Is my deficit too low or too high? What's the deal?

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armydreamers
armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My TDEE is 1922. I set my cals at 1538 (20% deficit). I exercise about 30 minutes a day, but I sometimes skip a day or two. I'm not a big exercise person. I'd say I'm lightly active. I'm about 153 right now & 5'7". I'd like to weigh 135-140.

I don't know if I'm just eating the wrong foods but I have a hard time staying below my goal! I usually end up at around 1700. I have gained and lost the same 1-2 pounds for a month so it's not working.

Any advice?

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  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    My TDEE is 1922. I set my cals at 1538 (20% deficit). I exercise about 30 minutes a day, but I sometimes skip a day or two. I'm not a big exercise person. I'd say I'm lightly active. I'm about 153 right now & 5'7". I'd like to weigh 135-140.

    I don't know if I'm just eating the wrong foods but I have a hard time staying below my goal! I usually end up at around 1700. I have gained and lost the same 1-2 pounds for a month so it's not working.

    Any advice?

    Your numbers seem reasonable to me. As far as "gaining and losing 1-2 pounds over a month so its not working" is concerned honestly one month is not nearly long enough to be able to tell if it is working or not. Your body can fluctuate in weight by 5 pounds easily based on water retention alone and until your fat loss out paces that fluctuation you won't be able to tell. It'll take several months before a clear trend of weight loss establishes. It is quite possible that you are losing fat but you are also retaining more water (common with exercise) in a way that makes your scale weight not change.

    In terms of finding it difficult to hit your calorie goal I don't know how your macros break down but in my experience eating more of your caloric percent from protein helps with satiation. Bumping your protein intake up to 35 or 40% of your caloric intake will do wonders for feeling full.

    Now just to be clear when you say your TDEE is 1922 you ARE including your exercise burn in that right?
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
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    I don't think the 1922 accounts for any exercise. I picked "lightly active" in the calculator. But I could be wrong. I'm new to the whole TDEE thing. The calculator I used actually told me to eat 1922 to reach my goal but someone told me I still need to subtract 20%. So I'm a little confused about it.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I don't think the 1922 accounts for any exercise. I picked "lightly active" in the calculator. But I could be wrong. I'm new to the whole TDEE thing. The calculator I used actually told me to eat 1922 to reach my goal but someone told me I still need to subtract 20%. So I'm a little confused about it.

    If 1922 is the amount of calories you burn to be at maintenance with no exercise then it is your NEAT not your TDEE. Let me go over some term definitions first then.

    BMR: Basal metabolic rate. The amount of calories your body would burn if you were in a coma (in bed all day)

    NEAT: Non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Your BMR plus the amount of calories you burn from your normal daily activity. This would be the 1922 you got.

    TDEE: Total daily energy expenditure. This is the total amount of calories you burn in a day including exercise. If you ate this number of calories you would be at maintenance, neither gaining nor losing weight.

    If your NEAT is 1922 and you exercise you would add what you burned from exercise to your NEAT to get your TDEE.

    So, if your NEAT is 1922 and you burn say 300 calories doing an hour of cardio then your TDEE would be 2200 and -20% off that would put you at 1950 calories for the day that you should be eating.


    What you want to do is use a calculator to calculate your BMR and then set an activity level for what you typically do during your day (sedentary, lightly active etc) to get your NEAT. Then think about how many calories you burn in a week from exercise, divide that number by 7 (7 days in a week) and add that to your NEAT to get your TDEE.

    If you eat less than your TDEE then you will lose weight. -20% is the most aggressive that people suggest is healthy to do.
  • rm33064
    rm33064 Posts: 270 Member
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    Tape don't lie. Take measurements...
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
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    All I know is I plugged in my current weight, my goal weight, my height, age, etc. Selected "lightly active" (again I'm not a big exerciser, I just run after a toddler all day and other mom tasks) and it told me to eat 1922 to get to that goal.

    Maybe I need a different calculator. Can you recommend one?
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    All I know is I plugged in my current weight, my goal weight, my height, age, etc. Selected "lightly active" (again I'm not a big exerciser, I just run after a toddler all day and other mom tasks) and it told me to eat 1922 to get to that goal.

    Maybe I need a different calculator. Can you recommend one?

    Thats MFP's calclator you mean? That would mean that according to MFP if you eat 1922 calories per day without exercise you would lose weight at whatever rate you told it you wanted to lose at (which I'm assuming was like 1 pound per day?). 1922 is NOT your TDEE or your NEAT in that case, it is MFPs estimate of what you should eat to lose the amount of weight per day you asked to lose. If you exercise on a given day you would eat those calories back in addition to the 1922. So if you burned 300 calories during cardio you would eat 2222 that day.

    If you want a second opinion you can try these calculators to get your actual TDEE:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
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    No, I used this calculator: http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/

    Custom BMR Calculation

    Entered information: 34 year old female, 67 inches tall, weighing 153 pounds.

    From the information that you entered, you'd like to weigh 135 lbs.

    Harris-Benedict Formula

    There are a few different methods to calculating yourbasal metabolic rate (BMR). One of the most popular, developed in the early 1900's is called the Harris-Benedict formula. Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1477 calories.

