Help with math please?

candiceh3
candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
edited February 8 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been on MFP for 61 days. During those 61 days I have (on average) consumed 1375 cals/day and burned through intentional exercise 225 cals/day for a net of 1150 cals/day. (I need to up this by 50, I didn't realise it averaged so low.)

My question is... I've lost 8.5 kgs = 65450 calories in those 61 days, equivalent to 65450/61=1073 calorie deficit per day.

Does this mean my "sedentary" TDEE is 1150+1073? I'm confused.

IN:
food (1375)

-

OUT:
BMR+sedentary TDEE 2223
Exercise 225

=

WEIGHT LOSS:
1073


I am a woman, 5'7, not pregnant, I am not a unique snowflake, and I started at 80 kgs, currently weigh 71.5 kgs, goal weight 64 kgs. A TDEE of 2223 doesn't match anything like what I would expect.

Replies

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,123 Member
    Yes, this seems right if by "sedentary" TDEE you mean all the calories you need to maintain at your normal activity level BEFORE intentional exercise calories.

    Your calories ingested (1375/day) plus your burn of stored calories (i.e., weight loss, in your case, 1073/day) = 2448 cals/day required for maintenance at your activity level during this period, which includes an average of 225 cals/day of intentional exercise. Or if you want a maintenance number that you would add your daily exercise calories to, the way that MFP is set up to do, it would be 1150 net cals/day + 1073 calories burned from body storage each day = 2223. Then of course you subtract 500 calories from that number to get a daily calorie goal, if you wanted to lose a pound a week, for example.

    I recalculate my "before exercise" maintenance number every week, based on data from the preceding eight weeks, and consistently get a higher "before exercise" daily burn number than MFP calculates. I don't think I'm a special snowflake either, but I don't believe that everybody's activity level magically falls at one of the four levels that MFP uses --I think it's a line (or curve) that people can fall anywhere on (i.e., you might be on the heavy side of lightly active, or the light side of moderately active etc.)

    Plus, I doubt that the part of the formula that adjusts for your age is spot on for everybody; people's biological age might be off from their chronological age, and for women I have to think the formula makes an assumption about menopause that is based on the age you plug in, and that assumption might not be accurate for you. (The government age-based micronutrient reference values seem to assume all women are post-menopausal by 50, since iron recommendations decrease at that age.) The alternative to the discrepancy being inaccuracy in the formula is that I have a fairly consistent bias in my logging of calories consumed and/or exercise calories expended in the opposite direction from what seem to be most people's error tendency, which would make me another sort of special snowflake. I'm pretty obsessive about weighing food at home, and because I cook a lot I think I'm pretty good at figuring out amounts and ingredients of foods I eat at restaurants, etc.

    I am a 51 year-old woman, 5'4" and currently weigh about 10 kg more than you, and my "before exercise" maintenance number (what you're calling "sedentary" TDEE I think) was just under 2192 at my last calculation -- very close to your 2223. (I guess my extra weight and half-dozen fewer years don't quite make up for your three extra inches of height.)
  • nelinelineli
    nelinelineli Posts: 330 Member
    The math is right, just keep in mind that 2-3kg (maybe even more) you lost at the beginning are not fat loss, but mostly water, and will "come back" when you eat over maintenance. Thus, your estimation might be over by as much as 3kg*7700cal/61 = 378 cal. So careful with that:) You might want discard the loss from your first 2 weeks or so (where big insignificant drops happen), and recalculate everything for the subsequent 6 weeks instead. It might be more accurate.

    EDIT: Also keep in mind that your TDEE decreases as you lose weight. You've probably already shaved 100 calories off of it already, compared to where you started.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    I agree with Neline and would also add that the 3500 cals = 1 lbs only applies when only FAT is lost. This is because one lb of muscle has significantly less calories than a lb of fat. You can't assume you've only lost fat, you might also have lost some muscle mass, as is common in weight loss. This can throw off your calculations as well. Just keep doing what you're doing, it appears to be working.
  • candiceh3
    candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
    OK thanks everyone. I will remove the first two weeks, and perhaps recalculate it as if 75% fat / 25% LBM was lost.

    You guys were really helpful :)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    What is about 2200 that seems incorrect?
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