TDEE-20% Still seems too HIGH! So now what?!?

Katina3333

So does that mean that my TDEE -20% is too high to lose 1.5 lbs per week. Really I would like to do 1.5-2 lbs per week.

I just adjusted my goals to have my current weight from this morning and 30 minutes of working out 5 times a week and it lowered my base calories to 1290! lol

Why does it have to be so confusing! I just want to make sure to eat the right amount of calories for how much I workout to make sure that I lose every week. lol

Mia_RagazzaTosta

So does that mean that my TDEE -20% is too high to lose 1.5 lbs per week. Really I would like to do 1.5-2 lbs per week.

I just adjusted my goals to have my current weight from this morning and 30 minutes of working out 5 times a week and it lowered my base calories to 1290! lol

Why does it have to be so confusing! I just want to make sure to eat the right amount of calories for how much I workout to make sure that I lose every week. lol

I don't know how much weight you have to lose but unless you're morbidly obese, 1.5-2lbs is probably too aggressive. And you might not lose every week. Weigh loss isn't linear. You may lose one week and not the next. I would customize your goals based on your TDEE numbers, give it about a month, and adjust accordingly.

blanhe2

Given the exercise that amount looks just right! You won't lose weight if you do not eat enough!

heybales

I'm confused... seems like my TDEE on other sites where you plug in the information is way higher than here on MFP.

Female
36
195.4 (cause apparently I gained 2.5 lbs over the weekend, for no apparent reason)
5'1"
5 morning workouts for 30 minutes each, plus the gym tu & thu


My base calories on here are 1300 plus my burned calories (about 235 calories m-f not counting the gym) but when I go to other sites my TDEE is about 2407 (depending on the site) so less 20% is 2006. So what is it, apprx 1525 or 2006?

My weekly average for last week was just about 1100 net, so maybe that's why I gained, cause I didn't eat enough???... but still how many calories am I supposed to eat, what MFP says (with all my workout calories, just some of my work out calories) or my TDEE -20%?

That's because MFP isn't even trying to give you a complete TDEE value like the other sites are doing.
MFP diet goals is based on NO exercise expected or done.
Sadly and confusingly though, you do enter exercise goals too - but those have NO bearing on the diet goals.
That's why you eat back your exercise calories.

The other big difference is, you selecting the correct TDEE level on other sites. Hrs per week is the way to view those levels, not days. You doing 30 min is 1/2 day really, add it up, now what level?

MFP has a deficit amount not based on %, but block of calories. Recommend 1 lb weekly. If you selected more, or have little to lose, that block amount is bigger than 20% off full TDEE.

They can compare favorably, but they are by no means the same all the time.

Also, the MFP method doesn't have any assistance to retaining muscle mass, it'll be more than happy to give you a goal based on YOUR choices that has you undereating and losing muscle mass.
TDEE Deficit method usually protects you from that if honest with activity level.

bcattoes

190lbs and I exercise about 5-6 days a week

TDEE: 2492 minus 20%= 1993

I'm staying around 1300 calories per day, is that too low? If so.......Now what?!?!!???!!??

I haven't read all the replies because page 1 seemed to veer off onto another members problems, so perhaps this has already been pointed out, but the online calculators only give the average BMR and TDEE for someone with the stats you enter. Yours could vary by several hundred. If you feel it's too high why not split the difference (1993 - 1300 = 1693) and start from there. If that doesn't work after a few weeks, then adjust up or down as needed.

Mischievous_Rascal

1300 PLUS exercise calories or TDEE minus 15-20% should be about the same amount of calories, if you're accurate about your activity level and have a good way to measure your calaories burned. So set it to 1900ish and don't eat your exercise calories (already included in your activity level), or set it to 1300 and eat back your calories. Give it a few weeks and see where your at and adjust as needed. And if you are working out that much, you NEED the fuel!

Best of luck!

Katina3333

Thank you so much. I don't think I'm over estimating my exercise or calories burned (I don't use what MFP comes up with I use another site which is pretty much lower although go to another site and you get a different number too. lol)

M - F
I run 1 mile on the treadmill (6 minutes at 5.0 & 7 minutes at 4.5 (puts me just over a mile with my mile coming in at 12:42)
I walk for 5 minutes before my mile at 3.0
I fast walk for 6 minutes after my mile at 3.5
I jog for 3 minutes at 4.5
Then I walk 3 minutes at 3.5 to finish up my 30 minutes

(I change this up, would love to be at a 12 minute mile & I've done it but my HR was high)

Then after dinner hubby & I walk or ride our bikes through the neighborhood. Its not as consistant as I'd like so I don't rely on it to add into my TDEE.

Tue & thur
I jog to the gym (about half a mile)
2 miles on the elliptical in 22 minutes
6 minutes on the hand bike
Fast walk back home (about half a mile)
(this takes apprx 40 minutes)


Mon - .5 hour
Tue - 1 hour
Wed - .5 hour
Thu - 1 hour
Fri - .5 hour

So that would be 3-5 hours a week... right?

albaehr

Mfp gives me 1670 a day, I am 48yr male. I have not lost any weight in 2 months. 4 weeks ago I started to eat more of my exercise calories and gained weight ?. I averaged around 2000 a day. I do exercise at least 5 times a weeks. I also use body media and both are very close. So not sure if I need more or less at this point but I know for sure i dont want to gain anymore. I do drink a lot of diet coke,I have read that diet sodas can cause slow weight loss but not sure if it true ?

heybales

Mon - .5 hour
Tue - 1 hour
Wed - .5 hour
Thu - 1 hour
Fri - .5 hour

So that would be 3-5 hours a week... right?

