TDEE and Fitbit
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honeylissabee
Posts: 217 Member
I am working on figuring out what works best for me, and I am torn between a traditional 500-1,000 deficit method and the TDEE- 20 method.
I have a FitBit that I wear, and I like having the FitBit adjustment- especially since my activity is somewhat sporadic.
I am wondering if I calculate my sedentary TDEE and take 20% from that, if I can just use my FitBit adjustment to determine how much I can eat from day to day, or if the math won't work out.
What if I use a formula to calculate my sedentary TDEE that uses my body fat percentage?
I have a FitBit that I wear, and I like having the FitBit adjustment- especially since my activity is somewhat sporadic.
I am wondering if I calculate my sedentary TDEE and take 20% from that, if I can just use my FitBit adjustment to determine how much I can eat from day to day, or if the math won't work out.
What if I use a formula to calculate my sedentary TDEE that uses my body fat percentage?
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Replies
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If your activity is sporadic then I would recommend the TDEE-20, with your activity level set at sedentary and AT MOST, eat back half of your calories. With a true TDEE setup you shouldn't eat back your calories at all, so unless you have a ridiculously active day, I wouldn't eat back any of the calories as basic walking around type activity is included in the sedentary TDEE up to a point.
As for the BF% question, if you know your percentage with some accuracy then it will give you a better number to use the Katch-McArdle formula for sure, but I don't think that changes the answer from above.0 -
This is really interesting. I have been sticking to what MFP tells me to do, which is 1570 calories. But when I calculate my TDEE on http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html, it tells me that my TDEE is about 2500. So if I take away 20% from that, that means that I would be eating about 2000. That's a fairly large discrepancy. What would you recommend?0
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If your activity is sporadic then I would recommend the TDEE-20, with your activity level set at sedentary and AT MOST, eat back half of your calories. With a true TDEE setup you shouldn't eat back your calories at all, so unless you have a ridiculously active day, I wouldn't eat back any of the calories as basic walking around type activity is included in the sedentary TDEE up to a point.
As for the BF% question, if you know your percentage with some accuracy then it will give you a better number to use the Katch-McArdle formula for sure, but I don't think that changes the answer from above.
This^^^0 -
I keep track of what fitbit tells me I burn and average it out over a month and use that as my TDEE. Then I use the TDEE -20% method.
I personally dont like having calories added from fitbit. I prelog my day and that just screws everything up.0 -
Kind of looks like you're getting the same advice you got as when you asked this yesterday.
I'm not sure how you can use the TDEE-20% method with the MFP/Fitbit calorie adjustment, since MFP doesn't use that method. TDEE method = Fitbit method.
Adjustment for daily activity = MFP method
It doesn't make much sense to me to use both at the same time. But try it and see what happens. You won't break anything.0 -
Kind of looks like you're getting the same advice you got as when you asked this yesterday.
I'm not sure how you can use the TDEE-20% method with the MFP/Fitbit calorie adjustment, since MFP doesn't use that method. TDEE method = Fitbit method.
Adjustment for daily activity = MFP method
It doesn't make much sense to me to use both at the same time. But try it and see what happens. You won't break anything.
^^^ This. Just pick something and stick with it for a month or two. If it isn't working then reassess. Asking repeatedly and never getting started doesn't reap results.0 -
My activity level is really very sporadic. There are some days where I only get out of bed to go to the bathroom or make something to eat. There are also days where I am out shopping and walking around for hours PLUS doing a 30 minute workout. I would love to just stick to the TDEE-20% method without worrying about extra exercise calories, but I don't know how to do that when my activity level is so sporadic.
At the same time, the MFP method makes me a little nervous. It'll set me up to eat under my BMR, etc. It seems that the TDEE-20% method is safer.
Starting Monday, I'm starting a Leslie Sansone walking program that will alternate between 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training 6 days a week. The rest of my time will be ranging from sedentary to lightly active. There's really no stability there. When I go out, I am out for a few hours and try to walk around, but if I'm home I barely get up to do that 30 minutes of exercise.
If I set myself to be sedentary, but I'm really lightly active, I'll be undereating. If I say I'm lightly active, but I'm actually sedentary, I'll end up overeating.0 -
You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be. Set yourself to sedentary. The days you lay in bed will offset that days you move. Nothing you described comes even remotely close to being lightly active.
You can keep asking the same question over and over worded differently and the answer is going to be the same. Just pick a number and get started. Unless you NET less than 1200 for months you aren't going to be in any danger of the dreaded starvation mode. I'd err on the side of under eating if that makes any difference.0 -
At the same time, the MFP method makes me a little nervous. It'll set me up to eat under my BMR, etc. It seems that the TDEE-20% method is safer.
