Please help regarding bmr

suenewberry81
suenewberry81 Posts: 241 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been doing slimfast I know it's not everyone's cuppa but thought I'd try it.
My BMR is 1484 so this is the number my body needs to stay alive right?
Slimfast say I should be eating 1380 a day
I go to the gym 3 times a week cardio and weights and I have a really active job doing 15k + steps a day
I think 1380 cals is far to low without the work out am I right? I've been told it's not etc... on the slimfast fb page 🤷‍♀️
Thanks

Replies

  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    edited September 2021
    Yes, you didn't give your height and weight but unless you are tiny, it's likely too low for your activity level!

    Edited to clarify
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    1380 is really low for most folks but that's definitely way too low for someone as active as you are. Don't eat below BMR - that's your absolute basement minimum in-a-coma "this is what it costs to keep you breathing and your heart beating and absolutely nothing else" energy expenditure. The second you open your eyes or even just sit up in bed, your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is going to be higher than your BMR.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    edited September 2021
    Here's the explanation of how Myfitnesspal calculates your calories:

    https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

    • BMR is your bare minimum, keep-me-breathing-and-making-cells calories.
    • MFP uses non-exercise calories from which to deduct your calorie daily goal which is BMR + an amount more to support your regular activity every day like work, chores, showering, walking around during a normal day. (See "activity level" in Goals)
    • It then expects you to add in the exercise in the Exercise tab and eat more when doing exercise.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    When you only have a little bit to lose, if you are both small and sedentary, you may need to eat below BMR to create weight loss at a rate that won't 'hide' on the scale for months. It won't kill you and isn't a huge deal for a little bit IF you're, again, small and sedentary.

    But... I wouldn't do it either. Mostly because for most people that's going to be really fast loss, unless already within a healthy weight range and really sedentary. You're not really sedentary. Really fast loss, is bad.
  • suenewberry81
    suenewberry81 Posts: 241 Member
    Thank you for all your comments its really helped
    I've been eating at 900-1000 net calories and I've only lost 5.5lbs in 3 weeks and that was in my first week, I've not lost anything for 2 weeks
    Surly me eating so little I'd lose?
    Right I'm going to up the calories and see if I start to lose the 30lbs I need to shift 🤞
  • autobahn66
    autobahn66 Posts: 59 Member
    edited September 2021
    suenewberry81 wrote: »
    Thank you for all your comments its really helped
    I've been eating at 900-1000 net calories and I've only lost 5.5lbs in 3 weeks and that was in my first week, I've not lost anything for 2 weeks
    Surly me eating so little I'd lose?
    Right I'm going to up the calories and see if I start to lose the 30lbs I need to shift 🤞

    I notice you mentioned you are eating 1000 net calories: are you then correcting total calories by estimating calories burned in exercise?

    One issue that comes up frequently is that counting calories burned in activity and exercise is highly inexact (moreso for some methods than others), so eating back 100% of estimated calories burned can upset your deficit.

    Creating a stable-state for your calorie deficit can take some time: my weight change over the first 3 weeks did not reflect the actual stable weight loss at my stable (proportional) calorie deficit. If you have been exact in counting calories and activity levels, then the best approach is to use this period as information gathering. If you haven't managed to record exactly your activity level and calorie intake then this is the information you need to know how to adjust your balance to achieve a safe deficit. Also I'm sure people would find it easier to give advice if you shared your height and weight as well as your logging, but clearly that is up to you.

    I disagree with the above post that you should stop using slimfast: do what you need to to make and sustain a calorie deficit. But I do think that you also need an exit plan - the principle of slimfast is problematic: eat this way for a period and be rewarded with weight loss. There is no commercial benefit to them to encourage sustainable weight loss, and I would certainly find that eating a slimfast diet would not be sustainable.

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    suenewberry81 wrote: »
    I've been doing slimfast I know it's not everyone's cuppa but thought I'd try it.
    My BMR is 1484 so this is the number my body needs to stay alive right?
    Slimfast say I should be eating 1380 a day
    I go to the gym 3 times a week cardio and weights and I have a really active job doing 15k + steps a day
    I think 1380 cals is far to low without the work out am I right? I've been told it's not etc... on the slimfast fb page 🤷‍♀️
    Thanks

    Just to clarify - BMR is what your body needs to stay alive in a 24hr coma.
    As soon as you wake up you burn more.
    As soon as you stand up you burn more.
    As soon as you move, digest food, exercise, ect - you burn more.

    Yes - likely far too low.
    I'm sure your body on an extreme deficit is adapting already - least of which is increased cortisol stress hormone and more retained water weight.
    There are other worse side effects of course.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    I'm a bit thrown by you saying you're "doing Slimfast" and using their calorie estimate for your eating plan. Have you entered your stats into MFP and gotten a calorie estimate? The hardest part is choosing an activity level, but even without your workouts, you'd classify as "active." I recommend 1lb/week loss (if you're trying to lose).

    There's no problem eating Slimfast for some of your meals. It's in the database, so it's actually incredibly easy. They always used to say "eat a sensible dinner." Is that what you're doing? You have to track that more carefully.

    As for your loss rate: I've often had a "woosh" when first cutting. Then your body catches up. So long as you track carefully and stick to your plan, you should lose weight predictably. It's a bit of a slow business, but 1lb per week is pretty sustainable for most people.

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