I think I'm done with this whole TDEE thing.
Options
Replies
-
TDEE -20% is tough as you have less and less to lose. I have 7lbs to lose and so my -20% is only about 350 calories...and according to several studies, most people overestimate their calories each day by 200-300 unless they measure everything and don't eat out (ambiguous calories). This is where I have found you need to pull a few extra tricks out of the bag...one of which is NOT eat less...but what you eat. You are going to have to fight with your body to lose those last few pounds and that may mean you are are going to have to work harder...give up white bread, sugar...but if you only have a few pounds to lose it should only take a couple weeks before you can get back to maintenance and find your happy medium.0
-
My frustration is I have been trying to figure out what my body needs for two years now. Everything I tried has not resulted in weight loss for me. My husband follows the plans I choose and has had great results! I had two different personal trainers, a nutritionist, had my blood work done, including my thyroid (all normal), and I have tried several combinations of exercise and eating plans. I am the same weight today that I was this time two years ago! I can't even lose one pound! Even when I got the flu for three weeks and didn't eat very much, I remained the same weight! Impossible I know but true. When I get on the scale I get witnesses just to make sure I am not seeing things and nope, the same weight within three tenths of a pound every time. I have an appointment this month with an endocrinologist as a last ditch effort to try and figure out what my body needs to spark weight loss. I am so far past my wits end it is not even funny. However, I still try to make good food choices and I still drag my butt to the gym four to five days each week.
Just hang in there. I have not given up and you try to find something to cause you to hang in there too.0 -
If you have an active job you are not sedentary. Run your numbers again and this time be honest. Also if you have just a few pounds to lose then 20% might be to agressive. The idea would be to start at TDEE-20% but as you get closer to your goal it should be more like TDEE-10 to 15%.
Again go back and actually be honest and do TDEE the correct way and then decide whether or not it works.
I lost 126lbs eating 20%TDEE then adjusting as I got closer to my goal until I got to goal ( I have been maintaining almost two years eating at TDEE). I work two active jobs and work out so I knew better than to choose sedentary. It works but you have to be realistic and honest.0 -
I recently started doing the TDEE-20% deal, but I also started drinking WAY more water than I used to. I had to make sure that everything i entered was accurate, and with the added water, I noticed that I wasn't as constipated as I had become (sorry, TMI, but it's the truth) Now that I'm going regularly every morning, I think I have let go of a lot of water weight which can mask actual fat loss. The point I am trying to make is could it be bloating that is masking actual fat loss (considering that the TDEE calculation is accurate)?0
-
are you weighing all your food on a food scale? that's pretty much the only way to accurately know how many calories you're eating.
I can't imagine how anyone could gain weight at 1340 cals/day! I lose more than 2 lbs a week eating an average of 1500 cals/day (1400 during the week with 2 high 1800 days) - and I'm 5' 4'' and only 10 lbs overweight. I exercise a lot too, but I'm building muscle so that should actually be reducing my losses each week. I weigh absolutely everything I eat (unless someone else cooked for me or I'm at a restaurant, but that's so infrequent that one over/underestimate isn't going to screw me up).
FYI, I think MFP's estimates are definitely low. I chose "moderately active" and "2 lbs/week" and it gave me 1400cals/day, which is working wonderfully. I sit most of the day in classes and exercise on average 6-7 hours a week.
Here's the other thing- you're doing Weight Watchers? Don't they have the whole "free fruit and veggies" thing? That makes zero sense to me, and would mean your 1000-1200 cals number is totally wrong. Veggies add up, and fruit adds up even faster!
