TDEE activity level help??

Hi There, I'm trying to calculate my TDEE, however I'm not sure whether I should be selecting "heavy exercise" or "athlete 2x"

My training is as follows
Monday: 30 min hiit. 1hr legs weight training. 4km walk.
Tues: 45 min LISS cardio. 1 hour upperbody weight training. 4km walk.
Wednesday: 30 minutes hiit. 1hr boxing. 4km walk.
Thurs: 1hr boxing. 5km run. 4km walk.
Friday: 45 min LISS cardio. 1hr legs weight training. 4km walk.
Saturday: 1hr full body crossfit style workout.
Sunday: rest.

I think it'd be heavy exercise, but I don't want to under eat.

Some advice would be appreciated.

Replies

  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,983 Member
    What are you doing the rest of the time? ie desk job, watching TV, etc or do you also have an active job?

    For me, when I was doing two workouts a day heavy exercise would have been plenty, sometimes even too much as the rest of the time I was pretty inactive (very sedentary desk job).

    Currently, with my new job and part time job, without additional exercise, heavy exercise is about right. If I was to be adding in additional workouts, there will be more adjustments I need to make.

    Hard to find the balance sometimes, as I generally tend to fidget and have little movements all day so my "needs" tend to be a bit higher than most recommendations (not crazy outside the math, but it's outside the typical recommended range).
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 865 Member
    Choose one of 'Moderate' or 'Heavy' exercise --- use that to calculate your TDEE. I'd choose the higher one and do that for ~3-4 weeks and see what the results look like then make any needed adjustments from there. They are just estimates and usually it will take some trial/error.

    You're doing a lot through the week, so if I were you, I'd choose 'Heavy' first just to make sure you're not under-fueling yourself for your activities. Then see what happens.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    I think it'd be heavy exercise, but I don't want to under eat.

    Sounds like a reasonable idea.
    Makes sense to err on the side of caution if exercise performance is important to you. After a number of weeks you will know whether you need to adjust up or down.

    Remember it's just an estimate to get you started rather than an accurate calculation.

    Your daily activity also can have a significant bearing on your calorie needs.
    (e.g. a heavy exerciser with a desk job and no children or home to look after will have significantly lower total calorie needs than a heavy exerciser with an active job plus home and childcare duties.)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    I would also ask what the rest of the day looks like...you have to take that into account too. Depending on that, it could fall somewhere between moderate and heavy. I don't think it rises to the level of athlete. I use the SailRabbit TDEE calculator which I find to be pretty accurate for me...even with a pretty heavy exercise load I fall into the moderate category with a multiplier of 1.55 because I have a desk job and I'm on my butt quite a lot in a given day. You also kinda have to factor in that some exercises have a greater CO than others. Lifting for example, isn't a huge calorie burn.

    Just start with moderate or heavy and start analyzing your own data for adjustments. These calculators only give you a rough, but reasonable estimate to get started with things.