BMR and TDEE

brittaut
brittaut Posts: 20 Member
in Getting Started
Im fairly new here and to all of this information. Can someone please explain BMR and TDEE to me? I have my BMR based on the MFP calculator. The TDEE seems to vary and doesnt make sense.

Replies

  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    BMR is what you burn just being alive. Imagine binge watching netflix for the whole day, with someone popping grapes in your mouth.

    TDEE is a simple multiplier of your BMR based on your normal activity level. If you have a sedentary desk job then you don't get much exercise over binge TV. I think sedentary TDEE = 1.2 x BMR so it assumes burning 20% more calories from moving your body to the car and other minor activities. The more active your job, the bigger the multiplier.

    These are the approximate BMR multipliers for each selection
    x1.2 for sedentary
    x1.4 for light exercise
    x1.6 for moderate exercise
    x1.7 for heavy exercise
    x1.9 for athlete

    Your weight loss is driven by how much you are under your actual TDEE
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    BMR is the amount of calories that your body uses to keep running if you are in a coma. It's really only useful to calculate TDEE.

    TDEE includes BMR plus NEAT (non-exercise activity) and exercise activity and maybe other things. TDEE is your total calorie output and varies day-to-day depending upon your actual activity.

    The online calculators are all estimates based upon the population averages. If you want to zero in on your own personal numbers, you can track your calorie intake and output as closely as possible and calculate your personal TDEE based upon your actual results.

    However, that's all probably more complicated than you need to get, especially at the beginning. Try MFP's suggested calorie goal while logging for a couple of months and see how you do with that. If you don't get the results you expect, you can start looking more deeply into the numbers to investigate where you may be having issues.
  • brittaut
    brittaut Posts: 20 Member
    Perfect. Thank you. That cleared up some confusion I had.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    BMR is nothing to do with a coma. Misinformation.
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
    If you google calculators for these you can work yours out
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    BMR is nothing to do with a coma. Misinformation.

    Analogies, they work for some and not for others.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate = the bare minimum of calories needed to keep your body functioning.
    NEAT = BMR + Daily Activity excluding exercise (things like your job, cooking, picking up around the house, etc). This is the calculation that MFP makes when estimating your calorie target based on the stats you enter and your target rate of loss.
    TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure = sum of NEAT + Purposeful Exercise. This is also known as your maintenance number, or your CO in the equation CICO. This is why people say that if your CI<CO, you will lose weight. If you are taking in less calories than the total amount you burn, you will lose.


    Since you are new to MFP, I would probably start with entering your stats in, with an appropriate activity level and rate of loss goal (if less than 50 lbs to lose, 1 lb/week. If less than 25 lbs to lose, 0.5 lb/week). MFP will calculate that NEAT target for you, which you should aim to hit, logging everything you eat accurately and honestly, ideally using a food scale for weighing solid foods. When you exercise, you should log and eat back at least a portion of those calories so that your NET calorie intake is what MFP suggested. You can eat any foods you enjoy within that calorie target, I suggest filling your day with foods that provide nutrition (both macro and micronutrients), satiety (fills you up) and enjoyment (helps keep you on track to eat foods you love and not cut everything out). Then track your progress for 4-6 weeks, and adjust from there.

    For more helpful reading, I suggest giving the Stickied Most Helpful Forum Posts a read, and this is a great collection of threads that include a variety of information about many questions you are asking, as well as those you haven't thought to ask yet!

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10260499/i-like-old-posts-and-i-cannot-lie/p1

    Good luck!

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