Just realized people treat 'maintenance calories' like it's some mysterious black box

I kept bouncing between 1800 and 2200 based on random forum posts for 6 months until a nutrition coach showed me my actual TDEE is 1950, so why do we all act like guessing is the same as tracking for a week?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.casey12d ago

Oh man, I had this exact thing happen to me! I spent months bouncing between 1600 and 2000 calories based on what random Reddit threads said about my height and activity level. Finally tracked for two weeks and found out my maintenance is 1780, which is way different than what I was guessing.

leo_harris12d ago

Yeah the bouncing around thing is exactly what got me too. I kept seeing people say 1800 was the sweet spot for my height but then someone else would say 1600 and I'd switch. @garcia.casey you're right that tracking for two weeks is the only way to know for sure. I did the same thing and found out my maintenance is around 1900 but I was eating 1600 some days and feeling terrible for no reason. Now I just stick with what I know works from my own data instead of guessing.