TDEE or eating back calories?

Options
2»

Replies

  • insaneteabag
    insaneteabag Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    mamapeach910 wrote: »
    TDEE is good only if your exercise is consistent.


    I use MFP's NEAT because my health is variable and my exercise isn't consistent.



    Yeah my exercise varies also - some weeks I can do 5 days of HIIT and the best it will just be one or two and maybe a run. I always worry that I will end up over eating on the weeks where I don't burn as much :-/

  • insaneteabag
    insaneteabag Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    earlnabby wrote: »
    I am still using NEAT but I am keeping good records to prepare to switch to TDEE for the final push to goal and transition into maintenance. I am very consistent in my exercise so leveling it out so I eat a similar number of calories makes sense.

    Right now I feel like Goldilocks: workout days I have too many calories to eat, rest days I have too few, walking only days are just right.

    I know exactly what you mean. Today was my first rest day since I began eating back exercise calories and I really struggled to keep within my calorie allowance! But maybe it's worth sticking with for now. I will definitely go back to TDEE once I'm at maintainance!
  • insaneteabag
    insaneteabag Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »
    Personally, I refuse to eat less on days I don't work out. Screw that noise. In fact, one of my rest days is also my refeed day when I eat to maintenance, so I'm actually eating more on a day that I'm relatively inactive.

    I'd rather eat the same amount on a daily basis with no guess work. Let's say I'm planning a workout at night, so I "eat back" the calories I plan to burn throughout the day. Then something comes up and I can't exercise that night. So, of course, I end up feeling guilty for eating back calories I ended up not even burning and I feel like I have to make up for it the next day by eating less or exercising more.

    No, that sounds awful. My workouts are consistent, so there's no need to eat more or less on certain days based on activity level. TDEE all the way.

    I totally agree with that. It happened to me once - had a huge gym session planned so ate like a king then last minute ended up working really late and felt guilty all night. I generally tend to gain my apatite in the evening so I try to save my extra calories for after my gym sessions now so that doesn't happen! But I like your way of thinking - life's too short for fretting over it!
  • insaneteabag
    insaneteabag Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    arober11 wrote: »
    Out of curiosity which of the 6 or so TDEE formula are you using (If you wern't aware of the variety, the following app may be of interest ). Also which app(s) are you using to capture your sessions? I ask as they (Runtastic, Adidas miCoach, MapMyFitness, Polar Beat, Endomondo, Fitbit......) all have different VO2max formula (estimation of the Oxygen => Calories consumed), which leads to wildly varying estimates of calories burnt in a given session. For example a 3K walk with the same HRM paired to Runtastic, Endomondo, and MapMyWalk produced the following calorie estimates for the same circuit:

    o762wzim5wmq.png

    I've tried a few different formulas and they're all pretty similar. Most of them give me a TDEE of 1800 calories and in actual fact this is pretty much where I'm finishing most (exercise) days anyway - even if my calories lost is a bit higher.

    I don't use any of the apps for calories loss, I just go off my HRM. I'm beginning to think maybe going to an average TDEE would be best!
  • insaneteabag
    insaneteabag Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    Thanks so much for all your advice and info. I think if my exercise was consistent I'd follow the TDEE but my weeks vary so much! This week I've been a machine!

    Regarding my HRM - can anyone give me a reason as to why they might not be reliable for HITT training? I have a Polar F4 if that helps. I have been feeling so happy with the results it gives me and I dread to think that it's been lying to me :'(

    I've been eating back for almost a week now and so far I haven't gained weight (haven't lost either but it's a very slow process for me!) So I might give it a few more days and see what happens! B)
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,459 Member
    Options
    TDEE is just so much easier. No need for devices
  • insaneteabag
    insaneteabag Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    [/quote]

    This is what I did. I used MFP's NEAT method and ate back my exercise calories when I was trying to lose. When I got to my goal weight, I switched to TDEE and just used my own history as a guide. I still ended up losing a bit more than expected because I didn't trust my numbers and by the time I actually increased my maintenance calories enough, I'd lost an additional five pounds. It's so nice not having to calculate exercise burns.
    [/quote]

    I quite like eating back the calories because it pushes me to work harder during my exercise sessions. Although that's on the assumption that my HRM is actually giving me an accurate reading!

    It's really made me train a lot this week - like I wanted to play with my new toy, haha!

    I'm sure it won't last long though ;)

    I'll definitely go to TDEE once I'm at maintainance. Unfortunately my weight loss has been very very slow so far - I wondered if maybe I was under eating which was another reason for eating back after exercise. It never used to be this difficult, I blame age! :o
  • KatieLK14
    KatieLK14 Posts: 90 Member
    Options
    Help! What is the difference? (I mean...I know what TDEE is and currently I'm eating back a little bit of my exercise calories but..yeah...)
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    Options
    KatieLK14 wrote: »
    Help! What is the difference? (I mean...I know what TDEE is and currently I'm eating back a little bit of my exercise calories but..yeah...)

    If you are using tdee then you do not eaback calories as you have already been given credit for your exercise. Its just a way of smoothing out the calorie number in advance.

    I started with neat by default, but I prefer it because it motivates me to exercise to eat more. Im uncomfy taking credit for something in advance and prefer to eat what I kill. I do that much exercise its always an option to carry some calories over, especially as part of my workouts happen late at night my exercise soemtimes straddles midnight. I might switch to tdee during transition, but I like motivating myself to do the exercise.

    In terms of the HRM dont forget the primary function of a heart rate monitor is to monitor heart rate, its then most useful montoring steady state cardio. Hiit relies on the extra burn calories under EPOC which are very difficult to calculate as they depend on the individual. The good thing is no matter the estimate your body gets 100% of the burn. Either take the afterburn side of hit as a bonus or just monitor what effect its having by varying the % or amount of calories you eatback.

    If your weight loss is slower than you expect based on the math be patient, but you cna also reduce the amount you consume or eatback.
  • scookbey
    scookbey Posts: 84 Member
    Options
    How accurate are those heart monitors? I wanted to purchase one but when browsing through the posts, I read that the monitors give a false number for calories burned. Safe bet: I would still just eat half of cals burned.

Categories