TDEE minus 20% or MFP Suggestions?

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lozzieemay
lozzieemay Posts: 89
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm confused. I'm torn between the TDEE minus 20% method which would have me at 1736 calories per day, or to use the MFP suggestions and aim for 1.5lb loss a week which has me at 1580 calories daily.

I'm currently unable to exercise due to a really bad knee injury, so can't really get a good exercise calorie burn. I do want to incorporate a weight training program into my lifestyle though.

Suggestions please? I'm honestly leaning towards MFP and the 1580 calories. It seems a better number for steady weight loss?

Replies

  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    What is your current height and weight? How much do you want to lose?
  • ObtainingBalance
    ObtainingBalance Posts: 1,446 Member
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    You don't look like you have a huge amount to lose, so I would suggest you change it to losing 1 lb per week, not 1.5. a 500 calorie deficit is good enough.

    TDEE minus 20%....

    Or follow MFP's suggestions...

    OR... tell MFP you want to maintain your weight, and don't eat all the calories they tell you to eat back...

    theres many ways to do it, just find which one you like best. TDEE is pretty simple and helps you not to feel restricted , you're allowed to eat a good amount, it helps to prevent falling off the wagon.
  • lozzieemay
    lozzieemay Posts: 89
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    What is your current height and weight? How much do you want to lose?

    I'm 5ft 3 and 220lbs.. I want to be 140lbs at least. I was 133lbs a year ago so I know it's possible for my build to be that weight. I'm very impatient & although I don't expect the weight to fall off overnight, I still want a good constant steady loss of 2lbs a week.
  • lozzieemay
    lozzieemay Posts: 89
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    You don't look like you have a huge amount to lose, so I would suggest you change it to losing 1 lb per week, not 1.5. a 500 calorie deficit is good enough.

    TDEE minus 20%....

    Or follow MFP's suggestions...

    OR... tell MFP you want to maintain your weight, and don't eat all the calories they tell you to eat back...

    theres many ways to do it, just find which one you like best. TDEE is pretty simple and helps you not to feel restricted , you're allowed to eat a good amount, it helps to prevent falling off the wagon.

    My profile photo is taken last year when I was 133lbs.. I'm now 220lbs as I've spent the last 12 months being lazy & greedy! So I'm aiming to get back down to 133-140lbs.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,306 Member
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    So funny... my calories are set at the very same and I just got off of Scooby workshop which says I should be eating 1727 and mfp has me at 1550. I think all we can do is try the 1727 and see if we lose. I'm all about eating as much as I can to lose..so when I get to maintenance I can have a life. I've done 1200 a day before..and some say they are stuck having to under eat to maintain..it ruins their metabolisms.

    I think we just have to do the time to tweak what works for us. Also.. when i lost weight my last go around.. i did it without exercise. I actually thought i lost more consistently and more easily. I think exercise tones...but can screw with weightloss..at least for me.
  • Bobby__Clerici
    Bobby__Clerici Posts: 741 Member
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    I'd go with MFP and find a way to exercise.
    There are always possibilities.
    Swimming...something.
    Good Luck!
  • cactusphil
    cactusphil Posts: 6
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    I saw my progress stop so I tried the TDEE method and didn't see much help from it either. I'm back to MFP now and I'm trying to be as strict as possible on eating right and exercising more.
  • lozzieemay
    lozzieemay Posts: 89
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    So funny... my calories are set at the very same and I just got off of Scooby workshop which says I should be eating 1727 and mfp has me at 1550. I think all we can do is try the 1727 and see if we lose. I'm all about eating as much as I can to lose..so when I get to maintenance I can have a life. I've done 1200 a day before..and some say they are stuck having to under eat to maintain..it ruins their metabolisms.

    I think we just have to do the time to tweak what works for us. Also.. when i lost weight my last go around.. i did it without exercise. I actually thought i lost more consistently and more easily. I think exercise tones...but can screw with weightloss..at least for me.

    Heya, what did you eat last time in order to lose? I used to exercise excessively and undereat to maintain my small figure, then when that became unsustainable I ended up gaining 6 stone in a year. So this time I wanna lose weight but also keep it off too..

