Wanna make sure I'm doing this right

capaul42

Your BMR has nothing to do with activity level. It's what your body burns in a coma, meaning no activity. If your calculator is asking for activity level for BMR, it's not a real BMR calculator. All BMR calculators ask for is gender, age, height and weight. It should not ask for activity at all

kansascutie81

I feel like I can't meet the bmr and lose weight. I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and I have snacks through out the day and looked up how to figure your own bmr without using the calculators and I got 1,631 using the formula below


Bmr=10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 ×height (cm) - 5× age (years) - 161
Bmr=100 ×99.336729 + 6.25 × 155 - 5 ×34 - 161= 1,631

So how do I figure my tdee accurately without using apps

capaul42

Don't. MFP gave you a number. Use that.

capaul42

kansascutie81 wrote: »

I feel like I can't meet the bmr and lose weight. I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and I have snacks through out the day and looked up how to figure your own bmr without using the calculators and I got 1,631 using the formula below


Bmr=10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 ×height (cm) - 5× age (years) - 161
Bmr=100 ×99.336729 + 6.25 × 155 - 5 ×34 - 161= 1,631

So how do I figure my tdee accurately without using apps

1631 sounds a lot more like a real BMR calculation. Mine is high 1400's and I'm 7 yrs older than you.

But don't worry about your BMR too much. Go with what MFP gave you.

kansascutie81

So if I have calories remaining on mfp is that good or bad

capaul42

Well, I usually only east back 50% of those, mfp is designed for you to eat back exercise calories. But don't worry over much if you're too full to eat back even half. Sometimes I don't either.

kansascutie81

So if my goal is 1540 and I ate 1520 calories and burned off 876 calories and have 899 remaining how do I know I ate back the calories I burned during exercise

benevempress

It is fine to have calories remaining from the MFP suggested number (which includes exercise) as long as you are eating at least your 1631 number and having enough energy to get through your day. You don't have to feel deprived and starving to lose weight. If you input your exercise on MFP each day it will add those calories to its base suggestion, giving you the maximum you can eat in a day to still lose weight since it already has a deficit built in (depending on how many pounds per week you told it you want to lose. 1-2 pounds per week is usually safe and sustainable). If you are eating that maximum number and not losing weight, you may have exercise calorie estimates that are too high and you can either input lower numbers or eat a smaller percentage of the exercise calories.

For now, you can either manually override MFP's starting number of 1540 for you to 1631 or you can just make sure to get at least 91 calories per day of exercise (and eat those calories) to make sure you eat at least your BMR number and lose weight at the approximate rate you selected.

kansascutie81

I always thought the way to lose weight was to eat less exercise more I never knew anything about bmr, or tdee until now and I've tried so hard to figure it out on my own but failed. I know I've lost weight cause when I started I weighed 225 or so now I'm down to 219 I drink lots of water and since I'm a stay at home mom I wake everyone up make breakfast and eat then I work out and then do my housework then I eat lunch and workout then I get my kids from school cook supper and eat then workout and then right before bed I do resistance bands strength training like flutterkicks, kick backs, biceps and triceps normally during one day I may burn 800-1000 calories a day but as I said before I'm finding it very hard to eat over 1100 calories at most (except for today I ate 1520) and now I feel bloated and it hurts. Before this diet I would always eat but I wouldn't workout normally I was too tired to get out and do it now I exercise but only for 30 minutes at a time usually 3x a day for 6 days Sunday is my day of rest but I still watch what I eat always. And I know I shouldn't eat below my bmr which I stated before to be at 1631, so I know I have to eat at least 1631 to keep my body from starving mode and hoarding calories and the goal of 1540 that MFP has set for me is hard to reach so is it okay if I don't reach that in a day without going under my bmr and starving my body

capaul42

Don't worry about going under your BMR. My BMR when I started was high 1600's. And mfp set me to 1200 a day. Your body doesn't need BMR to stay alive. It's just what it burns doing nothing (coma). And your BMR will change as you lose. Mine is in the 1400's now. I do suggest recalculated every so often, probably every 10-20lbs lost to make sure you're still in a deficit.

kansascutie81

Thanks you guys

kansascutie81

How do I override the goal of 1540 that MFP set

benevempress

kansascutie81 wrote: »

I know I have to eat at least 1631 to keep my body from starving mode and hoarding calories and the goal of 1540 that MFP has set for me is hard to reach so is it okay if I don't reach that in a day without going under my bmr and starving my body

You say you know you have to eat 1631 and then immediately say, "but is it okay to eat less than 1540 without going under my bmr" which is 1631? My answer is NO. You can't eat under 1540 while eating 1631. If you want to be healthy and make weight loss and eventual maintenance of that loss much easier psychologically, my advice is to eat your 1631 BMR or greater every day. If you are exercising 800-1000 calories per day you will lose 1-2 pounds per week (or more, depending on your other activities during the day) eating at that level. You don't HAVE to exercise that much to lose weight; I'm just telling you that you can eat a lot more than you think and still lose weight.

