eating below my BMR...only by a tiny bit

soozy_q
soozy_q Posts: 56 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I never checked my BMR but then I saw a post that said you shouldn't eat below it. My BMR is 1,536. MFP put me on 1450 to lose a lb a week. I weigh 182lbs am a 5ft 4" female. I cut 500kcals to lose a lb a week which I feel is a perfectly reasonable amount not too drastic at all yet it's still below my BMR. Does that mean I am going to lose lots of muscle and what are the other health risks associated with eating below BMR? Just worried that it will make it harder to maintain my weight when I do reach my goal. That said I am only under it by less than 100kcals and I know the BMR calculators aren't the most accurate so I should be fine right?

Replies

  • 1a1a
    1a1a Posts: 761 Member
    You don't want to be a little below your Basic Metabolic Rate, that's how many cals you need in a day for your body to do basic things like pumping blood through veins and breathing.

    What you want is to eat a little bit below your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). This way you can lose weight, Slowly, without feeling like you are starving, or light headed, or grumpy, or losing muscle mass. It's all win :-) (Why go 1 lb week, why not half? It's not a race and believe me, when you hit maintenance, if you stop counting and exercising, it All Comes Back. The slower the better I think).
  • soozy_q
    soozy_q Posts: 56 Member
    I did think 1lb a week was a pretty reasonable amount. I don't feel really hungry or light headed or anything. I did have a target in mind as i am going on a round the world trip in February 2015. I did want to lose 54lbs by then but obviously I don't want my goal to sabotage my long term maintenance when i do get to my goal so yeah I might go for .5lb or something similar, will think long and hard about it : ) I just always assumed it was one of those things, like starvation mode and assumed it was over-exaggerated
  • fushigi1988
    fushigi1988 Posts: 519 Member
    You don't want to be a little below your Basic Metabolic Rate, that's how many cals you need in a day for your body to do basic things like pumping blood through veins and breathing.

    What you want is to eat a little bit below your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). This way you can lose weight, Slowly, without feeling like you are starving, or light headed, or grumpy, or losing muscle mass. It's all win :-) (Why go 1 lb week, why not half? It's not a race and believe me, when you hit maintenance, if you stop counting and exercising, it All Comes Back. The slower the better I think).

    Yes! Little bit below TDEE is best.
  • 1a1a
    1a1a Posts: 761 Member
    Boy do I ever want to look at your food diary now :-D

    I think you can lose quicker if you have more to lose but the science seems to suggest that the quicker you lose weight, the more the body reacts to that by trying to put that lost weight back on.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    the science seems to suggest that the quicker you lose weight, the more the body reacts to that by trying to put that lost weight back on.
    Actually a lot of the studies show the opposite-- people who maintain best are the ones who used the strictest diets to lose the weight.

    OP- There is nothing magical or dangerous about your BMR estimate. Eating under it does not cause damage. If you have no body fat to burn off then you can start being concerned about fueling your basic functions with today's intake alone.

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