MFP, BMR, and daily calories needs for weight loss, muscle

jennygarofalo

MFP has me at 1250 calories as goal. BMR is 1481. Daily cal needs is 1721 from another site.

So I am 5'10 and 149. I do try to exercise every day ranging from 200-900 calories burned.

To do this healthy I should at least eat my BMR on days I exercise, and maybe a percentage back to not go into starvation mode/lose muscle/plateau? Yesterday I burned 811 calories from exercise and ate about 1590, So total net was 779 cal. Is this good or am I setting myself up for future problems?

I want to start adding weights as I am only doing cardio and did not know if my calorie deficit was too low I would be wasting my time to try to get muscle. You all are very inspiring!

Thanks!

mperrott2205

Do this:

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

Good luck with your journey.

jacksonpt

Taking everything at face value, that's a little on the low side (IMO), but not alarmingly so.

All those numbers you threw out... they are just estimates and approximations. They could be pretty close, but they may not be. As such, most people go through a stretch early on that involves a lot of trial and error. That's where you are. It sounds like you've got the right idea (though I wouldn't worry much about starvation mode or plateau at this point), so stick with what you're doing for 4-6 weeks and then evaluate your progress/results. If things are going reasonably well and you feel reasonably good, then keep at it. If not, then make a small change or two and repeat the process.

futuremanda

jennygarofalo wrote: »

MFP has me at 1250 calories as goal. BMR is 1481. Daily cal needs is 1721 from another site.

So I am 5'10 and 149. I do try to exercise every day ranging from 200-900 calories burned.

To do this healthy I should at least eat my BMR on days I exercise, and maybe a percentage back to not go into starvation mode/lose muscle/plateau? Yesterday I burned 811 calories from exercise and ate about 1590, So total net was 779 cal. Is this good or am I setting myself up for future problems?

I want to start adding weights as I am only doing cardio and did not know if my calorie deficit was too low I would be wasting my time to try to get muscle. You all are very inspiring!

Thanks!

MFP will give you a different calorie target based on what you tell it you want to lose per week (0.5 lb, 1 lb, 1.5 lbs, 2 lbs). If you feel 1250 is too low, then you set your goal too aggressively.

MFP also expects you to eat back your exercise calories. (Though many people eat back 50-75% as a starting point, to guard against overestimations.)

MFP also works from the standpoint that 1200 is the minimum healthy net for females, and 1500 is the minimum healthy net for males. (Net means after exercise, again, because it expects you to eat those calories back.) It does not operate under the theory that you should not eat below your BMR. (Some people say you should not. But I don't think it's conclusive.)

You won't go into starvation mode, as the way in which that is typically understood (that eating too little will cause your body to prevent or significantly slow weight loss to protect you) is a myth.

You will lose muscle no matter what you do. It's a matter of protecting your muscle mass as best you can. Healthy net calories and an appropriate amount of protein in your diet, in addition to strength/resistance training, helps on this.

A net of 779 is too low. However, if you take possible overestimation of burn into account, you could have eaten 1250 + either ~400 (for a total of 1650) or ~600 (for a total of 1850).

That said, if you net below 1200 occasionally, it will not hurt you. It's not a great thing to do as a routine though, especially at 5 foot 10.

You may also want to note that the closer you are to goal weight, the smaller your body, the slower you can go for healthy weight loss. (That's because your maintenance calories are lower, meaning that to get an aggressive deficit, you'd have to net VERY low calories.) A goal of 0.5 lb to 1 lb per week is more appropriate for someone with only 6 more lbs to lose.

And since you will have a smaller deficit, errors in logging will have more of an effect on your efforts. If you don't already weigh your food, you may want to consider doing so, especially if you do find that you aren't losing at an expected rate. Carefully choosing database entries (and making your own, checking entries against packaging, etc) becomes very important as well. Many entries in the database have errors or are not true matches for your food.

Finally, all of this is just estimates. You need to try it, wait it out, and check your results. Keeping in mind fluctuations in water weight, etc, which is why a week or two, maybe even a month, may not be enough time to check the efficacy of what you're doing.