    How Many Calories Should I Eat?

    Based on your goal weight, the following chart was generated. The chart shows the number of calories that you should eat on a daily basis to reach your goal weight. At Fat 2 Fit Tools we advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels you see in the chart are not extreme, but they do create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You'll never be on a diet again.

    Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.
    Activity Level Daily Calories
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1678
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1922
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2167
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2412
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2656

    NOTE: Please remember that this calculation is just a guideline. Your metabolism may be higher or lower based on the amount of lean muscle you have. Use these numbers a a starting point and tweak them up or down based on your weight loss or gain. It may take a couple weeks to get your exact calorie level.



    Thanks for your help. :-)
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    No, I used this calculator: http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/

    Thanks for your help. :-)

    Honestly I think a good place to start would be to just try a bunch of calculators and calculate your NEAT. That would be your BMR plus your activity without exercise. That would be the amount of calories you would maintain at if you did not exercise. I'd then select an amount of calories to eat per day that is above your BMR but below your NEAT. If you exercise just estimate how many calories you burned that day and eat that much more or at least 50% of that amount. Give that a try for a few months and gauge your progress both with a scale and with a tape measure.

    Good luck :-)
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    Based on the calculations you've given and that you say you are eating approx 1700 calories per day, then you should be losing. How accurately are you measuring, weighing and logging your food?

    Here are some helpful links to get you going:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    If you aren't already using one, get and use a food scale. Weigh all solids. Measuring cups/spoons are not accurate:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    Neither is guessing:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1270280-food-weighing-scale-miracles

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
  • lyoill
    lyoill Posts: 59
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    bump
  • malloryh2o
    malloryh2o Posts: 7 Member
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    wow! I had the exact same problem last month, and I'm the same height and weight as you are! Only it told me I need to be eating 1,300, rather than 1,500 some. I found in the last couple of weeks that I've been eating WAY too much sodium, even though I'm under the calorie limit. I was retaining water. I also ate too much fat (while staying under), so I wasn't burning enough. Try looking at WHAT you're eating along with the calories. best of luck! (p.s. - starting the day off with oatmeal, and making smoothies helps)
  • HLindsayA
    HLindsayA Posts: 46
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    Following this, to look at when I have more time!
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    People around here seem to be getting so caught up in all the different calculators. It's all unnecessary confusion. Pick any reasonable number, any at all. Say 1700 calories. Eat that for 2 weeks. If you do not lose weight, reduce that number by 10% and try another 2 weeks. If you gain weight reduce that number by 20% and try another 2 weeks. If you lose weight, keep the number. Calculators will always just be estimates. If you are consistent with your calorie consumption then trial and error will eventually have you eating what you need to eat. The other benefit to this method is that you can continue to use it as you go. Generally as you lose weight you require less calories to maintain and must eat less in order to achieve a deficit. So any time you stall for 2-3 weeks you can again simply reduce by 10%. As you get leaner, I would wait 3 weeks rather then 2 before reducing calories.
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
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    People around here seem to be getting so caught up in all the different calculators. It's all unnecessary confusion. Pick any reasonable number, any at all. Say 1700 calories. Eat that for 2 weeks. If you do not lose weight, reduce that number by 10% and try another 2 weeks. If you gain weight reduce that number by 20% and try another 2 weeks. If you lose weight, keep the number. Calculators will always just be estimates. If you are consistent with your calorie consumption then trial and error will eventually have you eating what you need to eat. The other benefit to this method is that you can continue to use it as you go. Generally as you lose weight you require less calories to maintain and must eat less in order to achieve a deficit. So any time you stall for 2-3 weeks you can again simply reduce by 10%. As you get leaner, I would wait 3 weeks rather then 2 before reducing calories.

    I will try that. :-)
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    People around here seem to be getting so caught up in all the different calculators. It's all unnecessary confusion. Pick any reasonable number, any at all. Say 1700 calories. Eat that for 2 weeks. If you do not lose weight, reduce that number by 10% and try another 2 weeks. If you gain weight reduce that number by 20% and try another 2 weeks. If you lose weight, keep the number. Calculators will always just be estimates. If you are consistent with your calorie consumption then trial and error will eventually have you eating what you need to eat. The other benefit to this method is that you can continue to use it as you go. Generally as you lose weight you require less calories to maintain and must eat less in order to achieve a deficit. So any time you stall for 2-3 weeks you can again simply reduce by 10%. As you get leaner, I would wait 3 weeks rather then 2 before reducing calories.

    Yeah I agree with this. I don't recommend calculators because I think they are 100% accurate, they are for sure estimates based on assumptions that might not be true. But it gives you a number to start with. After that yeah, you have to experiment....be consistent in your diet for a while and see where you end up then adjust accordingly. Consistency is key though, if you change things up week to week it will be really hard to know what is working for you and what isn't.
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
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    The first time I did MFP, I was eating 1200 calories a day (virtually no exercise) and boy did I lose weight quick. At least a pound a week. Unfortunately that is not sustainable to me. I like food too much I guess. Wish I didn't!

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