Hey all.
A few months ago, I launched an investigation of how accurate my Apple Watch was at estimating my TDEE. I concluded last time that my Apple Watch was a little, shall we say, overenthusiastic in calculating my TDEE. I was getting numbers anywhere from 600-1000 calories above the numbers I was getting from calculating my own TDEE, using the 3-Suns Adaptive TDEE spreadsheet. In the entire time I've been using the watch, I trusted the 3-suns numbers over the numbers I was getting from it, which has been working out great. Down 87 pounds/39.9kg and counting!
As I continued collecting data, I have noticed that Apple Watch does not produce 1000+ calorie errors anymore. While it is still inaccurate, it tends to overestimate by 400-600 calories now, as opposed to the 600-1000 calories it used to overestimate. Besides losing more weight since the last time I updated the graph, the only other change I have made it to sleep with the watch (so it reads my heart rate overnight), and charge it for a few hours in the morning while I get ready.
My activity levels have increased a little: I went from "just" being a mail carrier (by foot and bicycle) for about 18 hours a week, to introducing Couch to 5k on top of that in late June. I've kept up the running (just ran a 5k last night!), and keep up with the running 2-3 times a week. I am really careful with the running right now, because my actual job is based on physical activity, getting so much as a blister would be awful! This has bumped my calculated TDEE (by 3-suns) up from "lightly active" and squarely into "moderately active."
Here are my most recent results:
The first graph is my Apple TDEE (yellow) versus my 3-Suns TDEE (blue). I also included a comparison of Apple's "Resting Calories" (which are supposed to be my sedentary TDEE) alongside my actual sedentary TDEE, as calculated by the Mifflin St. Jeor formula. Since about June, the Apple Watch has been doing a much better job at predicting my sedentary TDEE/"resting calories." The actual TDEE it is estimating, however, is still very inaccurate, and skewing very high.
The second graph is a look at my 3-suns TDEE as compared to what the Mifflin St. Jeor formula would predict at 3 different activity levels (sedentary, lightly active, and moderately active). I am very proud to be "moderately active"! Between delivering the mail all day, and starting a good running program, I am in the best shape of my life!
The point of this post/TL;DR is to be very wary of big numbers you see from your exercise trackers/exercise machines/MFP exercise estimates. The best way to know what's really going on with your TDEE is to track it with an adaptive spreadsheet. The categories of "lightly" and "moderately" active are pretty vague, but it's really helped me to see my calculated TDEE superimposed on top of the values the Mifflin St. Jeor formula predicts.
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