Something confusing me about BMR
LotusCass
Posts: 145 Member
I'm still getting my head around all the numbers. I've learnt so much this week. I've just done a bit of reading around BMR, and I understand that it's the amount of calories you burn doing nothing but existing (estimated of course as nothing is exact). Taking an average from a number of different online calculators my BMR has come out at 1435, with TDEE at 1950. I've also read a few things that it's not recommended to go below BMR (many people have said they have with no issues, but you can lose muscle mass). Why then does MFP set my calorie target at 1200?
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Did you choose an aggressive weekly weight loss goal?0
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janejellyroll wrote: »Did you choose an aggressive weekly weight loss goal?
No 1-2 lbs a week.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Did you choose an aggressive weekly weight loss goal?
No 1-2 lbs a week.
2 Lbs per week is a 1,000 calorie daily deficit...it's pretty aggressive and will take most people below their BMR. A 500 calorie deficit (1 Lb per week) would put you right at 1450.2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Did you choose an aggressive weekly weight loss goal?
No 1-2 lbs a week.
2 pounds a week *is* an aggressive goal for most people. Choosing an aggressive goal means you need a larger deficit to hit it and MFP will give you a lower calorie goal than someone who chooses a more reasonable goal. This will put many people below or close to their BMR.0 -
I'm still getting my head around all the numbers. I've learnt so much this week. I've just done a bit of reading around BMR, and I understand that it's the amount of calories you burn doing nothing but existing (estimated of course as nothing is exact). Taking an average from a number of different online calculators my BMR has come out at 1435, with TDEE at 1950. I've also read a few things that it's not recommended to go below BMR (many people have said they have with no issues, but you can lose muscle mass). Why then does MFP set my calorie target at 1200?
Yes your BMR is what your body burns to live...breathing etc.
NEAT is the calories burned doing regular activity aka working, walking to the bathroom etc.
TDEE is NEAT+Exercise calories...
Going below BMR is not that big of a deal...as long as it is not a forever thing.
You lose muscle mass regardless to slow that down you need to do resistance training and eat enough protein.
Your calories are set to 1200 based on what you set your weekly weight loss goals at and your stats such as height etc.
1-2 lbs a week can be seen as aggressive if you only have 10 lbs to lose...now if you have 100+ not so much but based on what I can see you don't have 100+ to lose.1 -
MFP sets a minimum calorie goal at 1200 because there was some article that said it somewhere and they don't want to mislead people into thinking they can just limit their calories to nothing and be fine. Eating below your BMR for a short while is no problem if you have fat to lose. Obviously longer term it's stupid. You still need food.
The vast majority of us who have too much fat do very well eating at between 250-500 calories less than TDEE (regardless of their BMR) until we get to healthy weight ranges.0 -
based on your numbers you have a 750 daily caloric deficit which is 1.5lbs a week. This is almost as aggressive as most people can get.
Remember that it is a marathon you are embarking on. not a sprint. make sure you have reasonable expectations of what your body can handle. If it took years to put on, chances are its going to take more than a few weeks to take off.1 -
Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »based on your numbers you have a 750 daily caloric deficit which is 1.5lbs a week. This is almost as aggressive as most people can get.
Remember that it is a marathon you are embarking on. not a sprint. make sure you have reasonable expectations of what your body can handle. If it tooks years to put on, chances are its going to take more than a few weeks to take off.
NOt so much
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
and there are new studies out that say fast weight loss when done properly is not a bad thing either..you lose muscle mass when you lose weight but it can be lessened when done right.1 -
Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »based on your numbers you have a 750 daily caloric deficit which is 1.5lbs a week. This is almost as aggressive as most people can get.
Remember that it is a marathon you are embarking on. not a sprint. make sure you have reasonable expectations of what your body can handle. If it took years to put on, chances are its going to take more than a few weeks to take off.
I have lost 12 lbs in 6 weeks, so would that be considered too fast? I now only have 20 lbs left to go, so should I change my goal to 0.5 lbs/week?0 -
Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »based on your numbers you have a 750 daily caloric deficit which is 1.5lbs a week. This is almost as aggressive as most people can get.
