question RE: BMR

faithwithroses
faithwithroses Posts: 17 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Can someone explain this to me? If my BMR is 1400, what does this mean? If I wear a pedometer and it says I burned 300 cals throughout my normal day. I excersized on my bike for 260 cals. and I ate 1200. I am confused as to what the BMR means??
Thank you!!!

Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    It's an estimate for the minimum number of calories your body can burn in a 24 hour period. Picture yourself on an IV drip while in a coma.
  • CorlissaEats
    CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
    BMR is the number your body requires just to keep it running if you were in a coma/sleeping. It does not account for walking, moving, or even sitting. I've found sites that suggest that maintenance calories should be your BMR X 1.5 which means that you need to consume 2100 to just stay where you are currently at. Whether you need to add calories for extra exercise might depend on where or how you got your BMR calculation. In theory, at 2100 calories you should be aiming for 1600 calories intake because that gives you a 500 calorie deficit and should equal 1 lbs per week.

    TDEE is the number you body supposedly actually used on a given day. Its a combination of BMR and activity. This the number that determines whether you are at a calorie deficit or not. You are trying to eat less than this amount.

    Others will have differing opinions on the subject, but I say that BMR should be your MINIMAL calorie intake for the day. Its the number required to keep your organs from failing when you are doing nothing, its also a base number just to keep you breathing. Plus there is a LOT of research out there linking extreme calorie deficits to long term health complications like gallstones, kidney disease and other conditions. The larger you are, the higher your BMR. Recalculate your BMR every 10 lbs lost.

    BMR+Exercise+pedometer=1960 Calories burned
    1960-1200= a 760 calorie deficit
    760 X 7 days a week= 5320 Calorie deficit which is 1.5lbs per week loss
    These are only estimates. If you are hungry, grumpy, fighting unusual cravings, dizzy, light headed etc, eat more. Your body is telling you something.

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