Super scared to do TDEE -20%

melissadsims
melissadsims Posts: 59 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been working out for 12 weeks now. I work out 5-6x a week with 30-45 mins of cardio and 30-40 mins of strength training.
I am 5'2" currently weigh 143. I've lost inches and gained muscle! I was eating 1200 calories a day (I ate back my burned calories as well) but I've hit a small plateau as far as fat loss. I'm loving the muscle I've been building but would love those last few inches to go away. I'm starting TDEE -20% but am terrified I will just gain fat. I don't eat prepackaged food except Greek yogurt, and peanut butter. Everything else is clean/raw foods. I've been trying to be good with eating fewer carbs as they are my weakness and cut back to one beer every few weeks or more.

Anyway- how did TDEE work for you all? How soon on average did you see a loss? And I'm going from eating 1200 calories to 1700 so it's a bit scary. How was your experience?

Replies

  • kganc001
    kganc001 Posts: 317
    Bump! I just upped my cals from 1200 to 1500...I'm curious too!
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    You will notice an initial weight gain on the scale from increase food waste. Otherwise, you should be fine.
  • Emilie04444
    Emilie04444 Posts: 151 Member
    I find that weight loss is about trial and error. If you find yourself gaining weight then go back to what you are doing before. I try to take everything in stride. The words "scared" and "terrified" made me comment. Remember that cortisol is the stress hormone and can lead to weight gain.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,281 Member
    I started doing TDEE-20% about a week and a half ago after having hit an 8 week plateau (I was doing between 1200 and 1300 cals a day), and a couple days ago, I was down a pound....first loss since April 9th. Now my TDEE-20 is a bit less than yours.....1426. But it seems to be working.

    You have to give it a chance and NOT be afraid. I maintained, probably because the increase wasn't all that much, and I know there are those that gained a little back before they started to lose again. So you have to experiment and not freak out if you gain back a couple pounds....you will lose them again pretty quickly.
  • heatherloveslifting
    heatherloveslifting Posts: 1,428 Member
    I had no change for about a month and then started losing again *slowly*. (But this was after about a 6 week plateau on 1200 cals, so I was actually pretty happy with that!)
  • husseycd
    husseycd Posts: 814 Member
    I've been trying this too. I'm up to 1800 calories/day (I'm 5'5" and 133 lbs). I initially increased to 1700. I'm going to get my RMR tested next week and really want a body media so I can estimate an accurate TDEE.

    I lost about 5 lbs over 3 weeks at 1700 calories. I'm not sure about 1800 because it's my TOM (sorry I know that's TMI), but next week I should be able to tell if more is still okay. I did gain 1.5lbs this week, but it's probably/possibly water weight.

    Have you thought about just increasing slowly? Supposedly at my goal weight I should be able to eat about 2000 calories. I'd like to slowly build to that but that last thing I want to do is gain.

    I've heard the closer you get to your goal weight, the smaller the percent less than TDEE you should consume. Fat2fitradio suggests you eat at your goal TDEE, which makes sense to me.
  • jimithegreek
    jimithegreek Posts: 78
    You will notice an initial weight gain on the scale from increase food waste. Otherwise, you should be fine.

    Like whiners said....you might see an initial increase in weight, however, your body will adjust and you'll start losing again....especially if you are working out 5 to 6 times a week for an hour, like you mentioned.
  • dont_give_up
    dont_give_up Posts: 312 Member
    Like you I started at 1200 calories and was losing about 2lbs a week. Suddenly I wasn't losing or gaining. This went on for months.
    I thought about doing TDEE but wasn't sure about eating so many calories. I finally tried it and so far I love it! I did gain a few lbs when I first started but soon lost it.
    There are some days that I don't eat all of my calories and some days I go over. I've lost about 10lbs since starting TDEE.
  • melissadsims
    melissadsims Posts: 59 Member
    I over the last week I've been more and more hungry after my workouts so I think it will be ok to increase it at once. Today is my first day doing the increase. But usually my workouts are after work before dinner, but today since its the weekend I worked out after breakfast before lunch. And I've been hungry all day. So eating 1700 came easy.

    I am not worried much about the scale because it hasn't moved since the first 5 weeks. But I've seen inches keep coming off. So the scale doesn't bother me much. I'm worried about seeing a fat gain. (I take a picture every week and compare from before and then the prior week and then a before & midway one)

    Is my calorie increase high because I workout so much?
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    As others have said, you'll probably see an initial gain on the scale. Don't freak out, your body just needs time to adjust! You are not going to gain fat eating 1700 calories a day, especially with all that exercise. I promise!

