TDEE, CICO, and activity level questions
mystgrl28
Posts: 43 Member
Ok. So I know I need to take in less calories than I use in order to lose weight. My TDEE (28y/o, 5"2', 254lbs, light exercise of 1-2x/wk) is 2524cals/day. To lose a pound a week, I need to be taking in 2024cals/day, and for 2lbs/week it's 1524cals/day.
In MFP, my caloric allowance is 1320cals/day (sedentary) plus exercise calories. I work a fairly active job (hitting 12-25000 steps/day) 3-5 times a week and hit the gym on my days off about 1-3 times a week. Before I looked at my TDEE, I can eat about 1400-2200cals/day depending on how much exercise I did on that day.
My question: Do I limit myself to just 1524cals/day and not take into account my earned exercise calories to lose 2lbs/week? Or can I give myself a bit of leeway in terms of calories on the days I go to the gym?
I have lost 2lbs in 2wks doing what I was previously doing.
In MFP, my caloric allowance is 1320cals/day (sedentary) plus exercise calories. I work a fairly active job (hitting 12-25000 steps/day) 3-5 times a week and hit the gym on my days off about 1-3 times a week. Before I looked at my TDEE, I can eat about 1400-2200cals/day depending on how much exercise I did on that day.
My question: Do I limit myself to just 1524cals/day and not take into account my earned exercise calories to lose 2lbs/week? Or can I give myself a bit of leeway in terms of calories on the days I go to the gym?
I have lost 2lbs in 2wks doing what I was previously doing.
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Replies
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Instead of playing with the calculators, why not just knock off 500 a day from "what you were previously doing", and take it from there? Real world results trump a general calculator any old day...0
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1524 TDEE includes earned exercise calories per your description.0
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Ahahaha but I do so love numbers. Plus my previous habit, as I wrote, had me taking in a massively variable amount of calories.Instead of playing with the calculators, why not just knock off 500 a day from "what you were previously doing", and take it from there? Real world results trump a general calculator any old day...
Yes but my TDEE only includes light activity and 1-2times/week exercise. I just wanted to clarify if it was safe to stay at that level considering that on my gym days I can burn anywhere from 400-1000 calories depending on what I work on. Plus I'm usually very hungry after gym and I don't particularly want to starve myself, but at the same time, I don't want to sabotage myself.1524 TDEE includes earned exercise calories per your description.
Anyway, as long as it's safe, I'll try to stick to the 1524 calories. Does that mean I'll just disregard what MFP set as my caloric allowance?
Thanks!
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I would eat as much as I could possibly cram into my mouth while still losing. It's not a race and there's no need to be miserable if you don't have to be.
You could split the difference at 1800 and call it a day.0 -
If you're going to go with a TDEE less a deficit method your TDEE should include estimated exercise calories.
Interestingly I've used a few TDEE calculators and when you compare MFP's sedentary + exercise calories and TDEE less a deficit he numbers work out to be very similar.
If you like numbers check out the Body Weight Planner....
https://supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/0 -
I suggest you cancel your gym membership for a few weeks and limit your exercise to the walking you do at work. That will remove the 'very hungry after gym' and agony of either not eating to satisfy your need or eating too much to lose weight. Many of us have succeeded marvelously with walking alone for the first few months.0
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Omg I love you_dracarys_ wrote: »I would eat as much as I could possibly cram into my mouth while still losing. It's not a race and there's no need to be miserable if you don't have to be.
You could split the difference at 1800 and call it a day.
hahaha! I so agree! But then my love of food is what got me to this situation and I have to master it! I guess the question is how much can I cram into my mouth and still lose? 
The link doesn't work for me. Maybe it only works for people in the US? Anyway, MFP gives me 1320 as sedentary and TDEE 1524 as lightly active. I can truthfully say now that I would never be able to stick to 1320 calories only...I'd be hangry all the time! That's why I've been eating back my highly variable exercise calories. But now that I've looked at my TDEE, I'm wondering if I've been sabotaging my weight loss because I've been eating back my exercise calories.BrianSharpe wrote: »If you're going to go with a TDEE less a deficit method your TDEE should include estimated exercise calories.
Interestingly I've used a few TDEE calculators and when you compare MFP's sedentary + exercise calories and TDEE less a deficit he numbers work out to be very similar.
If you like numbers check out the Body Weight Planner....
https://supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/
I've tried that and failedJeromeBarry1 wrote: »I suggest you cancel your gym membership for a few weeks and limit your exercise to the walking you do at work. That will remove the 'very hungry after gym' and agony of either not eating to satisfy your need or eating too much to lose weight. Many of us have succeeded marvelously with walking alone for the first few months.
