bmr vs. calorie amounts - a few questions!

olehcat

I'm really sorry if this is repetitive but it's hard to find exact questions and answers that fit me specifically. I'm trying really hard to figure this out so I can stop obsessing and just do it. I would love as many answers as possible, want to hear all points of view and experiences. Or you can point me toward other threads that you know of. I feel like I've been very repetitive lately with my questions and I apologize, but it's because I'm really trying to figure this out and get it right.

Okay, so I've been messing around with my calorie goal on the site here. I must have changed my goal about 20 times, sometimes guided with a variety of options, sometimes manually. Finally, I have decided that 1500 would likely be my sweet spot whether or not I exercise. I figure if I exercise, then I'll just have a higher deficit for that day and am unlikely to ever burn more than, say 250 calories in exercise, so the deficit would never be large enough to cause harm. But it should still allow a deficit if I did not exercise in a given day.

QUESTIONS:

1. I am 5'2", 153 pounds, 43 years old, run 30 minutes about 4 times a week. My bmr is 1409. So I've been reading about how bmr is what your body needs just to stay alive and function and so I should NOT eat below that, correct? If that's the case, why so many people on 1200 calories and having success? Surely all those people do not have a bmr lower than 1200? I guess I'm really confused. If I say I want to lose a pound a week, myfitness essentially puts me under my bmr at 1260 or something, even with exercise added in. So, is the don't eat below bmr rule a rule that a lot of people just ignore and no harm done? Or is there harm done that will come out later? By the way, I'm not judging. I totally get it if you are very small and are close to goal or have reached your goal weight because then your bmr would likely be under 1200 calories and so eating 1200 would be okay. But what IS the deal with BMR and eating above or under it in you all's experiences?

2. Those of you who have lost the weight at around 1200-1300 calories a day, have you successfully maintained? Did eating so few calories affect your metabolism at all or were you able to go to eating maintenance calories no problem? Am keeping an open mind to all possibilities.

3. Have any of you worked with a weekly calorie allowance instead of daily? For example, instead of 1500 calories a day, 10,500 a week?

THANK YOU.

grimendale

QUESTIONS:

1. I am 5'2", 153 pounds, 43 years old, run 30 minutes about 4 times a week. My bmr is 1409. So I've been reading about how bmr is what your body needs just to stay alive and function and so I should NOT eat below that, correct? If that's the case, why so many people on 1200 calories and having success? Surely all those people do not have a bmr lower than 1200? I guess I'm really confused. If I say I want to lose a pound a week, myfitness essentially puts me under my bmr at 1260 or something, even with exercise added in. So, is the don't eat below bmr rule a rule that a lot of people just ignore and no harm done? Or is there harm done that will come out later? By the way, I'm not judging. I totally get it if you are very small and are close to goal or have reached your goal weight because then your bmr would likely be under 1200 calories and so eating 1200 would be okay. But what IS the deal with BMR and eating above or under it in you all's experiences?

You are not supposed to eat under your BMR because it is unhealthy. Starvation diets work, but they are dangerous. Eating below your BMR won't cause you to stop losing weight. It does however make it extremely difficult to get enough protein, fat or vitamins for your body's needs. If you eat too little for too long, you will go through adaptive thermogenesis, which has a tendency to slow your metabolism, lower your energy levels and cause your body to start burning muscle tissue to make up for the calories it isn't getting. This is why anorexics are always skeletal: they have burned off most of their muscle tissue before burning the last of their fat reserves. I have done the very low calorie diet when I was young and stupid, and it was bad. I was never hungry, because my body was adapting to starvation, but I was tired all the time, I got sick a lot, my skin got bad, I started losing my hair, etc. When I crashed and burned, I started gorging myself instead because I hadn't learned to eat like a sane person, and I gained back all the weight I lost. Eating with a reasonable deficit takes longer, but it is safe, healthy and sustainable.

2. Those of you who have lost the weight at around 1200-1300 calories a day, have you successfully maintained? Did eating so few calories affect your metabolism at all or were you able to go to eating maintenance calories no problem? Am keeping an open mind to all possibilities.

See above. There are numerous threads on here from people who ate at 1200 for a few weeks, then started binging uncontrollably and gained it all back. It's a vicious cycle.

3. Have any of you worked with a weekly calorie allowance instead of daily? For example, instead of 1500 calories a day, 10,500 a week?

THANK YOU.

There are some who do, but it can get risky. There was another post earlier from someone trying to do that, but effectively netting 0 calories during the week and eating them all on the weekend. If you want something more consistent, so you don't have to constantly adjust eating intermittent fasting or the TDEE methods are both good options (I use the latter). There are numerous threads on both here.

olehcat

Thank you, grimendale, for answering this! This makes me feel more confident about picking 1500 as a good weight loss amount!

Yes, I can see why the weekly calories could get risky. I'm sort of moving away from that idea, even though I wrote a blog post today about how I wanted to try that, lol. I feel bad already because I ate too much yesterday wtih the idea that I will eat lighter the rest of the week.

Upon thinking about it, I don't think I want to get into that pattern of restrict and binge...

I DO like the idea of eating very light earlier in the day and eating more later, especially if you end up having plans that day (I have about 2 big dinner events this coming week, for example).