MFP and Scale BMR
Tester1987
Posts: 18 Member
Hello! I have been having some trouble losing weight... the trouble seems to be that even though I thought I was under my BMR for the most part... I was staying about the same weight... I just kept pushing forward though thankful that I was at least not gaining.
But I watched a scishow video that suggested that people who have been on calorie restricted diets their bodies' BMR can actually go down...
So... another month passed with virtually no weight change at all... so... I bought a digital scale that claims to measure BMR... so... the scale measures my BMR 455 calories LESS than myfitnesspal. That is more than a little bit to be off by.
At least... that seems to be what I am seeing... is there perhaps something I am missing, misunderstanding, or perhaps not taking into context? How could I adjust myfitnesspal to take this into consideration if it is likely true?
Thank you.
But I watched a scishow video that suggested that people who have been on calorie restricted diets their bodies' BMR can actually go down...
So... another month passed with virtually no weight change at all... so... I bought a digital scale that claims to measure BMR... so... the scale measures my BMR 455 calories LESS than myfitnesspal. That is more than a little bit to be off by.
At least... that seems to be what I am seeing... is there perhaps something I am missing, misunderstanding, or perhaps not taking into context? How could I adjust myfitnesspal to take this into consideration if it is likely true?
Thank you.
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Replies
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Mfp doesn't measure your BMR, it measures your NEAT.
BMR - number of calories your body burns just to keep you alive, like you were in a coma.
NEAT - number of calories your body burns to stay alive plus your normal daily moving around calories.
TDEE - number of calories your body burns to stay alive plus your normal daily moving around calories plus you purposeful exercise calories.
You need to eat less than your TDEE to lose weight.
How much weight do you have to lose, and how much did you lose in the last month?
The first place to troubleshoot is your food diary. Use a food scale for all solids as often as possible. Double check that the database entries you are choosing have the correct calories - many are user entered and not correct. Do a gut check and make sure you are logging everything - bad days, cheat days, cooking oils, condiments, nibbles, late night snacks, beverages, everything.
Check out the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each sub-forum, lots of great info there!12 -
BMR is not going to go down suddenly unless you are literally starving to death, as in laying on the ground motionless with parched lips in the Serengeti while vultures circle overhead, trying to decide if they are interested in eating your carcass because all they can see is a skeleton tightly wrapped in skin. Nothing a normal, everyday person does on a diet is going to have an appreciable short-term impact on BMR, though as you lose weight over time your body will have lower fuel requirements and the BMR will gradually decrease by 4-5 calories per pound lost. The reason is because BMR is already the rock-bottom, minimum rate of fuel-burn your current pile of organs and tissues requires just to remain alive; if you are in a coma, you will burn calories at the BMR, there is nowhere lower for it to go without shutting down critical subsystems. Your body will give you plenty of warning signs as it starts to hit the emergency brakes: you'll be extremely fatigued, listless, and possibly confused and disoriented too. Or put another way, if you feel alright, your BMR has not decreased. You can forget all about this pop theory about BMR and metabolism bouncing around from too little or too much food; it's meaningless.
Go do a google search on 'TDEE Calculator'. Use it and be honest with it about your typical activity level; don't declare yourself active if you're sedentary. Whatever number it spits out, there ya go, that's roughly your break even caloric intake, give or take 100 calories or so. Then you can go back to MFP and futz around with the Goals section and make some decisions about how much to eat. Or you can just use the TDEE from the calculator - eat 750 less than that number, consistently, for two weeks and lose three pounds. No cheating or off-meals, though, or it won't work.2 -
The only thing that seems to be true is that you're currently eating at maintenance. If you eat less than the calorie amount that you currently think you're eating right now, you will lose weight. The alternative is to invest ~$15 in a food scale so you can actually see how many calories you're eating right now.4
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So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?
Okay... I tried https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1
And this is what I am getting... which is still a whole lot more than what the scale I bought indicates...0 -
Tester1987 wrote: »So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?
