TDEE - What is it and why you should not eat below your BMR
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Ok so I am gonna have to get you to confirm things with me too - dumb it down as someone said...
I ran through those sites and here's what I got:
Female
Age 41
HT- 64"
WT 187
Mod exercise - work out 5-6 days a week, 3 days cardio, one day powerlifting, one day crossfit type workouts - I am training for a 10 k at the moment!
BMR= 1571
RMR= 1554
TDEE= 2435
I have been with a personal trainer for 3 years - 2 to 3 days per week and I just recently dropped her down to 1 day per week and I'm doing the rest on my own. I have her for my heavy lift days. She always wanted me eating 2100 calories/day while I was with her 2-3 days per week but once I dropped her to 1 day per week, I decided to "shock the scale" and dropped my calories down to 1400 per day. The scale finally moved for me and she told me just yesterday that this is fine and dandy, however, I should be eating more than 1400....she said to crank it back up to 2100 or so. I just cannot wrap my brain around eating that much food!! ACK! I will try this for a month and see what happens, but I really need you to let me know exactly.....
HOW MUCH SHOULD I BE EATING?! LOL....this seems to make sense, but I am like some others - after reading everyone's questions and info - I'm a bit lost!
HELP!!?!!?? LOL0 -
OK...me again - went and read the discussion on "what to expect when upping calories" and I will change my last post - I will not quit after one month! LOL...I will need to trust the program and go with it! Thanks - great analogies there!
Still need to know what I'm supposed to eat - thanks!!!! This site is awesome! xoxoxxo0 -
Ladies I am having the hardest time quoting on my phone so those that have asked what next...
TDEE - 15% is your daily calorie intake...now when you workout if you burn a lot of calories then you should eat no less than Net of BMR.
Example your cut is 1800 and BMR 1400 if you burn 400 calories or less you eat 1800 for the day. If you have a high burn over 400 then you eat the excess so you net at least BMR. For instance a burn of 600 then you need to eat an extra 200, so total cals that day is 2000.
I apologize for any confusion...when I started this journey from reading NROLWFW I ate my maintenance calories on nonworkout days and added 200 on lift days. So that is what I had been sharing. After further research and chatting with 31Prvrbs using the TDEE calculation which takes into account activity, it is not mandatory to eat back exercise calories unless you have a high burn day, then you should net BMR. Hope that helps.0 -
Alright - I think I have it!!! Non-workout days for me, I eat 2000 calories and I do not go below 1500 cal NET. Got it! I hope LOL....thank you Lucia!!!0
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:happy: Ahhh - DING! light bulb just came on - think I got it!0
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Also, for me the easiest way to keep track...I updated my MFP daily goal to my TDEE cut value(the weight loss will look miserably low on MFP when you do this...just warning ya:-). Then I build my meal plan everyday to hit my daily 1900. Now when I add my exercise, I then watch my home page where it shows cals eaten, exercise and then your NET...so I see 1456 NET calories or more...cha ching I know I don't have to eat another morsel...
If someone else has a better way of doing it, please share...I know some that change their mfp goals all the time...I can't do that.. I rather just watch my homepage for my daily Net...0 -
Lol okay cool. It's crazy how I'm learning that all of this information is so important to for me. So is the BMR the same as my "resting" days calories of 1639. And the activity calories the same as my work out calories at 2254? If so I have this down pack!
Your RMR/BMR is what you need if for basic bodily function...breathing and nothing else for the most part...no movement.
TDEE is your maintenance calories...takes into account you going to work, exercise and all that...
You calculate your TDEE and subtract 15% off that for your calories to eat on NON-workout days.
so on workout days you eat more the your BMR? or less? I have figured out my non workout days calorie intake...(2300) i am in shock right now....(inner fat girl talking). But I still dont know how much to eat on workout days. someone helpppp....0 -
Lol okay cool. It's crazy how I'm learning that all of this information is so important to for me. So is the BMR the same as my "resting" days calories of 1639. And the activity calories the same as my work out calories at 2254? If so I have this down pack!
Your RMR/BMR is what you need if for basic bodily function...breathing and nothing else for the most part...no movement.
TDEE is your maintenance calories...takes into account you going to work, exercise and all that...
You calculate your TDEE and subtract 15% off that for your calories to eat on NON-workout days.
so on workout days you eat more the your BMR? or less? I have figured out my non workout days calorie intake...(2300) i am in shock right now....(inner fat girl talking). But I still dont know how much to eat on workout days. someone helpppp....
Ok, everyday eat TDEE - 15%...the only time you will eat more is when your exercise cals causes you to NET less than BMR.