    TDEE-20% works for just about everyone, when done correctly. The problem is that people are too impatient, or they overestimate their TDEE. Just give it some time and make sure you're tracking everything properly. The results will follow!
  • melissadsims
    melissadsims Posts: 59 Member
    Also- I started at 147 lbs. am now 143 lbs after 11 full weeks (starting week 12) and have remained that weight for 5-6 weeks. I have my "goal weight" at 118 but in reality I care more about inches so idk if that weight goal is even accurate. So idk how close I am to my goal haha
  • DanaHerro
    DanaHerro Posts: 186 Member
    I've been eating TDEE - 20% for 18 weeks now :)
    I've gone from 216 to 182

    It works. Totally works.
  • samcat2000
    samcat2000 Posts: 106 Member
    I've slowly lost 18 lbs since starting on MFP in January 2013. I started doing TDEE -10% in early April and still lost about about 2 lbs since then...I'm aiming for very slow weight loss if any at all now. I just changed to TDEE -5% to see what happens. I'm slowly taking myself to just TDEE and maybe in the + zone because I want to gain more muscle. Disclaimer...I don't wear a heart rate monitor or any other device so not sure if my BMR and TDEE are the most accurate. I also haven't had a real body fat% test...just plugged measurements into the on-line body fat calculator. I'm a novice at all of this and feel lost sometimes. As long as I'm not gaining and feeling flabby or chubby in my clothes at the same time I'm happy. [stats - 5'10", cw 140.4 (for weeks now!), sw 158, 40 yrs old]
  • Stargrace2
    Stargrace2 Posts: 48 Member
    I just started this, after 3 months of eating 1200-1300 because I figured the numbers were "lying" to me so I had to eat under. I started feeling faint and not all that great, plus even though I was working out 6x a week I gained 2lb (water weight from muscles having no recovery time, I know) and saw no other weight loss.

    Anyhow.

    Been eating TDEE-20% all this week, lost the water weight and another pound, feeling good. Going to keep it up. I use a fitbit to track my daily TDEE, and log exercises that it may not recognize. I found that simply doing calculations on what my TDEE should be did NOT work because I work from home and don't burn off nearly as many calories on non-workout days as mfp thought.
  • booboobaer
    booboobaer Posts: 8
    Is this TDEE - 20% plus eating back some or all exercise calories or simply that irrespective of exercise cals?
  • melissadsims
    melissadsims Posts: 59 Member
    I'm not sure yet whether I should eat back my exercise calories? Today I did but an like 30 under 1700
    (Today was a light day only burned 180) but I'm not sure if I should eat hem back or not?
  • melissadsims
    melissadsims Posts: 59 Member
    I don't have a HRM yet. I REALLY want the Jawbone UP but right now that's not in my budget (building a house so that is a bit more important at the moment!) maybe sometime soon. I hate guessing on how many calories I burn!
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    I'm not sure yet whether I should eat back my exercise calories? Today I did but an like 30 under 1700
    (Today was a light day only burned 180) but I'm not sure if I should eat hem back or not?

    Well, did you factor exercise into your TDEE? If so, don't eat them back, because they were already included in your daily amount. If not, then do eat them back.
  • Stargrace2
    Stargrace2 Posts: 48 Member
    ^ this. If you calculated exercise into your TDEE then don't eat them back, MFP will give you an average to eat. Personally, I eat mine back and they're not calculated into TDEE.
  • melissadsims
    melissadsims Posts: 59 Member
    The calculator I did asked me the number of times I exercise a week so I did 5x a week. The total TDEE they gave was 2200ish so then -20% is a little over 1700. I set it to be a goal of 1700 (I like even numbers and better to be under than over) so don't eat back what I burn?
  • JoanB5
    JoanB5 Posts: 610 Member
    I increased my calories by 100 calories for every body fat percentage lost once I got within 3 pounds of goal. Worked.

    I increased calories again to keep from losing too much, too fast once I got to goal (needed more muscle). I bounced to three over goal, but then slowly lost three pounds back, and inches.

    Now, doing TDEE, BUT subtracting 200 a day for it. If I get the anticipated workout in, I get to add 200 back. If I don't, I know I'm not overeating. I still need this motivation. Sort of a "cyclical calorie cycling", I guess...I eat more when I work out and less when I don't.