Remember that it is a marathon you are embarking on. not a sprint. make sure you have reasonable expectations of what your body can handle. If it took years to put on, chances are its going to take more than a few weeks to take off.
I have lost 12 lbs in 6 weeks, so would that be considered too fast? I now only have 20 lbs left to go, so should I change my goal to 0.5 lbs/week?
To answer that question i would ask yourself a few things. because we want you to reach that goal, not give up.
Are you feeling constantly hungry? (if you are, you might want to eat a few more, like an extra snack somewhere for 250 calories leaving you with a 500 deficit ( 1lb a week )
Are you feeling weaker? you might be losing muscle mass as well as fat. as others have said, make sure you are doing some form of resistance training and meeting your protein goal.
And once you reach that goal weight, Make sure you eat near your TDEE so that you maintain your hard earned weight loss!
If you arent feeling hungry and you arent feeling weaker, its probably safe to continue at the pace you are right now. Just be aware if it starts to feel like you are deprived. Increase your calories a bit.1 -
Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »based on your numbers you have a 750 daily caloric deficit which is 1.5lbs a week. This is almost as aggressive as most people can get.
Remember that it is a marathon you are embarking on. not a sprint. make sure you have reasonable expectations of what your body can handle. If it took years to put on, chances are its going to take more than a few weeks to take off.
I have lost 12 lbs in 6 weeks, so would that be considered too fast? I now only have 20 lbs left to go, so should I change my goal to 0.5 lbs/week?
To answer that question i would ask yourself a few things. because we want you to reach that goal, not give up.
Are you feeling constantly hungry? (if you are, you might want to eat a few more, like an extra snack somewhere for 250 calories leaving you with a 500 deficit ( 1lb a week )
Are you feeling weaker? you might be losing muscle mass as well as fat. as others have said, make sure you are doing some form of resistance training and meeting your protein goal.
And once you reach that goal weight, Make sure you eat near your TDEE so that you maintain your hard earned weight loss!
If you arent feeling hungry and you arent feeling weaker, its probably safe to continue at the pace you are right now. Just be aware if it starts to feel like you are deprived. Increase your calories a bit.
Thanks for that!! I'm not feeling hungry. I got to 980 calories today by 7pm after dinner and felt full, and wondered how I'd find another 400 odd calories by the end of the evening (including exercise calories I had left). I am feeling a bit light headed at times, but that's not too uncommon for me.0 -
12 lbs in 6 weeks is what you'd expect for a successful start for those with much to lose, well done. Some of this is water, but the majority is fat. Excellent start.
You will start to see diminished returns (less loss per week) over time as your body trends towards its natural "sweet spot" healthy weight and you will have to adjust your calories in or out as a result.
If I were you I would change my deficit if it wasn't working (i.e. it's hard on you, you are hungry all the time, grumpy) You could still be losing weight or not, but you aren't having any fun doing it. It's not sustainable. Having a slower rate of loss is much preferable long term, and will be much easier mentally. It does take a bit longer but is more effective long term. You determine what you are comfortable with.
As you approach your goals, you'll need new ones too
This is something you might want to start to think about. Maybe you want to "get toned" or, run 5K or 10K or something, now's the time to prepare for that new goal so that when you reach your original goal you're still focused on the long term life change. 1 -
Thanks for all the responses. So my other question, what do you think about eating below BMR? I guess short term it's not a bad thing, but not for very long? Looking at my averages over the past 6 weeks, my total has been around 1550, but net just under 1200.0
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Lets put it this way... if you are eating at a 1000/day deficit, it means that you are not learning to eat to maintain yourself at goal weight. This is why so many people yoyo diet.... they lose all the weight and then stop watching what they eat, and often stop being active, and have no idea how to eat to stay at the weight they want. So then a yr later they realize they gained all this fat, and go on a strict diet....
Now, if you ease you way into your goal weight, you will be really close to already eating to stay at that weight.
Per your numbers you are at a 750 deficit.... move to a 500 deficit till you are down to 10-15lbs lbs from goal, and then move to a 250 deficit till you hit goal.
