I think I'm done with this whole TDEE thing.

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  • runny111
    runny111 Posts: 58 Member
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    I am not into Eat More Weigh Less, but I would assume that its not that TDEE-20% isn't working. Its that you have the inputs wrong. Garbage in garbage out.

    First I'd try weighing and measuring everything you take in. And for an accurate TDEE, don't average activity over the week. Log it daily. Get your exercise in earlier in the day, and eat 20% less. And don't buy the hype on the exercise machines. There are far more accurate estimators of calorie burn online. Last don't forget that its net calories on your calorie burn for exercise. You'd probably burn 1cal a minute sitting on your bum. So if the treadmill says you burned 10cals/min, only add 9cals/min for the run to your BMR.

    Try this first before you abandon it.

    Personally I've lost 40lbs eating 1400cals/ day on average a week, or 1200 x 4 days a week, 1400 x 2 days a week, and one day at 1700-2000cals.

    And I haven't lost any muscle. I lift weights too and run long distance.

    And before the 'DONT EAT 1200calories! chest thumpers dive in a plead with you not to EVAH eat 1200 calories, I am 5'1.5" and the very definition of small framed.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    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.
    Step back and look at things for a minute.

    If what you gained in 4 weeks was all fat, your TDEE would have to be 715. Do you really believe your TDEE is 715, while working an active job?

    If it actually is 715, then how would you have been losing or maintaining on 1000-1200 calories before that? Do you think it's reasonable to believe that eating 10-20% more calories a day lowered your TDEE by 30%?

    Do you see how things make absolutely no sense if you try to account for that gain by saying it's new fat?

    It seems your choices are either stay at 1000 a day for the rest of your life, or try increasing your calories and give your body a bit of time to adjust to its new conditions and see if it works.
  • 007FatSlayer
    007FatSlayer Posts: 132 Member
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    The TDEE formulas online are inaccurate (I figured they were)-- I found out once I got the Body Media armband; I'm not promoting it, but I love that thing. It has helped me out tons. You can sync MFP with the Body Media band and it does all the calculations for you...I know several people that have it and it has worked for them.
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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    You could also just be food sensitive to something and not realize it. Try cutting gluten out of your diet.
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    From my experience the TDEE is a load of crap. I guess it works for some people, but I don't think you can truely know how many calories your body uses a day without some kind of device, not an online calculator. According to online my TDEE was between 2100-1400 depending on how much I exercised. If I eat 1600 I maintain. If I eat more than 1700-1800 I gain. Have to stick to 1200-1500 to lose.
  • raincoastgirl
    raincoastgirl Posts: 40
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    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.
    Step back and look at things for a minute.

    If what you gained in 4 weeks was all fat, your TDEE would have to be 715. Do you really believe your TDEE is 715, while working an active job?

    If it actually is 715, then how would you have been losing or maintaining on 1000-1200 calories before that? Do you think it's reasonable to believe that eating 10-20% more calories a day lowered your TDEE by 30%?

    Do you see how things make absolutely no sense if you try to account for that gain by saying it's new fat?

    It seems your choices are either stay at 1000 a day for the rest of your life, or try increasing your calories and give your body a bit of time to adjust to its new conditions and see if it works.

    I was going to try 1200 this week and see what happens. I would be comfortable at 1300-1500 as a maintenance number as I'm only 5'2. Or I could keep going as I have been and hope to god my body adjusts. Anyway, I understand what you're saying. Thanks for the input.
  • quellybelly
    quellybelly Posts: 827 Member
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    bump
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    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.

    ^ This. You can use an online calculator to get a good "guestimate" for a starting point. Try that number on for a 3-4 weeks, then reassess and adjust as needed based on your loss, gain or maintenance. Gaining weight? Bring it down 100-200 calories for a few more weeks, then assess again. Losing too quickly? Bring it up.

    If you're carefully measuring and logging everything and therefore getting a very good idea of your daily caloric intake, you can actually use that information (plus the weight change) to calculate your actual TDEE. I've been tracking my intake and loss for the past 5 weeks since starting to use this approach and have seen good results. I've also adjusted my intake twice (brought it up) after reassessing my progress; both times I saw a brief 2-3 lb gain then it quickly came off and started dropping again.

    If you're not measuring and logging very carefully, then it's not going to work. Neither is the MFP approach, for that matter.

    If you change your exercise significantly, you can expect to need to tweak your intake too.

    Also, this approach DOES work if you're not obese (I read a comment that suggested it would not). I was eating at TDEE -20% for these five weeks and went from 135.5 to 129.5 lbs.
  • SarahBeth0625
    SarahBeth0625 Posts: 685 Member
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    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.

    ^ This. You can use an online calculator to get a good "guestimate" for a starting point. Try that number on for a 3-4 weeks, then reassess and adjust as needed based on your loss, gain or maintenance. Gaining weight? Bring it down 100-200 calories for a few more weeks, then assess again. Losing too quickly? Bring it up.

