BMR confusion

FindingMyself24

Okay I don't want to sound silly here lol. I have been searching the forums all morning and I cant seem to find an answer to my question. My BMR is 1615 and my 20% TDEE is 1777. I burn 400 to 900 calories per workout. I have a body fat percent of 38 and I want to lose 56 pounds. Would it be safe to eat at 1600 calories? I am confused because I am not sure if I am supposed net my BMR or eat my BMR and not count what I burn during exercise. I want to try to lose 1.5 to 2 pounds per week. Please be kind

FindingMyself24

BUMP

jess7386

Try to be slightly more sensitive with your use of the "R" word.... :huh:

Anyway, you should never eat below your BMR - your BMR is essentially the number of calories your body needs to stay alive if you led a totally sedentary lifestyle (e.g. laying in a hospital bed). My advice would be to factor exercise into your TDEE (e.g. choose whether you are sedentary, active, lightly active, etc.) & then eat 20% below that. Alternatively, you can also set your TDEE to sedentary & eat back exercise calories after you work out (or at least eat back half of em).

Let me know if you have any questions.

ladynocturne

From your numbers, I can tell that 2lbs a week is too aggressive.

Your TDEE should be higher, did you put sedentary and not include your exercise?

So either you need to net your BMR, OR calculate your TDEE including your exercise, then subtract 20%, in this case you would gross that number, not net it (so don't eat your exercise calories back).

FindingMyself24

From your numbers, I can tell that 2lbs a week is too aggressive.

Your TDEE should be higher, did you put sedentary and not include your exercise?

So either you need to net your BMR, OR calculate your TDEE including your exercise, then subtract 20%, in this case you would gross that number, not net it (so don't eat your exercise calories back).

No I set it as light exercise. I workout 5-6 days a week.

ladynocturne

From your numbers, I can tell that 2lbs a week is too aggressive.

Your TDEE should be higher, did you put sedentary and not include your exercise?

So either you need to net your BMR, OR calculate your TDEE including your exercise, then subtract 20%, in this case you would gross that number, not net it (so don't eat your exercise calories back).

No I set it as light exercise. I workout 5-6 days a week.

I wouldn't call 5-6 days a week light. Moderate is more appropriate.

jlapey

Your numbers sound a bit screwy, perhaps a little more info might help you. This is an excellent group to ask advice from:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

You should definitely read through their most important threads:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

Particularly, these:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets


anyway, good luck

FindingMyself24

From your numbers, I can tell that 2lbs a week is too aggressive.

Your TDEE should be higher, did you put sedentary and not include your exercise?

So either you need to net your BMR, OR calculate your TDEE including your exercise, then subtract 20%, in this case you would gross that number, not net it (so don't eat your exercise calories back).

No I set it as light exercise. I workout 5-6 days a week.

I wouldn't call 5-6 days a week light. Moderate is more appropriate.

I know its moderate but I just felt like that was too many calories to take in. If I set my levels at moderate my TDEE at 20% would be 2004. That just seems like too many calories to take in.

deksgrl

How did you calculate your BMR and TDEE?

FindingMyself24

How did you calculate your BMR and TDEE?

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/

I used their TDEE and BMR calculators. I took the TDEE number and then multiplied it by 20%. Then took that number and subtracted it from the TDEE amount.
Example: TDEE @ light = 2221
2221 x 20%= 444.2
2221-444.2= 1776.8

deksgrl

I agree, you are probably doing more exercise than just "light".

If you use the TDEE- % method then that is your daily goal. You do not eat any extra for exercise, it is included in that number.

How much weight do you need to lose? 20% cut is appropriate if you have about 20 pounds or more to lose. If you have less than 20 pounds to lose you should choose 15% or 10%. (The closer you get to goal weight, the smaller the cut you should take).

FindingMyself24

I agree, you are probably doing more exercise than just "light".

If you use the TDEE- % method then that is your daily goal. You do not eat any extra for exercise, it is included in that number.

How much weight do you need to lose? 20% cut is appropriate if you have about 20 pounds or more to lose. If you have less than 20 pounds to lose you should choose 15% or 10%. (The closer you get to goal weight, the smaller the cut you should take).

I want to lose 56 pounds. Ive been doing TDEE @ 20% I just feel like its so slow. I was hoping there was another healthy method that would help me to lose 2 pounds a week. Ive been eating 1700 calories and losing a pound a week. I would want to double that if possible and healthy.

MinnieInMaine

With the amount of weight you want to lose, a goal of somewhere between 1 and 1.5 pounds per week would be more realistic. We all want the weight gone a.s.a.p. but trust me, it takes a lot of patience to get through this process. Just keep eating right and exercising and you'll get there.

Here is a great guideline for setting weekly weight loss goals:
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, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

As far as your calorie goal goes, you have two options...

Either recalc TDEE-20% using moderate activity because that's more accurate for you and don't eat back exercise caloires as they're already included

Or set your calorie goal to BMR and eat back exercise calories.

FindingMyself24

With the amount of weight you want to lose, a goal of somewhere between 1 and 1.5 pounds per week would be more realistic. We all want the weight gone a.s.a.p. but trust me, it takes a lot of patience to get through this process. Just keep eating right and exercising and you'll get there.

Here is a great guideline for setting weekly weight loss goals:
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, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

As far as your calorie goal goes, you have two options...

Either recalc TDEE-20% using moderate activity because that's more accurate for you and don't eat back exercise caloires as they're already included

Or set your calorie goal to BMR and eat back exercise calories.

Hmm well I was doing TDEE @ 20% but not getting the results I want so ill probably try setting my calories at BMR and only eat back exercise when I'm hungry.

FindingMyself24

Thanks everyone for help