Sorry in advance...more TDEE method questions

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auteurfille22
auteurfille22 Posts: 251 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
After having a 1200 calorie limit for the past couple months, and overeating on it way too often, I want to try the TDEE - 20% method instead. I've been reading this as a guide:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide

So I don't know if I'm just missing something in there, or if I'm just being really stupid, but when I choose my activity level, am I supposed to include my workouts in that? Or is it supposed to be my activity without workouts? Then do I eat my exercise calories back or not?

Also, just as another question - to those of you who switched from a 1200 calorie limit (or something comparable) to using TDEE, how long did it take for you to start seeing results? I know that it won't be instantaneous and I'm willing to accept that, but I'm not going to lie and say I wouldn't be discouraged if I don't see any change for like 6 weeks as some people on here have said. I want to have some idea of what to expect so I don't just decide "this isn't working" after three weeks.

Thank you!!

Replies

  • karenmi
    karenmi Posts: 242 Member
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    Bump!
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    TDEE is supposed to include your workouts and as such, you won't eat exercise calories back. When doing the TDEE method, exercise should be logged as "1" calorie burned or not at all.

    I can't answer your other question, since I never cut my calories that low. Maybe someone else can help you with that.

    I do recommend sticking with it for at least 4-6 weeks before deciding on whether or not it works for you.
  • MLL0319
    MLL0319 Posts: 108 Member
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    I tried to do 1200 calories when first signing up. I did lose some weight, but I was very tired and irritable. I bumped my calories up to 1400 and I felt much better and still kept losing weight. I can't remember how long it took to get results, but I kept in mind that this is a slow and steady process. I started out at 181 and I am now at 146.5. I am happy with losing 1 lb per week or losing inches.
  • 257_Lag
    257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
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    You can do it either way. Ultimately it's the same thing. Personally I like to get a "treat" for working out in the form of more food but that's just me.

    If you figure your exercise in your TDEE then don't eat back exercice calories.

    If you figure your TDEE without your exercise then you should eat them back.


    As for your 2nd question I can only speak from one instance and that was my sister. We moved her from 1200 up to 1600 and she saw no change at all for about 3 1/2 weeks. Then she lost 2 lbs in one week for the first loss in 5 months. After that she is losing a steady 1/2 lb a week.

    Hope this helps.
  • peggysue218
    peggysue218 Posts: 126 Member
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    I have tried eating 1200 in the past but for my size that is kind of ridiculous (I'm 5'10" and well over 200 lbs). My daily allowance via MFP is about 1400 which is approximately 100-200 under my TDEE-30%. I aim for 1400 but if I go over sometimes it ends up working out. I was honestly losing weight kind of slowly at 1200 and things picked up for me once I started eating a little bit more. I also haven't been exercising until yesterday. My activity level when I calculated my TDEE was sedentary, so if I do exercise, I can choose to eat the calories back or not. I'm not a die-hard TDEE follower or anything. I mostly use it to prevent myself from overeating too much. I know that if I eat my TDEE-30% I'll still lose, but I like to aim for a bit under that. I bet that if I ate TDEE-20% (-20% is supposedly the biggest deficit one should have) I wouldn't be losing as quickly. However, everyone is different. Hope this helps and isn't too confusing because honestly I'm kind of confused after writing it, lol.

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