    If you're carefully measuring and logging everything and therefore getting a very good idea of your daily caloric intake, you can actually use that information (plus the weight change) to calculate your actual TDEE. I've been tracking my intake and loss for the past 5 weeks since starting to use this approach and have seen good results. I've also adjusted my intake twice (brought it up) after reassessing my progress; both times I saw a brief 2-3 lb gain then it quickly came off and started dropping again.

    If you're not measuring and logging very carefully, then it's not going to work. Neither is the MFP approach, for that matter.

    If you change your exercise significantly, you can expect to need to tweak your intake too.

    Also, this approach DOES work if you're not obese (I read a comment that suggested it would not). I was eating at TDEE -20% for these five weeks and went from 135.5 to 129.5 lbs.

    Good to know! I just want my guesstimate on activity level to be right. It was a big deal for me to go from eating 1700 cals to 2100!
  • Hezzietiger1
    Hezzietiger1 Posts: 1,256 Member
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    It could also be about what you are eating, not how much. If you are truly eating under 1500 cals you should not be gaining weight. However if your face is bloated, and your clothes are tighter especially around the stomach you are probably eating to much sugar and high glycemic carbs. If I were you I'd stay at 1400-1500 for 2 more weeks but drop sugar and processed carbs. Still eat veggies, fruits, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, but get rid of the bread and pastas and 100 calorie pack cookies. Also consider the exercise that you are doing? Are you combining cardio with some weight training?
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Good to know! I just want my guesstimate on activity level to be right. It was a big deal for me to go from eating 1700 cals to 2100!

    That's almost exactly what I've done...I started at 1800 and it felt lousy and I was losing faster than I wanted. I bumped to 2000, and just recently again to 2150. We'll see how things go here for a while :)
  • Amy106Days
    Amy106Days Posts: 172 Member
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    Raincoastgirl, you may want to really look at your #s and invest in a basic hrm to find your true TDEE before tossing it out as a failure. I see you have an active job but have chosen sedentary for your activity level. I am not an expert but you may still be eating too little. Also one of the joys of being a woman is weight flux and bloat at least 1x a month. Don't get discouraged.

    A basic HRM will not give you your true TDEE. They are not meant for estimating anything other than estimating calories during steady state cardio. (Calorie wise. There are other uses training wise)

    As for the info about calorie intake, Serpwidgets covered it all.

    Thank you for the correction and your notes. 3dogsrunning. I have worn my HRM for several 24 hr periods to get an idea of calorie expenditure over the course of my activities. I thought I was sedentary originally because I have a desk job but when researching TDEE because of my exercising 7 days a week I found I shouldn't input sedentary. My HRM readings confirmed this...Or I thought they did but I guess I am still learning. Best of luck to the original poster on her loss and congratulations to you on your amazing transformation.
  • raincoastgirl
    raincoastgirl Posts: 40
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    It could also be about what you are eating, not how much. If you are truly eating under 1500 cals you should not be gaining weight. However if your face is bloated, and your clothes are tighter especially around the stomach you are probably eating to much sugar and high glycemic carbs. If I were you I'd stay at 1400-1500 for 2 more weeks but drop sugar and processed carbs. Still eat veggies, fruits, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, but get rid of the bread and pastas and 100 calorie pack cookies. Also consider the exercise that you are doing? Are you combining cardio with some weight training?

    Hi, thanks--yeah, I'm a big fan of oatmeal, fruits and veg, lentils, beans, and whole grains. I even make my own peanut butter, and I do measure it when I have it. I don't eat oil or butter or any processed sauces like mayo. The only thing is the past week I've indulged in cake because it was both my sisters' birthdays. I also have a weakness for crackers. They're lentil crackers or nut crackers, but the carbs do add up. Also I'm a vegetarian, so the carb to protein balance needs some work. I will say I have done low carb in the past and my weight didn't budge.

    I walk 5km five days a week, working up to jogging. I would consider my job pretty active--I get 10,000 fitbit steps in a 4 hour shift. No serious weight training, just push ups, lunges, and sit ups before bed.
  • DatEpicChick
    DatEpicChick Posts: 358 Member
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    what is tdee??? 20%?
  • raincoastgirl
    raincoastgirl Posts: 40
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    Here is a quick summary of In Place Of A Road Map 3, it has helped hundreds of people lose weight. This doesn't do TDEE - 20% for everyone, it shows you how to figure out your BMR and TDEE correctly, and find the right calorie deficit for you based on your body fat.

    The fatter you are the bigger the deficit you can get away with.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm

    Thanks, Pu. I had checked that out when you posted it! I always appreciate your advice.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    what is tdee??? 20%?
    TDEE is total daily energy expenditure. It's the number of calories you actually burn in a day. In order to lose weight you need to eat less than your actual TDEE. A common deficit for heavier people is 20%, so if your TDEE is 2000 cals a day you'd eat 80% of that amount, or 1600 a day.

    The calculators people suggest will usually get you pretty close or within the ballpark.

    If you eat/exercise a constant amount for a few weeks you should be able to determine your TDEE from that, because the amount of weight gain/loss will tell you how much over/under you are. From there you can adjust your intake to control how quickly you are losing weight.

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