Ex. daily cal is 1800
BMR 1500
You burn 300, then your NET cals is 1500 which is BMR...GREAT no add'l calories needed.
But when you burn 300 or more, then you need to start eating the excess over 300 so you NET BMR
So let's say you burn 600, then you need to eat 300 plus your 1800 which gets you to a NET calories of BMR.
Hope this helps0 -
Maybe I can share how I have MFP set up for me.
BMR is 1900 (Never eat below this)
TDEE is 2400 on non-workout days
TDEE is 2800 on workout days.
I set MFP calories to always have me aim for 2000 calories. My non-workout TDEE minus fifteen percent (ish). Now on workout days- I enter in my workout cals burned and voila- MFP tells me automatically to eat higher and nosh those cals. This puts me automatically up high enough to keep 20% decreased from my TDEE.
Day examples-
Monday (upper body workout)
TDEE is 2800 on workout days.
MFP is set to 2000 (based on my calculations above)
I add my calorie burn from my workout- now MFP tells me automatically to eat those back. So I eat them
Tuesday- (rest day)
TDEE is 2400 on rest days
MFP is set to 2000 cals
So I eat 2000 cals (fifteen percent below my TDEE by my calculations earlier) and call it a day.
This way- if I skip a workout day or if a workout is more or less cals than I 'planned' for- voila- automatic adjustment to the plan by what I enter as my exercise cals.0 -
Lol okay cool. It's crazy how I'm learning that all of this information is so important to for me. So is the BMR the same as my "resting" days calories of 1639. And the activity calories the same as my work out calories at 2254? If so I have this down pack!
Your RMR/BMR is what you need if for basic bodily function...breathing and nothing else for the most part...no movement.
TDEE is your maintenance calories...takes into account you going to work, exercise and all that...
You calculate your TDEE and subtract 15% off that for your calories to eat on NON-workout days.
so on workout days you eat more the your BMR? or less? I have figured out my non workout days calorie intake...(2300) i am in shock right now....(inner fat girl talking). But I still dont know how much to eat on workout days. someone helpppp....
Ok, everyday eat TDEE - 15%...the only time you will eat more is when your exercise cals causes you to NET less than BMR.
Ex. daily cal is 1800
BMR 1500
You burn 300, then your NET cals is 1500 which is BMR...GREAT no add'l calories needed.
But when you burn 300 or more, then you need to start eating the excess over 300 so you NET BMR
So let's say you burn 600, then you need to eat 300 plus your 1800 which gets you to a NET calories of BMR.
Hope this helps
YUP!!! GOT IT!! Thank you!! I still can't believe I am supposed to be eating 2300ca though! I'm still in shock and a little nervous. Math was never my strongest subject!
Do I omit cardio? Just lift? I'm so confused and skeptical but still want to try it b/c I am at a plateau and I want to break it.0 -
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Thanks for the info, it is a little confusing but I think I figured it out. My TDEE came in at a whopping 2244 cal so even subtracting the 15% I am still supposed to eat 1900 cal. My BMR is 1448 so I should never go below that? I am too frightened to start at 1900 so I think I'll jump to 1700 first. I've changed my nutritional goals in MFP but it says 0 weight loss expected per week! Over the last month, I have averaged 1500 cal consumed per day and worked out 5 days per week averaging 400 cal per workout (always rounding the number down). I workout twice a week strength training for 30 minutes with a trainer and do interval running on my treadmil. I am going to be adding a couple days strength training at home.
Over the last month, I've only recently lost 2lbs and 1.5 in off my waist and .75 in off my hips. It has been so frustrating to go through this again. This is the 3rd time and I hope it will be the last. It is twice as hard at 55 than it was at 49!
Do you think I should just jump in and start the 1900 cal a day I'm afraid it will cause a weight gain and I will get more discouraged .0 -
Lol okay cool. It's crazy how I'm learning that all of this information is so important to for me. So is the BMR the same as my "resting" days calories of 1639. And the activity calories the same as my work out calories at 2254? If so I have this down pack!
Your RMR/BMR is what you need if for basic bodily function...breathing and nothing else for the most part...no movement.
TDEE is your maintenance calories...takes into account you going to work, exercise and all that...
You calculate your TDEE and subtract 15% off that for your calories to eat on NON-workout days.
so on workout days you eat more the your BMR? or less? I have figured out my non workout days calorie intake...(2300) i am in shock right now....(inner fat girl talking). But I still dont know how much to eat on workout days. someone helpppp....