    I really can't manage much exercise, even walking is seriously painful and I worry my knee will get worse with too much activity, being 6 stone overweight doesn't help it either mind! So that's why I'm leaning towards MFP suggestions just because I can't exercise to burn more :/
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    Personally I prefer MFP since the TDEE method incorporates exercise and MFP doesn't. Life gets in the way, sometimes I don't workout like I planned. I like that with MFP, if I do exercise I can eat back the calories, but if I don't I can still lose weight just eating within my calories. With TDEE, if you factor in exercise and then don't exercise as much as you planned, you won't lose as much.

    Though, I notice you said you can't really exercise, so I guess this point isn't valid for you haha. I still prefer MFP though. I have tried both ways and MFP seems to be more reliable.

    Also, one tip is not to set yourself as "sedentary" on MFP. Most people make that mistake. Honestly, almost no one is truly sedentary. If you go grocery shopping, go to the mall, walk to get the mail, etc, you are not sedentary. Try setting yourself as "lightly active" on MFP and see if it gives you a few more calories to play with. That's what I did and it has worked like a charm!
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    So you are saying you have gained 100 lbs in one year?
  • Crayvn
    Crayvn Posts: 390 Member
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    I was so scared to eat more going to TDEE deficit from MFP suggestion. But I jumped in and am so glad I did. It is great to be able to eat more and still lose over 1 lb. week. The only exercise I get is walking my dog for about 15 mins twice a day so I set my TDEE calculation as sedentary. This way it doesnt factor much exercise at all. I didnt even gain when i switched over as some suggest ppl might at first.

    good luck with w/e you should decide to do :)
  • rfsatar
    rfsatar Posts: 599 Member
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    So funny... my calories are set at the very same and I just got off of Scooby workshop which says I should be eating 1727 and mfp has me at 1550. I think all we can do is try the 1727 and see if we lose. I'm all about eating as much as I can to lose..so when I get to maintenance I can have a life. I've done 1200 a day before..and some say they are stuck having to under eat to maintain..it ruins their metabolisms.

    I think we just have to do the time to tweak what works for us. Also.. when i lost weight my last go around.. i did it without exercise. I actually thought i lost more consistently and more easily. I think exercise tones...but can screw with weightloss..at least for me.

    Heya, what did you eat last time in order to lose? I used to exercise excessively and undereat to maintain my small figure, then when that became unsustainable I ended up gaining 6 stone in a year. So this time I wanna lose weight but also keep it off too..

    I really can't manage much exercise, even walking is seriously painful and I worry my knee will get worse with too much activity, being 6 stone overweight doesn't help it either mind! So that's why I'm leaning towards MFP suggestions just because I can't exercise to burn more :/

    I am also struggling with a knee injury and 140lbs is my next goal on the way to hopefully settling at around 9st.
    I am working to a 15-20% deficit from Scooby's too and I stick to that, eating back some of my exercise cals in terms of MFP logging, but not necessarily all,
    I am losing half a pound a week - set to lose 1lb.

    This is not a race/sprint - I started with a few great weeks of loss and then stalled when my knee flared up.
    Another flare up and I had to switch to maintenance as I could only do a little stationary bike work and swim with a pull-buoy ...
    Anything that is not a gain on my weekly weigh in is a win for me.

    I know you want to see quick results - and I totally understand ... But I would drop your goals and I would pick ONE method and stick to it for a month (and given your issues with exercise right now I would go for a TDEE deficit range).

    Good luck ;-)
  • lozzieemay
    lozzieemay Posts: 89
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    So you are saying you have gained 100 lbs in one year?

    Yep :( well nearly 100lbs. I used to maintain my small figure on excessive exercise & eating like 900 calories daily, and binging on weekends.. so obviously did damage to my metabolism that resulted in my gaining excessively and fast when I couldn't sustain my old ways. I admit I've eaten utter rubbish in huge quantities the past year too.
  • lozzieemay
    lozzieemay Posts: 89
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    Personally I prefer MFP since the TDEE method incorporates exercise and MFP doesn't. Life gets in the way, sometimes I don't workout like I planned. I like that with MFP, if I do exercise I can eat back the calories, but if I don't I can still lose weight just eating within my calories. With TDEE, if you factor in exercise and then don't exercise as much as you planned, you won't lose as much.

    Though, I notice you said you can't really exercise, so I guess this point isn't valid for you haha. I still prefer MFP though. I have tried both ways and MFP seems to be more reliable.