Your BMR, NEAT, and TDEE are all different numbers, right. The BMR that the scale uses may be based on a slightly different calculation than the one the MFP uses to calculate your NEAT but they would be in the ballpark of each other.3 -
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Tester1987 wrote: »So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?
Okay... I tried https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1
And this is what I am getting... which is still a whole lot more than what the scale I bought indicates...
Right, because tdee and BMR are very different things.1 -
So... the site I linked (which is filled out to the best of my knowledge right now, as not happy as it is) shows my bmr as 2,136cal and the scale I got shows my bmr as 1,830cal. That is a difference of 306cal.Tester1987 wrote: »So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?
Okay... I tried https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1
And this is what I am getting... which is still a whole lot more than what the scale I bought indicates...
Right, because tdee and BMR are very different things.
It shows my sedentary rate, which I assume is my 'tdee', at 2,563cal.
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Just want to throw out there that BMR formulas are an estimate, based on a regression fit to a population of people. They’ll be right on average but the distribution is fairly wide, with about a 400 calorie standard deviation. Meaning, you could well be below what MFP calculates you should be, and your scale could be closer to correct (although generally a scale is also doing some kind of calculation rather than measurement and will have some hefty error associated with it).
A calculated BMR is a good STARTING place for most people. (Or TDEE, which is generally more useful if you’re trying to figure out what to eat - see kimmy’s post above for the difference). That doesn’t mean it’s right. It doesn’t mean your body is broken or your metabolism is shot if you don’t lose weight eating below this number. It means the calculation is not accurate, and you need to eat less to lose weight.1 -
Tester1987 wrote: »
So... the site I linked (which is filled out to the best of my knowledge right now, as not happy as it is) shows my bmr as 2,136cal and the scale I got shows my bmr as 1,830cal. That is a difference of 306cal.Tester1987 wrote: »So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?
Okay... I tried https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1
And this is what I am getting... which is still a whole lot more than what the scale I bought indicates...
Right, because tdee and BMR are very different things.
It shows my sedentary rate, which I assume is my 'tdee', at 2,563cal.
Sorry i didnt notice the BMR on your link.
So here's the thing. First, I have no idea how your scale figures BMR. But unless you plan on being in a coma soon, your BMR is a fairly useless number.
Calculators use generalizations and estimates. You can use a TDEE calculator or use MFP plus logged exercise, follow it for 6-8 weeks, look at your results. Tweak your calories if your progress doesn't match what you expected. Understand that if your logging isn't super accurate, it can make it a little harder to get your numbers nailed down.
IMHO smart scales are pretty much a waste. It seems to me they confuse and discourage way more people than they help.3 -
Tester1987 wrote: »
So... the site I linked (which is filled out to the best of my knowledge right now, as not happy as it is) shows my bmr as 2,136cal and the scale I got shows my bmr as 1,830cal. That is a difference of 306cal.Tester1987 wrote: »So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?
Okay... I tried https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1
And this is what I am getting... which is still a whole lot more than what the scale I bought indicates...
Right, because tdee and BMR are very different things.
It shows my sedentary rate, which I assume is my 'tdee', at 2,563cal.
So here's the thing. First, I have no idea how your scale figures BMR. But unless you plan on being in a coma soon, your BMR is a fairly useless number.
Calculators use generalizations and estimates. You can use a TDEE calculator or use MFP plus logged exercise, follow it for 6-8 weeks, look at your results. Tweak your calories if your progress doesn't match what you expected. Understand that if your logging isn't super accurate, it can make it a little harder to get your numbers nailed down.
IMHO smart scales are pretty much a waste. It seems to me they confuse and discourage way more people than they help.
This. I like my BF% scale because, even though I realize that the number it gives me is likely wrong, it still shows trends - like if I decrease by 1%, that’s real data, even if the absolute numbers aren’t. If you like these trends that’s great, otherwise they’re not very useful.
The ultimate test of whether you’re eating at an appropriate amount to lose weight is if you’re losing weight. Track your calories and your weight accurately, do it for a month, if you don’t see the scale budge subtract maybe 250 caps and repeat.
