Losing weight based on BMR

stardust92

Hello,

I was just wondering if anybody has lost weight by setting their daily calorie limit to fit what they would need to maintain their ideal weight?

Last week I decided my ideal weight would be around 120 lbs and my BMR worked out as 1268 cals to maintain that weight. So that is the amount of cals I have stuck to this week and I have lost 8 lbs since last Sunday! (Now 214 lb)

I have started to incorporate exercise but atm I can only manage 5 minutes on the cross trainer but I am hoping to build on this each week.

Has anybody done something similar and actually got to their ideal weight?

sarahdayski

What does MFP set your calorie goal as? Is 1268 maintainable in the long term? I set mine at 1400, it should be slightly lower but as i exercise for a hour 4x week i feel any lower would make me want to snack and defeat the object.

middlehaitch

Though it is possible to eat to your maintenance calories, it is usually easier to do when you are closer to your goal.

Your deficit is quite high and you may find it unsustainable in the long term, especially when you exercise more. Even eating back your exercise calories may still not feed you enough to sustain your activity level in a healthy way.


When you are ready:-
Put your numbers into MFP and set it to lose 1-2 lb a week ( MFP doesn't, for health reasons, advise losing more than 2lb), gradually decrease your cals to that number, and log your exercise. Eat back 75-50% of exercise cals.

Whichever way you chose, buy a food scale to weigh everything you eat. Use cups and spoons for liquids. You will be much more accurate this way.

Cheers, h.

ETA Your BMR is Basic Metabolic Rate. This is how many calories your body would burn if you were in a coma. You need to work out your NEAT: BMR+ calories burnt through daily activity, MFP does it this way, or TDEE: BMR+ daily activity+ exercise, to know how much to eat each day.

Orphia

stardust92 wrote: »

Hello,

I was just wondering if anybody has lost weight by setting their daily calorie limit to fit what they would need to maintain their ideal weight?

Last week I decided my ideal weight would be around 120 lbs and my BMR worked out as 1268 cals to maintain that weight. So that is the amount of cals I have stuck to this week and I have lost 8 lbs since last Sunday! (Now 214 lb)

I have started to incorporate exercise but atm I can only manage 5 minutes on the cross trainer but I am hoping to build on this each week.

Has anybody done something similar and actually got to their ideal weight?

How did you decide your ideal weight? 120 lbs seems very low. How tall are you?

stardust92

I am 5 ft 3 so 120 lbs fits in the healthy BMI range.

When I put it into MFP it came out at 1300 cals for 2 lb loss with low activity? However I never know what low activity means as my job requires me to be on my feet all day but it isn't what I would deem active.

When I burn more with my exercise I do plan to eat back most of the calories through extra protein or fruit/veg.

Thanks, I will invest in food scales as my portion size is way too big atm

Yi5hedr3

You are selecting the wrong level of activity. Try again.

yogacat13

I did this for a while but it was veerrrryyyyy slow, like half a pound a month slow. Maybe if I has been doing more exercise then it would have been better.

20yearsyounger

Thats exactly what I did and I reached my goal. Now maintaining isn't a problem for me because I figured out how to eat at my goal weight plus I have about 300 more calories (above the BMR to maintain on). I only ate back up until the point that I didn't feel hungry.

Orphia

http://walking.about.com/cs/measure/a/locke122004.htm
Classification of pedometer-determined physical activity in healthy adults:

1) Under 5000 steps/day may be used as a "sedentary lifestyle index"
2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered "low active." The average American walks 5900 to 6900 steps per day, so the majority are "low active."
3) 7,500-9,999 steps/day likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) and might be considered "somewhat active."
4) 10,000 steps/day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as "active".
5) 12,500+ steps/day Individuals who take more than 12,500 steps/day are likely to be classified as "highly active".

rileysowner

BMR is not your maintenance calories unless you are confined to a bed in a coma. BMR is what is needed to keep your body functioning (brain going, heart beating and the like). If you want to set your calories to your maintenance level for your goal weight (I am doing this currently) you need to set it to your TDEE. I personally used http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/ What numbers does it give you?

stardust92

20yearsyounger wrote: »

Thats exactly what I did and I reached my goal. Now maintaining isn't a problem for me because I figured out how to eat at my goal weight plus I have about 300 more calories (above the BMR to maintain on). I only ate back up until the point that I didn't feel hungry.

Thank you.

rileysowner - I went on there and it said at my goal weight it would be 1678 which is a bit more reasonable I think, thank you for that.

I have also invested in a step counter and today I did 7, 819 steps! So I will adjust accordingly thank you all