I lost a bit but stopped, that's why I started going to the gym.
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I (1) do a different amount of exercise every day, (2) am kind of a numbers/data guy, and (3) have a good way to measure my calories for most of the exercise I do. So I set my activity level to "sedentary" and then all my exercise gets synced in and adds however many calories I burned. It's a lot of data flowing back and forth, luckily, I don't have to enter or track it myself, I just press a start/stop button on my watch and technology does the rest.
The other end of the spectrum is to guestimate how many calories you burn in a day (or in a week and divide by 7). If you follow a routine, don't want to mess with it all, etc, this could be a better method. This is the TDEE approach.
You check either one against reality by how well you lose weight when you're doing it. If you're TDEE is 2,500 kCal and you eat 2,000 kCal, you should lose 1 lbs per week, if the numbers are right for you. I've never trusted this which is part of why I do the more detailed method.0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »I (1) do a different amount of exercise every day, (2) am kind of a numbers/data guy, and (3) have a good way to measure my calories for most of the exercise I do. So I set my activity level to "sedentary" and then all my exercise gets synced in and adds however many calories I burned. It's a lot of data flowing back and forth, luckily, I don't have to enter or track it myself, I just press a start/stop button on my watch and technology does the rest.
The other end of the spectrum is to guestimate how many calories you burn in a day (or in a week and divide by 7). If you follow a routine, don't want to mess with it all, etc, this could be a better method. This is the TDEE approach.
You check either one against reality by how well you lose weight when you're doing it. If you're TDEE is 2,500 kCal and you eat 2,000 kCal, you should lose 1 lbs per week, if the numbers are right for you. I've never trusted this which is part of why I do the more detailed method.
I'm exactly like this! Check to #1, #2 and #3. I've also set my activity level to sedentary and sync in whatever exercise I do through my hr monitor. I don't have a routine as I work rotating shifts, that's why I liked that method. But like I was saying, I don't know if I'm sabotaging myself with this as I've set MFP to lose 2lbs/wk and I've only lost a pound/week instead. So I thought I might need to reign in my daily intake without taking into account my exercise calories.
Another question just popped to mind: Is there are way to calibrate MFP where they only add half or quarter of your exercise calories on? Or will I have to do it manually every time? I use garmin connect-will changing my calories burned on MFP affect my numbers on garmin connect?0 -
Omg I love you_dracarys_ wrote: »I would eat as much as I could possibly cram into my mouth while still losing. It's not a race and there's no need to be miserable if you don't have to be.
You could split the difference at 1800 and call it a day. hahaha! I so agree! But then my love of food is what got me to this situation and I have to master it! I guess the question is how much can I cram into my mouth and still lose? 
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
This is my favorite calculator. The TDEE method is great if your activity is consistent. If you're active one week then sedentary for the next three, it won't be as effective. It's very much trial and error; the worst that can happen is it doesn't work for you. Keep in mind all these calculators are estimates; your actual TDEE could be higher or lower than what any website tells you. You just have to play around with it for several weeks to see if it works.0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »I (1) do a different amount of exercise every day, (2) am kind of a numbers/data guy, and (3) have a good way to measure my calories for most of the exercise I do. So I set my activity level to "sedentary" and then all my exercise gets synced in and adds however many calories I burned. It's a lot of data flowing back and forth, luckily, I don't have to enter or track it myself, I just press a start/stop button on my watch and technology does the rest.
The other end of the spectrum is to guestimate how many calories you burn in a day (or in a week and divide by 7). If you follow a routine, don't want to mess with it all, etc, this could be a better method. This is the TDEE approach.
You check either one against reality by how well you lose weight when you're doing it. If you're TDEE is 2,500 kCal and you eat 2,000 kCal, you should lose 1 lbs per week, if the numbers are right for you. I've never trusted this which is part of why I do the more detailed method.
I'm exactly like this! Check to #1, #2 and #3. I've also set my activity level to sedentary and sync in whatever exercise I do through my hr monitor. I don't have a routine as I work rotating shifts, that's why I liked that method. But like I was saying, I don't know if I'm sabotaging myself with this as I've set MFP to lose 2lbs/wk and I've only lost a pound/week instead. So I thought I might need to reign in my daily intake without taking into account my exercise calories.
Another question just popped to mind: Is there are way to calibrate MFP where they only add half or quarter of your exercise calories on? Or will I have to do it manually every time? I use garmin connect-will changing my calories burned on MFP affect my numbers on garmin connect?
