TDEE advice for 5'4"

jtennant334
jtennant334 Posts: 8 Member
edited December 3 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello!

I am having trouble figuring out what is best for me and my body when it comes to TDEE. There are so many calculators that I tend to get overwhelmed.

Stats:
Age: 33
SW: unsure didn't have a scale. Size 12-14
CW: 170ish

Bit of background: on July 11 2016 I did a full round of the 21 day fix and although I didn't weigh myself my clothes fit looser and I could finally fit comfortably into my size 12 shorts and other clothing items. When I started plugging in the calories I was eating I saw just how low they were so I changed my workout and eating plan. Based on some TDEE calculators I am now eating 1500-1600 cals a day, I workout about 30 mins at home Monday (usually weights), Tuesday and Thursday I do an hour long class that is a combo of weights and cardio, and then the weekend I will try to a get another workout in (a long walk, hot yoga, or more weights at home as an example).

I haven't had much luck with weight loss since changing to eating 1500-1600 a day so I am wondering if I am 1. Calculating right? 2. Am
I eating too much? Or not enough?

Thanks for your help and insight!!

Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited August 2016
    Well how long has it been since you have changed to 1500-1600 calories a day? It can take 4 weeks or more to be able to see steady weight loss through the ups and downs of weight fluctuations, especially as a woman. Don't psych yourself out, have to be pretty patient and stick with what you are doing for a long time before you can really judge the progress.

    To me 1500-1600 calories for a 170 pound 33 year old woman who exercises semi-regularly sounds totally reasonable for weight loss.
  • jtennant334
    jtennant334 Posts: 8 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Well how long has it been since you have changed to 1500-1600 calories a day? It can take 4 weeks or more to be able to see steady weight loss through the ups and downs of weight fluctuations, especially as a woman. Don't psych yourself out, have to be pretty patient and stick with what you are doing for a long time before you can really judge the progress.

    To me 1500-1600 calories for a 170 pound 33 year old woman who exercises semi-regularly sounds totally reasonable for weight loss.


    Thank you! I've probably only been eating that way for about 4-5 weeks now, however, I did also have a weekend at the beach during the time where I ate and drank whatever I wanted. I'm not usually a patient person so looks like I'm gonna have to work on that too!!
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
    i used scoobys calculator. i do not know your daily activity, which will affect your TDEE. at sedentary level you are in the correct range 1500-1600 and 15% weightloss ...
  • jtennant334
    jtennant334 Posts: 8 Member
    lemonychild wrote: »
    i used scoobys calculator. i do not know your daily activity, which will affect your TDEE. at sedentary level you are in the correct range 1500-1600 and 15% weightloss ...

    Thank you! I am not sedentary. I try to workout at least 3 times a week. This week I did weights 2x, a cardio/weights class, yoga, and hiked yesterday for about 1.5 hours. Just weighed myself this morning (after coffee) and still nothing lost. It's just starting to get a bit frustrating!
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    How are you measuring your food intake?
  • jtennant334
    jtennant334 Posts: 8 Member
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food intake?

    Food scale or measuring cups. I guess I could switch to all food scale though?

  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    I would, except for liquids. You can be out by 300 calories a day with cups.
  • jtennant334
    jtennant334 Posts: 8 Member
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    I would, except for liquids. You can be out by 300 calories a day with cups.

    True...I guess I don't understand why I was losing weight so much faster doing 21 day fix, when that was way below my calorie range for the day, when I keep reading that people lose weight when they do TDEE eating instead?
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,186 Member
    I used mfp and ate back calories. If I use a TDEE calculator I get about the same amount as my MFP goal plus exercise. I am about your hight but older and have a sedentary job but walk daily and do yoga on weekdays. I think that 1500-1600 sounds about right. If you are not using a food scale then I would recommend that you get one (you can get one for about $15 at Walmart or Target or on Amazon.com). Weigh all your solids and just use cups and spoons for liquids. It may be that you are eating more than you think. Also if you start new exercise you may retain a little water. And the hardest part is to just be patient.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    If your exercise is not a daily thing, I tend to prefer the MFP approach of letting the system calculate an appropriate calorie goal based on a reasonable rate of loss (1 lb/week) and then log food accurately using a food scale, when you exercise, log that and eat back a portion of those calories. Monitor and adjust based on actual results. After a few months, then you will have more data to determine if the TDEE method is the right approach for you, but at the end of the day it should come out to be the same total calories.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    jtennant334 wrote: »
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    I would, except for liquids. You can be out by 300 calories a day with cups.

