Thinking of switching from NEAT to TDEE

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earlnabby
earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
edited April 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been on MFP for a little over a year now and have been successful with following NEAT and eating back about 50% of my exercise calories, on average. I have lost just over 100 lb. with 50 more to go. I know I will switch over to TDEE when I get closer to goal so I can ease into maintenance but I am thinking of doing it sooner. The days I work out at the pool, I typically get close to 3000 calories (of which I would try to eat 2400) which is way too much food to eat. My rest days, I get 1760 which is too little. The other three days I walk at least 10k steps and get an extra 350-400 calories

Anybody done this? Did you use calculators or go by your actual calories in, adjusted for weight lost? I decided that these next 2-3 weeks I will be as perfect as humanly possible with my logging so I have actual numbers to work with and see what I come up with.

I have checked a bunch of online calculators and come up with TDEE ranging from 2350 to 2500. Based on past logging and adjusting it for weight loss my TDEE is closer to 2800. My Fitbit gives me a TDEE of 2900 calories. Subtracting for 1 lb. a week, that would give me calories somewhere in the 1950 range if I use online calculators or closer to 2300 based on my past habits.

I know "if it aint broke, don't fix it" but I like the idea of averaging my calories rather than the large swings I get, but on the other hand I don't want to do something to screw up my steady progress if I figure it wrong.

Advice? Experiences?

ETA: yes, I do burn a lot on pool days. 10k steps plus an hour of swimming laps plus a hour water aerobics class. I know burns get overestimated which is why I eat back 50%.

Replies

  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    I switched. There was a period of about two weeks where the scale went up. It passed and dropped back down.

    Best thing i ever did! I like knowing as long as I exercise 4 days a week at an hour each time my tdee is x number.

    You should play around with it. If you find you're not losing or losing too much adjust it up or down until it matches what you want! Good luck! And congrats on your weightloss!
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Do it! It's not like you have to commit to TDEE forever. Do a trial of it for like 3 months or so and see how you like it.

    I personally prefer it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Your personal experience is your best indicator. When I switched to TDEE, I didn't even bother with a calculator...I knew on average how many calories I was eating per week and my average rate of loss. All I had to do was average the week out to be equal calories every day rather than having days with less and days with more.

    The only time I have issues is when I'm doing big rides...my rides during the week are always right around an hour because I do them at lunch..and then I hit the weight room a few days per week...but I like doing longer rides on the weekends and particularly when I'm prepping for an endurance ride I will do more longer rides and it kind of messes things up and I have to do a weird combination of TDEE but eat extra on those days kind of deal.

    If you exercise regularly and consistently, I think TDEE is the way to go. I think NEAT is beneficial in getting people off their buts to earn more calories...and it's a good way to teach people how to fuel that activity, but it's also a PITA and rest days just plain sucked.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Well, I switched from TDEE to NEAT, then back to TDEE. I prefer TDEE for stable daily intake.

    But if you want to keep with NEAT for a while you can just allocate some of your exercise calories to rest days. As long as the weekly intake adds up, that's all that matters. Is your weekly exercise routine pretty consistent, or do you just swim periodically? TDEE is ideal for people who are consistent with their routines.

    As for switching to TDEE, you can just use a calculator (I usually recommend health-calc.com, exrx.net, and scooby's accurate calculator in that order of preference) and subtract 10-20% or a generic calorie amount (250, 500, 750, etc) for your desired goal. Or you can do the TDEE calculation thing:

    (Total calories eaten + (3500 x pounds lost) / # of days)

    If the number matches up close to what a calculator says then you can just use that calculator whenever you need to adjust things. Since yours aren't matching up, I'd guess it's based on your activity level being greater than you think it is, overestimating what you log (so maybe you are eating less than you realize?), different body composition, etc. This is why I prefer the first two calculators in my list, they let you adjust activity based not just on exercise but on your NEAT as well. ETA I'd go with the numbers based on your real-world calculations. Better to start high and lower than to start low, lose too fast, increase calories, see a jump on the scale, stall for a bit, then start losing again. Latter approach can hurt the brain.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I switched to TDEE and lost most of my weight that way.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I switched to TDEE and generally prefer it. I'm trying a modified NEAT now, and will probably switch back to TDEE when this experiment is finished.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    I'm sort of doing TDEE right now. I do a challenge that means I need to be under my calories every day, so I will use exercise to compensate for days that I am over. It's a bit of a "cheat" but gives me flexibility which helps me in the long run. I also have some days where my activity is a lot higher due to dance (sometimes 5+ hours a day), so I'll eat more on those days.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »

    But if you want to keep with NEAT for a while you can just allocate some of your exercise calories to rest days. As long as the weekly intake adds up, that's all that matters. Is your weekly exercise routine pretty consistent, or do you just swim periodically? TDEE is ideal for people who are consistent with their routines.

