Confused on BMR and calorie intake.

epona08

Am I correct in thinking that you should NOT eat less than your BMR to lose weight? But you should eat less calories than your TDEE?

I'm 5'4" and about 200 +/-. I've calculated my BMR at 1720 and my TDEE at 2370. MFP's guided plan says I should be eating 1200. I thought that was too low and upped it to about 1400 which is around where I tend to stay anyways. However, if I'm supposed to be eating my BMR, that means I should up my calorie goal to 1720... doesn't that seem a bit high?

SW: 200
GW: 150

I know the whole concept is to eat at a deficit to lose weight, but should that deficit be from my TDEE or my BMR? Also, I keep seeing people saying that you should eat back your workout calories to stay fueled. Makes sense, but then where does my deficit fit in?

Once I started hearing about/looking into BMR and TDEE this got a lot more confusing for a minute. :grumble:

GingerLolita

You need to eat below your TDEE to lose weight. Many people eat below their BMR to lose weight more quickly and with less physical activity. However, I find that eating at or above my BMR gives me the most energy. The key to a deficit is consuming less calories than you put out, so you'd need to eat less than your TDEE.

ladynocturne

So BMR is what your body needs to survive if you were in a coma.

TDEE is an inclusion of everything you do everyday that you need to maintain your current weight.

It is not recommended to eat below your BMR, but it is certainly up to you. The risks include loss of lean muscle mass as well as other unpleasant surprises such as hair loss/thinning, skin problems, gum and teeth issues, hormone problems, lack of energy ect. While these things don't happen to everyone, it does depend on how much weight you have to lose.

So to lose steady weight, you want to be somewhere between your BMR and your TDEE. Most people start out with TDEE -20%. Which usually turns out being the same as 1lb per week goal on MFP + exercise calories.

Sabine_Stroehm

Eat at a deficit from your TDEE. A good safe way to start is TDEE - 15%.

Start here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Francl27

With so much to lose I'd eat TDEE-20% and not worry about counting exercise calories (which you have to do with MFP, so you'd probably end up eating close to the 1700 that the TDEE method gives you anyway).

epona08

So BMR is what your body needs to survive if you were in a coma.

TDEE is an inclusion of everything you do everyday that you need to maintain your current weight.

It is not recommended to eat below your BMR, but it is certainly up to you. The risks include loss of lean muscle mass as well as other unpleasant surprises such as hair loss/thinning, skin problems, gum and teeth issues, hormone problems, lack of energy ect. While these things don't happen to everyone, it does depend on how much weight you have to lose.

So to lose steady weight, you want to be somewhere between your BMR and your TDEE. Most people start out with TDEE -20%. Which usually turns out being the same as 1lb per week goal on MFP + exercise calories.

Thank you! That's kind of what I thought. And since I've been feeling constantly hungry and crashing a little on the days that I worked out when staying under 1400 cals/day this makes a lot more sense.

The next question is if I should be staying at my BMR, why in the world does MFP recommend 1200 cal/day?

Sabine: Thanks, I've been browsing through that thread too and just trying to make better sense out of it.

Francl27

So BMR is what your body needs to survive if you were in a coma.

TDEE is an inclusion of everything you do everyday that you need to maintain your current weight.

It is not recommended to eat below your BMR, but it is certainly up to you. The risks include loss of lean muscle mass as well as other unpleasant surprises such as hair loss/thinning, skin problems, gum and teeth issues, hormone problems, lack of energy ect. While these things don't happen to everyone, it does depend on how much weight you have to lose.

So to lose steady weight, you want to be somewhere between your BMR and your TDEE. Most people start out with TDEE -20%. Which usually turns out being the same as 1lb per week goal on MFP + exercise calories.

Thank you! That's kind of what I thought. And since I've been feeling constantly hungry and crashing a little on the days that I worked out when staying under 1400 cals/day this makes a lot more sense.

The next question is if I should be staying at my BMR, why in the world does MFP recommend 1200 cal/day?

Sabine: Thanks, I've been browsing through that thread too and just trying to make better sense out of it.

MFP recommends 1200 a day because you're supposed to eat exercise calories back, so typically almost nobody using this site should be eating 1200 a day anyway.