    If I am very hungry the day after I work out, I make sure to get more lean protein in and do larger meals the next day's breakfast or lunch. I feel more safe with this method than "the jump". I still need the motivation to keep working out, and this does it for me.
  • Stargrace2
    Stargrace2 Posts: 48 Member
    The calculator I did asked me the number of times I exercise a week so I did 5x a week. The total TDEE they gave was 2200ish so then -20% is a little over 1700. I set it to be a goal of 1700 (I like even numbers and better to be under than over) so don't eat back what I burn?

    In that case, no you would not eat back what you burn. It's calculated into the 1700 it gave you. 2200 is your average TDEE if you combine your non exercise days with your exercise days and average it out. 1700 same thing. For me it was just easier to eat more or less depending on what day it was. I eat 1500 on non workout days. I eat 1700 on workout days. Especially easier since on workout days you tend to be hungrier.

    Be sure to read this post, it explains it all pretty easily, and gives you great sites to use to figure everything out, read the comments too, a lot of the questions asked in the thread will be ones you're looking for answers to. : http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I started TDEE minus 20% over a year ago and have had my best results with fat loss since then. I hit goal weight, but still have a bit of fat to get rid of, so now I'm at about a 10-15% cut. I workout 5-6 days a week, around an hour a day, 3 days with weights (dumbbells at home) & 3 days of running.
  • Mitzigan94
    Mitzigan94 Posts: 393 Member
    I have been working out for 12 weeks now. I work out 5-6x a week with 30-45 mins of cardio and 30-40 mins of strength training.
    I am 5'2" currently weigh 143. I've lost inches and gained muscle! I was eating 1200 calories a day (I ate back my burned calories as well) but I've hit a small plateau as far as fat loss. I'm loving the muscle I've been building but would love those last few inches to go away. I'm starting TDEE -20% but am terrified I will just gain fat. I don't eat prepackaged food except Greek yogurt, and peanut butter. Everything else is clean/raw foods. I've been trying to be good with eating fewer carbs as they are my weakness and cut back to one beer every few weeks or more.

    Anyway- how did TDEE work for you all? How soon on average did you see a loss? And I'm going from eating 1200 calories to 1700 so it's a bit scary. How was your experience?


    dont worry ,Im a started on -20% tdee too! Just trust in urself and dont quit! good luck!
  • broscientist
    broscientist Posts: 102 Member

    Well, did you factor exercise into your TDEE? If so, don't eat them back, because they were already included in your daily amount. If not, then do eat them back.

    THANK YOU.
    You get a gold star.

    This is one of the most common mistake MFP members make.
  • samcat2000
    samcat2000 Posts: 106 Member
    I'm not sure yet whether I should eat back my exercise calories? Today I did but an like 30 under 1700
    (Today was a light day only burned 180) but I'm not sure if I should eat hem back or not?

    Well, did you factor exercise into your TDEE? If so, don't eat them back, because they were already included in your daily amount. If not, then do eat them back.

    Maybe I'm doing a hybrid of the mfp and TDEE...I have a very sedentary desk job so when calculating my TDEE I chose the sedentary category. I entered that calorie goal -5% into MFP. When I do exercise, I enter those calories burned jinto MFP and eat them back on top of the TDEE (sedentary) -5%. I've been exercising consistently but it can vary when things get crazy at work so that's why I chose the sedentary + eat back exercise calories.
  • ngressman
    ngressman Posts: 229 Member
    TDEE -20% didn't work for me. I gained weight for 2 weeks, before I went back to the 1200 calorie diet. Don't know what I did wrong.
  • ajcmoran2005
    ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
    Well I hope I have better luck. After plateauing for several weeks after eating 1200 calories I tried TDEE -20%. I plateaued again after losing six pounds so I upped my calories from 1550 calories a day to 1700 since I am closer to my goal. I still run everyday and eat the same but now I'm gaining :(.
  • SrJoben
    SrJoben Posts: 484 Member
    TDEE works pretty well for me. It may slightly over-estimate my calorie needs. But that's not surprising, it's a rough estimate and needs to be tried for a while then adjusted.

    Overall i just find it much easier than the eat back method, which i found a pain to enter, and I didn't like the fluctuating amount of food. With TDEE I can eat about the same amount ever day.

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