One of the other ideas is eat at the amount it will take for you to stay the weight you want to be. If you weigh more than that you will lose weight, if you weigh less you will gain.1 -
I am feeling a bit light headed at times, but that's not too uncommon for me.
Make sure you are drinking enough water. When I personally feel light headed its the first sign towards being dehydrated ( ive been working out and sweating a lot but not drinking anything ). Your body needs the water and isnt the weight you are trying to target. Plus it is how your body flushes the junk out of your system.
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Thanks for all the responses. So my other question, what do you think about eating below BMR? I guess short term it's not a bad thing, but not for very long? Looking at my averages over the past 6 weeks, my total has been around 1550, but net just under 1200.
Eating under BMR for losing weight in most cases is going to be desired or at least likely. as you get closer to your goal weight you will need to increase your calories to get yourself used to eating at the TDEE. So at some point you will have to start eating at or above BMR for sure.0 -
Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »Thanks for all the responses. So my other question, what do you think about eating below BMR? I guess short term it's not a bad thing, but not for very long? Looking at my averages over the past 6 weeks, my total has been around 1550, but net just under 1200.
Eating under BMR for losing weight in most cases is going to be desired or at least likely. as you get closer to your goal weight you will need to increase your calories to get yourself used to eating at the TDEE. So at some point you will have to start eating at or above BMR for sure.
Depends on your activity level. If you're getting enough exercise for good health, you ought to be able to lose weight at a perfectly decent rate eating at or above BMR.0 -
Thanks for all the responses. So my other question, what do you think about eating below BMR? I guess short term it's not a bad thing, but not for very long? Looking at my averages over the past 6 weeks, my total has been around 1550, but net just under 1200.
Your body will tell you if it wants more calories, but what you're doing is not bad, I never paid any attention to the "net" (I assume you mean fiber or maybe you mean you exercise 250 cals?).
There's always people asking whether or not they should eat back some or all of their exercise calories, the answer is different for everyone, but still the same. You can if it makes the experience more fun. You could be really motivated by super fast losses (accompanied by easy gains btw) or you could be happy with slow steady losses (generally the preferred approach).
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SusanMFindlay wrote: »Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »Thanks for all the responses. So my other question, what do you think about eating below BMR? I guess short term it's not a bad thing, but not for very long? Looking at my averages over the past 6 weeks, my total has been around 1550, but net just under 1200.
Eating under BMR for losing weight in most cases is going to be desired or at least likely. as you get closer to your goal weight you will need to increase your calories to get yourself used to eating at the TDEE. So at some point you will have to start eating at or above BMR for sure.
Depends on your activity level. If you're getting enough exercise for good health, you ought to be able to lose weight at a perfectly decent rate eating at or above BMR.
Definitely if you are a monster activity wise. If you eat at or above BMR and expect 1.5lbs a week loss though, you are going to essentially be living in the gym or on the bike ect..0 -
Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »SusanMFindlay wrote: »Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »Thanks for all the responses. So my other question, what do you think about eating below BMR? I guess short term it's not a bad thing, but not for very long? Looking at my averages over the past 6 weeks, my total has been around 1550, but net just under 1200.
Eating under BMR for losing weight in most cases is going to be desired or at least likely. as you get closer to your goal weight you will need to increase your calories to get yourself used to eating at the TDEE. So at some point you will have to start eating at or above BMR for sure.
Depends on your activity level. If you're getting enough exercise for good health, you ought to be able to lose weight at a perfectly decent rate eating at or above BMR.
Definitely if you are a monster activity wise. If you eat at or above BMR and expect 1.5lbs a week loss though, you are going to essentially be living in the gym or on the bike ect..
I am 5'4, 150 pounds and 41 years old. My BMR is 1409 (according to Scooby). If I were lightly active, I'd burn 1938 calories/day. So, 5-7,000 steps/day and I could eat at my BMR and lose 1 pound/week. If I got 10,000 steps/day, I could eat at my BMR and lose 1.5 pounds/week. Hardly a "monster activity wise", and I certainly wouldn't be living at the gym.
Now, if you're tiny and trying to lose vanity weight, you're right. But somebody who is tiny and trying to lose vanity weight shouldn't be aiming for such a high deficit.0
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