As long as you eat over 1200 calories a day on average, virtually no authority (outside of this forum) would consider what you're doing remotely unsafe. If you're doing hard, 700+ calorie workouts daily, you might need to eat more. But for sedentary to lightly active, 1200-1500 isn't going to hurt anything.
I know it's hard for us 'black or white' thinkers. Don't make it harder than it needs to be. You don't have to hit some tiny calorie target every day that is both over your BMR but under TDEE minus 20% yet also includes eating back for all the time you spend shopping or doing a workout DVD. You will drive yourself insane. Pick a calorie goal in the 1200-1500 range, pick a steps goal over 5000, put on your Fitbit and carry on. Just my opinion.
I think trying to 'net' can be a recipe for disaster for people who get caught up in the details.0 -
I have been wearing my fitbit daily for over a year. I feel as though it has a pretty accurate estimation of my activity level.
I set my MFP calorie goal to match what fitbit thinks I should eat every day (you can see on either the app on your phone or the dashboard from your computer) and then eat the excercise calories back that it estimates. If it looks like I won't earn any exercise calories that day, I will keep close eye on what fitbit thinks I have left to eat.
You could also set up your account with MFP to adjust for negative calories, that way you should be staying pretty close.
Hope this helps!0 -
It's actually interesting though. Most charts/guides say light exercise 1-3 hours a week make you "lightly active" so if I'm doing a 30 minute workout 6 days a week, that would make me lightly active by that definition. Personally, I wouldn't consider it to be "lightly active" but that's what it is defined as on the different websites I've used to calculate my TDEE.
And what about January when my goal is to do 30-75 minutes of exercise 6 days per week? The calorie difference between a 30 minute strength training workout and a 75 minute cardio session is going to be pretty significant. Is the TDEE-20% method better for those who have a stable schedule where their activities are about the same from day to day?
And the TDEE-20% thing also confuses me at times. If I'm sedentary, then my TDEE-20% may have me eating below my BMR. So, the natural thing would be to eat TDEE-15%. I am obese by all standards. I shouldn't be at the point where a 20% reduction is too much.0 -
Just set MFP tolightly active and lose .5/week and go from there. It's all estimates so you will have to play with it as you get closer to your goal weight.
I would suggest starting yourself a spreadsheet and keep track yourself for a while. If you gain weight eat less, if you lose too fast eat more. Everyone will be different so it's hard to say what will work for you aside from the generalizations. Just don't complicate things. If you are not comfortable with TDEE and I wasn't for a very long time either - for the same reason as you (too much varied activity) then just stick with MFP. Why mess with something that is working?0 -
It's actually interesting though. Most charts/guides say light exercise 1-3 hours a week make you "lightly active" so if I'm doing a 30 minute workout 6 days a week, that would make me lightly active by that definition. Personally, I wouldn't consider it to be "lightly active" but that's what it is defined as on the different websites I've used to calculate my TDEE.
And what about January when my goal is to do 30-75 minutes of exercise 6 days per week? The calorie difference between a 30 minute strength training workout and a 75 minute cardio session is going to be pretty significant. Is the TDEE-20% method better for those who have a stable schedule where their activities are about the same from day to day?
And the TDEE-20% thing also confuses me at times. If I'm sedentary, then my TDEE-20% may have me eating below my BMR. So, the natural thing would be to eat TDEE-15%. I am obese by all standards. I shouldn't be at the point where a 20% reduction is too much.
Something else to think about. If you are obese and you calculate your BMR then it's probably wrong. BMR calculators are set up using averages of normal people. Once you get off onto either end of the scale they become less and less accurate because it's assuming you have a certain percentage of lean body mass based on your weight which in the obese is not true. An obese person can safely eat under their BMR because you don't need to feed the fat, you want to maintain your lean body mass only.
A 20% cut puts you low because you are sedentary so your general activity doesn't put you at much over your supposed BMR. You have to exert energy to accumulate a higher TDEE. The act of just being upright doesn't really burn much.
If you have this much time to put into worrying about how to track exercise you haven't even started doing yet then surely when you do get around to doing it you'd have 5 minutes a day to log it? The simplest way is going to be to use MFP as intended.0 -
Losing to fast doesn't exactly scare me. Trust me, if there was a way I can drop 5 pounds a week without eating too little (I do have a fear that I'll lose control if I eat too little for a while, and then eat enough one day; it's happened before.)
Honestly, I haven't really found ANYTHING that has worked long-term. I've lost weight here and there, but I haven't done it long-term. I've tried Weight Watchers, South Beach, Paleo, very low calorie diets, Sparkpeople, Myfitnesspal, cutting out chemical additives. Nothing has worked long-term, and I always gain the weight back. I've done a lot of trial and error... but next to no trial and success.