Ughh I'm so envious. I only want to lose 10-15lbs. I'm afraid if I change my status to moderately active it'll have me eating even more and gaining more. I was following the old WW plan, which does account for fruits and veg. I don't get the new system.0 -
My frustration is I have been trying to figure out what my body needs for two years now. Everything I tried has not resulted in weight loss for me. My husband follows the plans I choose and has had great results! I had two different personal trainers, a nutritionist, had my blood work done, including my thyroid (all normal), and I have tried several combinations of exercise and eating plans. I am the same weight today that I was this time two years ago! I can't even lose one pound! Even when I got the flu for three weeks and didn't eat very much, I remained the same weight! Impossible I know but true. When I get on the scale I get witnesses just to make sure I am not seeing things and nope, the same weight within three tenths of a pound every time. I have an appointment this month with an endocrinologist as a last ditch effort to try and figure out what my body needs to spark weight loss. I am so far past my wits end it is not even funny. However, I still try to make good food choices and I still drag my butt to the gym four to five days each week.
Just hang in there. I have not given up and you try to find something to cause you to hang in there too.
That sounds so unbelievably frustrating. I'm so sorry you have to go through that. I haven't had any blood work done, but this week I've been thinking of making an appointment.0 -
If you have an active job you are not sedentary. Run your numbers again and this time be honest. Also if you have just a few pounds to lose then 20% might be to agressive. The idea would be to start at TDEE-20% but as you get closer to your goal it should be more like TDEE-10 to 15%.
Again go back and actually be honest and do TDEE the correct way and then decide whether or not it works.
I lost 126lbs eating 20%TDEE then adjusting as I got closer to my goal until I got to goal ( I have been maintaining almost two years eating at TDEE). I work two active jobs and work out so I knew better than to choose sedentary. It works but you have to be realistic and honest.
Congrats on your success! I totally get what you're saying. If I ate at the moderately active level it'd be somewhere around 1640 calories, and if I'm gaining at 1340 I can't see how eating even more could cause a loss.0 -
From my experience, girls our weight and height sometimes need to have a more aggressive calorie deficit. Fit in some higher calorie days too. I was stuck at 133 for 2 weeks and after binging on 1500 calories of chocolate this weekend, I've lost 3 lbs haha.
I think that a lot of the advice on here is for people with more weight to lose. It works for them certainly but we have more trouble with it.0 -
I dont do the TDEE thing a lot of people on here does. It says it dont always work for eveyone maybe u r one of those people if ur not losing at least inches then i wouldnt keep doing it or maybe ur calculations r wrong. If ur gaining and ur cloths r tighter i would do it the low calorie way and still do ur exercising just my thought not saying im right:) Hope u find ur way through this im sure its frustrating...0
-
OP, unfortunately no-one can give you a figure and say 'there, eat that and you will lose weight.' This is a learning curve and much of weight loss is trial and error, and more importantly, patience.
A couple of things I have noticed:
You said you were eating 1000 – 1200 cals a day and you have an active job. This probably means you were eating at a severe deficit and depending on how long you kept this up for, your body WILL take time to adjust. 4 weeks is not long enough to trial something.
You also said that you set yourself at sedentary and took 20% from that. Why? You said you have an active job? For TDEE to work, you have to be truthful.
No calculator is ever going to give you an exact TDEE figure, but they can be used as a starting point and you can work from there. My recommendation is that you recalculate and be honest about your daily activity, up your cals gradually, and stick to it for 3 months and see where you are, then adjust if necessary. You need to remember that this is a lifestyle change, not a diet. Personally, I’d rather suffer an initial gain while my body sorts itself out, than be stuck on 1000 cals for the rest of my life.
My thoughts exactly.0 -
1. If you don't have much to lose, you should be doing TDEE-10%.
2. When you bump your calories up, it should be by 100 per week, not all at once, so that your body has time to adjust without making the scale freak out.0 -
From my experience, girls our weight and height sometimes need to have a more aggressive calorie deficit. Fit in some higher calorie days too. I was stuck at 133 for 2 weeks and after binging on 1500 calories of chocolate this weekend, I've lost 3 lbs haha.
I think that a lot of the advice on here is for people with more weight to lose. It works for them certainly but we have more trouble with it.