Ok, everyday eat TDEE - 15%...the only time you will eat more is when your exercise cals causes you to NET less than BMR.
Ex. daily cal is 1800
BMR 1500
You burn 300, then your NET cals is 1500 which is BMR...GREAT no add'l calories needed.
But when you burn 300 or more, then you need to start eating the excess over 300 so you NET BMR
So let's say you burn 600, then you need to eat 300 plus your 1800 which gets you to a NET calories of BMR.
Hope this helps
YUP!!! GOT IT!! Thank you!! I still can't believe I am supposed to be eating 2300ca though! I'm still in shock and a little nervous. Math was never my strongest subject!
Do I omit cardio? Just lift? I'm so confused and skeptical but still want to try it b/c I am at a plateau and I want to break it.
Oh no you can do cardio, just be sure when yu burn that your net cals are at least your bmr.0 -
Thanks for the info, it is a little confusing but I think I figured it out. My TDEE came in at a whopping 2244 cal so even subtracting the 15% I am still supposed to eat 1900 cal. My BMR is 1448 so I should never go below that? I am too frightened to start at 1900 so I think I'll jump to 1700 first. I've changed my nutritional goals in MFP but it says 0 weight loss expected per week! Over the last month, I have averaged 1500 cal consumed per day and worked out 5 days per week averaging 400 cal per workout (always rounding the number down). I workout twice a week strength training for 30 minutes with a trainer and do interval running on my treadmil. I am going to be adding a couple days strength training at home.
Over the last month, I've only recently lost 2lbs and 1.5 in off my waist and .75 in off my hips. It has been so frustrating to go through this again. This is the 3rd time and I hope it will be the last. It is twice as hard at 55 than it was at 49!
Do you think I should just jump in and start the 1900 cal a day I'm afraid it will cause a weight gain and I will get more discouraged .
Ok, I personally did it slowly in ingorance meaning at 1200 I was frustrated, hungry not seeing results, I bumped to 1350 not knowing anything about anything just couldn't stick to 1200...I dropped a little and bumped to 15000 same bounce around frustration...I literally stopped and asked God what is going on and to please gve me wisdom, knowledge and understanding and a couple days later I started reading the forums I needed to see bumped up to 1800 after eading an excerpt from NROWL, got the NROLW book and the 1800 was actually the maintence cals amount using the calulation in the book and oh also added 200 on lift days. I would eat 1800 and anywhere between 2000-2500. I felt so stinking liberated and energized. I kicked my lifting into gear and cut back a bit on cardio so I didn't have to eat so much.
Said all that to say when I found out about it I jumped right in head first...lol. so let's say when I was at the 1200 (frustrated like crazy) would LUCIA have bumped straight up...YES!!! That's my perosnality. Plus I knew I prayed about it and knew just the way all the information was presented I knew it was His divine hand putting everything in place and that the science behind it just made sense.
So if I were you would I jump..yes, but you have to be comfy with it. You jump in at 1900 just know you probably will see a spike, but you do the leap then when it is over it is over... or you can up slowly which will cause a smaller spike. Either way your body needs fuel and giving it more period will help.
Be sure to read what to expect when you up...it helps me...I go back and reread when I am freaking out over the scale...yes I have my moments, but I tell you this journey has been so rewarding...my body was trying to survive...now it is loving the food and demanding more...I plateaued at 1800, so I upped 4wks ago to 1900 girl I shot up 4lbs, but thought hah I did not eat 14000 cals...so patience and telling the scale monkey that lives on my back to be quiet and wks later with no lifting last couple days, no tom, no high sodium I am down the 1.2lbs net up that was consistent the last few days and an additional .6lbs....so my body is now using up that extra and releasing more fat.
Ok whew I can yack. Let us know what you decide and keep us posted.0 -
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Need to read this in full. Marked for later 0
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ANewLucia, thanks for the quick response. I will keep checking back, this group is terrific.0
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Hi,
I´m not quite sure, how exactly calculate everything for me. I´m not the sportiest person, I have to admit.
I like my two hours of Zumba a week and that´s about it with sport. But I´m a nurse which keeps me running around most of my working days. So I´m not quite sure in which activity group I fit. And when I calculated everything. Do I eat that number of calories every day or should I make differences? HELP PLEASE, I´m confused
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Hi,
I´m not quite sure, how exactly calculate everything for me. I´m not the sportiest person, I have to admit.
