Calorie differences

RMinge14
RMinge14 Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How can the calorie count be so different according to different sources?

From what I've looked into my BMR is 2044 and my TDEE is 2453, 20% of that would be 1962.

I'm 6'1" and started at 235lbs with a goal to get down to 199. I set up MFP as sedentary and to lose 2 lbs a week and it gave me a goal of 1510 a day.

I do log everything, and yesterday at the end of the day I was 500 calories short of my daily goal, that was on an off gym day.

Some days I get closer to MFP goal, and some days I go slightly over, usually for the week I still have a deficit.

Should I stick with the MFP goals or increase them to TDEE less 20%. Its is rare that I'm hungry throughout the day based on what MFP gave me.

Replies

  • cupcakes_and_cardio
    cupcakes_and_cardio Posts: 369 Member
    I use the scooby calculator (I wish I had the site off-hand, but I'm at work) and I go off of that, regardless of what MFP says; I do my own custom settings on here. I think it's better to just stick with one source that way it's consistant. I've received a lot of different answers, too, so instead of beating me head against a wall, almost literally (lol), I just stuck with one source, and I'm getting good results, lost 3 lbs in two weeks.
  • smn76237
    smn76237 Posts: 318 Member
    If you do the math, you'd see that the numbers MFP and TDEE calculators give you are pretty close. You told MFP that you want to lose 2lbs a week and that you're sedentary. In order to lose 2lbs a week you need a 1000 calorie deficit per day (1lb=3500 calories so 2lb=7,000 calorie deficit over 7 days). If you take your TDEE of 2453 and subtract 1000, you get a number fairly close to the 1500 that MFP gave you. Since you set everything as sedentary, whenever you do exercise, you should eat back exercise calories.

    That said, I'm a 5'0 female and my goal is 1500 and then eating my exercise calories on top of that. As a male you should be eating waaayyy more than that. I'd aim for at least 2000 for you and do resistance training to preserve your muscle mass.
  • RMinge14
    RMinge14 Posts: 14 Member
    If I keep going to the gym 3-5 days a week, should I raise my activity level on MFP to reflect that and not eat back any calories? even though the rest of my days are spent in an office at my desk?

    The calorie counter on http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ gave me a much higher number than MFP did and I put that I was going to the gym 3-5 days a week with moderate exercise. According to that site my TDEE is 3350 and I should be at 2512 per day, and not eat any colories back, which is 1000 higher per day than MFP amount of 1510.

    Any more thoughts would be appreciated.

    Thanks

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