What is your actual TDEE?

It's one thing to have a calculator tell you, another to see the real results. :happy:

Take the amount of calories you ate in a 28 day period, and add 3500 for each pound you lost during that period (or subtract 3500 for each pound gained) and divide that total by 28.

Here are mine:

Feb 1 - March 1 (29 days, started at 188 lbs)
77630 eaten
2 lbs lost (+7000 = 84630)
TDEE = 2918 (84630 / 29)

Sep 1 - Sep 29 (29 days, started at 178 lbs)
76626 calories eaten
1.8 lbs lost (+6300 = 82926)
TDEE = 2859 (82926 / 29)

What's your TDEE?

what happens if you use this method but instead of the amount of calories you ate, you use the NET calories you ate...is that TDEE accurate as a net goal or not?

That would throw it completely off. This method is a simple calculation of calories in calories out. If you averaged 2000 cals per day eaten, and maintained your weight for a month, then your actual TDEE is 2000. It doesn't matter if you exercised or not, so net calories doesn't matter.
Adding or subtracting the 3500 per pound gained or lost is simply bringing you to maintenance for the purpose of calculating your average intake.

It is not nearly as complicated as some people are trying to make it out to be.

Many of us have quite different actual TDEEs than the Scooby, or MFP calculators say we should have. My actual TDEE is only around 1600, whereas the online calculators try to put it well over 2000.

Thank you SO much for posting this liftallthepizzas!!! I just went back 60 days and did an average for each 30-day period and figured out my TDEE.
11/09-12/08= 2156
10/09-11/08=2192
Which pretty much makes perfect sense to me seeing how I lost weight during that time which I would think would bring my TDEE down a bit in the process. So now I know, as long as my average is about 1600 cals/day I should keep losing roughly 1lb/week for now! I've been using MFP's way of counting and then eating back my exercise, mainly just because I like the whole "earning your exercise cals" but I think I might finally make the switch to just setting it at 1600 and doing like 1 calorie for logging my exercise(just so I can tell how many days I worked out when I look back). THANKS!

Thank you SO much for posting this liftallthepizzas!!! I just went back 60 days and did an average for each 30-day period and figured out my TDEE.
11/09-12/08= 2156
10/09-11/08=2192
Which pretty much makes perfect sense to me seeing how I lost weight during that time which I would think would bring my TDEE down a bit in the process. So now I know, as long as my average is about 1600 cals/day I should keep losing roughly 1lb/week for now! I've been using MFP's way of counting and then eating back my exercise, mainly just because I like the whole "earning your exercise cals" but I think I might finally make the switch to just setting it at 1600 and doing like 1 calorie for logging my exercise(just so I can tell how many days I worked out when I look back). THANKS!

If you go to that method, with only 20 lbs to go, that makes the deficit almost 30% - rather a lot for so little left to lose.

Be better at 20-15% deficit off TDEE.

If you keep doing the MFP method, sounds like already at the 1 lb weekly loss goal, at 10 lbs left, best for change to 1/2 lb loss weekly.

Less to lose, slower you should try to go, or just setting your self up for a fight against your body and benefiting from exercise done.

Did I somehow do the math wrong(very possible)?
2100/10=210 210*8=1680 Wouldn't 1680 be 20%?

I wanted to stick to losing 1 pound a week until I get down to 130(I'm 140 right now) and then just do half a pound a week for the last 10.

Thank you SO much for posting this liftallthepizzas!!! I just went back 60 days and did an average for each 30-day period and figured out my TDEE.
11/09-12/08= 2156
10/09-11/08=2192
Which pretty much makes perfect sense to me seeing how I lost weight during that time which I would think would bring my TDEE down a bit in the process. So now I know, as long as my average is about 1600 cals/day I should keep losing roughly 1lb/week for now! I've been using MFP's way of counting and then eating back my exercise, mainly just because I like the whole "earning your exercise cals" but I think I might finally make the switch to just setting it at 1600 and doing like 1 calorie for logging my exercise(just so I can tell how many days I worked out when I look back). THANKS!

If you go to that method, with only 20 lbs to go, that makes the deficit almost 30% - rather a lot for so little left to lose.

Be better at 20-15% deficit off TDEE.

If you keep doing the MFP method, sounds like already at the 1 lb weekly loss goal, at 10 lbs left, best for change to 1/2 lb loss weekly.

Less to lose, slower you should try to go, or just setting your self up for a fight against your body and benefiting from exercise done.

Did I somehow do the math wrong(very possible)?
2100/10=210 210*8=1680 Wouldn't 1680 be 20%?

I wanted to stick to losing 1 pound a week until I get down to 130(I'm 140 right now) and then just do half a pound a week for the last 10.

I used what you gave rounded - 1600 / 2200 = 73% of TDEE eaten, meaning deficit is 27%.

Yes, rounding down to 2100 and up to 1680 makes 20%.

Easier way - TDEE x 0.8 = eaten (that's 20%, or 0.2 off 100%, or 1)

Bump for future ref. thanks

bump