u/CartographerNew3444

I have some confusion around TDEE and sedentary.

Here is mine https://www.calculator.net/tdee-calculator.html?cage=30&csex=m&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=10&cpound=292&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&cactivity=1.2&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&printit=0&ctype=standard&x=Calculate

It says i need to eat 2,249 at sedentary to drop 1lb per week.

But others have told me including AI the following.

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What "sedentary" actually includes

The 1.2 multiplier (sedentary) already assumes you're doing normal daily living stuff — walking around the house, going to the bathroom, making food, light errands. It's roughly equivalent to someone who naturally takes around 3,000–5,000 steps a day just by existing. It's not "lying in bed motionless."

So when the calculator says your TDEE is 2,749, that already bakes in some incidental walking.

Where 6K steps fits in

This is the key question: are you talking about 6K total steps in your day, or 6K dedicated walking steps on top of your normal day?

If 6K is your total for the day → you're basically still in sedentary territory. Eating 2,249 would give you about 1 lb/week, and eating 2,300 would give you slightly less (~0.9 lb/week).
If 6K is dedicated walking on top of your usual movement → that's a real bonus. At 292 lbs, 6,000 walking steps burns roughly 250–350 extra calories (heavier bodies burn more per step).
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This confuses me because im eating -500 from my deficit but i would also have to walk 6K steps per day to drop 1LB that sounds insane is that correct? So in order for someone at my size to drop 2LBs per week i would have to eat 1700 calories and walk 6-10K steps per day surely that isn't' correct?

Confusion around TDEE and sedentary.

As a beginner where do you notice gains first?