Help with how much I should be eating

StayCee089
StayCee089 Posts: 3 Member
in Getting Started
Hello! My names Stacey and I'm 19, I weigh 160lb and I'm 5'3. When I work out my BMR with calculators online I get a result of 1400 calories. I get confused by this as its very low, does this mean that I HAVE to exercise to at least burn 300 calories off to lose 1lb a week whilst eating 1200 calories? I see many forums saying that I shouldn't be eating only 1200 calories and that someone of my age should never be going under 1500 but if my BMR is 1400 that means that I would be overeating from the start, but then to minus the 500 I would need to exercise to burn off 600 calories a day and that is a lot for someone like me who isn't used to a lot of exercise yet. It's all very confusing and I just want a few answers!! I do run for at least 20mins a day also.

Replies

  • kuranda10
    kuranda10 Posts: 593 Member
    edited December 2015
    Your BMR Is what you burn if you lay in bed and do nothing but sleep all day.
    I think you are confusing that with your TDEE, which is BMR plus everything else, like getting dressed and walking the dog.
    I personally won't eat below by BMR regardless of what any calculators say I should eat.

    ETA: I get my best guesstimate TDEE from my FitBit 30 day average, but I'm sure there are TDEE calculators online
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    put your stats in MFP, set it to lose 1lb per week, eat that amount, and some exercise calories.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    edited December 2015
    StayCee089 wrote: »
    Hello! My names Stacey and I'm 19, I weigh 160lb and I'm 5'3. When I work out my BMR with calculators online I get a result of 1400 calories. I get confused by this as its very low, does this mean that I HAVE to exercise to at least burn 300 calories off to lose 1lb a week whilst eating 1200 calories? I see many forums saying that I shouldn't be eating only 1200 calories and that someone of my age should never be going under 1500 but if my BMR is 1400 that means that I would be overeating from the start, but then to minus the 500 I would need to exercise to burn off 600 calories a day and that is a lot for someone like me who isn't used to a lot of exercise yet. It's all very confusing and I just want a few answers!! I do run for at least 20mins a day also.

    BMR = 1400. * 1.2 for sedentary job/activity = 1680 = TDEE or calories you burn daily without exercise.

    Eating less than 1680 should give weight loss, give or take 200 calories for accuracy of estimate.

    With running you might be burning 1900 altogether so - 500 = 1400 is feasible, give or take 200.

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