The FastDay Forum

I have a suggestion for the progress tracker. At the minute it shows you your BMI and a graph of your stats.

However, many people are struggling after an initial loss of weight when it starts to stall or even go back up. I have seen several posts advising them to check their TDEE, and I thought I would have a look at that myself.

Well, what I noticed is that the TDEE can drop by quite a bit as your weight drops, so I wondered if perhaps some people are getting their TDEE at the start, but not refreshing this as their weight drops? That would mean that they would possibly overshoot their target daily intake without knowing, and start to explain a loss of progress.

Could an update of the TDEE recalculated off the new weight data be added to the progress tracker?

Do others think that this might help?

[Moogie]

If someone can tell me the formulae (in simple terms) needed to calculate the TDEE, I could probably incorporate that into the tracker

I'm not techie savvy so perhaps what I'm going to say is stupid but there are around 10 different TDEE calculators out there and they all give a different number. If there was one and only equation, would'n there be only one result?

Plus, many of us have various health problems which might slow down our metabolism and mess with our TDEEs.
The way I see it, only our calculations (based on our weekly calorie intake and weight loss) and experience (we know better what helps us to lose weight) can provide us with a TDEE to work with.

[carorees]

The Libra app for Android does this kind of thing...it tells you how many calories below TDEE you are eating to get the weightloss you are seeing (or over TDEE for the gain). I presume it works on something along the lines of "if 1 kg of fat yields 7000kcal, then if you are losing 0.5 kcal per week you must be eating 3500kcal per week less than TDEE (= 500 kcal per day)". You can't translate the progress tracker stats into actual TDEE without knowing what people are eating but you can estimate their calorie intake relative to TDEE. Of course, the changes in body water makes the calculation a bit suspect in the short term but more reliable long term.

Caroline, that's how I calculated my TDEE! It was explained to me by a friend and I did it and now I know my personal TDEE. It needs more than a week to have a more accurate result but even a week is enough to give you a rough estimation.

[Moogie]

So there's no way I could add a basic TDEE calculator based on their gender, current weight, age, height etc? I was thinking rather than having to specify an activity level it could list what their (rough) TDEE should be based on different activity levels.

Perhaps I could just add a note in the tracker to remind users that as they lose weight their daily calorie needs will drop and they should calculate their new needs on a regular basis, providing a link to a recommended TDEE calculator?

So there's no way I could add a basic TDEE calculator based on their gender, current weight, age, height etc? I was thinking rather than having to specify an activity level it could list what their (rough) TDEE should be based on different activity levels.

yes, once you decide which one to use

I'll dig something out if you're contemplating adding an RMR calculation

[carorees]

I think the easiest thing might be to put in a statement in the home page of the personal progress tracker saying something along the lines of "your weight change over the last x readings (say 4?) shows you are currently eating x calories below (or if a gain, above) your total daily energy requirements. This provides a much more accurate measure really of TDEE because it is linked with actual weight changes rather than those predicted by various formulae.
If people want to work out their actual TDEE they need to count their current daily calorie intake and add (or subtract) the figure given in the statement.

For example, my Libra app says I am eating 379 cals per day below TDEE, the calorie counter app I use says my average intake over the week is 1521 cals, so my TDEE must, therefore, be 1900 cals. And even if it isn't due to errors in my calorie estimates, it doesn't matter as long as I continue to estimate calories in the same way. So to be entirely accurate I can say with some confidence: "my TDEE using my current calorie estimation method is 1900 cal."

[Moogie]

So, that would just be a case of calculating how much weight lost and therefore calories under (454g = 3500 cals), and dividing it by 7?
Eg, 1lb/454g lost = 3500 cals under TDEE per week = 500 under TDEE daily.

Is that right?

[carorees]

I think so. Of course because of variations in body water it is not entirely accurate over a single data point. The Libra app suggests daily weighings to get more accurate results but of course, most people don't want to do that. Are most people entering data once a week on the tracker? If so, perhaps you could take the last 3 or 4 entries for the calculation?

kencc is the expert on this! Why not PM him?

[Moogie]

Thanks Caro, will do

At the moment am leaning more towards the simple option of a reminder about recalculating your daily needs as you lose weight

[carorees]

I might add a bit about how you can use your weightloss data to calculate TDEE when I post the Monthly weigh in notice.In fact, I need to post the warning now because I've just realized that it is this Saturday!!

RMR in cals/day =if(B9="M",5,-161)+10*B10+625*B11-5*B8

where B10 is weight in kg, B11 is height in metres, B8 is age in years and B9 is gender flag. Mifflin-ST Jeor equation. Multiply by activity factor (1.5 ?).

Other RMR equations are available

US Inst of Medicine TDEE calculation :-
=if(B9="M",662-9.53*B8+B6*(15.91*B10+539.6*B11),354-6.91*B8+
B6*(9.36*B10+726*B11))

gives TDEE in cals based on DLW studies, multiplier B6 =1 for normally active, 1.16 for 2 or 3 hours a day walking at 4 mph, etc. Used for US dietary recommendations.

Mmmmm this thread is very interesting.
Enter Phil.
Now I understand nothing!

P.S. I agree with Caroline. A reminder to recalculate the TDEE plus a way how to do it yourself is the best option, IMO.

only the lady who has to code it needs to understand it