TDEE is everything

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  • NicolePatriot
    NicolePatriot Posts: 621 Member
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    bump
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    TOO MANY ACRONYMS, TOO MUCH MATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Can I not just accurately measure and record my food and accurately record my exercise and just trust that MFP is doing the right math? If I do that and eat the calories they tell me to, I should lose weight right?

    If you do that, keep track of your results, and adjust as needed then yes you will have success.

    Even if you go to a nutritionist and get the most snazzy tests and calculations done available, they still wouldn't be able to give you an exact 'eat 1542.13212355 calories per day and you will lose at the rate you want' (they would be able to give you a more accurate estimate of course). You still may have to tweak the program and customize it to best fit you personally.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    I wouldn't say the IF calculator at http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/ is pure trash but it's roughly 90% accurate. Nothing is 100%, not even a Bodybugg or BM Fit. The calculator you posted is decent but it's also not 100%. It also instructs people to eat less on a rest day, and more on a training day which isn't necessary.

    You can take the weekly TDEE average, do the quick math, and then eat the same amount every day and it will be just as effective as switching your calorie intake depending on rest/training days.

    How often do you recalculate this figure? Is it time based, weight loss/gain based intervals or what?

    As long as your training schedule doesn't change, you don't need to recalculate this figure very often. Maybe check every 5-10lbs lost just to be sure the numbers are still close. You won't notice a significant change in the numbers until your BMR takes a hit usually after 20lbs lost or so.
  • beduffbrickie
    beduffbrickie Posts: 646 Member
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    great post! enjoyed reading that!
  • gaberieger
    gaberieger Posts: 69
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    When dieting and either trying to lose weight or even gain weight if you are bulking, the most important aspect of your plan is knowing your TDEE. You cannot proceed forward and make progress for the long term without knowing what this is, how to obtain it, and what to do with it.

    TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expedenture

    TDEE is basically how many calories you burn in a 24 hour period. This is all of your activity including exercises, eating, sleeping, driving a car and yelling at stupid drivers on the highway...whatever it is. If you're doing something, you're burning calories. In all actuality even if you're just sitting down at a desk you're still burning, just not as much.

    In order to avoid making this thread a TL;DR thread, I'll be quick and simple. (no snide comments please and you know who you are)

    Example to lose weight:

    Take a weekly average of your TDEE. Let's pretend you use a Bodymedia FIT and you burn 3000 calories on your workout days (5 days a week), and 2500 calories on your rest days (2 days a week). This would be a weekly average of 20,000 calories for the week.

    For the mathematically challenged that's: 3000x5 = 15,000 and 2500x2 = 5000 which equals 20,000. (Yes I really had to break this down for some people)

    Moving on....

    You are burning 20,000 calories per week. This is your WEEKLY TDEE. Let's pretend you want to lose 1lb a week. Since 1lb is 3,500 calories then you do the math (again):

    20,000 - 3,500 = 16,500

    This means that you need to eat 16,500 calories PER WEEK in order to lose 1lb for that week. If you are really bored and just don't care, you could technically eat 16,500 calories in ONE DAY and not eat anything the rest of the week and still lose 1lb although you will be completely miserable and you'd probably end up extremely sick if not comatose...but anyways.

    Normal people will break this down to eating roughly 2350 calories per day and they will still lose 1lb a week. In order to minimize muscle loss you will need to eat approximately 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass, or if you don't know what that is, you can just use bodyweight. Also, you need to do some sort of resistance weight training and lift heavy to minimize muscle loss as well.

    As I typed this, I realized it's not as "short" as I wanted it to be, but I figured I'm making a comeback on the forums so ..... =)

    Anyways, take this explanation for what it's worth and above all, you don't need any "diet pills" to lose weight.

    Stay disciplined, stick to your plan, make sure you document your food and the weight will come off.

    Peace.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    As long as your training schedule doesn't change, you don't need to recalculate this figure very often. Maybe check every 5-10lbs lost just to be sure the numbers are still close. You won't notice a significant change in the numbers until your BMR takes a hit usually after 20lbs lost or so.

    I was doing 25, cool thx.
  • Sasha_Bear
    Sasha_Bear Posts: 625 Member
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    A friend directed me to this post glad I decided to read it1 Very informative and makes sense when you break it down like that!
  • PoochPottery
    PoochPottery Posts: 205
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    bump
  • Novikay
    Novikay Posts: 62
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    bump
  • BekkiC21
    BekkiC21 Posts: 8
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    Great posts guys, very informative
  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
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    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    Or what I suggest is everyone out there educate themselves on how to calculate your TDEE and Macronutrients the manual way. This is the best write up I've seen on how to do it.

