BMR vs. daily target calories

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MossiO
MossiO Posts: 164 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
According to MFP's BMR calculator, I burn 1657 calories doing nothing. When I enter in my info to lose 1 pound per week, it gives me a target daily calorie goal of 1570. I'm set at sedentary. Doing the math, a deficit of 100 calories per day will take me 35 days to lose a pound. Can anyone explain how this is supposed to work? Should it not be set at a deficit of 500 calories per day from my BMR to lose a pound a week? I mean, I know I shouldn't go below 1200 and I won't, but I just don't understand the math here.

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  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
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    BMR would be your calorie burn from doing ABSOLUTELY nothing. MFP bases its calculations on NEAT, which takes into account your approximate calorie burn from non-exercise activity like the bit of walking around even the most sedentary people usually do. This is going to be notably higher.

    Calories burned from exercise are added on top of that as you record them.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Your deficit comes from NEAT, which includes general day to day activity, not from your BMR
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    BMR is basically coma. Even awake and lying in bed, you will burn more than BMR. It's what your organs require to function when you're inert.
  • MossiO
    MossiO Posts: 164 Member
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    Ok, that makes more sense. I somehow figured being "sedentary" was pretty close to lying in a coma. Some days...

    Thanks!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    MossiO wrote: »
    Ok, that makes more sense. I somehow figured being "sedentary" was pretty close to lying in a coma. Some days...

    Thanks!

    Nope, it still accounts for work (a desk job), cooking, cleaning, running errands, etc.
  • MossiO
    MossiO Posts: 164 Member
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    So do I just figure MFP assumes I'm about 2070 cals/day for NEAT since that's 500 more than my daily calorie goal?
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,238 Member
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    Generally sedentary people burn an additional .2 times their BMR. That means if you eat your BMR calories, you would be at probably a 20% deficit with is considered a fairly aggressive deficit. The way MFP figures things, it does not include intended exercise, which raises the calories burned, and thus you eat more.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    MossiO wrote: »
    Ok, that makes more sense. I somehow figured being "sedentary" was pretty close to lying in a coma. Some days...

    Thanks!

    Do you ever stand up? Standing up burns more calories than lying down. :smiley: That's why even "sedentary" calorie burn is higher than BMR.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    BMR cannot be measured. You are talking about TDEE :)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    You're confusing BMR, TDEE and NEAT
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    By your typing here - it is safe to assume you are not in a coma. You burn 1657 for your bodily functions each day. That is for your organs (heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, etc.) to do their things. To keep your body temperature under control, to pump blood & oxygen thru your body and so forth.

    You move thru your day to some extent. Even if you're sedentary you are on your feet occasionally to move around your house, to/thru your work day, errands, hobbies. The acts of physically moving your body: uses energy as well. Its not as much as BMR and is estimated as a % of it. For sedentary I think the assumption is 20 or 25%.

    The total of those two energy consumption factors, less 500 for a planned deficit, is what MFP uses to generate your calorie consumption goal.

    Then if you exercise, especially for cardio, you're moving multiple major muscle groups for an extended period of time and that burns MORE calories than your activity level.
    MossiO wrote: »
    According to MFP's BMR calculator, I burn 1657 calories doing nothing. When I enter in my info to lose 1 pound per week, it gives me a target daily calorie goal of 1570. I'm set at sedentary. Doing the math, a deficit of 100 calories per day will take me 35 days to lose a pound. Can anyone explain how this is supposed to work? Should it not be set at a deficit of 500 calories per day from my BMR to lose a pound a week? I mean, I know I shouldn't go below 1200 and I won't, but I just don't understand the math here.

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