20% of TDEE is less than BMR?

bbbrittingham

Hi All -

Someone posted this calculator earlier, so I entered my info: http://thefitgirls.com/tdee-calculator.aspx

I'm a 27 year old female, 5'6", 145 lbs, and get little to no exercise (I know, I know). This calculator shows my TDEE at 1755 and my BMR at 1463.

I'm aware of 2 general rules of thumb: 1) eat about 80% of your TDEE and 2) eat somewhere between your BMR and your TDEE. Well, according to the 80% rule, I should eat 1404 cals a day...which, clearly, is less than my BMR.

So should I go with 1400? Or up it? As a side note, MFP puts me at 1200 a day. Some days I can do 1200, other days are really tough.

FWIW, I only want to lose about 10-15 lbs.

girlinahat

given that you only have 10-15lbs to lose you'd be better off doing TDEE - 15% or even 10%.

plus add in some regular exercise.

NJD2885

When you have a small amount to lose do TDEE minus 10 or 15 %

bbbrittingham

Thanks for your answers!

yarwell

I'm aware of 2 general rules of thumb: 1) eat about 80% of your TDEE and 2) eat somewhere between your BMR and your TDEE. Well, according to the 80% rule, I should eat 1404 cals a day...which, clearly, is less than my BMR.

If you put in sedentary (ie TDEE = BMR + 20%) then TDEE - 20% will be less than BMR. It's mathematics.

2) is basically BS, and mathematically incompatible with 1 for sedentary people who don't exercise. MFP comes to the rescue with eating back calories to push up your intake.