TDEE calculators clarification needed

[Nomad]

Hi everyone. I have a simple question about online TDEE calculators.

Let's say I'm a male that weighs 70kg, 23 years old and has moderate activity according to the calculator's standards. Most calculators will give me an estimation of 2600kcal of daily energy expenditure. Now, let's say I'm using MyFitnessPal to track calorie intake, and aim to maintain my weight. That would mean I have to eat 2600kcal.

I also train 3x/week in the gym and I log my exercise on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. According to MyFitnessPal I spend about 300kcal during this exercise.

Does this mean that on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I have to consume 2900kcal to maintain my weight?

Sorry if this is a stupid question. Thanks in advance.

 

[Seeker]

No. The calculations already took into account your imput activity level. If you were a professional athlete who trains 8 hours a day you would include your activity level as extreme.

 

[CJ]

I'll add that those calculators can only give you a reasonable STARTING point, we're all different. After a couple of weeks, assess if your calorie levels are taking you in the direction that you want. If not, adjust accordingly.

 

[Nomad]

No. The calculations already took into account your imput activity level. If you were a professional athlete who trains 8 hours a day you would include your activity level as extreme.

So, as long as my activity remains "moderate" I should stick to the 2600kcal diet?

Thanks!

I'll add that those calculators can only give you a reasonable STARTING point, we're all different. After a couple of weeks, assess if your calorie levels are taking you in the direction that you want. If not, adjust accordingly.

Of course. The question is still valid, because if some days I'm consuming 2900kcal when I should be consuming 2600kcal then maybe my results will be off not because the calculator is inaccurate but because I'm consuming the wrong amount of calories. This could affect my assumptions for the next time I decide to go on a different diet or my parameters change.

I made the post assuming the calculations are accurate even if they are not most of the time.

 

[CJ]

Any single day doesn't make or break the plan. That's why you should look at averages over multiple weeks.

Plus, there's absolutely ZERO chance of you ever nailing your daily calories in OR out anyway, so don't overthink it. Keep it simple.

Unless you eat nothing but single macro whole foods, weighed to the gram, your calculations of Cals are just ballpark anyway. Take 2 ribeye steaks for example. Even if they're both 12 ounces, they'll have different amount of fat and protein in them, thus different calories. Same with the vast majority of foods.

And if you eat anytthing in a package, they're allowed to be up to 25% off on their nutritional labels. TWENTY FIVE PERCENT.

 

[Nomad]

Any single day doesn't make or break the plan. That's why you should look at averages over multiple weeks.

Plus, there's absolutely ZERO chance of you ever nailing your daily calories in OR out anyway, so don't overthink it. Keep it simple.

True. But if I do as I say the average would be about 2750kcal instead of 2600kcal. Which is not that significant, but if you add jogging (which is do) or some other activity the offset becomes higher and the probability of error does as well.

I know it may seem I'm being too simplistic or overthinking it, but I just used exact numbers to represent my question in a more readable and comprehensible manner. I know those numbers are estimates and they'll most likely never be real.

Edit: Wow I didn't know it was 25%. That's very useful. Thanks!

 

[CJ]

All the numbers you gave, plus the estimated Cals burned during exercises, are just guesses, If you want to be accurate as possible, assess after 2 weeks or so.

Not trying to sound like a jerk, I swear.

Check your average calories over the next two weeks, see what happened.

 

[Nomad]

All the numbers you gave, plus the estimated Cals burned during exercises, are just guesses, If you want to be accurate as possible, assess after 2 weeks or so.

Not trying to sound like a jerk, I swear.

I understand. If I want to have accurate values I need to have accurate data. If I'm eating more than I have to and I gain weight it won't be because the calculator is off but because I ate too much (2750kcal instead of 2600kcal). Now next time I use the calculator I'm going to assume it's off even if it actually wasn't the first time.

I understand where you come from and I appreciate you trying to get the point across. I assure you I know that calculators are not accurate and macro tracking can only get you so far.

Thanks for your input

 

[CJ]

Do it then. You'll end up at the same place anyway, it's not a big deal.

 

[BRICKS]

Bro, you are way over thinking this seriously. Get in what you think is 2600 cals per day. After 2-4 weeks, check the scale and look in the mirror. Add or subtract calories according to your goal and how you're progressing. Reassess in another 2-4 weeks and adjust again. You're not baking a cake where you put in all the ingredients and in a set time you have an end result. You're not gonna fk anything up. This is an ongoing process that continues until you quit or die.

 

[Nomad]

Bro, you are way over thinking this seriously. Get in what you think is 2600 cals per day. After 2-4 weeks, check the scale and look in the mirror. Add or subtract calories according to your goal and how you're progressing. Reassess in another 2-4 weeks and adjust again. You're not baking a cake where you put in all the ingredients and in a set time you have an end result. You're not gonna fk anything up. This is an ongoing process that continues until you quit or die.

I'm not. I just wanted to understand how this calculators function. Everyone thinks I'm overthinking it or being simplistic because they misunderstood the question.

 

[Trump]

There is no answer to your question everyone is different. Trial and error and finding what works for you for your goals is the only way. If i was to guess for myself i would up my carbs on them 3 days around the time you train

I'm not. I just wanted to understand how this calculators function. Everyone thinks I'm overthinking it or being simplistic because they misunderstood the question.

