Apple Watch kcal vs TDEE estimations

[Onegingerhead]

Evening lovely community,

I was wondering if any of you was/is using Apple Watch to track the calories spent thru various activity.
When I use TDEE calculator (plenty of these on the web) it estimates my maintenance as 2489 kcal yet the Apple Watch has always been more generous (we are talking 400-500 kcal more).
I m fairly active in general, always manage 10K steps a day without trying and currently exercise a lot in the gym.
Since it uses both age/weight and actual heart rate could it actually be more accurate? Has any of you tried relying on these estimates and successfully managed to lose weight?

Thank you

I lost all my weight (almost 4 stone) by using this site
tdeecalculator.net
so if your watch is telling you 400 cals over your maintenance calories on this then I’m assuming it is incorrect. Although if you are sticking to maintenance calories, rather than reducing it by 20% for a calorie deficit, then you won’t lose weight.

Which calories on the Apple Watch are you using?

Ah I think I found it in Health. Resting energy? Mine says it averages 1401kcal and that TDEE calculator @StupidlyImperfect posted says 1490kcal a day so pretty close

My total calories per day are more but that's counting my exercise in (the bit in the rings not in the Health app)

My Apple Watch generally says I use 400 less than TDEE, and my steps are similar to yours. I’m guessing fitness/ heart rate on exercise plays a part. Certainly, if I eat my TDEE I gain weight, and I need to eat less than the watch says to lose so, for me, the watch is more accurate. It’s interesting to hear that the difference between TDEE and watch calories is the opposite way round for you though!

No, it’s not in the Health app. Apple Watch feeds all the data into Fitness App (red-green-blue circle thingy) where you can see all the calories spent for every week day.
This is for instance my cardio day

I use a Garmin watch and go by the average daily burned calories over a long period of time as my tdee. I exercise most days as well and that’s all tracked on Garmin and it will use my heart rate and number of steps and time to calculate the calories burned by exercise, so I consider it to be more accurate. I’ve

my weekly calories is a pretty consistent 13500- 15500 so around 2000 a day maintenance calories, regardless of what exercise I do. If I aim for 1500 cals a day I should lose weight.

Yes, this site tells me my TDEE is my maintenance 2400 something but I m not sure if this one is correct. The calculator on the site makes an assumption (based on some averages I assume) on how many calories I burn thru certain activity while the watch takes into account the actual heart rate…

Its the same for DH, his TDEE maintenance is 2900+ but the Watch estimates it much higher. Husband is very heavy on exercise, so it might play a role…
I will cut 1000kcal of the Watch estimate and see if/how much I will lose..

Yes but isn't TDEE maintenance calories? Like resting calories

For that you need to go into Health and it's here ?

My calories on the circles are miles more as they are counting exercise

Circles calories example

Otherwise mine is about 400-500 off too :)

Absolutely, I completely understand your point. While tdeecalculator.net can give you a good estimate, it's always good to cross-reference with other sources. I've personally found calculatortdee.com to be really helpful. It allows you to input more specific data about your activity level, including duration and intensity. This can give you a more accurate estimate customized to your individual lifestyle. Calculatortdee.com provides a breakdown of your TDEE based on different activity levels. I've found it to be a more reliable tool for fine-tuning my nutrition and fitness plan. You can give it a try also.
Your welcome in advance.

DH monitored his calories, Apple Watch estimate and weight change fairly carefully a while back and found it quite accurate for him.

I'm logging food with Zoe at the moment and the watch estimates seem reasonable though my weight change is (deliberately) quite small so hard to be sure within obvious experimental error.

The type of exercise may make a difference to the accuracy of fitness trackers - I think the Apple Watch probably depends far too much on arm movements for a proxy for movement. It's certainly bad at detecting 'on your feet doing something useful with your hands' vs 'waving your arm around'. I get a bit hacked off by it not registering any standing when I've been running round the house carrying things, cooking, emptying the dishwasher etc.

I lost weight by making small, consistent changes—cutting out junk food, walking every day, and sticking to home-cooked meals. I didn’t follow any strict diet, just paid attention to portions and stayed active. Over time, the results showed, and it became a lifestyle, not a struggle.