A beginner's guide to: Weight loss and TDEE

Ever wonder why some people seem to lose weight effortlessly while others struggle despite following the same diet? The answer often lies in understanding your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) refers to the amount of energy that your body expends in a day. Eat more than your TDEE, and you will store the excess energy or "gain fat". The same goes for vice versa: if you eat less than your TDEE, your body will draw energy from your body and you will "lose fat".

The Problem with Common Calorie Counters

Your TDEE is made up of many factors, and many common calorie counters such as My Fitness Pal (MFP), Lose It, Noom, etc. utilise simple questionnaires and predictive equations which lead to largely undercut figures. This leaves many people starving and losing weight way too quickly - which will ultimately either cause them to be stuck in a weight plateau as their body metabolically adapts or frustratingly gaining it all back due to insatiable hunger.

At re:weight, we are changing this.

How Can I Actually Calculate My TDEE?

The best way to find your TDEE is to track these 3 things:

• Your daily and weekly caloric intake
• Your weekly weight average
• [OPTIONAL] Your activity level (daily number of steps)

Over a week, track your normal calorie intake and watch your weight fluctuations. From there, if your weight has stayed relatively consistent, take your weekly caloric intake and divide it by 7 to get your TDEE.

Example: If you consumed 14,000 calories over 7 days and maintained your weight, your TDEE would be 2,000 calories per day.

Remember:

From there, you can either:

• Maintain your TDEE
• Drop your calories (to lose weight)
• Increase your calories (to gain weight)

Don't worry too much about daily fluctuations in your weight which can vary widely due to water retention differences which can cause up to a 1-2kg daily change!

Weight Loss Recommendations

For weight loss, we suggest starting with a 250 calorie deficit per day. This should have you losing around 0.25kg a week. At max, studies recommend losing 0.5kg a week, or a 500 calorie deficit per day to keep weight loss sustainable.

How Can I Lose All of the Fat Around My Stomach?

You can't. You can't pick and choose, or "spot-reduce" fat. The only way to reduce those seemingly stubborn regions of lower belly fat is to reduce your total body weight % and it will come off as a byproduct. Women tend to store fat in the hips, thighs and lower abdomen while men tend to store fat primarily in the abdomen.

Setting Realistic Body Fat Goals

When deciding on your weight loss goals, it is also important to set realistic body fat % goals.

You may want to get to < 10% body fat, but consider the effects that come with it:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Decreased sex drive
• Dullness of life
• Loss of period (for women)
• And many more...

Do you think that is sustainable? Look at some of the top athletes in the world. Instead of celebrating the chiseled body - we should instead be celebrating the functional 15-20% which allows you to enjoy your life and feel strong and confident in yourself.

As always, seek a professional for professional advice if you're feeling stuck. Feel free to contact us if you don't know where to start.