    Also, one tip is not to set yourself as "sedentary" on MFP. Most people make that mistake. Honestly, almost no one is truly sedentary. If you go grocery shopping, go to the mall, walk to get the mail, etc, you are not sedentary. Try setting yourself as "lightly active" on MFP and see if it gives you a few more calories to play with. That's what I did and it has worked like a charm!

    Thank you! :) I prefer MFP too but just wanted clarification I guess cause I'm awful at making decisions for myself sometimes! I'm on my feet a lot, I work full time making car engines & stand for 8 hours, and I have an 18 month old boy to run around after so I'll set it to lightly active. Thanks again!
  • lozzieemay
    lozzieemay Posts: 89
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    I was so scared to eat more going to TDEE deficit from MFP suggestion. But I jumped in and am so glad I did. It is great to be able to eat more and still lose over 1 lb. week. The only exercise I get is walking my dog for about 15 mins twice a day so I set my TDEE calculation as sedentary. This way it doesnt factor much exercise at all. I didnt even gain when i switched over as some suggest ppl might at first.

    good luck with w/e you should decide to do :)

    Hmm, I just put my activity level at sedentary and with a 30% cut it gives me 1500 calories to lose weight, so I guess whether I follow that or MFP then I should be on the right track with them both at 1500! Thank you :)
  • lozzieemay
    lozzieemay Posts: 89
    Options
    So funny... my calories are set at the very same and I just got off of Scooby workshop which says I should be eating 1727 and mfp has me at 1550. I think all we can do is try the 1727 and see if we lose. I'm all about eating as much as I can to lose..so when I get to maintenance I can have a life. I've done 1200 a day before..and some say they are stuck having to under eat to maintain..it ruins their metabolisms.

    I think we just have to do the time to tweak what works for us. Also.. when i lost weight my last go around.. i did it without exercise. I actually thought i lost more consistently and more easily. I think exercise tones...but can screw with weightloss..at least for me.

    Heya, what did you eat last time in order to lose? I used to exercise excessively and undereat to maintain my small figure, then when that became unsustainable I ended up gaining 6 stone in a year. So this time I wanna lose weight but also keep it off too..

    I really can't manage much exercise, even walking is seriously painful and I worry my knee will get worse with too much activity, being 6 stone overweight doesn't help it either mind! So that's why I'm leaning towards MFP suggestions just because I can't exercise to burn more :/

    I am also struggling with a knee injury and 140lbs is my next goal on the way to hopefully settling at around 9st.
    I am working to a 15-20% deficit from Scooby's too and I stick to that, eating back some of my exercise cals in terms of MFP logging, but not necessarily all,
    I am losing half a pound a week - set to lose 1lb.

    This is not a race/sprint - I started with a few great weeks of loss and then stalled when my knee flared up.
    Another flare up and I had to switch to maintenance as I could only do a little stationary bike work and swim with a pull-buoy ...
    Anything that is not a gain on my weekly weigh in is a win for me.

    I know you want to see quick results - and I totally understand ... But I would drop your goals and I would pick ONE method and stick to it for a month (and given your issues with exercise right now I would go for a TDEE deficit range).

    Good luck ;-)

    Thanks and good luck to you too :)
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    If you think about all the estimations involved, both in your TDEE, calories eaten, and caloris burned, the difference between those numbers may not even be significant. The only way to tell what is the best calorie level for you (the best balance between satiety/sustainablilty and weight loss) is to try something and see how it works. If you're not losing enough, eat a little less -- if you're miserable, eat a little more. Tweak it up or down by 100 cals or so and try again. IMO you'll get the best results by trying something for a few weeks, monitoring your weight, energy levels, etc and being prepared to adjust as needed.
  • lozzieemay
    lozzieemay Posts: 89
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    If you think about all the estimations involved, both in your TDEE, calories eaten, and caloris burned, the difference between those numbers may not even be significant. The only way to tell what is the best calorie level for you (the best balance between satiety/sustainablilty and weight loss) is to try something and see how it works. If you're not losing enough, eat a little less -- if you're miserable, eat a little more. Tweak it up or down by 100 cals or so and try again. IMO you'll get the best results by trying something for a few weeks, monitoring your weight, energy levels, etc and being prepared to adjust as needed.

    That's a real good point. To be honest I'm sick to death of calculators, BMR, TDEE etc. I feel like I'm over complicating it & making it more difficult for myself. I think I'll follow MFP's suggestion of 1580, see how I get on then adjust accordingly. Thanks :)

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