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981

    Great tool! Thank you for posting!
  • Divagettinfitin2011
    Divagettinfitin2011 Posts: 500 Member
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    Bump!
  • 2012dancingqueen
    2012dancingqueen Posts: 58 Member
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    i am a newbie so please excuse my ignorance.

    Question:


    So what is the best method?

    1. Eat at TDEE + exercise calories
    2. Eat at TDEE (excluding exercise calories)
    3. Eat at BMR +exercise calories
    4. Eat at BMR (excluding exercise calories)
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    i am a newbie so please excuse my ignorance.

    Question:


    So what is the best method?

    1. Eat at TDEE + exercise calories
    2. Eat at TDEE (excluding exercise calories)
    3. Eat at BMR +exercise calories
    4. Eat at BMR (excluding exercise calories)

    If you have a good reliable estimate of your TDEE, then it technically has the exercise calories built in. So you would eat TDEE - calorie deficit.

    If you are using MFP #'s, and all your settings are dialed in pretty reasonably, it should roughly represent your TDEE sans exercise, so in that case you eat MFPtarget + exercise calories.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
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    Er... according to that site MFP's numbers are exactly right for me and my weight loss goals. TDEE and MFP are in complete agreeance.
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    Or what I suggest is everyone out there educate themselves on how to calculate your TDEE and Macronutrients the manual way. This is the best write up I've seen on how to do it.

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981
    That IF calculator is pure trash.

    Here is the problem with calculators. People think they are facts. They are just guesses, you have to take the time to modify and adjust. It will take a few weeks to determine your maintenance. Yes, that includes the scale going up and down for a few weeks.

    Get over that and succeed.

    This calculator is much better.

    http://www.fatceliac.com/calculators/

    Funny, I have been posting this since I got here. Finally I am glad people are catching on.

    I wouldn't say the IF calculator at http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/ is pure trash but it's roughly 90% accurate. Nothing is 100%, not even a Bodybugg or BM Fit. The calculator you posted is decent but it's also not 100%. It also instructs people to eat less on a rest day, and more on a training day which isn't necessary.

    You can take the weekly TDEE average, do the quick math, and then eat the same amount every day and it will be just as effective as switching your calorie intake depending on rest/training days.
    Trash was the wrong word. That calculator is notorious for overestimating. So bad in fact that Martin Berkhan said it was bunk. He was the creator of leangains. So, I will go by what he said.
  • 2012dancingqueen
    2012dancingqueen Posts: 58 Member
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    i am a newbie so please excuse my ignorance.

    Question:


    So what is the best method?

    1. Eat at TDEE + exercise calories
    2. Eat at TDEE (excluding exercise calories)
    3. Eat at BMR +exercise calories
    4. Eat at BMR (excluding exercise calories)

    If you have a good reliable estimate of your TDEE, then it technically has the exercise calories built in. So you would eat TDEE - calorie deficit.

    If you are using MFP #'s, and all your settings are dialed in pretty reasonably, it should roughly represent your TDEE sans exercise, so in that case you eat MFPtarget + exercise calories.

    I'm using the IF calculator (http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc). It says my TDEE is 1618 but that doesn't factor in exercise calories on a day that i might be working out. I had it set to sedentary cuz i have a desk job.
  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
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    thanks, good info here
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    i am a newbie so please excuse my ignorance.

    Question:


    So what is the best method?

    1. Eat at TDEE + exercise calories
    2. Eat at TDEE (excluding exercise calories)
    3. Eat at BMR +exercise calories
    4. Eat at BMR (excluding exercise calories)

    If you have a good reliable estimate of your TDEE, then it technically has the exercise calories built in. So you would eat TDEE - calorie deficit.

    If you are using MFP #'s, and all your settings are dialed in pretty reasonably, it should roughly represent your TDEE sans exercise, so in that case you eat MFPtarget + exercise calories.

    I'm using the IF calculator (http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc). It says my TDEE is 1618 but that doesn't factor in exercise calories on a day that i might be working out. I had it set to sedentary cuz i have a desk job.
    How many times do you workout?

    I work in a office, but I workout 3x a week. I started my TDEE x 1.35.

    This is better anyway.

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981
  • 2012dancingqueen
    2012dancingqueen Posts: 58 Member
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    How many times do you workout?

    I work in a office, but I workout 3x a week. I started my TDEE x 1.35.

    This is better anyway.

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981

    I work out 3x a week also. So - on my workout days i would eat at TDEE x 1.35 then? Or everyday including the days i dont work out?

    I was told not to eat my exercise calories by my nutritionist cuz it defeats the purpose of working out.... but seems like there are two big schools of thought on this.

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