks for all your help :smile:

    You're welcome!
    Oh, and it works. It took me a year to get over the fear of eating MORE to lose weight, but after two weeks I've broken my three month plateau already using this method.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    the problem with the number MFP gives us (and a major flaw of the system) is that it ONLY considers the straight math of your current weight and how fast you want to lose weight.
    No one comes in and says "actually that number is too low, and you should aim for a smaller deficit because you are already close to a healthy weight and those close to a healthy weight lose more slowly. A smaller deficit will be easier for you to sustain, so have patience, it pays off in the long run! "
    Because you are 148lbs which is probably just only barely considered overweight for your height, the "right way" to use the MFP numbers would be to go for a goal of only .5 pounds a week. That would give you more calories to work with each day, and still a very good, healthy rate of loss.

    Having said all that, if you wanna completely ignore what MFP says about numbers and just use your TDEE -20% or 15%, that's also a legit way to do it, I just wanted to explain why MFP gives you something so different.

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