This has been asked plenty of times, but still confused...

I'm sorry if I'm asking a very repetitive question. I'm still confused on tdee and eating back exercise calories. Mainly: What tends to be more accurate: Including your activity level when you calculate your TDEE and not eating exercise calories, or calculating it set at "sedentary" and eating back exercise calories?

I've just increased my calories to 1,350 from 1,200 because I realised I'm always hungry eating at 1,200 when I work out 4-5 days a week for 60 minutes at moderate intensity. I have the habit of not eating back calories even if I eat 1,200 so that goes below my bmr which isn't healthy.

Thanks!

I think I posted this in your other thread, but really this is your best resource! Read it all the way through. If you're working out 4-5 days per week, you should set your activity level at moderate and calculate TDEE with that setting. The method of eating back calories isn't exactly the TDEE method, it's more of the MFP method. Does that make sense?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

I am at maintenance right now and I find that TDEE works better for me rather than NEAT. When I tried to maintain on NEAT, i kept losing, but TDEE has gotten the number closer for me. When I was losing I did NEAT and was ok, but I didn't mind if I lost an extra lb. here and there.

Do you mind me asking what NEAT is? I'm quite new to weight loss terminology.

So am I right to say that if I calculate tdee based on activity level, I shouldn't eat back any exercise calories?

Yeah.

What I don't understand about TDEE is logging exercise as 1 calorie, regardless of effort. I have MFP friends who do this. It's one calorie to walk around the block and one calorie to run a mile and one calorie to do 60 minutes of cardio. This makes no logical sense to me. And if exercise is always one calorie, why log exercise at all? (which is what I do) Mostly it's about balance and finding yours. Eat a little more on exercise days and not so much on off days works best for me. Get in 100 grams of protein each day, I can't stress that enough.

What I don't understand about TDEE is logging exercise as 1 calorie, regardless of effort. I have MFP friends who do this. It's one calorie to walk around the block and one calorie to run a mile and one calorie to do 60 minutes of cardio. This makes no logical sense to me.

It's because TDEE already includes your exercise, but people still want to track their workouts. But it wouldn't make sense for them to "earn" the calories for that activity, since it's already been accounted for, so they just put 1 calorie. That way, they can keep track of all the workouts they are doing and share them with their friends without having MFP give them hundreds of extra calories.

What I don't understand about TDEE is logging exercise as 1 calorie, regardless of effort. I have MFP friends who do this. It's one calorie to walk around the block and one calorie to run a mile and one calorie to do 60 minutes of cardio. This makes no logical sense to me.

It's because the calories from exercise are accounted for elsewhere but they still want to track exercise. I do this because my exercise calories come automatically from my bodymedia armband. I track what I consider to be exercise on mfp, but the actual calories come from the armband. With the TDEE method, people have already accounted for their exercise calories when determining their calorie allowance. So logging exercise with 1 calorie allows them to track exercise that happened without inflating their calorie allowance (which they don't want because they already factored in those calories when calculating their TDEE).

But these people have UPPED their calories based on TDEE and then eat them whether or not they have exercised much or at all. It's as if it's all pretend. They are also not losing weight. This method may work when maintaining, but I can't see much logic when losing.

If you don't exercise as much as you've accounted for in your activity level, you won't lose as much weight (or possibly any at all, depending on the circumstances and the number of calories, etc). But I think it's false to say that this method doesn't work or that it's only for maintaining. The people over in the Eat More to Weigh Less and In Place of a Road Map might disagree with you.

I am doing TDEE-15% and it's working nicely so far. I've done it in the past without realizing that it's what I was doing and I had lots of success. Just didn't have success keeping it off, which is an entirely different issue. :grumble:

Then why not account for the actual amount of exercise? Why not be real and accountable for your activity each day? There is no way every day is the same. Each day is different and the effort is different. And no, you can't eat more and weigh less. If that was the problem, I would be 90 pounds or less. Ha-ha! I have never been a big eater, just ate a little more than my body could process and over time, I gained 40 unwanted pounds. It took me thirty years to put on 40 pounds from doing the eat more to weigh less program. Ha-ha!:laugh:

tdee is based on a weekly average parsed out on a daily basis. for instance when i do TDEE method i set my activity level as 3-5 days of exercise a week because no matter what i will always do at least 3 days. some weeks i get to 6 days and i may or may not eat part of the calories from that 6th workout.

TDEE method and NEAT + exercise method pretty much ends up averaging out to be the same amount of calories on a daily basis. it's basically saying 6 vs half a dozen

But these people have UPPED their calories based on TDEE and then eat them whether or not they have exercised much or at all. It's as if it's all pretend. They are also not losing weight. This method may work when maintaining, but I can't see much logic when losing.

You should probably do a bit of research before making such statements... I've done TDEE-20% for months. I think it's working, well, at least my clothes and my scale say so.

TDEE works as long as you maintain your exercise regimen. It's an average. On days I exercise more, my deficit will be bigger. On rest days, it will be much smaller. It's fine. It's an average. Obviously you can't put yourself as moderately active with that formula and then not workout for 5 days... but I'm living proof that it works, and I don't have to carry my heart rate monitor everywhere anymore. Win/win.

Personally, I gave up getting my head around the calculations, and just figured out what calorie goal is best for me by trial and error. I'm wanting a cal goal that a) Makes me feel hunger but doesn't leave me famished all the time and b) Has me losing about 2 Ibs a week. 1200-1400 works about right for me, with at least 3 x exercise a week. I try not to eat back my exercise cals but eat at least some if I'm genuinely hungry. And on a day when I'm eating out or having a few drinks I'll try to exercise a bit more to compensate. I think it's important to not get too hung up on magic numbers and calculations and listen to your body - it's something most of us who are overweight haven;t been doing for such a long time.

Dieting is confusing. You can wear yourself out with numbers, and nobody is correct. If I gave my food intake and exercise input to ten people who consider themselves proficient at those things, I could probably get back 30 answers.
I've tried using only MFP's numbers. I've tried using Calorie Count numbers. I've tried using NI numbers. (Yes even NI lies) Who really believes that 100 sprays of Parkay is zero calories?
Ive used Runkeeper for calories burned, Used MFP's (time only calculations) for calories burned, bought a Fitbit and used it by itself - and in conjunction with the others.
The best you can do is calculate as honestly as you can.
Track and weigh every day, and find a combination of input and output that lets you lose about 1 1/2 lbs. a week.
For me that means I have to burn 800 calories more than I eat daily.
Ha - I just did the math, and if 3500 calories equals a lb. I should mathematically be losing 1.6 lbs. a week. I'm average.

Dieting is confusing. You can wear yourself out with numbers, and nobody is correct. If I gave my food intake and exercise input to ten people who consider themselves proficient at those things, I could probably get back 30 answers.

LOL! So true!

I set my activity level to sedentary because I don't want MFP guessing how much exercise or activity I do in one day. IMO that's just lazy accounting.

Secondly, I don't eat back any exercise calories whether it's 30 minutes or 4 hours (I have in the past with bad results).

I use the goal recommended by MFP as a start or guideline then adjust up or down until I find a level where binges and pangs don't exist while losing weight consistently week after week. Speaking from personal experience only.