I like my two hours of Zumba a week and that´s about it with sport. But I´m a nurse which keeps me running around most of my working days. So I´m not quite sure in which activity group I fit. And when I calculated everything. Do I eat that number of calories every day or should I make differences? HELP PLEASE, I´m confused
Since you're on your feet most of the day, I'd pick a "moderately active" level. The amount that you get when you do the calculation is your "maintenance" cals, deduct 15% from that amount for weight loss cals.0 -
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I began looking into eating more because I have been feeling whooped by the end of the day. I started mfp because I want to be more healthy in the long run (as well as shed a few pounds).
Can someone help me check my calculations, please?
I am 42, female, 5'7" currently 150. My BMR shows at 1420. I have been working out 5-6 days a week on the elliptical with about 400-430 calories burned, other than that I am pretty sedentary. So...what activity level would I be at for the TDEE? I think I am kind of inbetween levels (moderate to heavy) which is somewhere between 2189 and 2447 (2318 avg) less the 15% = 1970. Does this sound right?
So I should shoot for the 1970? Wow! that sounds way more sustainable than the 1200 that left me feeling so crappy.0 -
I began looking into eating more because I have been feeling whooped by the end of the day. I started mfp because I want to be more healthy in the long run (as well as shed a few pounds).
Can someone help me check my calculations, please?
I am 42, female, 5'7" currently 150. My BMR shows at 1420. I have been working out 5-6 days a week on the elliptical with about 400-430 calories burned, other than that I am pretty sedentary. So...what activity level would I be at for the TDEE? I think I am kind of inbetween levels (moderate to heavy) which is somewhere between 2189 and 2447 (2318 avg) less the 15% = 1970. Does this sound right?
So I should shoot for the 1970? Wow! that sounds way more sustainable than the 1200 that left me feeling so crappy.
Yep! Looks like you've got it And yes- it will feel like waking up from a deep sleep. Don't forget to read the 'what to expect' sticky thread so you won't get blind-sided by anything. Very excited for you to try this 0 -
I began looking into eating more because I have been feeling whooped by the end of the day. I started mfp because I want to be more healthy in the long run (as well as shed a few pounds).
Can someone help me check my calculations, please?
I am 42, female, 5'7" currently 150. My BMR shows at 1420. I have been working out 5-6 days a week on the elliptical with about 400-430 calories burned, other than that I am pretty sedentary. So...what activity level would I be at for the TDEE? I think I am kind of inbetween levels (moderate to heavy) which is somewhere between 2189 and 2447 (2318 avg) less the 15% = 1970. Does this sound right?
So I should shoot for the 1970? Wow! that sounds way more sustainable than the 1200 that left me feeling so crappy.
Yep! Looks like you've got it And yes- it will feel like waking up from a deep sleep. Don't forget to read the 'what to expect' sticky thread so you won't get blind-sided by anything. Very excited for you to try this
Fabulous! Thanks! I am going away for 5 days so this will help me step away from the scale.0 -
Ladies I am having the hardest time quoting on my phone so those that have asked what next...
TDEE - 15% is your daily calorie intake...now when you workout if you burn a lot of calories then you should eat no less than Net of BMR.
Example your cut is 1800 and BMR 1400 if you burn 400 calories or less you eat 1800 for the day. If you have a high burn over 400 then you eat the excess so you net at least BMR. For instance a burn of 600 then you need to eat an extra 200, so total cals that day is 2000.
I apologize for any confusion...when I started this journey from reading NROLWFW I ate my maintenance calories on nonworkout days and added 200 on lift days. So that is what I had been sharing. After further research and chatting with 31Prvrbs using the TDEE calculation which takes into account activity, it is not mandatory to eat back exercise calories unless you have a high burn day, then you should net BMR. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the answer. Sorry, but what I still worry about is that my BMR (1514) and my moderate level TDEE-25% (1562) are pretty much the same, so if I do any exercise, I will automatically go under my BMR, which you said is bad. Therefore at the moment I do eat all my exercise back . Would it be simpler to just set my TDEE to no exercise and eat all back or carry on with a moderate TDEE-25% and just eat 1562 and not eat exercise back . Ugh, just don't want to eat too much and lose the progress I made. Thanks0 -
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Okay, I think I have this down. I've read most a good chunk of the posts, but for some reason this stuff is kind of eluding me.
I calculated my BMR at 2483
I calculated my TDEE at 2978
TDEE-15% = 2531
So based on those calculations, I ALWAYS need a net calorie intake of ~2500 cals?
Why does that not seem right?
Here are my stats if anyone wants to duplicate:
Age:32
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 272 lbs
Activity level: Sedentary0 -
Sounds about right to me.
So, give it a try for a few weeks... see what happens.0
This discussion has been closed.