As for the "I'm finding it hard to eat over 1100 calories at most", I find those sorts of comments from overweight (or previously overweight) people impossible to understand. How did you get over 200 pounds if you can only eat 1100 calories per day, even if you never get out of a chair? If you are truly weighing and measuring your food and you know you are eating that little, then you need to change how you are thinking and what you eat. If you're eating 5 pounds of carrots per day and are too full to eat enough calories, have 5 ounces of carrots instead and have a muffin or some peanut butter on a piece of bread or a handful of nuts. Eat some protein so you don't lose all your muscle while losing weight. Or eat some of what you ate to gain the weight in the first place. Your new lifestyle as a thin person shouldn't be based around completely eliminating certain foods because you've labelled them "bad". Portion control and planning means you can eat anything you want. I plan for some chocolate almost every single day. Let me tell you, 100 calories of chocolate doesn't take up much room in your tummy.

kansascutie81

I got this way because instead of doing anything active I slept all the time and my body I guess decided to store it instead of burning it. I'm not as hungry now because I drink lots of water and I stay full from the water. I'm sorry that I seem to be bugging you or others I'm just trying to fully understand how this all works as I'm not a fitness coach or anything. I was always told to lose weight you eat less and exercise more so that your body has to dig into the fat stored for energy. I'm sorry to have bothered any of you I will not post any more questions as I am clearly getting on some people's nerves I will just figure this out on my own.

Christine_72

Eat the calories MFP has given you. And to start, eat back 50% of your exercise calories. You can reassess later depending on your weight loss. Weigh everything you eat and log it honestly and accurately.
Forget everything else!!! You're making this much harder than it needs to be.

benevempress

You aren't bothering me, I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. There is a lot of good information available on the forums, but there is a lot of "broscience" too, so be careful what you believe to begin with (like that 2800+ BMR estimate). If you'd like some more help with this, feel free to send me a message. I log in every day.

There are many false messages about weight loss in our society, one of which is that you have to starve yourself or do many hours of cardio per day to lose weight. It just isn't true. You simply have to eat less than you burn, and it is easier to maintain your weight loss if you take it at a 1-2 pound per week rate rather than higher than that, eat at least your BMR, and maintain your muscles while eating at a deficit.

So yes, in general eat less, move more. But if you aren't eating enough to be healthy (under 1200 calories per day for women is one guideline), you don't need to eat less. You might need to eat a bit more and move more. It's all about the difference between calories in and calories out.

lollywoo7

thunder1982 wrote: »

kansascutie81 wrote: »

On another app I downloaded it says my bmr is 2081.46 which seems a bit more realistic for me and my height and weight and activity level now I just need to know how to figure what my true TDEE number is any suggestions

Activity level has no relevance to BMR. BMR is what you need to keep you body functioning. TDEE is calculate using a multiplier times your BMR

EG (Now different TDEE calculators will use different multipliers this is one example)
Little or No Exercise: TDEE = 1.2 x BMR
Light Exercise/Sports 1 to 3 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.375 x BMR
Moderate Exercise, Sports 3 to 5 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.55 x BMR
Heavy Exercise, Sports 6 to 7 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.725 x BMR
Very heavy exercise (e.g., physical job; training 2x/day): TDEE = 1.9 x BMR

I personally dont like these as to me theres a lot of room for variation eg how hard you actually work out etc.

If you are using TDEE you should have calories remaining otherwise you are going to maintain your current weight which is not your goal. How many yo have remaining will depend on how aggressive your weight loss goal is. Using TDEE you dont eat back exercise calories.

nutmegoreo

Christine_72 wrote: »

Eat the calories MFP has given you. And to start, eat back 50% of your exercise calories. You can reassess later depending on your weight loss. Weigh everything you eat and log it honestly and accurately.
Forget everything else!!! You're making this much harder than it needs to be.

