TDEE and BMR

Way to go so far. I went on www.scoobyworkshop.com, I found that website very informative and helpful. I know all this info is very confusing. I think you're doing a great job losing weight, and if you find what works, use it. As far as being tired some days, it's probably not enough food. I find a higher protein diet works a little better for me. I know I am not super strict, but I try to do better and better each day. Good luck and keep up the great work

What does MFP have you "set" at for calorie goals?

TDEE is your total daily expenditure - it is an ESTIMATE (like all of these) for what you burn _on average_ (meaning there can be significant deviations from day to day based on how active you are) and generally represents your total output. IF you were eating exactly what you are expending every day you would be "weight neutral" - not gaining or losing.

BMR is what your body needs to maintain basic metabolic functions - eating, sleeping, heart rate, breathing, GI activity, cellular activity, etc. It's your body at rest.

Losing weight requires you to eat somewhere between TDEE ("neutral") and BMR (basic requirements). In other words you have to eat on average below your total daily expenditure and above your BMR - you can eat below your BMR but over time that'll make you quite ill.

With regard to nutrion, you need protein, fat, carbs - then micronutrients - iron, potassium, sodium, calcium, etc. MFP allow you to track some of these.

MFP asks you to put in your own estimate of your activity level, height, weight, age - these are the major drivers of the estimate it gives you for what you need to lose weight. It has deficit built in so if you exercise and eat back your calories you're still eating at deficit and will lose weight over time.

Hope this helps.

BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate...the rate at which you'd burn calories just being alive and not moving an inch

TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure....total calories burned in a given day, all activity, including exercise.

NEAT - Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis...The calories you burn just living, going to work, the store, etc...calories burned WITHOUT exercise.

BMR + NEAT + Exercise = TDEE

There are two primary methods of calorie counting; these are the NEAT method (MFP) and the TDEE method. As you can see from the formula above, your NEAT does not include exercise. So, a NEAT method calculator like MFP is going to give you a calorie goal for weight loss that does NOT include exercise in your activity level. As such, any exercise you do becomes an extra activity...therefore, you're supposed to eat back most of those exercise calories to fuel that activity.

As you can see from the formula above, if you use the TDEE method, exercise IS included in your activity level. Therefore, a TDEE calculator is going to give you a calorie goal for weight loss that assumes you're performing all of your exercises on a regular basis and being consistent about it. If you calculate your TDEE based on 5 hours of exercise per week, but only exercise 2 hours per week, your formula is flawed and you aren't going to see any progress.

If you do these correctly, they really come out 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. For example, when I was doing MFP, my NET calorie goal was 1,850 calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week. On average I burned about 300 calories per day (roughly 70% of what my HRM says I burned to account for estimation error)...so, 1,850 calories + 300 = 2150 gross calories (but I'm still netting 1,850).

Now, my TDEE (an average of light active and moderate active) is about 2650. TDEE - 20% for roughly 1 Lb per week weight loss is 2650 - 530 = 2,120 gross calories.

As you can see, the difference between those two methods is a mere 30 calories. So like I said, when done properly it really is 6 of 1.

Common pitfalls of the NEAT method are underestimating intake and overestimating burn. A lot of people use databases to log their calorie burns from exercise, and these are often very far off from reality and people over eat because of it and stall their progress. The NEAT method has it's benefits though in that it is easier for someone who is inconsistent with their fitness plan, misses workouts regularly, etc in that exercise isn't required with the NEAT method for weight loss.

The TDEE method is often easier for people who have a routine fitness plan and consistent calorie burns...pretty much set it and forget it kind of thing. That said, it becomes easily flawed if you get lazy in your exercise...get injured...otherwise miss workouts on a routine basis because the method assumes you are doing everything you said you were doing when you set your activity level.