BMR and TDEE

fittyinthemaking

are these statements correct?

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate. Which is the amount of calories your body needs to survive, if you would be in a coma or lay in bed all day, sleeping. That means, that this is the least amount of calories you SHOULD be consuming. Anything below that will mess up your metabolism, because it will slow down.

TDEE: Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This calculation is a rough guesstimate of how many calories you burn considering the level of activity. So it takes into consideration your daily chores (showering, brushing your teeth, cooking, eating, sitting at the computer, walking) but also your exercise level.

so i should eat no less than my bmr (1924) but no higher than my tdee? (2309)

my MFP target for a 1.5lb loss a week is 1760? so im confused

yarwell

BMR is the calories used by your body lying down rested and fasted overnight. It is nothing to do with a coma, or with an amount of food. Unless you've had it measured it's an estimate perhaps +/- 10% and there are several different equations.

TDEE is what you said, it includes your BMR.

sargessexyone

I have been doing MFP since January and I still get confused but from my understanding you are right. Eat no less than BMR and no more than TDEE. I am sure if we are wrong these nice folks will politely correct us

beachlover317

Start eating around 1900 cals a day. After 3 - 4 weeks, look back and see if you were losing the 1.5 pounds a week, if you were losing more than that, or if you were maintaining. Go from there adding or subtracting 100 - 200 calories until you reach your desired weight loss target per week.

All the calculators on MFP and the internet will only give you an estimate of your BMR and TDEE. The calories you log are only an estimate. The exercise calories burned are only an estimate.

ETA: The MFP number that is below your BMR assumes that you will be adding back and eating your exercise calories. That's why it is lower. TDEE method adds in exercise cals to your daily calories.

cwolfman13

Yeah, pretty much....

My BMR is roughly 1753. My TDEE is roughly 2750. I eat around 2250 to lose about 1 Lb per week.

Hadabetter

are these statements correct?

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate. Which is the amount of calories your body needs to survive, if you would be in a coma or lay in bed all day, sleeping. That means, that this is the least amount of calories you SHOULD be consuming. Anything below that will mess up your metabolism, because it will slow down.

TDEE: Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This calculation is a rough guesstimate of how many calories you burn considering the level of activity. So it takes into consideration your daily chores (showering, brushing your teeth, cooking, eating, sitting at the computer, walking) but also your exercise level.

so i should eat no less than my bmr (1924) but no higher than my tdee? (2309)

my MFP target for a 1.5lb loss a week is 1760? so im confused

Just to add to the confusion, the energy required to be up and about and do your daily chores is called NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenisis), and it can be pretty significant depending on your lifestyle. Then another component of TDEE is TEF (thermal effect of food) which represents the calories required to digest your meals. It too is not insignificant. So the TDEE calculators add estimates for those two to your exercise calories and BMR in order to arrive at an estimate of your TDEE.

Good luck with your efforts!

fittyinthemaking

there's no way i can eat more than my BMR though, sometimes i cant eat no more than 1400, i force food down when im not hungry because i know i haven't eaten enough

cwolfman13

there's no way i can eat more than my BMR though, sometimes i cant eat no more than 1400, i force food down when im not hungry because i know i haven't eaten enough

How did you get to the point where you need to lose weight if you can't even eat your BMR?

Don't think in terms of volume. You need calorie dense foods...you've probably cut out a lot of fat. Do you do low fat no fat stuff? If you do stop it or cut back on that. Eat things like almonds that are loaded with nutrition...and a mere ounce has around 160 calories. Cook with olive oil and such...eat avocados...full fat dairy, etc.

Dietary fat does not make you fat and is essential to many functions of the body, hormonal balance, brain function, and nervous system function are just to name a few. It is also essential to absorption of certain vitamins and minerals...which is why no fat dressings for a salad are kind of ridiculous...without the fat you aren't going to absorb all of the nutrients in the salad.

beachlover317

there's no way i can eat more than my BMR though, sometimes i cant eat no more than 1400, i force food down when im not hungry because i know i haven't eaten enough

What are your health goals then? Not eating enough will come back to bite you eventually. If you are interested in meeting your caloric needs, start eating calorie dense foods. Skip the low fat, low carb, no sugar and eat the regular yogurt, etc. Just 2 tbsp. of peanut butter will add about 190 cals to your day. It doesn't mean you have to eat more - just make different choices.

EAT: Above post says it all.

aplhabetacheesecake

My BMR is around 1690

My TDEE fluctuates (I have a fitbit) anywhere from 2508 to 3200 depending on my work day, if i feel like a run, snow shovelling, grocery run.....kids!
So eating to an average TDEE doesnt work for me.

MFP is set to a 1lb loss, and I think before logging anything it has a measly goal of 1790 cals to eat.
I know even on a non active day I am roughly going to burn 2500 so I can comfortably pre plan foods up to around 2000 cals (thus creating that 500 cal deficit)

throughout the day my fitbit updates MFP and shows me burning more cals so I get a fitbit adjustment and suddenly my goals go from 1790 to 2200 or more, but if i am not active, then my goal may hang around 2000

this works for me since that TDEE really varies and I wouldn't want to eat back run calories on a non run day.