Agreed! ^^^ This is a great place to start. Evaluate your results after 4-6 weeks (you need enough data to ensure there is average losses, because sometimes gains happen). If you are losing at your expected rate (2lb/week at these higher numbers are fine, but as you get closer to goal, the losses should slow as well), then you have your magic number. If you are losing too fast, eat more. Too slow, eat less. Make small adjustments. Real data is much more accurate than any app. They all work on averages and best guesses.

kansascutie81

lollywoo7 wrote: »

thunder1982 wrote: »

kansascutie81 wrote: »

On another app I downloaded it says my bmr is 2081.46 which seems a bit more realistic for me and my height and weight and activity level now I just need to know how to figure what my true TDEE number is any suggestions

Activity level has no relevance to BMR. BMR is what you need to keep you body functioning. TDEE is calculate using a multiplier times your BMR

EG (Now different TDEE calculators will use different multipliers this is one example)
Little or No Exercise: TDEE = 1.2 x BMR
Light Exercise/Sports 1 to 3 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.375 x BMR
Moderate Exercise, Sports 3 to 5 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.55 x BMR
Heavy Exercise, Sports 6 to 7 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.725 x BMR
Very heavy exercise (e.g., physical job; training 2x/day): TDEE = 1.9 x BMR

I personally dont like these as to me theres a lot of room for variation eg how hard you actually work out etc.

If you are using TDEE you should have calories remaining otherwise you are going to maintain your current weight which is not your goal. How many yo have remaining will depend on how aggressive your weight loss goal is. Using TDEE you dont eat back exercise calories.

See that makes sense to me I always thought having remaining calories is what you want so clearly I am doing good by now consuming all the daily calories alloted to me. Thank you

elaineamj

Someone here said that success is losing at a reasonable pace while eating AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Like most newbies, I resisted that in the beginning, jumping all in and trying to go all out. Life happens and the time came when I wasn't working out as consistently as in the beginning. I also got HANGRY sometimes. And frustrated with trying to get my diet to work in real life (where we go out to eat occasionally and have potlucks and host friends for dinner).

I'm still learning how to fit everything into my new life. Not entirely sure how it all fits yet but everything got a lot easier when I let myself start eating more. Yes, there are many days where 1000 calories satisfies me. But too long being strict and my inclination is to rebel and binge. Or get frustrated and give up. It was glorious to give myself permission to have the high cal snack like ice cream and caramel popcorn. Even better to measure it out and have it fit within my calories instead of sneaking a tub/bag and binging.

What helps me also is to track on a weekly basis. E.g today I only ate under 1000 calories and I burned 250+ on a walk so I have a lot of calories left. This makes up for yesterday when I was over by 200 calories. And it will give me some room for larger meals/extra indulgences later in the week.

JeromeBarry1

kansascutie81, please name the web site from which you downloaded the app which you are citing for your BMR.

kansascutie81

I just went to my Google apps and typed in bmr calculator and found the highest rated one. Then I ran a search on how to calculate it myself and came up with the 1637 previously stated before, which sound a bit more right there are days that I don't always eat 1000 calories or more but I don't feel hungry. Today I ate 1600 calories and my stomach hurts according to mfp my goal was 1540 but I burned 876 calories exercising. I feel miserable right now cause my stomach feels bloated cause everyone was saying I should be eating what mfp sets for me. I understand I have to keep up my bmr or so I think that's true. I just need it straight cut and too the point do I eat the goal of what mfp sets at 1540 and exercise like I have been for 30 minutes 3x a day or do I eat less than 1540 and exercise

Christine_72

NM

kimny72

kansascutie81 wrote: »

I just went to my Google apps and typed in bmr calculator and found the highest rated one. Then I ran a search on how to calculate it myself and came up with the 1637 previously stated before, which sound a bit more right there are days that I don't always eat 1000 calories or more but I don't feel hungry. Today I ate 1600 calories and my stomach hurts according to mfp my goal was 1540 but I burned 876 calories exercising. I feel miserable right now cause my stomach feels bloated cause everyone was saying I should be eating what mfp sets for me. I understand I have to keep up my bmr or so I think that's true. I just need it straight cut and too the point do I eat the goal of what mfp sets at 1540 and exercise like I have been for 30 minutes 3x a day or do I eat less than 1540 and exercise

Your MFP goal already has your deficit built in, so yes you should be eating 1540 plus some of your exercise calories.

I'll mention again - 1,000 cals is a very small amount of food, unless all you are eating is veggies. It would be really helpful if you would open your diary. Usually when someone new is putting up odd numbers it is usually a logging issue. Either they are not using a food scale or they are using incorrect entries or they are forgetting to add random items like cooking oil. Hopefully this thread will help you - best of luck!