Top 3 things I should focus on?

BetterKimmer

JessaLee0324 wrote: »

So 365....that brings me to a question. myfitnesspal recommends that I eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight. My BMR is 1431. So.....now I'm confused.

MFP tells me the same thing. My BMR is 1500ish and TDEE is 2200ish. Will you die at 1200? No. But everyday someone here posts they are eating at or below 1200, had some great losses and then cannot figure out why they stopped losing weight after awhile at the same 1200. Their bodies are slowing their metabolism to conserve and survive, then using muscle/lean tissue for fuel. Weight loss, yes, but not body fat loss overall, most times.

I say eat a little more, lose just slightly slower and lose more body fat than lean tissue. Usually, the outcome is long term success. Bonus!

TheRoseRoss

Don't fall into the trap of using body mass index. The BMI boils down to "your weight divided by your height." That's it. It doesn't take into consideration "Is this a 6 foot tall, 200 pound person with 6% body fat," or "a 6 foot tall person with 25% body fat?" All it knows is "6 feet tall. 200 pounds = Overweight."

The actor "Dwayne The Rock Johnson" who had a BMI of 31.24 at one point, is "Obese." This guy!



Use MFP to track your calories, and weigh yourself on an empty stomach, preferably right after waking up and "relieving yourself" in the bathroom. I'd say do this once every 2 weeks to get an idea of how your weight loss is going based on the calories you've been taking in. That should give you an idea of whether or not you're in a true caloric deficit. You can then adjust your meals and/or exercise routine accordingly.

Then start thinking about "body composition," and not just the number on the scale. It is possible for the number on the scale to remain static, or actually increase, as you lose fat, IF you're building muscle



1. Be consistent in tracking your calories AND macro nutrients
2. Don't allow the number on the scale, or things like BMI to dissuade you
3. Remind yourself that it is a process that will take time, and last the rest of your life. Once you attain your goal, you then have to maintain your goal. Getting it off is easier than keeping it off.

RGv2

DeeJayD2014 wrote: »

There is a whole questionnaire - how much you plan to exercise, how much you want to lose. how old you are - how much you currently weigh - etc. Then it asks for your current activity level - sedentary, active - etc. and It comes up with a calories per day. So if I had time (and desire haha) to workout 2 hours a day every day I am sure I could up my calories to 1400 or more even. But frankly my lifestyle doesn't permit that personally. So - I believe 1200 is there "safe" low amount - as another person mentioned -probably the lowest they can recommend legally without issues.
Hope that explains it better.

I understand the questionnaire.....

If you worked out 2 hrs a day, you'd probably lose weight at over 2000, if not more.

For fun, would you share your ht/wt/age so we can at least figure out an estimate of your BMR/TDEE? Right now I'm just assuming you're younger by your profile pic.

BetterKimmer

RGv2 wrote: »

LosinMama1966 wrote: »

RGv2 wrote: »

JessaLee0324 wrote: »

So 365....that brings me to a question. myfitnesspal recommends that I eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight. My BMR is 1431. So.....now I'm confused.

I doubt it that MFP said you need to eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight....unless you're like 4 1/2 ft tall.

You only have 10lbs to goal, what weight loss per week did you enter?

You don't get it, huh? MFP is INFAMOUS for saying that. I'm 5'5" and weigh 177 pounds and it said the same thing to me...so please, don't even start.

I guess I will start...

MFP won't tell a 30 year old F with 10lbs to lose that they need to restrict to 1200 calories to lose weight, unless they are tiny..... 2lbs per week....now that's different.

MFP does it to plenty of people. It does it to me and I am more than 5'10 and 162 lbs. It is just the industry standard for "Don't go below this", so that is what it will suggest many times.

In the end I find most people do not educate themselves enough on the science and go more based on other people say, like eat 1200 calories to lose, or half-reading articles, picking out of it what they want to hear. I encourage all to really look into BMR, TDEE (start by googling it. My favorite site to figure them is IIFYM.com) If you are without special health conditions, you should give these formulas a good try for successful body fat loss, not lean tissue loss (who wants to lose wonderful calorie burning muscle??) and to keep a sustainable good weight for a lifetime.

RGv2

BetterKimmer wrote: »

RGv2 wrote: »

LosinMama1966 wrote: »

RGv2 wrote: »

JessaLee0324 wrote: »

So 365....that brings me to a question. myfitnesspal recommends that I eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight. My BMR is 1431. So.....now I'm confused.

I doubt it that MFP said you need to eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight....unless you're like 4 1/2 ft tall.

You only have 10lbs to goal, what weight loss per week did you enter?

You don't get it, huh? MFP is INFAMOUS for saying that. I'm 5'5" and weigh 177 pounds and it said the same thing to me...so please, don't even start.

I guess I will start...

MFP won't tell a 30 year old F with 10lbs to lose that they need to restrict to 1200 calories to lose weight, unless they are tiny..... 2lbs per week....now that's different.

MFP does it to plenty of people. It does it to me and I am more than 5'10 and 162 lbs. It is just the industry standard for "Don't go below this", so that is what it will suggest many times.

In the end I find most people do not educate themselves enough on the science and go more based on other people say, like eat 1200 calories to lose, or half-reading articles, picking out of it what they want to hear. I encourage all to really look into BMR, TDEE (start by googling it. My favorite site to figure them is IIFYM.com) If you are without special health conditions, you should give these formulas a good try for successful body fat loss, not lean tissue loss (who wants to lose wonderful calorie burning muscle??) and to keep a sustainable good weight for a lifetime.

I know that 1200 is the industry standard. MFP is just a calculator that works on inputs. It goes on ht/wt/age, gender, activity level, and most importantly...the goal weight loss per week the user enters.

So MFP is going to give a 30yr old female w/ 10 lbs to lose a recommendation of 1200 calories per day to lose .5lbs per week....unless she's under 5ft? I mean, that is what we're talking about here....at least I am.