MFP vs TDEE

hnyzthms
hnyzthms Posts: 393 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi

I will firstly apologise as I know there have been many posts regarding this subject, however there are a lot if lists to go through so thought I'll just ask what I need to.

My question is for people who have done it both ways what worked better for regular weight loss. Also when working out your TDEE I was going to allow for exercise 3 times a week as this is what I do sometime 4. Does it just calculate that you will workout for 60mins x3 times a week?

I know you don't eat back exercise calories for TDEE so does it average the calories burned for 3x aweek over the week?

The reason I'm asking is I am thinking of switching to TDEE?

Also which is the most reliable site to calculate to your TDEE

Replies

  • tigersgrowl1093
    tigersgrowl1093 Posts: 45 Member
    Obviously not an expert on this, as I was asking my own questions on this.

    As I understand it, you are correct. If you input 3 hours/week into the TDEE calculator, it will average that deficit out and add some calories to your week by evenly distributing them to each day. You would NOT eat back exercise calories, because TDEE method already accounts for them.

    I have seen people suggest using different TDEE sites and averaging the results to find your number. I don't think the differences in calories suggested by any of the different calculators is that significant though.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Hi

    I will firstly apologise as I know there have been many posts regarding this subject, however there are a lot if lists to go through so thought I'll just ask what I need to.

    My question is for people who have done it both ways what worked better for regular weight loss. Also when working out your TDEE I was going to allow for exercise 3 times a week as this is what I do sometime 4. Does it just calculate that you will workout for 60mins x3 times a week?

    I know you don't eat back exercise calories for TDEE so does it average the calories burned for 3x aweek over the week?

    The reason I'm asking is I am thinking of switching to TDEE?

    Also which is the most reliable site to calculate to your TDEE

    I used MFP Neat method for the first 4months...it worked.
    I have used TDEE-20% for since Sept...it works

    My TDEE-20%=MFP calorie goal +exercise calories...so they are basically the same but TDEE is for consistent hard to guesstimate exercise calorie burn..ie weight lifting.

    The most reliable way of calculating TDEE is to use your own data from MFP.

    Choose a time period, 2-3 weeks is a good span...I personally used 3 weeks.

    Then do this calculation

    Total calories consumed + (lbs lost x 3500)/#days=TDEE, then to get your deficet subtract a percentage..20% for faster weight loss, 10% for moderate weight loss, 5% for slow weight loss.

    That is your TDEE...no guesstimates.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    I've done both. Both worked. If you choose the correct goals for both you will find you pretty much end up in the same place.

    I like MFP because I'm usually very active. If I have a bad week where I didn't get a couple of workouts in, I haven't eaten the extra calories and not worked out (since TDEE averages it over every day).
  • lamps1303
    lamps1303 Posts: 432 Member
    I find TDEE the easiest method, mainly because I don't do the conventional 30mins jog on the treadmill; I do weight lifting 3 times a week and exercise classes twice a week.

    To calculate my BMR and TDEE I used http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ - It is recommended by a lot of people on here and is really simple to use. I just input TDEE -20% into MFP and just log what I eat. I used to use the MFP method but I have a hard time trusting the calories it says I burn as it doesn't take into account effort or rest periods.

    This is just a personal choice as I not only look at daily calorie goals, but my weekly allowance too.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Hi

    I will firstly apologise as I know there have been many posts regarding this subject, however there are a lot if lists to go through so thought I'll just ask what I need to.

    My question is for people who have done it both ways what worked better for regular weight loss. Also when working out your TDEE I was going to allow for exercise 3 times a week as this is what I do sometime 4. Does it just calculate that you will workout for 60mins x3 times a week?

    I know you don't eat back exercise calories for TDEE so does it average the calories burned for 3x aweek over the week?

    The reason I'm asking is I am thinking of switching to TDEE?

    Also which is the most reliable site to calculate to your TDEE

    I used MFP Neat method for the first 4months...it worked.
    I have used TDEE-20% for since Sept...it works

    My TDEE-20%=MFP calorie goal +exercise calories...so they are basically the same but TDEE is for consistent hard to guesstimate exercise calorie burn..ie weight lifting.

    The most reliable way of calculating TDEE is to use your own data from MFP.

    Choose a time period, 2-3 weeks is a good span...I personally used 3 weeks.

    Then do this calculation

    Total calories consumed + (lbs lost x 3500)/#days=TDEE, then to get your deficet subtract a percentage..20% for faster weight loss, 10% for moderate weight loss, 5% for slow weight loss.

    That is your TDEE...no guesstimates.

    This is an excellent explanation.

    I do it the MFP way, but I custom set my calories myself. I would use TDEE because I do a lot of strength training now, but my workout schedule is inconsistent. I can be very active one week and not very active the next week (because of life happenings).

    I figured out my TDEE with the settings at sedentary, and I calculated my BMR. I picked a number between those two, so I would still be able to lose weight if I didn't exercise. Then, I eat my exercise calories if I do cardio.

Categories