Question about TDEE - 20% ( Ill figure this out some day )

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Makoce
Makoce Posts: 938 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Someone brought it up to me, as I was eating 1200 - 1400 a day. It all make sense.

But Im finding it really hard to eat 1864 calories in a day.
Is it okay if you don't eat them all? I have about 464 left for today, and its 10:05pm.
( I go to bed at like 12am though )
Im content and not hungry. Or should you force yourself to reach your TDEE?

Right now Im doing 30DS every day, along with walking for 10 - 20 minutes somewhere in the day.
Every so often I go to the gym for about 45 minutes on this program, but since Its pretty tough and I get sore, I havent yet.

( I have mine set to 3 - 5hrs/wk moderate exercise, let me know if I should change it to less or more? )

So, since my exercise is unpredictable, do I still eat the 1864 calories?

Especially when I finish the 30DS and go back to the gym every other day / walking.

Hope that makes sense!

Replies

  • lovinlandl
    lovinlandl Posts: 99 Member
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    bump -- right there with you so waiting to see the response.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    A little over or a little under is ok. 464 under is too much. You need to plan better and get used to eating right.
  • Makoce
    Makoce Posts: 938 Member
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    I've been eating a lot of fruits and such - so very low calorie. It's hard to bump up your calories. Especially when you're not use to eating that much.

    The whole concept is weird to me because I feel like the 1.8 calories is more than I ate before Ii gained weight.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    I set my TDEE to sedentary then add exercise as I do it. I find it to be a lot more accurate.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    If you're far under (like more than 200 calories or so) once in a while it's no big deal. If it's a consistent problem for you, eat more nutrient dense food. My go to suggestion is always peanut butter. It's around 100 calories for just a tbsp and it's delicious.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    i think you probably need to recalculate your tdee. most of us are sedentary, at best lightly active with exercise.

    the exercise that you listed and the amount you listed, in my opinion, is not moderatly active/3-5 hours a week.

    i've used this here http://theskinnyequation.blogspot.com/p/weight-loss-calculators.html as a pretty good calculator.

    now, if you want to eat a set amount of calories every day, take your tdee at lightly active, and subtract 20% from it. don't eat back your exercise calories.
  • Makoce
    Makoce Posts: 938 Member
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    i think you probably need to recalculate your tdee. most of us are sedentary, at best lightly active with exercise.

    the exercise that you listed and the amount you listed, in my opinion, is not moderatly active/3-5 hours a week.

    i've used this here http://theskinnyequation.blogspot.com/p/weight-loss-calculators.html as a pretty good calculator.

    now, if you want to eat a set amount of calories every day, take your tdee at lightly active, and subtract 20% from it. don't eat back your exercise calories.

    This what I got from that site on sedentary.

    Your Basal Metabolic Rate is: 1502 calories.

    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure Is: 1803 calories

    So I should eat 1803? And not log exercises.

    This confuses me!! HAHA.

    When I put sedentary on the scooby site ( http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ )
    I get 1443 calories for my TDEE. And then 1654 for light exercise.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    eat less than 1803 but more than 1502.
  • gaylynn35
    gaylynn35 Posts: 854 Member
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    No, you don't eat at your TDEE! If you eat at your TDEE you will maintain your current weight. You should eat at -20% of your TDEE to lose weight.
  • boatsie77
    boatsie77 Posts: 480 Member
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    1803 - 20% = 1443
  • Makoce
    Makoce Posts: 938 Member
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    Oh. The other site I was using had the 20% deduction with it already. Whoops!


    WELL CRAP, im 126 calories over now for today because I was confused and went off to eat to try to make up for it.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    i think you probably need to recalculate your tdee. most of us are sedentary, at best lightly active with exercise.

    the exercise that you listed and the amount you listed, in my opinion, is not moderatly active/3-5 hours a week.

    i've used this here http://theskinnyequation.blogspot.com/p/weight-loss-calculators.html as a pretty good calculator.

    now, if you want to eat a set amount of calories every day, take your tdee at lightly active, and subtract 20% from it. don't eat back your exercise calories.

    This what I got from that site on sedentary.

    Your Basal Metabolic Rate is: 1502 calories.

    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure Is: 1803 calories

    So I should eat 1803? And not log exercises.

    that is at sedentary. what did it give you for lightly active? ** i went back through your old posts to find your stats**

    if i were you, i'd take my TDEE and subtract 20%. so with the lightly active number, that would be 2109-20% so that would make it roughly 1687 calories. and then i would not eat back my exercise calories.

    to try and increase your calories all at once can be hard. you'll experience some weight gain that will most likely freak you out and make you revert to your 1200 calorie limit.

    fruits and vegtables are great snacks, as they are low calories. but they are not to be substituted for great calorie dense foods such as lean meats like chicken, fish, and grains like rice and pasta.

    it takes a while to figure things out. remember, your body works more on a weekly basis, rather then day-to-day. so if you go over your calories by 200 on monday, and then on tuesday and wednesday you're under by 100 each day, well, guess what? you broke even.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    remember, these calculators are just guesses. some are very close, but they aren't perfect. it takes time to learn what your body is saying. are you really hungry, or are you just craving something? there is a difference.
  • Makoce
    Makoce Posts: 938 Member
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    i think you probably need to recalculate your tdee. most of us are sedentary, at best lightly active with exercise.

    the exercise that you listed and the amount you listed, in my opinion, is not moderatly active/3-5 hours a week.

    i've used this here http://theskinnyequation.blogspot.com/p/weight-loss-calculators.html as a pretty good calculator.

    now, if you want to eat a set amount of calories every day, take your tdee at lightly active, and subtract 20% from it. don't eat back your exercise calories.

