Is my TDEE really this low?

Definitely seems possible, althought i'm more inclined to say that your food intake it probably off by a smidge so 1577 isn't probably 100% accurate.

But on my sedentary days (like 2,000-3,000 steps) i maintain on about 1550 calories or so and i'm 5'4, 118 lbs. If i'm active (8,000+ steps) I maintain on 1,800-ish and if i have a weight lifting session that number is closer to 2,100.

So, i'm guessing i would try and increase my non-exercise activity here and there because you'll want to be able to maintain your goal weight once you reach it. I would also think about ways to incorporate exercise that burns enough calories for it to be worth it.

You could still be eating more than you think from inaccurate calories on packages etc... but yeah, activity is key.

It absolutely can be that low. On a workday when I don't actually do much -- so I just walk to work and back -- I'll burn (so, my TDEE) in the ballpark of 1575. I'm a little shorter than you, and 20 pounds lighter -- but again, that TDEE includes walking half a mile to and from work. So I could see it being lower if I didn't have that walk.

SazFour wrote: »

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question!

I calculated my TDEE based on the calories I have eaten and the weight I've lost in the last month (including bad days) and it's 1577.5. I always thought it would be more like 1700-1800 like mfp calculates.

Even adding on 1000 in case I got things wrong here and there only brings it to 1613. If it's that low now I don't want to know what it'll be when I get to my goal!

Other details:
Female 18 SW: 206 CW: 140 GW: 126 [Edit] height: 5'6
~ I lost 2.4lbs in the last month and for the past few months

I don't work out but I also don't sit around all day (well not every day ~ I can go from really active to doing absolutely nothing)

Also I weigh everything on a food scale

Possibly. HOWEVER, I would say that you might have something in your regular diet which has an inaccurate nutritional label. I was buying this frozen breaded chicken and it was not the calories it said it was. When I switched to another brand my weight loss was a lot closer to where it should have been. If you've got some item that you eat fairly often, check nutritional labels of similar items and see if the one you are eating is quite different.

I use trendweight to do the same sort of thing you're doing. When I eat at a 1000 calorie deficit according to my fitbit data, I've only got an actual deficit of around 700 calories or so, varies by the week.

1577 makes sense for a couple reasons. A lot of people who start out obese and lose more than 10% of their body weight experience a TDEE that is around 25% less than it should be. I can't find the medical journal it was in. But, if you're curious I will hunt it down.

Your TDEE isn't as bad as that. If you setup your MFP for sedentary, your TDEE should be around 1718, which makes your TDEE only around 8% less than what it should be, I believe. (sorry, rushed through the math. ) If that 8% holds, you are looking at a TDEE of around 1480 or so at your goal weight. So, the worst has already happened, it's only going to get marginally worse. (See, there's a bright side! )

Additionally, when you get to the point where you are eating at maintenance, you can play around with your intake a bit; have a higher day, then a lower day, change it up a bit to possibly trick your body into a slightly higher TDEE.

I've regained my weight, (laid off in 2008, gained everything back in three months that I'd kept off for 10 years) but, I remember back when I was hitting maintenance. I want to say I was at maintenance for close to 6 months before I was back to more normal TDEE.

If you aren't too upset with where you are at, you could always try having just enough deficit for a lb of loss a month to try to get your body to nudge your TDEE up a bit. Even a couple months closer to maintenance might bump it up a bit. But, it might be hard to get back into a weight loss frame of mind. So, you've really got to go with your instincts there.

Additionally, a bit of added consistent activity can make that a lot more bearable and give you back a few more calories to eat.

Just some thoughts.

If you are looking at a short amount of time and you're estimating Calories based on 3500 Cal = 1lb you can easily have inaccuracies that will create problems for your numbers.

Suggestions:

Look at your weight trend through a trending weight app or web site and calculate based on that trend as opposed to your scale weight.

Do multiple calculations for periods of 10, 20, 30, 45, 60 days and bracket them by changing the start days by one or two days to get a better sense of what your actual average is over time.

When you do decide on what your TDEE is, don't resign yourself to only eating that from now to forever. To begin with there is a high likelihood that when you're trying to lose weight your TDEE is slightly depressed as compared to when you would be trying to maintain weight.

When you get to maintenance try to bump up that calculated TDEE by 100 Cal at a time till you see a clear long term gain in your trending weight app and then back off enough to make things even.

I agree that a month isn't long enough. My actual maintenance, calculated across ~15 months in the same 10-pound range, is 2,100 + intentional exercise. I've had months where the same calculation was as low as 1,850 and as high as 2,500. I've even had a three month period averaging under 1,900.

I'm 5'3, 43, desk job, and started at 195. 2,100 works for me at weights in the 150s; I haven't maintained for a long enough period to say for any other range.