BMR and TDEE Explained for Those Needing a Guide

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Replies

  • LaLa482
    LaLa482 Posts: 82 Member
    Lightbulb moment! Energy saving lightbulb perhaps, as it's been gradually coming clear over the past few weeks.

    I lost a good chunk of weight 2 years ago with MFP, but it felt restrictive and was basically a diet. I came away with not much idea of what I really needed calorie-wise.

    Now I think I get it, and hope that eating a steady 1800kcal will shift a few stubborn lbs and get me on track for good.

    Thanks so much for your well-written post. The body fat calculator has helped me see sense.

    BUMP! Just had my light bulb moment!
  • RonKay
    RonKay Posts: 85 Member
    bump
  • nacj96
    nacj96 Posts: 1 Member
    Great post. I've never heard of TDEE until today. I read on another thread though that these online calculators aren't very accurate??? That you should calculate it yourself. My bathroom scale says my body fat % is 38% and that Fat2fit.com one says it's 31.3% I don't know how to determine which one is more accurate. That seems like a pretty big discrepancy. Based on the 31.3% calculation with light activity I should be eating 1463 calories a day which is roughly close to what I would be eating if I ate my exercise calories back.... i think.
  • 1butchieboy
    1butchieboy Posts: 1 Member
    Bump to read later
  • bump
  • Bump
  • kailexx
    kailexx Posts: 197
    bumpity
  • jennipooh0324
    jennipooh0324 Posts: 85 Member
    What a GREAT read, and explanation!
    Perhaps I haven't been eating enough, and that's why I felt hungry quite often.

    MFP had me eating 1410 a day (and I rarely ate my activity calories back) but now I have realized that I wasn't even eating enough to cover my BMR.

    Correct me if I am wrong, but my BMR that I calculate on Fat2Fit website is 1815 calories.
    I workout at least 3 times a week, and hopefully more like 5. I also run a home daycare, so am on my feet, up and the stairs quite a bit.
    So when i look at the MODERATE ACTIVITY it says I should eat 2361 calories.

    My current weight is 232 lbs and my GOAL weight is 165lbs. So i take 20% away from the 2361 calories giving me a DAILY CALORIC INTAKE of 1889.

    I eat this amount of calories regardless of whether I worked out that day or not ( as that number reflects the 3-5 times I said I was going to workout).
    My workouts are around 30-60 mins each time (including strength and cardio) so does that still fit in the moderate activity, or should i go based on light activity??

    I think I am going to give this a try and see if it helps with the weight loss.
  • redlipsticklyfe
    redlipsticklyfe Posts: 164 Member
    bump
  • altarimage
    altarimage Posts: 95 Member
    bump
  • Dayala06
    Dayala06 Posts: 22 Member
    I'm 28, 5'9, 231 lbs. I set my goal weight as 185lbs. Now what I'm trying to figure out is if I did it all correctly it said my BMR is 2191. I exercise minimum of 3 days a week and max of 5, so I chose the lightly active factor which was 1.375. So 2191 x 1.375 = 3012. So by what I'm reading if I want to lose weight, from the 3012 I do 3012 x 20% = 2410. So 2410 is my daily calorie intake? Did I do this right? Anyone please!
  • Great explanation !:smile:
  • laura6009
    laura6009 Posts: 24 Member
    Thank you xxx
  • FoogooFish
    FoogooFish Posts: 54 Member
    What a wonderful post! Thank you. =)
  • linka411
    linka411 Posts: 101 Member
    This is great! Thank you so much! I just joined and have been doing the 1200 calorie thing for 2 weeks-and have wound up going to bed starving every night because of it XD. Now with this I feel a lot better about eating to stay full through the day :). I do have a few questions though about the calculations you measured.

    I don't move a lot, but i do plan to hit the gym more when my fitbit comes in hopefully next week. So let's say I do light exercise. If I did this correctly, with putting in the goal weight, my BMR should be 1870. At my current weight, so TDEE, it should be 1906.
    Since I only have 6 pounds left to lose, I take 10% from 1906...and get 1715. It's lower than the TDEE and the BMR. Based on your explanation it should be somewhere in between, correct? What am I doing wrong?

    Also, let's say that this is now fixed and I have the right calories to eat. How much protein, sugar, fat and carbs should I be consuming? I find that MFP calculates the numbers for you, but my problem is that I always go over (and I'm really trying to eat more veggies and good foods and dodge the pasta) on those stats even when I hit my caloric intake. If I don't go over on those, I don't eat enough calories. Where/how can I calculate the right amounts for these numbers?

    P.S. Please forgive me if these questions are dumb or sound like I don't know what I'm talking about. This is why I'm seeking help.
  • PunkyDucky
    PunkyDucky Posts: 283 Member
    bump
  • JG762
    JG762 Posts: 571 Member
    Tag for review
  • saving. thanks for the post :)
  • bittyers
    bittyers Posts: 39 Member
    Bump to save
  • blue_eyes_
    blue_eyes_ Posts: 18 Member
    bumping...no time to read at the moment.
  • willow_rb
    willow_rb Posts: 69 Member
    Bump for ref
  • GardenGirlie
    GardenGirlie Posts: 241 Member
    Bump to read later.
  • buzz3d269
    buzz3d269 Posts: 87 Member
    I have just read this... AND thanks! Makes much more sense now :)
  • don3_16
    don3_16 Posts: 39 Member
    BUMP
  • hanna1210
    hanna1210 Posts: 286 Member
    Bump. Coming back to get this right.
  • Kariann986
    Kariann986 Posts: 9 Member
    Bump! This FINALLY makes sense. I am going to readjust my numbers now! Thank you so much!
  • tatecass
    tatecass Posts: 38 Member
    Bump for later! Hopefully this will help me finally get it! Thanks to the op and everyone else who contributed!
  • eyley
    eyley Posts: 95 Member
    Bump -

    Just read this and it's really really useful! - I kind of get it all a little bit more now!

    Awesome.
  • ejdp254
    ejdp254 Posts: 342 Member
    Bump for when I have more time!
  • Lazygal53
    Lazygal53 Posts: 294 Member
    Bump ...