Neither a scale nor MFP can actually *measure* your BMR or TDEE or anything like that.1 -
Tester1987 wrote: »
So... the site I linked (which is filled out to the best of my knowledge right now, as not happy as it is) shows my bmr as 2,136cal and the scale I got shows my bmr as 1,830cal. That is a difference of 306cal.Tester1987 wrote: »So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?
Okay... I tried https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1
And this is what I am getting... which is still a whole lot more than what the scale I bought indicates...
Right, because tdee and BMR are very different things.
It shows my sedentary rate, which I assume is my 'tdee', at 2,563cal.
Sorry i didnt notice the BMR on your link.
So here's the thing. First, I have no idea how your scale figures BMR. But unless you plan on being in a coma soon, your BMR is a fairly useless number.
Calculators use generalizations and estimates. You can use a TDEE calculator or use MFP plus logged exercise, follow it for 6-8 weeks, look at your results. Tweak your calories if your progress doesn't match what you expected. Understand that if your logging isn't super accurate, it can make it a little harder to get your numbers nailed down.
IMHO smart scales are pretty much a waste. It seems to me they confuse and discourage way more people than they help.
This and also, as you get out into the obese range as Tester1987 is (stats in the link: https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1) then the numbers get a little wonky and can be way off.
Tester, do what Kimney72 suggests and run with something between the goalposts. Log for 4-8 weeks and adjust at that time. It's the experiment we all have to run at first.
Your own data trumps all the online and scale calculations.
Good luck :flowerforyou:4 -
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Hello there. Disregard pretty much everything everybody said on this thread. This is what you need to know...
The reason the renpho scale was lower is because it calculates your BMR based on your individual data points. These data points are muscle mass, fat mass, water weight, bone, etc. Yes, the renpo BMR is calculated using a formula, but the formula is specific to your body. Two people can weigh the same amount but because they have different muscle mass, there energy requirements will be different. The fitness apps apply a general formula, which is high AF. Just look into the research on the numbers. It was done on athletes. Not regular folks. Is the scale 100% correct? No. You would need to go have a bmr test performed. Is it far more accurate than the general formula's in the app? Yes.
Fat loss is a product of what you eat, not what you do. There are 24 hours in a day, you can spend 2 hours a day working out. There are still 22 other hours you need figure out. Take out 8 for sleep and you have 14 hours of opportunity to eat too much glucose, trigger high *kitten* insulin levels, and tell your body to store fat. You can work out for 2 hours and blow your entire work out with a slice of pizza. What you eat is what really matters.
If you want to drop weight with minimal effort, eat below your bmr. All of your exercise and lifestyle stuff will add to your daily deficit. Think of your body fat as a bank. It is full of deposits, now you just need to access them. No, you wont die from eating below your bmr. Your body will pull from stored fat to make up its energy needs, assuming your insulin levels are low and your body can access the fat!!! Hence, the low glucose consumption. That is the key. You will lose weight without HAVING to exercise. Use the exercise for heart health and strength training. Hack your body and make it work for you.
As you drop weight you bmr will decrease because there isnt so much of you around. The best way to combat this is to build muscle. Muscle has more energy requirements than fat. I watched my bmr stay the same for a month, even though I increased my activity level (cardio galore). My bmr went up 75 cals in the 6 weeks since I started using a vibration plate to do body weight strength training exercises. Squats, planks, and other low impact exercises for about 30 minutes 4-5 days a week. I use the machone every day even if just for 10 minutes. My renpo scales says I've added 3 lbs of muscle, knocked off 3.5% from my body fat percentage, and increased my bmr by 75. All that eating above my bmr. I am now eating 500 below my bmr bc I've committed fully to the process. I was half-assed before.
You are doing things right, your number were just wrong. If you have a hard time eating under bmr, try the following:
intermittent fasting
Keto diet
Paleo0 -
^^^^^ how bizarre.
Whoever posted that nonsense in the post above appears to have created an account just to disagree with all the great advice already given here! People are strange...(and wrong in this case)2
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