Sedentary or Lightly Active? Someone help please.

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  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
    So it says to maintain I should eat 3378 per day. I want to do 2lbs per week so I am going to change my settings right now to 2378 which is an increase from the the 2090 and I really think that will help me.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited May 2017
    terryt1992 wrote: »
    So here is something new I tried the TDEE thing and it tells me to eat 2533 calories to lose 1.7 lbs per week. I set it to 25% calorie reduction which it told me is dangerous. What I do not understand is that I look at myfitnesspal and it is telling me to eat 2090 which I understand does not include exercise and the TDEE does but that is like almost 35% calorie reduction I just did that math on it. I am definitely going to raise my calories because exercising late at night makes in complicated and I do not usually add my exercise into the myfitnesspal app.

    I think that's just a generic pop up because if you were closer to a normal weight it would be pretty reckless to cut 25%. If you have 100lbs to lose I would *think* you're okay to cut that much but I'm not an expert!

  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    Also MFP can't really be compared because they expect you to eat back exercise calories which is totally different. The TDEE method assumes exercise calories and basically gives you credit evenly for them throughout your week on a daily basis. Does that make sense?
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
    I agree with that @mrsnattybulking I have had a calorie goal lower than 25% this whole time and I have been fine
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
    Yes it does make sense and I thought that is why there was a difference. I will stick with the TDEE because I do not add/eat back exercise calories and I think its just natural for someone to struggle when cutting more calories which is what I am doing by not adding the exercise. I think this will work better and if it does not then I can always adjust it.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    I personally find it more simple in terms of assessing my goals. If I eat 1550 and I'm sure my logging is spot on and I'm losing more or less than I'd like to, I know exactly how much to adjust. NOt to mention I hate days where I have TONS of snacks available and then days where I didn't "earn" enough through exercise to eat more so I prefer it be a little more even.
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
    I agree I really think I like this idea better so I need to go in and removed the exercise that I added earlier. I have never been a fan of eating more just because I exercised.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited May 2017
    terryt1992 wrote: »
    I agree I really think I like this idea better so I need to go in and removed the exercise that I added earlier. I have never been a fan of eating more just because I exercised.

    Well the TDEE method is sort of the same thing only you're awarded the calories more evenly over the week. It does take into account activity and exercise, just you're not going to see those stupid burns like "terry1992 burned 900 calories doing 320 minutes of housework' hahah It's much more logical in terms of your estimated energy expenditure, but STILL an estimate nonetheless. Your data will corroborate it's accuracy over time :)

    ETA: Since you're relying on your own data it's super important that it be accurate so weigh everything with a scale and don't overlook sauces and bites!
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
    Thank you for the help I will make sure to add everything and to weigh everything also. I agree I do not like seeing that on my TL. I see people like burning 1200 calories doing hiking or stuff like that. I just hope they do not try to eat those back lol.
  • terryt1992
    terryt1992 Posts: 94 Member
    Also I can almost always get to the gym 3 times a week plus on the weekends I am always doing active things. The problem with going to the gym is I cannot go the same days every week so it makes adding the calories odd like I would have 4 days of eating at 2090 then 2 days in a row adding gym calories and eating more. I like this more it is easier to look at it as an overall week than day by day to me.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited May 2017
    terryt1992 wrote: »
    Thank you for the help I will make sure to add everything and to weigh everything also. I agree I do not like seeing that on my TL. I see people like burning 1200 calories doing hiking or stuff like that. I just hope they do not try to eat those back lol.

    It really depends on what their settings are and what works for them. e.g. I am quite active. My average burn is about 2600 calories/day. So, I eat an average of 2200-2300 calories/day (with some high days and some low days; the average is all that matters). I can't be bothered to dink around with logging exercise so I take a TDEE approach.

