TDEE Newbie needs help

Go to this website: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Plug in the information as accurately as possible and set for a 20% deficit (I'm basing that on your ticker and how much you want to lose).

On MFP, set your calorie goal and macro goals to the numbers advised by the website. There are three very important things to follow as you use this method.

1. You must make sure you actually do the amount of exercise you said you were going to do when you set up your numbers.
2. You DO NOT get to log or eat back extra calories for that exercise. You eat the exact same amount of calories every day no matter what. (only exception is if you did exercise above and beyond your normal setting, but even then it would be up to you)
3. You must recalculate your new calorie goal about every five pound loss or so or you will start to stall.

That's great advice, Scooby's calculator is one of the best online. You can stick with a 20% (recommended max) during your weight loss, just keep in mind that as you lose weight your TDEE will change, so you should go back after each 5lb loss to recalculate your new daily intake based on your new weight.

Good luck

Thank you! one more question, do I ever change the 20% as I redo my calculations in the future? Sorry asking so many questions.

No worries, yes I would generally say when you get down to about 50-60lbs to lose drop to 15% drop to 10% at about 30-40 and drop to 5% when you're about 10-15 pounds from goal.

(a little secret, I don't actually do exactly this. When I was 20 pounds from goal, I plugged in my numbers as if I was already at my goal weight of 160lbs and figured out the calorie goal I would have for that weight. I've had my goal at that number for months now. It works well because it automatically slows my weight loss down as I get closer to goal and I shouldn't have any issues transitioning to maintenance, but it makes it a VERY slow process to lose the last bit of weight. I personally think that's a good thing, but others aren't quite as patient. I wouldn't do this with more than 20 pounds to lose, because the deficit might get pretty extreme, but something to think about.)

That's altogether possible. What I would suggest is work at that calorie goal for 3 to 4 weeks and track what happens. All of these systems (scooby, mfp etc) are just estimating, so the only way to know for certain if those numbers are right for you is to try them out and see. If you are losing slower than you would like after using those numbers for a while, shave 100 calories off and see what happens.

How do you *kitten* your activity level? Cause I have a desk job and beside hitting the gym few times a week I don't really move that much. Would it be okay if I still chose 3-5h/wk of moderate exercise?

I actually find scooby to estimate high. IIFYM.com has another TDEE calculator.

The Thing with TDEE is that it is for people who do consistent exercise and if you don't you may find this doesn't work well.

AS well TDEE typically is what MFP gives for calorie goal+ exercise calories if you are consistent.

TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

The most basic explanation of the premise is that, if you burn 2500 calories in a day (your total daily energy expenditure) and you only eat 2300, then you have a deficit of 200 calories.

Since that energy cannot be created from nothing, your body must use energy stores (fat) to make up the difference.

Over time, with consistency, consuming under your TDEE will cause weight loss.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/963088-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy