TDEE

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cstexas2012
cstexas2012 Posts: 53 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm sure this has been covered a million times but I'm a little nervous about eating my TDEE (trying to fix my messed up metabolism) and so I'm tempted to put my exercise as light. However, I usually walk a mile (round trip) to school and I run for about 25 minutes every other day. In theory this fits into the 1-3 hrs a week light exercise, and I'm pretty stationary the rest of the time (student), but I'm worried that I'm going to either put my TDEE too low and not fix my metabolism problem or set it too high and gain actual weight. I just don't know if my "exercise" is enough to put me in the "moderate category" because it's pretty light (no lifting, short amount of time running). I have read a million posts on this, so I know that "most people who workout 3-5 days a week fall" there, I just don't know if my 25 minutes of running is really comparable to a normal workout.

I know this is a repeat in some way and I know that gets annoying, but I would really appreciate any advice!

If it makes a difference, my "moderate exercise" TDEE is about 2050 and my light exercise is about 1850.

Replies

  • djames92
    djames92 Posts: 990 Member
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    id say change it to light exercise and then the days that you do run log that in your exercise diary and it will add the extra calories you burned by running rather then getting them already on days you dont run
  • cstexas2012
    cstexas2012 Posts: 53 Member
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    That's a really good idea, thanks
  • djames92
    djames92 Posts: 990 Member
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    no problem
  • joannathechef
    joannathechef Posts: 484 Member
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    You should set you TDEE using your normal daily activities as a base.

    Office worker - sedentary
    Shop worker - light
    warehouse person or re-stocker - moderate
    roofer or constrution - eg digging -

    Then excersie on top use a HRM monitor to get accurate calories burnt (MFP is just wrong) - then eat those calories back or not, that is your choice. I try to only eat some of them back.
  • joannathechef
    joannathechef Posts: 484 Member
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    no problem
    beat me to it!
  • kellyscomeback
    kellyscomeback Posts: 1,369 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Have you got a smartphone?
    I think you can get apps that work as my motoactv does - which both monitors foot steps and properly records other exercise.
    I got the motoactv because it also easily connects to standard sports sensors like heart rate monitors and bike sensors, so I get a decent idea of what I'm burning through the day.

    Use it daily and tend to just keep the HRM strap on, though it only uses that feature if you specify you are doing an 'activity' like running.

    Looking at how much my TDEE as worked out by the motoactv varies, I wouldn't want to use a standard daily rate again.
  • cstexas2012
    cstexas2012 Posts: 53 Member
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    yeah i've read the in place of a roadmap post, that's how I ended up doing this, haha. I just had a difficult time deciding whether I should be light or moderate since my exercise is pretty low but I also probably walk more than the average person because I live in the city. I'm going to go with the suggestion to eat back my running calories on those days for now.

    thanks for everyone's help!
  • misshendry
    misshendry Posts: 13
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    This link helps you to work out your TDEE and you can set it pretty much to the minute for the different exercises you are doing so it is pretty accurate, it might help you if you are unsure what to put when the options are so broad

    http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
  • cstexas2012
    cstexas2012 Posts: 53 Member
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    that's so cool! thanks!

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