accounting, newbie, can't reconcile

fattydaddy343

My BMR=2001 cals and my fitnesspal goal is 1800 cals. If I stay true to my diet the net is 200. Supposedly I am eating for a 1-2 poud weight loss a week. However if you do the math 200 x 7 days = 1400 cals / week and 1400 cals x 4 = 5600 cals -- barely over a 1 pound weight loss in a month.

Can someone please help me with this please...its not making sense to me... : )

Thank you --- Newbie

deksgrl

MFP calculates your needed calories, not including exercise. Then it deducts a set amount depending on how many pounds per week you chose to lose. If you choose 2 pounds per week loss, it deducts 1,000 calories per day. 750 for 1.5 pounds, 500 for 1 pound, etc. If you choose 2 pounds per week, this may be too much of a deficit and set you below BMR. Choose an appropriate goal. And then when you exercise, you are given more calories to eat because its initial calculations did not include that.

cwolfman13

You don't need to create a deficit from your BMR...your BMR is simply the calories your body burns merely by existing. Your actual Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is more than your BMR...you have to have a deficit from your TDEE, not your BMR.

If you put into MFP that you wanted to lose 1 Lb per week and it gave you 1800 calories then MFP is assuming your maintenance level of calories is around 2,300 calories...2,300 - 500 = 1,800. A 500 calorie per day deficit would be about 1 Lb per week. If you put two pounds then the calculator is calculating your maintenance at 2800 calories per week.

Keep in mind that you're not supposed to include exercise in your activity level with MFP...so your estimated maintenance would be NON-EXERCISE and the calculator takes a cut from that.

Also, it is likely your BMR is lower than 2000 calories...most calculators use total body weight in determining BMR when really you would just want to use your lean mass...because you don't need to fuel fat in a coma...but you do need to fuel lean body mass...i.e. organs, muscle, etc.

TL/DR - You're confusing BMR and TDEE...you cut from TDEE...you have more than a 200 calorie deficit here...

moremuffins

cwolfman13 wrote: »

You don't need to create a deficit from your BMR...your BMR is simply the calories your body burns merely by existing. Your actual Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is more than your BMR...you have to have a deficit from your TDEE, not your BMR.

If you put into MFP that you wanted to lose 1 Lb per week and it gave you 1800 calories then MFP is assuming your maintenance level of calories is around 2,300 calories...2,300 - 500 = 1,800. A 500 calorie per day deficit would be about 1 Lb per week. If you put two pounds then the calculator is calculating your maintenance at 2800 calories per week.

Keep in mind that you're not supposed to include exercise in your activity level with MFP...so your estimated maintenance would be NON-EXERCISE and the calculator takes a cut from that.

Also, it is likely your BMR is lower than 2000 calories...most calculators use total body weight in determining BMR when really you would just want to use your lean mass...because you don't need to fuel fat in a coma...but you do need to fuel lean body mass...i.e. organs, muscle, etc.

TL/DR - You're confusing BMR and TDEE...you cut from TDEE...you have more than a 200 calorie deficit here...

^This. Your TDEE is calculated using the activity level you entered in your goals.

sedentary TDEE = BMR x 1.2
lightly active TDEE = BMR x 1.4 (I'm assuming you entered this one)
moderately active TDEE = BMR x 1.55
etc...

so 2001 x 1.4 = 2800
and 2800 - 1000 (for 2lb/week loss) = 1800 Cals

StaciMarie1974

You burn calories in 3 'ways'. BMR is basic bodily functions. Breathing, heart pumping, maintaining body temp, digesting food, etc. 2nd is daily activity: carrying your body thru your normal routine. 3rd is intentional exercise.

Activity is approximated based on activity level as a percentage of BMR. Such as 1.2 for sedentary.

bwogilvie

fattydaddy343 wrote: »

My BMR=2001 cals and my fitnesspal goal is 1800 cals. If I stay true to my diet the net is 200.

This would be true only if you were in a coma, and you were getting your 1800 calories intravenously.

As others have said, there's more to your daily calorie expenditure than BMR. There's TEF (Thermic Effect of Food), the energy cost of digesting; it varies somewhat, depending on how refined your food is. There's NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), the energy you burn doing everything in your daily life; it varies depending on how active you are. MFP's goals include NEAT, which is why you need to select your activity level. Note that "in a coma" is not one of the options.

MFP's goal doesn't include EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), i.e. calories burned in exercise. That's why you are meant to eat them back.

ETA: Keep in mind that these numbers are only estimates, and that the BMR calculator is based on averages. After a couple months on MFP, you'll have a pretty good sense of how your estimated BMR, activity level, exercise, and calorie intake compare with your results, and you can adjust your goals accordingly.

esjones12

Step 1 - fill out your MFP profile and goals. This includes age, weight, height, activity level, goal weight, and weight loss goal per week.

Step 2 - MFP calculates how many calories you should eat to lose your chosen weight loss per week goal. It know how many calories you should eat to maintain your current weight and then creates a deficit based on how many pounds you want to lose in a week. If you want to lose 1 pound a week your deficit will need to be 3500 calories a week, or 500 calories a day. It subtracts and tells you that's how many calories to eat today.

Step 3 - If you exercise, you log it into MFP (note their exercise calories tend to be high so cut your time in half to get a more accurate calorie burn). Since you burned those calories you get to eat them back. Why? Because your one pound loss per week is already built into your daily calorie goal. If you eat them back you will still lose aprox 1 pound per week. If you don't eat them back you can possibly lose more, but you are increasing your deficit and may feel hungry, weak, tired, etc.

Or you can deal with all those crazy equations involving things like TDEE and BMR, and end up at the same spot approximately

malibu927

You don't calculate your goal from your BMR, you calculate it from your TDEE. Your BMR is just what your body burns to keep you alive every day. You're also confusing net (the number you should be hitting every day once exercise is taken into account) with deficit (the difference between what you eat and what you burn).

vismal

Also just to note, the number will never ever work out on paper. Ever. Like never ever! There is variance and estimation every step of the way. Your bmr and tdee will always be estimates, your calories per day relies on your accuracy as well as the accuracy of the nutritional data provided. Both of those things can vary greatly. If you plan on working in calories burned from exercising into the equation, that will also be an estimate with varying degrees of accuracy. The way to deal with all this in my opinion is to simply pick a calorie goal. Any reasonable number will work. Be as accurate as you can with logging and tracking food (weigh your food on a scale). Do this for 3 weeks. Did you lose weight? If so, keep the calorie goal, if not, decrease the calorie goal by a little bit and do it for another 3-4 weeks. Repeat this process as long as you need to, to reach your goal.