TDEE and BMR.. please help clarify

jldaley09
jldaley09 Posts: 219 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I went to the fat to fit site and did my calculations. based on all my information including my fat %, using lightly active because I am on my feet working but not always walking and I work out at least 3 days a week.. my calories should be 2038. Here is what I don't understand.. is that counting the potential exercise calories or would the exercise calories be in addition to that. If I ate 2000 calories one day and then worked out and burned 400, would that mean I need to eat 2400?

For those of you that use this method, do you just set your own calories in the food part of MFP and ignore the "potential" loss it says..
I have a nagging feeling Im not eating enough food.. I feel hungry a lot and I have only lost 2 lbs this month despite exercising and watching what I eat with the occasional treat. I average about 1300-1400 calories a day. My body fat % has gone down a little.. but no inches and very little weight.

Replies

  • jenluvsushi
    jenluvsushi Posts: 933 Member
    TDEE means all the calories you burned in the entire day including from exercise. Take your TDEE (and those on-line calculators are just estimates by the way) and eat less than that number to create your deficit. I got a bodymedia so I know what my TDEE is every day. Some people say to eat 15-20% below your TDEE but I like 500-1000 calories below because my TDEE is so high.....When you creat your deficit, try not to eat below your BMR. On non-workout days when I do pretty much nothing, I burn around 2300 calories and I eat about 1800 which is above my BMR. On workout days I burn about 2700-3200 calories and I eat 1800-2200 depending on how hungry I am.
  • Jenjaz1910
    Jenjaz1910 Posts: 433 Member
    Basically you need to NET (calories consumed minus calories burnt thru exercise) no lower than your BMR!! So basically
    if you BMR is let's say 1360 and your TDEE is 2038. You consumed 1360 calories thru food and drink but burnt 200 thru exercise you would need to eat those 200 to get your NET to your BMR! If you deduct 20% off your TDEE 1631 and set that as your calorie goal for the day then you aim to eat as much as that daily then as long as you don't burn more than 271 cals your NET will be at or above your BMR and you should still see a steady yet healthy weight loss. If you burn more than 271 thru exercise you will then need to eat some back to hit at it above your BMR! Hope this makes sense? X
  • PrncessBre
    PrncessBre Posts: 444 Member
    Bump
  • callikia
    callikia Posts: 226 Member
    bump
  • jldaley09
    jldaley09 Posts: 219 Member
    I am still pretty confused but Its starting to make more sense.. it says my BMR is 1784... the fitness place I go to said I have a lot of lean muscle mass even though I am overweight.. the fat to fit site said my total calories should be 2038. Not sure what to do with those numbers..
  • phee03r
    phee03r Posts: 14 Member
    I net 200 calories more than my BMR, so I just set my goal to that on mfp. I never exercise so much that I go over my TDEE, so I create a defecit that way.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    I went to the fat to fit site and did my calculations. based on all my information including my fat %, using lightly active because I am on my feet working but not always walking and I work out at least 3 days a week.. my calories should be 2038. Here is what I don't understand.. is that counting the potential exercise calories or would the exercise calories be in addition to that. If I ate 2000 calories one day and then worked out and burned 400, would that mean I need to eat 2400?

    For those of you that use this method, do you just set your own calories in the food part of MFP and ignore the "potential" loss it says..
    I have a nagging feeling Im not eating enough food.. I feel hungry a lot and I have only lost 2 lbs this month despite exercising and watching what I eat with the occasional treat. I average about 1300-1400 calories a day. My body fat % has gone down a little.. but no inches and very little weight.

    The fat 2 fit numbers are the TDEE for your goal weight, at your current exercise levels, so no, you don't add back in your exercise calories.

    Don't worry about what projected loss MFP tells you, I have set my MFP to 1600 and it tells me I will lose 0.2lbs per week. I don't. I am averaging 1.5lbs.
  • charliesmagic
    charliesmagic Posts: 55
    Bump to read later. Good post - - I was wondering the same thing!
  • jenniferdances1
    jenniferdances1 Posts: 86 Member
    I'm interested in knowing this as well.
  • stephie4111
    stephie4111 Posts: 118
    ok on mfp my goal says 1540 food eaten today 653 exercise minus 307 net is 346 so should i be20 eting back the 307
  • MrsLong1980
    MrsLong1980 Posts: 181 Member
    I have just taken the step myself and upped my calories on MFP to reflect this, just crossing my fingers and going for it now! Good luck :)
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    ok on mfp my goal says 1540 food eaten today 653 exercise minus 307 net is 346 so should i be20 eting back the 307

    Yes - to maintain the deficit you chose when you entered your info on MFP, you eat until your "remaining" is Zero.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    I am still pretty confused but Its starting to make more sense.. it says my BMR is 1784... the fitness place I go to said I have a lot of lean muscle mass even though I am overweight.. the fat to fit site said my total calories should be 2038. Not sure what to do with those numbers..

    I struggle with this too! I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I think you should always eat at least your BMR calories (i.e. eat back all the exercise calories you've burned to get get to a net 1784) otherwise your body will go into starvation mode and not only your weight loss will slow but it's unhealthy as you may begin to lose muscle mass.

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