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TDEE Calculation Question - please advise!

Former Member over 7 years ago

Hi all,

I have a few questions about my new Vivomove HR, all of which have to do with figuring out how to get an accurate calculation of my TDEE so that I can gauge my intake accordingly.

So TL;DR: How can I figure out my TDEE/maintenance calories from my Vivomove HR data?

This sounds like it would be fairly straightforward [(active calories - the number of calories I would have burned while at rest anyhow) + resting calories], aside from the following:

1. Garmin seems to be using RMR, or sedentary metabolic rate, rather than BMR for its 'resting calorie' calculation. According to standard formulas, my BMR should be around 1300 and really shouldn't change all that much from day to day. However, on my Garmin my resting calories are at 1532. That's about what I get when I enter my stats into different RMR/Sedentary calculators.

[So if I were in a coma, I'd burn about 1300 kcal/day; if I weren't in a coma but wasn't doing much apart from sitting around, getting up to go to the bathroom, and whatnot, I'd burn around 1530.]

I'm concerned that Garmin is then adding my 'active' calories on TOP of the sedentary number, which would then give me a higher-than-accurate TDEE reading. No?

2. These two photos. Keep in mind I'm very new at this. These were taken mid-day, but at the same time. The first screen is telling me that I burned 574 active calories, whereas the second says that I burned 750. What's up with that discrepancy? I'm guessing this ISN'T a system glitch but is instead some kind of net vs. gross calorie issue, but as a n00b it's leaving me in the dark as to my proper target intake. [~200 calories is a pretty big discrepancy if you scale it for a week.]

Obviously I know these are all estimates, but again, I'm trying to be as precise as possible, and certainly don't want to be off by as many as 1400 calories a week.

TL;DR redux: [1] What data should I consult to get the most accurate sense of my TDEE, and [2] re: the photos in question, would that day's maintenance calories be closer to the 2100 or 2300 mark?

Many thanks. ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1335097.png ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1335098.png

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Thanks, for sharing your advice.

0 Batman over 6 years ago

I haven't run the numbers in depth as you did, but even at a cursory glance it seems like the Vivomove HR is overestimating burned calories.

In my case, it seems to have started a few months ago. I have not changed my habits (work out with weights at the gym four times a week, plus running or walking almost every day) and yet I have seen a significant increase in burned calories.

Take yesterday: total 3,895 of which 2,023 resting and 1872 active. However, the calories attributed to my gym workout are just 206 and yesterday I did not run or walk for exercise purposes, just my usual going about my day, which usually involves quite a bit of walking. My step total was 12,651.

Based on my experience, 3,895 is way too high for that kind of day. It should have been more around 3,000. I am 5'9" and 182lbs and these are the data Garmin is using.

The only thing that has changed is my VO2, which has increased steadily since I started using the Vivomove HR last April.

Still haven't been able to figure out what is going on.

0 mjsol over 6 years ago

Hmmm. My Vivomove HR and my Fenix 5s give me about the same resting/active calories a day.