BMR and TDEE Explained for Those Needing a Guide

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  • jcbgs
    jcbgs Posts: 26
    thanks thishas help. i am so bad at math that i cant figure out all this math to get me results.
  • jessica182517
    jessica182517 Posts: 390 Member
    Bump
  • LJA1968
    LJA1968 Posts: 516 Member
    Bumping to read whole post
  • pamswopestrahlem
    pamswopestrahlem Posts: 3
    great explanation - thanks!
  • tadlana
    tadlana Posts: 27 Member
    bump
  • pamswopestrahlem
    pamswopestrahlem Posts: 3
    I figured mine, but my total intake comes out to less than my BMR should be. My BMR is 1608 and my TDEE is 1798. Subtract the 20%, 360, and I end up with a calorie goal of 1438, below my BMR. Now what do I do?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I figured mine, but my total intake comes out to less than my BMR should be. My BMR is 1608 and my TDEE is 1798. Subtract the 20%, 360, and I end up with a calorie goal of 1438, below my BMR. Now what do I do?

    You do absolutely no exercise then, because you picked sedentary.

    You sit around the vast majority of the day, maybe an hr of cooking a day, and that's it?

    That's sedentary.
  • dmcruz08
    dmcruz08 Posts: 9 Member
    bump
  • kmcosgrove115
    kmcosgrove115 Posts: 260 Member
    Glad this is helping so many of you.............I just posted my updated pics on the Success Boards from Day 5 to Day 100 - eating whole food plant based is my biggest factor but TDEE less 20% is for sure a close second! I am by no means done but the pics do help me see the progress and that this method works! Check it out:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/990161-day-100-progress-check-in-with-pics
  • redhen966
    redhen966 Posts: 6 Member
    Thank you xx
  • jrjordan79
    jrjordan79 Posts: 53 Member
    Bump ... so I can read at home tonight. :)
  • rhonnik
    rhonnik Posts: 32 Member
    Need to read this. Thanks!
  • kmcosgrove115
    kmcosgrove115 Posts: 260 Member
    monica1184 - your calc's look dead on correct - remember if it has been some time undereating - it can take a few weeks for that metabolism to come back - but it will - and some have a slight gain until it turns back on - don't panic - my advice would actually be stay away from the scale, eat at TDEE less the % and weigh around 4-6 weeks later................good luck!
  • kmcosgrove115
    kmcosgrove115 Posts: 260 Member
    ruthc69 - the concept is scary - but after you eat more and it really sinks in WHY you are doing this to fuel the body and burn the excess, the fear does go away - I actually am now always in awe at the body and how amazing it is and how smart it is to know how to stay alive - you gotta eat - you just need to - your body wants to be healthy and thriving - without eating too much.............keep me posted!
  • kmcosgrove115
    kmcosgrove115 Posts: 260 Member
    calaz84 - what I found in researching this is that the TDEE # has your normal activity level built in by the level of activity you select - it's there - so for anything ABOVE my "normal activity" only THEN do I log in my exercise if I know it's more then typical and even then I only eat back SOME of the calories...............make sense?

    And if you are one who likes to see your exercise logged in as you do it, as many do, people have taken to putting in the exercise and manually changing the calories burned to "1" so it does not impact their daily calories since the exercise is already figured in to their TDEE amount.

    Good luck!
  • kmcosgrove115
    kmcosgrove115 Posts: 260 Member
    mommypeanut - absolutely! send me an email and I can calculate for you!
  • kmcosgrove115
    kmcosgrove115 Posts: 260 Member
    cfredz - yes - you have it right!
  • MayMaydoesntrun
    MayMaydoesntrun Posts: 805 Member
    bump
  • NewCaddy
    NewCaddy Posts: 845 Member
    bump
  • krisam06
    krisam06 Posts: 27
    bump
  • MudDancer
    MudDancer Posts: 151 Member
    bump
  • julieager75
    julieager75 Posts: 61 Member
    Bump for later
  • LJA1968
    LJA1968 Posts: 516 Member
    OK, so I did my calculations and came up with the following: if I use the numbers given to me by MFP and eat back my exercise calories, it works out to be the same as the number of calories recommended to eat for my on fat2fit. Is this the way it should work out? It only balances out if I do work out. If I don't then I'm eating under my TDEE - 20%.
  • Alan
    Alan Posts: 30 Member
    Extra thanks to kmcosgrove for the original post and haybales for extra information and the spreadsheet that does all the complex math for me!

    After I switched from MFP values to this, my weight went up about a bit and plateaued for about a week, then it started coming back down. MyFitnessPal had me at 1270 calories per day, but this method bumped me up to 1880. I put in sedentary and use the spreadsheet (MFP Tweaks tab) to calculate calories I can eat back from exercising since my workouts vary from day to day. Now, just after two weeks, my weight is about 3 pounds lower than it was before I switched.

    I also like that with the extra calories, I can concentrate my workouts more on the strength training, instead of doing extra cardio just so I can eat more.
  • Yori1
    Yori1 Posts: 142
    Bump
  • kmcosgrove115
    kmcosgrove115 Posts: 260 Member
    Alan,

    So glad you are seeing results!

    Kristen
  • MeowSkull
    MeowSkull Posts: 101 Member
    bump.

    excellent and easy explanation, thank you.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    Bump for the new folks.
  • Seesawboomerang
    Seesawboomerang Posts: 296 Member
    Lightbulb moment! Energy saving lightbulb perhaps, as it's been gradually coming clear over the past few weeks.

    I lost a good chunk of weight 2 years ago with MFP, but it felt restrictive and was basically a diet. I came away with not much idea of what I really needed calorie-wise.

    Now I think I get it, and hope that eating a steady 1800kcal will shift a few stubborn lbs and get me on track for good.

    Thanks so much for your well-written post. The body fat calculator has helped me see sense.
  • bluelena
    bluelena Posts: 304 Member
    Bump to share!

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