    True...I guess I don't understand why I was losing weight so much faster doing 21 day fix, when that was way below my calorie range for the day, when I keep reading that people lose weight when they do TDEE eating instead?

    I'm not sure what you are reading that has lead you to the conclusions in bold. TDEE isn't a way of eating, it is a calculation of your total daily energy expenditure and is equal to the "calories out" side of the energy balance equation, CICO. Once you know your TDEE, or your CO, in order to lose weight you need to consume less than that, your CI < CO.

    MFP calculates a calorie goal for you based on the stats you enter when you set up your profile and enter a goal weight and a rate of loss, but MFP doesn't include exercise calories in its calculation, so if you do exercise you should add that into your CI side of the equation to balance it out properly.

    As I understand 21 day fix it is primarily focused on portion control and only eating certain types of foods, which helps achieve the calorie deficit needed to lose weight, but there are many other ways to achieve that deficit including just calorie counting and logging what you eat.

    How fast were you losing with that approach and why do you think it should be faster?
  • jtennant334
    jtennant334 Posts: 8 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    jtennant334 wrote: »
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    I would, except for liquids. You can be out by 300 calories a day with cups.

    True...I guess I don't understand why I was losing weight so much faster doing 21 day fix, when that was way below my calorie range for the day, when I keep reading that people lose weight when they do TDEE eating instead?

    I'm not sure what you are reading that has lead you to the conclusions in bold. TDEE isn't a way of eating, it is a calculation of your total daily energy expenditure and is equal to the "calories out" side of the energy balance equation, CICO. Once you know your TDEE, or your CO, in order to lose weight you need to consume less than that, your CI < CO.

    MFP calculates a calorie goal for you based on the stats you enter when you set up your profile and enter a goal weight and a rate of loss, but MFP doesn't include exercise calories in its calculation, so if you do exercise you should add that into your CI side of the equation to balance it out properly.

    As I understand 21 day fix it is primarily focused on portion control and only eating certain types of foods, which helps achieve the calorie deficit needed to lose weight, but there are many other ways to achieve that deficit including just calorie counting and logging what you eat.

    How fast were you losing with that approach and why do you think it should be faster?


    Sorry, when I say "way of eating" I meant the amount of calories. Not so much the type of foods, etc... When I put in my 21 day fix cals somedays I would be lucky to get to 1200. When I figured out my TDEE and read more about that I decided to switch my calorie intake to that amount since it seemed like the healthier option.
    Unfortunately when I began the fix I didn't weigh but I went down one clothing size in those three weeks. I've stayed in that same size for last 5 weeks or so since moving away from the 21DF workouts and calorie goals. I don't workout daily as I am lifting weights and didn't see the need to do so, I wanted to give my muscles a day to rest and recover. Since adapting that "method" I don't feel like my clothes have gotten any looser and so that is where my frustration comes into play.
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
    I have found that both mfp and tdee come to about the same calculation if you are true to your excercise. Are u hungry at 1600 cals? If you are not, I would suggest to stay at that count - here's why - weights do not burn a lot of calories so u can't really Count that as "calories burned" excercise . Yoga also- very low impact on your HR resulting in low calorie burn. (I'm not saying to stop those I'm saying that as far as the number of cals burned, it's little) so take in account for calorie burn your cardio activities (hiking, running, fast walking, etc.)