    My routine is very consistent. Mon, Wed, Friday are pool days (plus walking), Tues, Thurs, Sat are walking only days, and Sunday is my day of rest. I walk for at least an hour at a little under 3.5 mph, more if I don't get many steps in doing my normal daily stuff.

    ana3067 wrote: »

    If the number matches up close to what a calculator says then you can just use that calculator whenever you need to adjust things. Since yours aren't matching up, I'd guess it's based on your activity level being greater than you think it is, overestimating what you log (so maybe you are eating less than you realize?), different body composition, etc. This is why I prefer the first two calculators in my list, they let you adjust activity based not just on exercise but on your NEAT as well. ETA I'd go with the numbers based on your real-world calculations. Better to start high and lower than to start low, lose too fast, increase calories, see a jump on the scale, stall for a bit, then start losing again. Latter approach can hurt the brain.

    Yeah, brain hurt can be a problem. I am thinking that if I do this, I might pick a number halfway between the different methods. i don't mind if I lose a little faster than 1 lb. a week, but I don't want to go too fast either. Doing the NEAT thing has given me an average loss of 1.4 lb per week, even though my "official" goal is 1 lb. I tend to be conservative in estimating my burn, which is why I only eat back an average of 50%.
  • CrabNebula
    CrabNebula Posts: 1,119 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I also use the TDEE method. Too much guesswork involved figuring calories burned from activity/exercise. I lost most of my weight this way and am continuing to use it into maintenance.
  • wrenna21
    wrenna21 Posts: 15 Member
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    what is neat and what is tdee
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I just stick to what mfp gave me, and linked up my fit bit. I've still got it set to sedentary, because my exercise will not be exactly the same every day. I could set it to active, but then some days i'll be eating too much, obviously depending on the exercise I've done that day
  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
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    wrenna21 wrote: »
    what is neat and what is tdee

    NEAT is "non-exercise activity thermogenesis" and is a calorie total that takes into account your normal daily routine, but *excludes* any calories from exercise done for the sake of exercise. MFP uses a NEAT approach - you set a daily calorie goal and you try to eat to that goal -- you also log your exercise activities and "earn" additional calories that you can eat and still achieve your calorie deficit goal (since you burned calories exercising).

    TDEE is "total daily energy expenditure" and is a calorie total that takes into account all the calories you burn during a day (on average), including through exercise. It tends to be simpler or simply more enjoyable for people with a pretty regular exercise pattern because they eat to a single target every day without regard to exercise, versus someone who has varying calorie targets depending on that day's exercise activity.

    If logging correctly (particularly exercise burns) the two methods should result in the same outcomes.

    @OP - for awhile now I've been using either a "custom NEAT" or a "custom TDEE" -- you can choose which one. Basically, I don't include my regular weight lifting exercise as "calorie burns" a la MFP (even though I log it), but I do include cardio and cardio-like infrequent stuff (going hiking, playing in a pick-up soccer game, etc.) The reason being that my weight lifting activities are generally really consistent, and my cardio is really inconsistent.

    It sounds like your routine is pretty stable, which, I would think, means do whatever makes you happy. So long as your actual results compare favorably to your expected results (and you modify as needed), and you're not feeling challeneged in eating more or less or the same everyday regardless of the particular activities that day, it should really be six of one and half dozen of another for you in terms of results.

  • miss_aims
    miss_aims Posts: 64 Member
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    I've always used NEAT to some success, but I'm one of those people who, for me, really need consistency. I'm giving TDEE a try. I eat the same breakfast every day out of simplicity, and it allows me to automatically know what I have left for the rest of the day. TDEE helps me keep it super simple, because I eat the same amount of calories every single day. So far I far prefer TDEE.

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