 

[CJ]

I think I understand what you mean. You're asking if you should try to match up your daily calorie intake with your daily calorie expenditure. Am I correct on this?

It's virtually impossible to do that on a daily basis, there's too much "noise", like NEAT, holding water, hormonal fluctuations. etc..

That's why it's better to stretch the window out to a week or more, to soften the curves out, so to speak.

Sure, try to match Cals on a daily basis if you want, it's no big deal. I wouldn't have large fluctuations in daily calories though, don't do a day of 1,000 Cals followed by a 5,000 day, followed by a 2,000 day, etc.. Keep your days between 2500 and 3000, and you'll be fine.

Some people like to have higher calorie off days, to fuel up for the following day's workout, while some don't. A lot of this is personal preference, what works for YOU.

 

[Nomad]

I think I understand what you mean. You're asking if you should try to match up your daily calorie intake with your daily calorie expenditure. Am I correct on this?

It's virtually impossible to do that on a daily basis, there's too much "noise", like NEAT, holding water, hormonal fluctuations. etc..

That's why it's better to stretch the window out to a week or more, to soften the curves out, so to speak.

Sure, try to match Cals on a daily basis if you want, it's no big deal. I wouldn't have large fluctuations in daily calories though, don't do a day of 1,000 Cals followed by a 5,000 day, followed by a 2,000 day, etc.. Keep your days between 2500 and 3000, and you'll be fine.

Some people like to have higher calorie off days, to fuel up for the following day's workout, while some don't. A lot of this is personal preference, what works for YOU.

No I wasn't really asking about nutrition at all. I was just wondering how this different tools interact with each other. Because on the one hand you have TDEE calculators that give you an estimate of your energy expenditure, and on the other hand you have apps like MyFitnessPal that log your exercise and subtract the calories spent during said exercise from your intake.

My question was if this was redundant or if it was accurate.

Example: I tell the TDEE calculator that I do 3 hours of intense cardio every week. That tells me I have a TDEE of 2700kcal. Then I log 2700kcal of food in MyFitnessPal and also log 3 hours of cardio (which according to MyFitnessPal burns 1000kcal. I realize that's my cardio for the whole week but to keep it simple I'll pretend I do it all in one day), which will cause MyFitnessPal to subtract 1000kcal from those 2700kcal and tell me that I have 1000kcal remaining to complete my intake goal, which in turn will take me to consume 3700kcal instead of the 2700kcal I should consume.

Does this mean I'm on a 1000kcal surplus? (Assuming the values are perfectly accurate, which I understand they're not.)

 

[CJ]

Gotcha.

I don't input exercise AT ALL into MFP. I only use it for the one job that it does well, and that's track Cals and Macros, and give you decent graphs of those over time.

If your TDEE calculator is giving you a reasonable Cal intake goal of 2700, aim for that on MFP. Your exercise is already factored in once, no need to add it in a second time, Or MFP will say that you'll be at a deficit then on those days where you input exercise into MFP (assuming all numbers are accurate).

 

[snake]

Your mistake is assuming all these things you're using are balls-on accurate, they aren't. Don't take this the wrong way but you want to go into detail on things you do not understand how those details have been derived.

You got some good advice from some guys who know a lot about both gaining and losing weight. Just follow their instructions and use those tools to get a baseline and adjust up or down in 2 weeks.

 

[Nomad]

Your mistake is assuming all these things you're using are balls-on accurate, they aren't. Don't take this the wrong way but you want to go into detail on things you do not understand how those details have been derived.

You got some good advice from some guys who know a lot about both gaining and losing weight. Just follow their instructions and use those tools to get a baseline and adjust up or down in 2 weeks.

I don't assume that. Look at posts #4, #6 and #8. I said multiple times that I know the numbers are not accurate. I just wanted to know how both tools interact with each other. I'm also not looking for any details. A simple "don't log your exercise into MyFitnessPal because it's redundant" would have sufficed.

 

[CJ]

I don't assume that. Look at posts #4, #6 and #8. I said multiple times that I know the numbers are not accurate. I just wanted to know how both tools interact with each other. I'm also not looking for any details. A simple "don't log your exercise into MyFitnessPal because it's redundant" would have sufficed.

We ALL mistook what you were asking, so maybe it's possible that it could've been worded better. I know it sounded crystal clear in your mind, but if we ALL misunderstood, I wouldn't get frustrated with us.

 

[snake]

I don't assume that. Look at posts #4, #6 and #8. I said multiple times that I know the numbers are not accurate. I just wanted to know how both tools interact with each other. I'm also not looking for any details. A simple "don't log your exercise into MyFitnessPal because it's redundant" would have sufficed.

don't log your exercise into MyFitnessPal because it's redundant

 

[Nomad]

We ALL mistook what you were asking, so maybe it's possible that it could've been worded better. I know it sounded crystal clear in your mind, but if we ALL misunderstood, I wouldn't get frustrated with us.

I didn't get frustrated with you or with the people who misunderstood the OP. But if I said 3 times that I know those calculators are not accurate and then everyone keeps repeating they are not accurate it seems reasonable that I'll get a bit frustrated, simply because it feels like nobody is reading what I post.

Still, I came here looking for help, and I got it, so I am in no way going to complain about having to clarify a few things.