Accurate TDEE/RMR estimation?

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Lorjon1
Lorjon1 Posts: 6
in Getting Started
Hi, everyone! So for many calorie-need estimations, they ask for activity level and that contributes to your total daily energy expenditure. However, say I am sedentary for most of the day but then work out intensely daily for an hour? What activity level is that? How does one distinguish between someone who moves around all day AND works out on top of it. Im confused because my RMR (I got this tested--though who knows how accurate those tests are?) is 1530 and a website based on my activity level says I should eat 2700 calories based on my activity level. However, if Im sedentary, it says I burn 1990 calories. There is no way by working out for 1 hour every day I am burning 700+ calories. Should I just add my exercise calories onto 1990 and not use the 2600-2700 estimation?

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  • joelschneider45066
    joelschneider45066 Posts: 76 Member
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    So I did much the same ... I work at a desk all day, so I consider myself "Sedentary", however I also work out for at least 40 minutes with an average HR of about 150 for that time. Therefore my daily goal is 1860 and I add to that my calories burned during the 40 minutes and that then represents the total number of calories I can take in via food each day to lose 2 lbs per week.

    So basically if I don't workout at all on a given day, I don't take in any more than 1860 calories to achieve my 2 lbs a week goal, however if I do workout, I use those calories burned to allow me to eat more than 1860 calories per day.
  • Angel65kg
    Angel65kg Posts: 1
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    I am confused too... regarding setting up correctly.

    I am also sedentary most of the day, but do 60-90min of weightlifting every day + roughly 1-1½ hour of cardio a few days during the week or as a "rest day" from the weights (do not know heartrate, but I work hard every time, pushing my limits and lifting as heavy as I can all the way).

    So my question is also in this genre of: do I include the above fitness level in the choice of activity level and only log daily fitness if it exceeds the included estimate or do I include my daily workout in the chosen activity level AND still log my workouts every day?

    I prefer logging my daily workouts manually in any case... so should I then choose a low activity level as "base"?. My concern is that I do not wish to risk logging double on the burned calories and in so doing actually risking gaining weight, rather than loosing it :)

    Hope someone can clear this up. I have sent the question to the Myfitnesspall staff... but you never know the response time... *S*

    wishing everyone a great summer..

    Greetings from Denmark
    Angelina
  • awesomek001
    awesomek001 Posts: 167 Member
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    Here's how I understand it. You set your activity level based on the level of activity for the bulk of your day. If you have a job where you sit for most of the day, then you're sedentary. If the bulk of your waking hours includes walking around, lifting or doing something physically active, then you're active.

    If you have bursts of activity during the day such as a workout, you would log that as exercise. It is up to you if you wish to "eat back" those exercise calories.

    You can go to a number of different websites to get different TDEE calcualations (as it sounds like you might have already done). Go to a few of them, put in your activity the same for all of them and then pick the mid point.
    The confusion will come in when it's time to tweak (and there will be a time to tweak). You may find that you're not loosing weight at the TDEE set or that you're loosing too much or that you don't have any energy or . . . well, you get the picture. That's when you start reviewing what worked for you and how you felt. you get to move that number around.

    It's all subjective anyhow, unless you are able to spend time in a chamber that measures your exact expenditure and you measure every single morsel of food you eat.

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