TDEE--how do I know if it's accurate?

castelluzzo99

Okay, so it says working out 3-5 days a week. I know workouts are not all created equal. It doesn't ask how long the workouts are. A half hour walk vs. a half hour of weight lifting or doing Insanity or something. And 3 workouts vs 5...

I did some experiments with 3 different calculators, and got 2244, 2283, and 2350. When I take out 500 estimated to lose, then add back in 300 for breastfeeding a 10-month old, I get 2044-2150. Currently I'm doing a moderately intense mix of strength and cardio (10 different calisthenic exercises with cardio between every 2 sets), and I've started adding weights to the lunges and squats, and will soon be increasing the pushups, since I am doing the 100 pushup challenge. The extra weight (I added 6 lb today and expect to have over 20 lb sometime next week) will obviously burn more calories, but that isn't accounted for in the TDEE calculator.

Honestly, I am beginning to think that I just need to eat reasonable amounts of whatever is being served, watching my fat intake (I have noticed since I joined last month that it tends to go over most days), only eat when I'm hungry and until I'm satisfied, and not worry about counting calories at all.

Besides, how can the TDEE know what one's metabolism is? Theoretically, as I lose fat and build muscle, my metabolism should go up.

I guess I'm getting really tired of counting calories. Since I make everything myself, it is getting tedious and time-consuming to come here to the computer every time I try a new recipe, or try to remember how many servings a batch of this or that made--or how big a serving is supposed to be. If I used more pre-packaged food (say, cold cereal and soy milk for breakfast every day), it would be easy. But I start from scratch and cook most of my meals (cold cereal is in our pantry, but I only eat it once or twice a week). That, and I lean toward the dump-and-pour/guestimate kind of cooking, and having to measure everything is, once again, tedious.

I'm going to stick it out for a total of 1 month with the calorie counting, but after that, I don't think I'll continue it. I will probably continue to log my exercises and weight, though, because I like the accountability it brings.

Anyhow, anyone have thoughts on the TDEE question?

castelluzzo99

Bump

kaervaak

The only way to know for sure to track your caloric intake and weight over a long period of time. You can take your average weightloss per week multiply it by 3500 and add it to your total calories eaten per week then divide by 7 to find TDEE.

TDEE = Calories eaten + weightloss (in pounds per day)*500

1ConcreteGirl

If you maintain your weight eating at your TDEE, it is accurate.

longtimeterp

It seems like you have already decided to give up in a month, so why does it really matter?

DavPul

let's not over complicate this. TDEE is a guess. make the most reasonable assumptions for your situation and then track your weight changes over the next month. no calculator is going to be 100% accurate. but that's okay, because you don't need 100% accuracy to lose weight.

1. track your food
2. get some exercise
3. watch your scale.
4. adjust if needed.
5. repeat.

endoftheside

This is why I use sedentary TDEE and add back in exercise calories...my week to week energy expenditure is just too variable for me to trust TDEE for X activity level.

For me, not tracking my food is waaaaay too slippery a slope. My hunger signals are unreliable...sometimes not hungry when I should be eating, overly hungry for no reason I can tell at other times.

If you don't track food/exercise, you will have a hard time making adjustments if what you are doing stops working.

longtimeterp

If you don't track food/exercise, you will have a hard time making adjustments if what you are doing stops working.

since beginning mfp, the only times ive lost weight is tracking...i have gained the 4 times i stopped. Even more than exercise, knowing calories in is critical.

castelluzzo99

It seems like you have already decided to give up in a month, so why does it really matter?

I didn't say I was giving up. I said I was going to stop tracking food. For starters, I'm losing pregnancy weight, and have been able to maintain a decent weight most of my life. I just gain a lot during pregnancies (3 so far) and have never lost all I gained. However, I'm more focused on fitness at this point than I am on tracking food. I realize there are so many other factors than just calories in vs. calories out. Metabolism affacts calories out, as does exercise. Changes in strength equal changes in metabolism.

All I know is, I'm spending way too much time here, and it's partly because of entering my food. If I didn't have to come enter my food, I would get more done around the house. And with 3 kids, that's important!