Correct, since about 4 with variable stuff.
Take the deficit.
Don't eat back exercise calories UNLESS you add another unplanned 30 min of something decently intense.
Like 1 day 30 min walk - no big deal.
5 days 30 min walk - should account for.
30 min easy cycle around the neighborhood, no big deal.
1 hr hard ride up hills - big deal.

heybales

Mfp gives me 1670 a day, I am 48yr male. I have not lost any weight in 2 months. 4 weeks ago I started to eat more of my exercise calories and gained weight ?. I averaged around 2000 a day. I do exercise at least 5 times a weeks. I also use body media and both are very close. So not sure if I need more or less at this point but I know for sure i dont want to gain anymore. I do drink a lot of diet coke,I have read that diet sodas can cause slow weight loss but not sure if it true ?

Lost inches?
With that much exercise, looks like you are asking your body to make improvements from it, which rarely has to do with weight loss, but weight gain.
But you could still lose fat, so inches will drop.

But, you've probably also lost some decent muscle mass and lowered your metabolism in addition to that lowering, due to not following the program correctly.

You will gain water weight, always do the math.

3500 calories is 1 lb of fat. So if you gain 1 lb overnight, did you eat 3500 calories over your maintenance level the previous day?
Eating 250 calories in excess daily would only be 1 lb gain in 2 weeks.
Anything faster than that is water weight.

Your body is trying to store more glucose you have been keeping it depleted on until you ate more.
Allow, accept the fact it was going to happen sometime anyway. Same water weight you lost the first week fast.

And stop losing muscle mass, you might want it, and you won't gain it back later unless you really do eat in excess then. And you'll gain fat then too. Bummer.

This is assuming you are doing exercise the BodyMedia is good at estimating, or not doing much of the stuff it is bad at estimating.
But what does it say your TDEE is for like a weeks avg?

Paganrosemama

What I have been doing is sort of a combo of TDEE- 20 and MPF.

My TDEE can vary wildly due to my health, some days I can't get off the couch, other days I can hike for hours and be fine.

So I calculated my TDEE for the days when I sit and do nothing and subtracted 15%- which turns out to be very near 1600 cals- which is my goal. If I am more active I record the exercise and eat back some of the calories. Although I can't eat more than 2200 cals without feeling sick- so on days where I burn more than 700 cals I am almost always way under.

So far I have lost 10 lbs in the past 2 months....

If your TDEE - 20% is too much to eat , start to slowly increase your calories- be warned because some who have been eating very low calorie diets started to gain a few pounds before losing rapidly when switching to the TDEE method. So make sure you stick with it for a few weeks....

albaehr

heybales

I just checked again and mfp says with 3 times a week working out and having my goal set at 1.5lbs loss i should be burning 2450 cal aday, I do use body media and on most days it says I burn 3000 or a little more with exerciseI never go less than 1670 a day so hopefully I am not losing good mass. But YES i do think I am losing some inchs and with the running and weight training hopefully been adding some good lbs on. I find myself enjoying goals reached in the gym to be more rewarding than the scale now I am down 50lbs this yr so I think my body is adjusting.. Thanks for the reply

Note I workout days I eat more than 1670 more like 2100

heybales

heybales

I just checked again and mfp says with 3 times a week working out and having my goal set at 1.5lbs loss i should be burning 2450 cal aday, I do use body media and on most days it says I burn 3000 or a little more with exerciseI never go less than 1670 a day so hopefully I am not losing good mass. But YES i do think I am losing some inchs and with the running and weight training hopefully been adding some good lbs on. I find myself enjoying goals reached in the gym to be more rewarding than the scale now I am down 50lbs this yr so I think my body is adjusting.. Thanks for the reply

Note I workout days I eat more than 1670 more like 2100

First, you need to separate the MFP diet eating goal from the exercise goal - the 2 are not related. Change your exercise goal to whatever and your diet eating goal will stay the same.

So MFP thinks your daily burn is 2450 without exercise, your BodyMedia says easily 3000, but of course more with exercise.

So you already have a 500 cal deficit from BodyMedia's better estimate to MFP's guess based on YOUR selection of activity level, which is obviously not right.
Then you are getting another 750 calorie deficit from MFP's already lowered daily estimate. Not good, ya, you've lost muscle mass, your metabolism has slowed down most likely.

Suggest you select a higher MFP activity level to better match reality that BodyMedia is trying to tell you.
Keep increasing it until it shows same 3000 cal maintenance level.
1.5 lb weight loss goal weekly is probably decent for now, until you have 20 left to lose. Then 1lb recommended is recommended.

And turn your syncing on, so on more active days you eat more, or at least log those workouts and benefit from them.

So you can gain LBM even though not muscle for a little while, and then just fat can drop. If you want even more from your workouts as your margin for error closes up (when you have a lot to lose, you can do many things wrong and still see some results, big margin for error) you'll want your deficit to be more reasonable.

You might try this.
Fill out the Simple Setup tab down to the Activity Calculator, but skip that for now, or totally perhaps depending on how you want to do things.
Then go to the FitBit/BodyMedia tab, and remove the RMR estimate unless you have been tested, then go down that page. You would likely see some improvements.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/961054-spreadsheet-for-bodyfat-bmr-tdee-progress-tracker

albaehr

Heybales
No its 3000 with exercise around 2500-2600 on days without. I do only have around 20lb more to go so I am going to try 2200-2500 calories a day and see how that works. Thanks for the advice I am going to reowrk my numbers on MFP, I think it might be figured to low and maybe Body media is more accurate

sk_pirate

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