bmr

kriegerfamily

so should I eat the amount of calories my bmr says ? I don't understand what to do with this number.:huh: :huh:

kriegerfamily

so should I eat the amount of calories my bmr says ? I don't understand what to do with this number.:huh: :huh:

edyta

Yes, somewhere near to your BMR, I believe.

Just let MFP guide you - set your goal (the best is 1lb/week) and it should be ~your BMR (depending on your lifestyle).
If you exercise you have to eat more.
And that's it

BMR is the amount of calories your body need just to function. You should add calories for your normal daily activities - this should allow you to maintain weigh. If you want to loose, you have to deduct some calories (like 500/day) and that brings you back to more/less your BMR.

Good luck :flowerforyou:

rheston

BMR calculators that are generally found on the web give you the number of calories a day that should be eaten if you just stay in bed and did nothing. When I do them they tell me that I should be eating 1700+ calories a day but if I did that I'd blow up like a balloon.

I agree with edyta just go with the MFP calculations -- but even here they should be used as a guide and you will need to pay attention to your body's needs. I say this because, for me, the site tells me to eat 1300+ calories a day to lose 2lbs a week. I also work out 1.5 hours a day which, according to MFP, I should be adding an additional 750 calories a day to my diet. I tried following the site directions and ended up gaining and not losing weight and then noticed that others were commenting they were experiencing the same thing. Again, generally speaking, to lose 1lb of fat you need to burn off 3500 calories so I opted to just eat to my daily 1300+ calorie level and exclude my "bonus" calories and have done well and without endangering my health.

Since we all react differently to our eating and lifestyle changes you will have to balance what you eat against your activity levels and what your body (not your mind) tells you it needs to have in order to function properly.

rheston

Just curious, when you filled out your BMR did you take it to the next level and calculate your calories based on the level of activity you do? You should take the BMR value you received and run it against these to see what your true intake should be to just maintain your current weight:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

There are approximately 3500 calories in a pound of stored body fat. So, if you create a 3500-calorie deficit through diet, exercise or a combination of both, you will lose one pound of body weight. (On average 75% of this is fat, 25% lean tissue) If you create a 7000 calorie deficit you will lose two pounds and so on. The calorie deficit can be achieved either by calorie-restriction alone, or by a combination of fewer calories in (diet) and more calories out (exercise). This combination of diet and exercise is best for lasting weight loss. Indeed, sustained weight loss is difficult or impossible without increased regular exercise.
If you want to lose fat, a useful guideline for lowering your calorie intake is to reduce your calories by at least 500, but not more than 1000 below your maintenance level. For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories will be too much of a deficit. As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are quite low.
An alternative way of calculating a safe minimum calorie-intake level is by reference to your body weight or current body weight. Reducing calories by 15-20% below your daily calorie maintenance needs is a useful start. You may increase this depending on your weight loss goals.

banks1850

read this, it should clear things up for you
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions

here is the technical definition:
basal metabolism
the minimal energy expended for the maintenance of respiration, circulation, peristalsis, muscle tonus, body temperature, glandular activity and the other vegetative functions of the body.

It means, how many calories your body burns if you did absolutely nothing all day (like if you were to lay in bed all day doing nothing). It's NOT your daily maintenance calories, which is a bit higher because almost nobody sit's in bed all day. People who are at or near a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) should not consume less then their BMR for any extended period (more then a day or 2), although obese people may do this if they are careful about their other nutritional requirements.

kriegerfamily

thank you everyone