I have no idea about the garmin thing, but you can always just manually add your exercise to mfp, and only log half of your exercise minutes. that's what I do, that way I don't have to do any extra math, I just get to eat what it says I get to eat.0 -
I've just run into this with my fitbit as well. It's giving me a lot of extra calories that I could be eating when my fitbit syncs up with MFP. My goal is to lose 1 lb a week and this time, I'm taking it slow and trying to make a lifestyle change, so I'm not in a hurry to get to the end (too much yoyo dieting in the past). With that in mind, I try to stick to the original MFP numbers, but if I've been very active and am hungry, then I give myself some slack and am okay with using some of the extra calories from exercise. I check my weight once a week, and if it looks like the weight loss is slowing, I adjust slightly. But again, taking it slow, one step at a time. Trying to find a system that I can live with for the rest of my life. 0
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Woah that just gave me an extra 100cals. Love it! Hahahaha. But are you saying that I'm better off just sticking with what MFP gives me rather than a TDEE if I don't have a set routine every week?_dracarys_ wrote: »
Omg I love you_dracarys_ wrote: »I would eat as much as I could possibly cram into my mouth while still losing. It's not a race and there's no need to be miserable if you don't have to be.
You could split the difference at 1800 and call it a day. hahaha! I so agree! But then my love of food is what got me to this situation and I have to master it! I guess the question is how much can I cram into my mouth and still lose?
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
This is my favorite calculator. The TDEE method is great if your activity is consistent. If you're active one week then sedentary for the next three, it won't be as effective. It's very much trial and error; the worst that can happen is it doesn't work for you. Keep in mind all these calculators are estimates; your actual TDEE could be higher or lower than what any website tells you. You just have to play around with it for several weeks to see if it works.
Ah, that's what I'm trying to do as well. Still in it's early stages and still looking for something that will work for me. But the end goal is for a lifestyle changeI've just run into this with my fitbit as well. It's giving me a lot of extra calories that I could be eating when my fitbit syncs up with MFP. My goal is to lose 1 lb a week and this time, I'm taking it slow and trying to make a lifestyle change, so I'm not in a hurry to get to the end (too much yoyo dieting in the past). With that in mind, I try to stick to the original MFP numbers, but if I've been very active and am hungry, then I give myself some slack and am okay with using some of the extra calories from exercise. I check my weight once a week, and if it looks like the weight loss is slowing, I adjust slightly. But again, taking it slow, one step at a time. Trying to find a system that I can live with for the rest of my life.
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Woah that just gave me an extra 100cals. Love it! Hahahaha. But are you saying that I'm better off just sticking with what MFP gives me rather than a TDEE if I don't have a set routine every week?_dracarys_ wrote: »
Omg I love you_dracarys_ wrote: »I would eat as much as I could possibly cram into my mouth while still losing. It's not a race and there's no need to be miserable if you don't have to be.
You could split the difference at 1800 and call it a day. hahaha! I so agree! But then my love of food is what got me to this situation and I have to master it! I guess the question is how much can I cram into my mouth and still lose?
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
This is my favorite calculator. The TDEE method is great if your activity is consistent. If you're active one week then sedentary for the next three, it won't be as effective. It's very much trial and error; the worst that can happen is it doesn't work for you. Keep in mind all these calculators are estimates; your actual TDEE could be higher or lower than what any website tells you. You just have to play around with it for several weeks to see if it works.
Ah, that's what I'm trying to do as well. Still in it's early stages and still looking for something that will work for me. But the end goal is for a lifestyle changeI've just run into this with my fitbit as well. It's giving me a lot of extra calories that I could be eating when my fitbit syncs up with MFP. My goal is to lose 1 lb a week and this time, I'm taking it slow and trying to make a lifestyle change, so I'm not in a hurry to get to the end (too much yoyo dieting in the past). With that in mind, I try to stick to the original MFP numbers, but if I've been very active and am hungry, then I give myself some slack and am okay with using some of the extra calories from exercise. I check my weight once a week, and if it looks like the weight loss is slowing, I adjust slightly. But again, taking it slow, one step at a time. Trying to find a system that I can live with for the rest of my life.
If you're consistently active and do the same workouts week to week, you can do the TDEE method. You eat a set number of calories every day instead of getting extra calories from exercise. It's all a matter of preference. You can stick with the mfp way if you prefer getting calories for exercise. Either method will work as long as you maintain a calorie deficit. It sounds like what you're currently doing works since you lost some weight already.0 -
I much prefer the MFP neat method, as I love watching my calories go up throughout the day (fitbit), it spurs me on. Also, I have yet to find a TDEE calculator that matches up to my exercise, walking around 10 miles 7 days a week.0
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