You may be right. 133 seems to have been the magic number for me too, only for a few years now. How many calories/day works for you for weight loss?0 -
Yeah, someone told me about TDEE so I did it for the month of March and gained 8 pounds... So I'm going back to what I was doing January and February because this is not gonna cut it.0
-
ETA: Also keep in mind that many of the women and men who are very successful with that TDEE formula are doing weight training, basically sculpting. Now, I will do a week or 2 on a "reset" if I go into a looooong stall, but the TDEE formula does not work for Me while I'm in wt loss mode...MAYBE when I get into maintenance.
She's eating 1340 calories. That's not even enough to lift weight on.
She's probably not exercising enough.0 -
This SUCKS. Anyone out there with a similar experience, I'd love to hear.
I had a similar experience in that my TDEE is lower than the calculators. Every calculator I ran gave me a higher TDEE than I was currently eating while maintaining my weight. Even when I put in less than what I considered my workouts to be.
Most people who push the whole TDEE - 20% don't emphasize enough the fact that the calculators are based on population averages and may be off by several hundred on an individual basis.0 -
OP, unfortunately no-one can give you a figure and say 'there, eat that and you will lose weight.' This is a learning curve and much of weight loss is trial and error, and more importantly, patience.
A couple of things I have noticed:
You said you were eating 1000 – 1200 cals a day and you have an active job. This probably means you were eating at a severe deficit and depending on how long you kept this up for, your body WILL take time to adjust. 4 weeks is not long enough to trial something.
You also said that you set yourself at sedentary and took 20% from that. Why? You said you have an active job? For TDEE to work, you have to be truthful.
No calculator is ever going to give you an exact TDEE figure, but they can be used as a starting point and you can work from there. My recommendation is that you recalculate and be honest about your daily activity, up your cals gradually, and stick to it for 3 months and see where you are, then adjust if necessary. You need to remember that this is a lifestyle change, not a diet. Personally, I’d rather suffer an initial gain while my body sorts itself out, than be stuck on 1000 cals for the rest of my life.
My thoughts exactly.
Yeah, I was eating on and off at that deficit since I joined WW six years ago. I guess I've just really screwed my body up.0 -
I am following the TDEE and am also listening to my body. If I feel hungry, I am eating. I think the TDEE thing is a learning curve. It probably needs some tweaking along the way. I am hoping that I will continue to see results and then I will go from there. It told me 2113 calories and so far, I've been eating about 300 under that because I'm not hungry at the very end of the day. I still feel like 2113 is a lot for someone with a sedentary job. I don't know if the 30 minutes a day cardio I do every day (and strength training 3 times a week) is enough to be even considered "moderately active". Still trying to figure it all out. Hang in there! I hope things pan out for you.0
-
Did you get fatter or did you gain 8lbs? If you can't tell the difference then it doesn't matter.
I had just bought new clothes and they started to get tight again. =/ Which is not good. So I am just going to go off of the calorie intake that the fitbit website made for me. It seems to work perfectly.0 -
From my experience, girls our weight and height sometimes need to have a more aggressive calorie deficit. Fit in some higher calorie days too. I was stuck at 133 for 2 weeks and after binging on 1500 calories of chocolate this weekend, I've lost 3 lbs haha.
I think that a lot of the advice on here is for people with more weight to lose. It works for them certainly but we have more trouble with it.
You may be right. 133 seems to have been the magic number for me too, only for a few years now. How many calories/day works for you for weight loss?
I haven't been religiously counting lately because a new medication kills my appetite. I'd guess that I'm eating anywhere between 800 and 1400 calories depending on the day. I wouldn't recommend 800 but maybe 1300 or so. There is a group on here called not-that-heavy girls. Compare it to them.
0 -
I find using MFP's sedentary settings in conjunction with my synced FitBit (which adjusts my calorie requirements here) pretty reliable most of the time. You're never going to have every week the same but the general trend seems to fit in with my consumption.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 399 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 979 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions