MFP calories

mirunizzle18

Before I ask, I am a female of 67 kg and 166 cm height. I read a thread in the must reads section that would say that I should never eat below my BMR so I calculated my BMR with the Harris–Benedict equation and it is 1500-ish, but MFP gives me 1270 calories for me being sedentary and lose 0.5kg/week. So what I should trust? Is the MFP calories too low? How many calories I should eat?

3dogsrunning

Anytime you select sedentary and 1 lb a week it will pit you below your BMR.

Also keep in mind that MFP expects you to log exercise and it those calories back so if you do any exercise you will likely be over your BMR.

Laurasparkle90

Maybe try either way and see which you feel most comfortable with? When I first started mfp way back with another account, I was set up with 1200 cals a day. I managed to lose weight really quickly but eventually got pretty miserable and started cheating. My doctor told me it was just too low, so I upped it to around 1500 and carried on losing weight, just a little slower. It sounds silly that 300 calories would make such a difference but for me it did.
I've gone for that amount this time round and customised the cal allowance myself. I personally find that suits me better, but I don't think there is a "one size fits all" answer - some people are just fine with the 1200 allowance. Maybe try both ways and see what works for you?

StaciMarie1974

There is no scientific/medical reason to avoid eating below your BMR. Unless your BMR is really low of course, so low that you can't eat at that level and get enough nutrition.