    BUT if I was motivated by logging exercise and getting to eat back calories, I *could* set myself to sedentary and log everything. MFP would tell me to eat 1200 calories/day, and I'd be logging well over 1000 calories of exercise every day. Given that I am losing weight (slowly but surely; it's only a 300 cal/day deficit) eating 2300, I clearly have no business eating as little as 1200. I would need to "eat back" quite a few of those exercise calories.

    Me "eating back" those 1100 calories/day would be exactly the same as me just setting a 2300 calorie/day goal.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,254 Member
    As Susan said there is nothing wrong with people adding their "hikes" depending on the activity settings they've chosen. If I were set on MFP sedentary, I would be adding over 1000 Cal a day for walking around (with a long term average of just over 18,700 steps a day)

    That said, all you really need in order to adjust your food intake is your weight level change.

    I mean I like being precise and calculating actual calories in/out and weight change and eating the maximum calories I can while meeting my goals... because that's the way I roll.

    But all that's required is to net less or more calories depending on one's goals.

    How it gets mentally packaged... is up to each one of us.

    That said your issues with TDEE and MFP and 25% etc come from you deliberately selecting an activity level that under-represents you. And from choosing a weight loss deficit target that is too large for your purported TDEE.

    In any case.. with a sub 3K a day TDEE and under "normal" conditions (i.e. no over-riding medical exigency) -1.5lbs a week (-750) is a more suitable target than 2lbs a week, even if currently obese.
  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
    terryt1992 wrote: »
    Thank you both and my exercise is not consistent at all its depending on how the kids are that night whether I can go. I changed it to lightly active just to see how many calories it would give me and it was around 2450 which would be plenty in a day. I never eat back my exercise calories (officially) lol. I usually don't add my exercise unless it is walking or using a treadmill. I think lightly active would fit better. Usually If I take a whole week and eat within my calories I will lose 4-5 lbs. I am okay with that amount of weight loss because I am still quite heavy so I think lose 3-5 per week is not something that is unhealthy.

    I use a fitness tracker for this reason. My activity is pretty inconsistent. I have a couple days where I barely clear 10,000 steps and then other days where I've walked 12 miles. I'm eating around 2000 calories per day which for me has worked out to be around a 759 calorie daily deficit. If you don't already have an account somewhere like trendweight, I would sign up for one and import your weights to it. It will show you what your actual deficit has been based on what the scale is saying. Makes it a lot easier to tweak your intake. I'm eating at what my Fitbit calls a 1000 calorie deficit, which for me is just a 759 deficit, but, it's a lot more pleasant to eat 2000 calories and still lose weight rather than eating at the 1400 calories that I come up with when using TDEE calculators. I have a desk job, but, I'm not as inactive as the typical I guess. Either way, if you are losing weight cheating on your calorie amount, just switch it to lightly active.. lol You might as well, then you are more likely to be consistent anyways instead of jumping back and forth between undereating and overeating.

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  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
    terryt1992 wrote: »
    So here is something new I tried the TDEE thing and it tells me to eat 2533 calories to lose 1.7 lbs per week. I set it to 25% calorie reduction which it told me is dangerous. What I do not understand is that I look at myfitnesspal and it is telling me to eat 2090 which I understand does not include exercise and the TDEE does but that is like almost 35% calorie reduction I just did that math on it. I am definitely going to raise my calories because exercising late at night makes in complicated and I do not usually add my exercise into the myfitnesspal app.

    Yup, the number MFP was telling me to eat is a dangerous number for me too. The number MFP tells me to eat is almost a 2000 daily calorie deficit. You'll know though, especially if you use a site like trendweight. It will tell you what your actual deficit was based on your results on the scale and then you can tweak it as necessary. I could probably safely do a 1000 calorie actual deficit, but, 750-ish actual deficit is just fine by me. I'm not hungry all the time, but, the weight loss is still consistent enough to be motivating. :)
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    edited May 2017
    Yes, I have an opinion ... but others have already said what I would advise.
  • Luna3386
    Luna3386 Posts: 888 Member
    I honestly calculated my tdee at sedentary and lightly active and split the difference to find what works for me. You may need to do the same.
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