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that 40 cal number is almost certainly wrong, or the app is double counting because it already assumes some baseline steps in your sedentary TDEE. 13k steps for someone your size is usually more like 400-500 extra calories, not 40. sounds like a units or overlap bug. also worth remembering, sedentary TDEE calculators usually mean "sedentary job, no intentional exercise" but they still bake in some incidental walking. so if you are already sedentary and then add 13k steps on top, you are not just adding a small NEAT bump, you are basically changing your whole activity category. honestly the 5 bucket activity level thing (sedentary/light/moderate/etc) is rough for exactly this reason, it does not account for stuff like a job with a lot of walking plus deliberate steps. there is a free AI tdee calculator you can find by searching nanorhino tdee, it asks about your actual day instead of just picking a bucket, might clear up the confusion better than the fitness app math. for tracking deficit practically, i'd just pick one number (app or manual TDEE calc) and stick with it for 2-3 weeks, then adjust based on actual weight trend instead of trusting the calorie burn estimate day to day.

120 lbs is huge, that plateau frustration makes sense though, especially this deep in. One thing that trips people up at this stage - TDEE calculated a year or two ago is not the same TDEE now. Less body mass means lower BMR, and if activity has crept down even a little (less fidgeting, sitting more at a desk job) the real number can be 200-300 kcal lower than what people are still using. So the "minus 500" might actually be close to maintenance now without you realizing it. Also worth double checking if the deficit math includes NEAT changes, not just the workouts. A lot of people plateau because they mentally still see themselves as more active than they currently are day to day. Might be worth redoing the TDEE estimate from scratch instead of adjusting the old one. There is a free AI tdee calculator that walks through actual daily activity instead of just picking a category, i found it by searching nanorhino tdee, could be useful just to get a fresh number to test against.