    Do not get frustrated, if u keep up ur body WILL respond ... It seems like the scale is ur nemesis

  • Bearbo27
    Bearbo27 Posts: 339 Member
    edited August 2016
    Have you plugged your info here on mfp to see what it gives you? Usually that and TDEE method are similar for me. I'm 5'3"and lose fine eating 1500 calories. You definitely have to be patient though. Also make sure you are logging accurately and weigh everything.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,607 Member
    I agree with much of what's already been said, but want to add this: The calculators are just estimates.

    They're based on solid research, and give you an answer based on the average calorie needs of people similar to you. But it's a bell curve - most people are close to the average, but some can be a little above or below what the calculators estimate.

    Your own results give you the best estimate. That's one reason why it's useful to try for accuracy in logging food/exercise. If you eat at (just for example) 1500, and find you lose around a pound a week, then your TDEE for maintenance is around 2000 (the 1500 you eat, plus the 500 average calories you lost daily). Then you can adjust as needed in order to keep a slow, healthy level of weight loss until you reach your goal.

    For sure, if you were previously eating 1200 or less, and now are eating 1500-1600, and if your exercise calories haven't changed much, you'll be losing more slowly now than you did before. If you lost 2 pounds a week at 1200, you could expect to lose about 1.2 pounds a week at 1600 (at equal exercise).

    It should not much matter whether you use a TDEE method, and eat to the same calorie goal, or use the NEAT method that's built into MFP while eating back exercise calories - if your average daily calorie deficit is the same, you'll lose about the same amount of weight either way. Just pick the one that makes you feel most satisfied & happy with your routine.
  • jtennant334
    jtennant334 Posts: 8 Member
    Thank you all! I did just realize I have only been attempting to exercise and lose weight consistently for 7 weeks and that includes the three weeks I did the 21 day fix (I started that juli 11) so I am probably being really unrealistic.

    I keep reading all these great stories about people who have lost like 30 pounds in 3 months and I start to wish I could be like them. I have to realize every body is different and tell my brain to be patient and consistent! Thanks again!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,607 Member
    jtennant334 wrote: »
    Thank you all! I did just realize I have only been attempting to exercise and lose weight consistently for 7 weeks and that includes the three weeks I did the 21 day fix (I started that juli 11) so I am probably being really unrealistic.

    I keep reading all these great stories about people who have lost like 30 pounds in 3 months and I start to wish I could be like them. I have to realize every body is different and tell my brain to be patient and consistent! Thanks again!

    If you'd like your patience to be underscored and reinforced, you might want to learn a little bit about "Adaptive Thermogenesis". This is a phenomenon in which people who've dieted to a healthy weight end up needing to eat substantially less to maintain that new weight as compared with people who've always been at that same healthy weight.

    It's a real thing. It's not the same as "starvation mode", a myth you sometimes read about here on MFP. And there's some evidence that if you lose at a healthy (slower) pace, you can avoid or minimize that happening to you, especially if you also get some solid exercise while losing (as you're already doing).

    There's a good summary here: myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

    So, patience & consistency really, really is good!
  • Bearbo27
    Bearbo27 Posts: 339 Member
    jtennant334 wrote: »
    Thank you all! I did just realize I have only been attempting to exercise and lose weight consistently for 7 weeks and that includes the three weeks I did the 21 day fix (I started that juli 11) so I am probably being really unrealistic.

    I keep reading all these great stories about people who have lost like 30 pounds in 3 months and I start to wish I could be like them. I have to realize every body is different and tell my brain to be patient and consistent! Thanks again!

    You have to remember though that people who are obese and have a lot of weight to lose will lose faster in the beginning. I started July 2nd with 120 lbs to lose. 8 weeks later and I've lost 27 as of this morning. I have my calories set to 2 lbs per week and am not over doing anything. The weight is also not coming off each week. I went two weeks with really no loss, then bam! 5 lbs gone. I would definitely suggest being patient and don't expect to lose every day or even every week.
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