BMR vs. myfitnesspal calories

raegrove

I have lost almost 25 pounds in roughly 5 months, but recently I had a nurse tell me that my BMR is 1549. She explained my body needs those calories just to live. Currently to lose a pound a week my fitnesspal says I need to eat only 1390 calories a day without exercise. I know that I need to add exercise, and that would increase my calorie needs, but does anyone else only eat at or around their BMR and see results? My weightloss has drastically slowed down, mostly b/c I quit nursing, but I also wonder if its b/c I am consuming too few calories a day.

Losingthedamnweight

This confuses me too. Commenting so I can check it later

STC1188

Your BMR, unless measured, is based on a variety of physical factors (height, weight, gender). It is assumed that a given person at a given weight of a certain gender (read: a formula) will expend X amount of calories if completely inactive.

This can be skewed by numerous factors:

1. Less lean body mass/more fat (muscle is metabolically more expensive than fat)
2. Impaired bodily functions
3. Physical disabilities

With that in mind, I would never eat below BMR for any extended period of time. That is asking for long-term problems.

MinnieInMaine

If you set realistic goals on MFP it shouldn't be that far off from what your nurse tells you. As your profile is private I can't give you exact numbers but what usually happens is people setting unrealistic goals, like trying to lose 2 pounds per week when you only have 10-15 pounds to lose.

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.

Make sure your activity level is set correctly. Most people say they're sedentary but they may actually be lightly active if they're honest about their day. And be careful with eating back exercise calories if you're using calculations from cardio machines or what MFP gives you as most are going to be overestimated. Still eat them back but maybe stick to 1/2-2/3rd or invest in a good quality heart rate monitor.

I personally set my daily goal at my BMR and then eat back exercise calories earned per my Polar FT4 HRM. It works well when I stick with it!

Mokey41

Make sure your activity level is set correctly. Most people say they're sedentary but they may actually be lightly active if they're honest about their day.

Most people are sedentary by MFP's standards since they expect you to add exercise calories separately.

Sedentary
Sleeping - 8 hours
Personal care (dressing, showering) - 1 hour
Eating - 1 hour
Cooking - 1 hour
Sitting (office work, selling produce, tending shop) - 8 hours
Driving car to/from work - 1 hour
General household work - 1 hour
Light leisure activities (watching TV, chatting) - 3 hours

raegrove

Based on the last post I am definitely sedentary:( I currently do not include any exercise on MFP, and really haven't done any until last week. My BMR was given to me using some fancy scale thing I had to stand on, but I couldn't tell you how accurate it is. I currently weight 163-165 and am 5'8". I have set my goal as 1 pound weight loss and have managed that by calorie deficit only. It sounds like I should change it to maybe 1/2 pound weight loss goal a week. I only have a few pounds to get to my goal, and LOTS of toning to do! I have a 6 month old, but I can only blame her for so long for the jello belly

born2drum

Eat slightly above your BMR. In fact, calculate your TDEE and eat at 20-25% below your TDEE. This will help you eat the right amount of food for the amount of exercise you do.

www.iifym.com