BMR and TDEE Question.

TDEE - 20% is the way to go.
1200 net cals per day seems to be the standard target MFP creates for women no matter age, height, SW. It's BS.

I thought MFP says that 1200 is the lowest limit (ie they don't recommend going below it) - it never calculates 1200 for me - but then I still have over 100 pounds to lose!

I think tdee-20% (or less) sounds about right, you don't have much to lose and you want to lose it in a way in which you will be able to stick to it, not ruin your metabolism and not drive yourself crazy

good luck!

When I initially put my information on the MFP app it gave me a NET goal of 1200 calories/day. I am 5'2" and 124lbs looking to lose 10-15lbs. My BMR is calculated at around 1296. And my TDEE, which i just calculated today (didnt know such a thing existed) and multiple formulas gave me a range of 2100-2300. Now, I just learned today that in order to have a health weight loss, you should be NETting around 80% of your TDEE (or cutting 20% of TDEE calories). Which means I should be NETing around 1800 calories? This just seems too high. I have been NETing 1200 for a few days because this is what the app had told me to do automatically...

What is correct? And I guess BMR just tells you the basic calories your body needs to survive? (Which means if im eating 1200 im basically into super starvation..??)

Answers much appreciated, thanks! (im a college student looking to lose some weight before summer, not starve myself and compromise my grades because my brain cant function!! haha)

It sounds like you're a perfect weight already!

But no, you don't need to NET 80% of your TDEE. Exercise calories are included in your TDEE calculation (when you chose your activity level). If you logged them and ate them back, you'd be eating double exercise calories!

The people who are using 80% - 90% of TDEE are not eating back exercise calories, so that 80 - 90% figure is all that they eat. That leaves them a cut of 10 - 20%, which in your case would be about 220 - 440 calories (if your TDEE is around 2200). You would eat about 1760 - 1980 calories a day in total. Probably closer to the higher figure as you are so close to goal. You wouldn't eat exercise calories. You would not need to calculate your "net" calories at all.

If you want to do it the MFP way, with net calories and eating back exercise calories, you could try playing around with your goals. If you have it set at 1/2 lb a week, that SHOULD give you a deficit of 250 calories, which SHOULD mean that if you add in your exercise calories and eat them back you end up with a similar amount of calories to what you would be eating using the above method (it would be a cut of about 11% if my arithmetic is correct!). It will probably depend on how accurate everything is - the BMR calculators you are using, MFPs calculation, the exercise calories, etc. But you should get much the same results.

The disadvantage that I personally find with doing it that way is (a) the hassle of having to add in all your exercise calories, with possibly inaccurate estimates and (b) eating very different amounts day to day. Like you, I find that MFP puts me around 1200, but I don't find 1200 is enough for me even if I don't do any exercise that day. In particular, I seem to be hungry the day AFTER heavy lifting days. I find the TDEE system works better as I can eat much the same day to day.

You can also eat back exercise calories with the TDEE system if you prefer to do that. However, you wouldn't be netting 80% of your TDEE. I haven't tried this, so somebody else could give you better info, but I imagine that you would aim to net 80 -90% of your sedentary calories: e.g. (Your BMR x 1.2) x 0.85 = 1321. Then eat back 80 -90% of your exercise calories. But speak to somebody who knows more than me! I can see there could be other ways of doing it.

Sorry this is long-winded! I have no expertise beyond being somebody who is using the TDEE - 20% system, but I saw your question about net calories hadn't been answered directly, so I thought I'd chip in . And that's if you really do need to lose weight - it might be worth looking at the threads by people who have changed their bodies without losing weight.

TL:DR If doing TDEE - x%, forget about net calories. If you prefer the MFP system, with net calories, you could try changing your goal to 1/2 lb a week.

TDEE - 20% is the way to go.
1200 net cals per day seems to be the standard target MFP creates for women no matter age, height, SW. It's BS.

I am a bit confused. So I look back at my goals and I found that 1200 cals is a net cals.
What does it mean to eat -20% TDEE? Does that mean Net cals (TDEE - 20%) or gross cals.
Please can you clarified.
Thanks

TDEE - 20% is the way to go.
1200 net cals per day seems to be the standard target MFP creates for women no matter age, height, SW. It's BS.

I am a bit confused. So I look back at my goals and I found that 1200 cals is a net cals.
What does it mean to eat -20% TDEE? Does that mean Net cals (TDEE - 20%) or gross cals.
Please can you clarified.
Thanks

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) quantifies the number of calories you burn in a day. This measure is best estimated by scaling your Basal Metabolic Rate to your level of activity. In other words TDEE includes all your activites including exercise so with that method you don't eat back exer calories like you do with MFP system.
SO you are setup on MFP with 1200 cal + eat back any exercise calories to give you a NET calorie consumption of 1200. Example: If you eat 1200 calories, exercise and burn 400 you then have to eat an additional 400 calories to equal 1200 net calories for the day. 1200 -400 = 800 net cal 800 + 400 earned calories = 1200 net.

now you tell me :laugh:

When using the TDEE method, you do not eat your exercise calories back because the TDEE method already includes them. What I do is log my time spent exercising, I like to workout for at least an hour a day, but I override the calories burnt to just 1 calorie. You never want to eat below your BMR. When I first started using MFP, I would eat at 1200 (even though my BMR is 1377) & would eat 1/2 my exercise calories back but by doing this, I had no energy & started getting sick every month for at least a few weeks. Since I switched to the TDEE method, I have not been sick since & my energy has shot through the roof. I do insanity & walk 3 or 4 miles dailly (weather permitting) & I eat 1700 calories a day. I am 5'6" & 125 lbs. I am just looking to whittle my waist & hips down while gaining muscle mass. You could eat at your TDEE # minus a 20-15% deficit, or at least eat between your BMR & TDEE #'s. whichever works for you, everyone is different. You have to find what works for you, but it takes a few weeks to find out if something is going to work for you, so just be patient.

thank you, all very helpful! I think im going to just aim for 1500-1700 food calories a day total, regardless of activity, and keep those calories clean eating and healthy. I really just want fat loss because i am extremely muscular/stalky build already (growing up with years of dance and gymnastics). So thanks again for the help (:

With less than 30 pounds to lose, your cut should be more like 10-15% so a goal of around 1800 would be healthier.