    This what I got from that site on sedentary.

    Your Basal Metabolic Rate is: 1502 calories.

    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure Is: 1803 calories

    So I should eat 1803? And not log exercises.

    that is at sedentary. what did it give you for lightly active? ** i went back through your old posts to find your stats**

    if i were you, i'd take my TDEE and subtract 20%. so with the lightly active number, that would be 2109-20% so that would make it roughly 1687 calories. and then i would not eat back my exercise calories.

    to try and increase your calories all at once can be hard. you'll experience some weight gain that will most likely freak you out and make you revert to your 1200 calorie limit.

    fruits and vegtables are great snacks, as they are low calories. but they are not to be substituted for great calorie dense foods such as lean meats like chicken, fish, and grains like rice and pasta.

    it takes a while to figure things out. remember, your body works more on a weekly basis, rather then day-to-day. so if you go over your calories by 200 on monday, and then on tuesday and wednesday you're under by 100 each day, well, guess what? you broke even.

    For lightly active on the site you gave me, it gives me

    Your Basal Metabolic Rate is: 1502 calories.

    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure Is: 2066


    Sooo... 1654?

    ( My stats are 5"3', 20 yrs old, 168lbs )
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    For lightly active on the site you gave me, it gives me

    Your Basal Metabolic Rate is: 1502 calories.

    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure Is: 2066


    Sooo... 1654?

    ( My stats are 5"3', 20 yrs old, 168lbs )

    sure. sounds about right.
  • Makoce
    Makoce Posts: 938 Member
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    For lightly active on the site you gave me, it gives me

    Your Basal Metabolic Rate is: 1502 calories.

    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure Is: 2066


    Sooo... 1654?

    ( My stats are 5"3', 20 yrs old, 168lbs )

    sure. sounds about right.


    So I should be going with the 1654 instead of the 1443 for the 20 - 40 minutes of exercise a day I do depending?
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    Options

    For lightly active on the site you gave me, it gives me

    Your Basal Metabolic Rate is: 1502 calories.

    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure Is: 2066


    Sooo... 1654?

    ( My stats are 5"3', 20 yrs old, 168lbs )

    sure. sounds about right.


    So I should be going with the 1654 instead of the 1443 for the 20 - 40 minutes of exercise a day I do depending?

    look, i know about as much as the next guy. you're asking me, and us, to give you a definate answer and an exact number of what to eat in a day. we can't. no one can.

    based on your height, age, and weight, and your level of exercise, and your goal to lose weight, yes, 1654 sounds like a good amount of food to eat. don't enter/eat your exercise calories.

    this is how i am currently eating. tdee-20%, without entering exercise calories. also, i skip breakfast.

    i've also eaten where i input my exercise calories and eat back as many as i can for the day, and i had breakfast every morning. i lost weight that way too.

    i even lost weight not eating back my exercise calories.

    there are a lot of ways to do this. the best way is to be mindful of what you eat, how you eat, and how you feel. your body does not reset at midnight. if you had a big dinner, you might not want to eat breakfast.

    experiment. try things out for a few weeks.
  • Makoce
    Makoce Posts: 938 Member
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    Thanks. And yeah. I understand. I'm just clueless and even if you guys know as much as the next guy, that's still more than me!
    This is the first time I've taken initiative for my own weight and I'm struggling. I'm an avid quitter, so just trying to avoid that.
    This calorie confusion thing is killing me! Ill definitely try the 1.6 thing though first. And alter from there.
    A lot of people have been speaking of the TDEE on this site, so I figured I'd try to learn more and give it a go.
    Especially because 1200 is just crap! Haha.

    I think the reason Im so up-and-go with the needing things to all work out now, is because Im one of those people who are famous for waiting last minute to take their weight off for an important event. So instead of it being about figuring out your body, and getting healthy ( Though, it is a part of that for me ), it becomes a race, so myself ( like others ) get impatient and flustered and confused easily!
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    instant gratification is a myth. work hard. learn. enjoy the results.

    trust me, sometimes i want to quit too. i wish i could spot reduce the fat on my stomach. but i can't. i need to keep working hard and staying disciplined with my diet.
  • lioness0806
    lioness0806 Posts: 115 Member
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    eat less than 1803 but more than 1502.

    This is what I usually do for myself. I use my TDEE as a goal only. Because I'm not as active on the weekends as I am during the week (I have a labor intensive job) I shoot for my BMR as my goal. Soon enough you'll figure out what's best for you and your body.

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