Eating Less Than BMR: is it okay?

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ainokea8
ainokea8 Posts: 95
in Getting Started
Is it okay to eat less than your BMR? My BMR is 1297 and MFP recommends that I eat 1200 to lose 1 lb a week under sedentary.
I'm not completely sedentary but I also don't rigorously work out. I do some light exercise minimum 3x a week but just for now let's assume that I'm sedentary.

So given that I'm sedentary, would it be better to eat at 1200?

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  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    No. Eat at least your BMR. And put your setting to lightly active. The only people who are truly sedentary are the ones who lay on the couch all day and watch TV.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    It's a myth that eating less than your BMR is somehow unhealthy. Your BMR is unrelated to when you're eating too aggressive of a caloric deficit.

    That said, 1200 is pretty low and if you're at least somewhat active, odds are you can eat quite a bit more. If you don't have a lot of weight to lose, you should consider aiming to lose 0.5-1 lbs a week or so, which is about 250/500 calories less than your TDEE each day.
  • Shoechick5
    Shoechick5 Posts: 221 Member
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    Is it okay to eat less than your BMR? My BMR is 1297 and MFP recommends that I eat 1200 to lose 1 lb a week under sedentary.
    I'm not completely sedentary but I also don't rigorously work out. I do some light exercise minimum 3x a week but just for now let's assume that I'm sedentary.

    So given that I'm sedentary, would it be better to eat at 1200?

    My BMR is around 1,470 and I've been eating 1,500 + Exercise since Christmas. By using the normal 3500 = 1 pound equation I should be losing around .7lbs a week, I'm not. I've been anywhere from 1.2 - 2 lbs a week. My body seems to really like 1,500 and I am not struggling at all
  • thecheesybrie
    thecheesybrie Posts: 47 Member
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    Absolutely not.

    Your BMR is what keeps you ALIVE and WELL. If you eat under that, your body will go into starvation mode and drop metabolism, your health will decline as your immune system is cut to save energy, you'll become fatigued as brain function slows to save energy... bad stuff.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Absolutely not.

    Your BMR is what keeps you ALIVE and WELL. If you eat under that, your body will go into starvation mode and drop metabolism, your health will decline as your immune system is cut to save energy, you'll become fatigued as brain function slows to save energy... bad stuff.

    Eating fewer calories than you require causes your body to use stored energy (fat) for fuel. There's nothing inherent about your BMR that requires you to eat above it.

    That being said, most people don't need to create that large of a deficit, but for people who have very low energy output, they may end up eating below BMR in order to lose weight reasonably.

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