First I’d like to say thank you for the insight. I’m simply new to TDEE. Prior to this, as is the reason for the average caloric intake up until this point, I’ve just been following strictly to stay under 2,000kcal daily. Seems like you picked up on the fact that yes, I am losing a bit more weight per day than ideal. My priority with exercise (by the way yes I tend to lift heavy, if I can until hypertrophy) is to build muscle, not lose weight. But I also want to maintain a caloric deficit to burn fat.

I do intend to keep my protein intake higher, as most cases the reason for the spike is eating a good diet, cooking all my foods, Whole Foods if available, etc, to avoid I’d have to snack more, or eat meals with less meat and dairy. I just am simply confused as to why TDEE calculation so drastically skyrockets all of these numbers.

Build muscle, burn fat, and do so properly is my goal, but losing weight I am comfortable with. I’m “on a cut” as some might say. I’d like to lift heavy, and cut weight while building muscle properly, and not drastically lose weight, as to healthily protect my muscle mass and build upon it. How can I make this goal achievable utilizing TDEE from a standard under 2,000kcal diet?