Typically, my efforts can be lumped into 3 categories:
1. Plans that I haven't been able to stick to long enough to see ANY weight loss
2. Plans that I've been able to stick to for a few weeks and lose less than 10 pounds- only to gain it right back.
3. Plans I've been able to stick to long enough to drop a significant amount of weight, but gain it right back because I'm unable to turn it into a lifestyle change that works even when things change (moving, new school, new job, vacation, holidays).
The only type diet I haven't tried is a prepackaged diet plan like Nutrisystem or Jenny Craig. I'm not interested in trying those ones. Even South Beach is a challenge for me. I can't enjoy any sweets/treats on it at ALL since I can't eat any fake sugar/artificial sweeteners.
My friend is looking at trying Ideal Protein. Since I can't eat most of their products, that's not an option for me.
I think I'm running out of things to try!0 -
It's actually interesting though. Most charts/guides say light exercise 1-3 hours a week make you "lightly active" so if I'm doing a 30 minute workout 6 days a week, that would make me lightly active by that definition. Personally, I wouldn't consider it to be "lightly active" but that's what it is defined as on the different websites I've used to calculate my TDEE.
And what about January when my goal is to do 30-75 minutes of exercise 6 days per week? The calorie difference between a 30 minute strength training workout and a 75 minute cardio session is going to be pretty significant. Is the TDEE-20% method better for those who have a stable schedule where their activities are about the same from day to day?
And the TDEE-20% thing also confuses me at times. If I'm sedentary, then my TDEE-20% may have me eating below my BMR. So, the natural thing would be to eat TDEE-15%. I am obese by all standards. I shouldn't be at the point where a 20% reduction is too much.
Something else to think about. If you are obese and you calculate your BMR then it's probably wrong. BMR calculators are set up using averages of normal people. Once you get off onto either end of the scale they become less and less accurate because it's assuming you have a certain percentage of lean body mass based on your weight which in the obese is not true. An obese person can safely eat under their BMR because you don't need to feed the fat, you want to maintain your lean body mass only.
A 20% cut puts you low because you are sedentary so your general activity doesn't put you at much over your supposed BMR. You have to exert energy to accumulate a higher TDEE. The act of just being upright doesn't really burn much.
If you have this much time to put into worrying about how to track exercise you haven't even started doing yet then surely when you do get around to doing it you'd have 5 minutes a day to log it? The simplest way is going to be to use MFP as intended.
My BMI is somewhere between 31 and 32. Yes, I know that's not the most accurate method of determining healthy body weight. According to my handheld body fat analyzer, my body fat is somewhere around 38-40% though I haven't calculated it in several weeks. Neither are best for determining that I'm obese, but I do know that I'm not super obese or anything like that.0 -
At 40% BF you are morbidly obese so BMR really isn't an accurate number for you without medical testing.0
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I have been wearing my fitbit daily for over a year. I feel as though it has a pretty accurate estimation of my activity level.
I set my MFP calorie goal to match what fitbit thinks I should eat every day (you can see on either the app on your phone or the dashboard from your computer) and then eat the excercise calories back that it estimates. If it looks like I won't earn any exercise calories that day, I will keep close eye on what fitbit thinks I have left to eat.
You could also set up your account with MFP to adjust for negative calories, that way you should be staying pretty close.
Hope this helps!
This is what I do....however, I noticed that with the MFP adjustment, MFP was giving me 166 calories more than what fitbit told me to eat (which was 500 lower than what I burn each day so technically with MFP I was only getting a 333 daily deficit instead of 500 if that makes sensee) so I had to actually go in and manually adjust my MFP daily calorie goal down so that MFP and Fitbit "what I should eat" would match up....0 -
At 40% BF you are morbidly obese so BMR really isn't an accurate number for you without medical testing.
Well, since I'm unemployed, that's not really going to happen right now.
My body fat percentage is an estimate. I use a handheld analyzer, but I know I'm probably not doing my measurements in "ideal" circumstances, and it's my understanding that those things aren't the most accurate (though better than the scales that claim to measure body fat percentage).
And what about BMR calculations that take into account body fat percentage?0 -
I just flipped through your diary and you aren't even logging things right now. The one day that was fairly filled out was a bad day. Take your sedentary TDEE, subtract 20% from it and eat around that number. All else is nit picking.0
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You're clearly frustrated from trying everything and nothing working, but you just need to pick something, stick with it and try not to over think it.
As you're wearing a FitBit so you'll pretty accurately know how many calories that you're 'burning' on any given day, just make sure that you eat less than that amount and you'll lose weight.
The bigger the deficit the faster you'll lose but the harder it will be to stick to so you need to find a balance, but even 1 calorie a day is small progress towards your goal.
Stay positive
For what it's worth I set my calorie goal to maintain my current weight and just try to eat less than that, some days I do it by 1500 calories and others (mostly at weekends) I eat all the way up to it, or anywhere in between. It keeps it flexible and I lose about a pound a week.0
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