TDEE - that can't be right?

ChronicOptimist
ChronicOptimist Posts: 558 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So sorry to clog up the message boards with yet another post about TDEE, but I could really use some personalized advice on the subject. First, here's the pertinent information:

SW: 320
CW: 255
GW: 160
ht: 5'7"
age: 28
gender: female
likes: long walks on the beach, high fives, guacamole

Not all of that may have been necessary, I just wanted to cover all my bases.

I'm interested in giving TDEE because I don't like the idea of equating gym time with more food, OR using the gym as self-flagellation when I indulge in a treat. I go to the gym to gain strength and stamina, not to eat a piece of pizza. I've really had trouble eating back any of my exercise calories, and as I lose more weight, I'm starting to slow down a little.

My current calorie goal is 1460. Most weeks I'm at the gym about five days, four of which involve lifting with a friend of mine who's pretty intense, in addition to 30-60 minutes of cardio.

I entered this information into the MFP recommended TDEE calculator at http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and it told me my TDEE was 3004. Is that seriously right?!? Does that mean I could eat 2000 calories every day and still lose two pounds a week? Because honestly, I'm on my 1460 with my current work out regimen, I'm not hitting two pounds every week! That just seems like WAY too much! Should I eat less than 2000 on TDEE? So much confusion!

Again, my apologies for yet another TDEE post. Thank you so much for helping to straighten me out!

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    TDEE and the MFP method are pretty much 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. The only difference is where you account for your exercise.

    You're going to have to play with your TDEE settings a bit...the descriptors, just like with MFP are pretty generic and you have to no only factor in how many days, but your intensity, etc.

    The best thing you can do to figure this out is to track your real world results. You may not lose a Lb per week or 2 Lbs per week every week...because weight loss isn't linear...but if you are losing at a certain rate as a general trend over many weeks then you know that you are in a 1000 calorie deficit or a 500 calorie deficit or 200 calorie deficit, etc.

    Ultimately any of these calculators are simply meant to give you a good starting point...but nobody has a TDEE of exactly XXXX calories...and really, everyone has a range when it comes down to it. Anyway...you have to make adjustments as per real world results...

    I would also add that overestimating consumption is common, even with professionals...so it is quite likely that you are in fact eating more than you think you are currently. All of these factors play a roll here...which is why ultimately it is more important to track the trends and make those adjustments as necessary rather than just relying on some calculator..like I said, they're just good starting points.

    Personally, I think your TDEE is inflated. I'm a male @ 5'10" @ 183 and my TDEE is around 2,800 - 3,000 calories per day
  • ThePhoenixIsRising
    ThePhoenixIsRising Posts: 781 Member
    I'm 5'10" 150#'s and lift 1 hr 4x weekly no cardio and my tdee is ~2500-2600.
  • 424a57
    424a57 Posts: 140 Member
    I agree that real-world results are the best gauge of how much you should eat. I have been doing this for over a year and can tell you empirically that at 5' 8" and 167 lbs, my TDEE is around 2300-2500. My exercise consists only of walking 3-5 miles per day.
  • socalkay
    socalkay Posts: 746 Member
    I'm not sure what you used on Scooby's calculator. I tried your current weight, height and age. You didn't say what level of activity each day (not including any work outs/exercise... add those separately in MFP). I tried the calculator set for "Desk job. little exercise" and 4 meals a day and lose 20%. Using those settings, I get your TDEE as 2330 and suggested daily caloric goal as 1864. I suspect you'll get similar if you use MFP auto settings when setting your goals.

    Set up MFP with activity other than exercise - desk job or if you have an active job, set it to reflect that. Then add your exercise separately. If you use MFP caloric settings for exercise, people recommend you only eat back half of those calories.
  • socalkay
    socalkay Posts: 746 Member
    Read the original posts here:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

    and here:

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

    I was boggled too, to start. I just went with recommended settings in MFP and bookmarked any good posts to read at later date. Went back once I was comfortable logging and re-read things. It all starts coming together and making sense after awhile. Don't get overwhelmed with details. Just start logging your food and weekly weight.

    One more:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
    All calculators are just educated guesses. Some more educated than others.

    I figured your TDEE around 2600 calories so a 20% deficit would be around 2100 calories a day. Again, this is just an estimate. The best thing you can do is stick with whichever number you are most comfortable with and be very accurate about logging for a couple of weeks and see what happens. If you maintain drop about a hundred calories a day until you are losing around 1 1/2 pounds or so a week. This is the most accurate way to find your exact calorie requirements.
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    SW: 320
    CW: 255
    GW: 160
    ht: 5'7"
    age: 28
    gender: female
    likes: long walks on the beach, high fives, guacamole

    I punched your figures in here: http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/

    (Sorry, no option to choose guacamole lovers - but you get a high five from me for liking it!) :smile:

    Here's what it calculated your TDEE at:
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job):2338
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk): 2679
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk): 3019

    So it depends on your activity level, but if you have a desk job, your TDEE is about 2340. To lose one pound a week, you should eat 1840. To lose 1.5 pounds per week, eat 1590. To lose two pounds a week (which is feasible if you have more than 75 pounds to lose), eat 1340.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Here's what it calculated your TDEE at:
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job):2338
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk): 2679
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk): 3019

    This is consistent with what she's getting. She's including (as you would) her activity and estimating it as moderately active.

    I tend to think some of the other calculators which use Harris-Benedict, especially, are high, and have found that Mifflin-St Jeor works okay for me, although when you have a lot to lose it's important to see how it might differ from Katch-McArdle at various body fat percentages.

    Using that and the 4 day/week activity level at IIFYM.com, I'm getting a range of 2300 to 2700 calories for TDEE, much lower than the 3000, and I'd expect more accurate. Higher body fat percentages screw up the calculated estimates, since higher weights from muscle have higher TDEEs, but higher weight from fat, not so much.

    Given that the OP says she's not losing 2 lbs/week at 1430, my guess is the lower end of that range is more likely to be accurate. So TDEE of, say, 2300 minus 20% gives you a calorie estimate of about 1850 and expected loss per week of about 1 lb. (I personally think a larger deficit is fine if you have lots to lose and especially if you are achieving a good bit of it from exercise, but that depends on what works for the OP.)

    Anyway, as others have said, the great thing here is that you can get a better estimate of your TDEE if you trust your logging. Just take the last 6 weeks or so and count the total calories consumed plus lbs lost times 3500 and then divide by the number of days. That's a nice rough estimate, although if you've lost a bunch while exercise is steady it will be a bit high.
  • ChronicOptimist
    ChronicOptimist Posts: 558 Member
    Here's what it calculated your TDEE at:
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job):2338
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk): 2679
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk): 3019

    Using that and the 4 day/week activity level at IIFYM.com, I'm getting a range of 2300 to 2700 calories for TDEE, much lower than the 3000, and I'd expect more accurate. Higher body fat percentages screw up the calculated estimates, since higher weights from muscle have higher TDEEs, but higher weight from fat, not so much.

    I'd actually done the calculation once at IIFYM but had gone to other sites since I read elsewhere on MFP that other calculators were better. I feel MUCH more comfortable with the numbers using the Mifflin-St Jeor formula since it would only increase my daily intake by approximately 250 calories. This is a big change for me and starting slowly seems wise!

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