So, what happens if you eat under your BMR regularly?

easjer
easjer Posts: 219 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm new to the BMR/TDEE thing and I'm trying to make sense of it all. If there is no such thing as starvation mode, then what happens if you are below your BMR for the day? If that is a regular occurrence? If your net calories dip below 1200? There is so much conflicting info out there and I'm getting terribly confused.

Replies

  • MBrothers22
    MBrothers22 Posts: 323 Member
    NEVER eat under your BMR. BMR is the calories you burn by literally laying in bed all day doing nothing. Figure out your bmr and TDEE and eat somewhere in between. Most people on here will tell you TDEE - 20% is what you should consume when trying to lose weight. For me however since I am a bigger guy, I do more. But do NOT eat below your BMR
  • Blue801
    Blue801 Posts: 442
    That didn't answer the question at all?

    In for answers. In for fun.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Um...weight loss, slowed metabolism, and death. But this all requires context.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    First, I am neither a scientist nor a doctor and my answer is just my own understanding. I could be totally wrong.

    Eating too little will result in weight loss but that weight may come off too quickly and will be far more lean muscle than you would want to lose. Making sure to eat enough protein and fats are necessary for a healthy body even during weight loss. Carbs are our main energy source so are also important but can be manipulated and lowered without causing the more serious consequences of too little protein or fat.

    Personally, I am eating under my BMR. My TDEE is figured at 2294 and my BMR is 1669. I eat 1300-1500 calories per day and have averaged 1.5 - 2 lbs weight loss per week so far.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    If you consistently eat under your BMR, you end up with extreme fatigue, malnutrition, anemia, passing out in class (that was embarassing), your hair starts to fall out, women experience amenorrhea, and eventually, you could die of sudden cardiac arrest. Obviously, I avoided cardiac arrest, but I could no longer walk up three flights of stairs to my dorm room without stopping.

    I ate under my BMR on Ash Wednesday; I eat right at my BMR most Fridays because I observe the Friday Fast (Fish on Friday, whatever you call it - today I was well over BMR on veggies and rice). I will eat under my BMR again on Good Friday. I may fast one or two other days a year if I am particularly burdened to pray over something, but the rest of the time I'm over BMR and well over it. Occasionally I am sick enough to not eat. I NEVER purposely go under BMR for a non-religious reason. I know just how sick I was and just how blessed I am to have made a full recovery.
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    If you consistently eat under your BMR, you end up with extreme fatigue, malnutrition, anemia, passing out in class (that was embarassing), your hair starts to fall out, women experience amenorrhea, and eventually, you could die of sudden cardiac arrest.

    Eating a couple or few hundred calories under your BMR will not cause these symptoms. Eating severely under your BMR certainly will. My caloric intact was chosen based on what my TDEE will be when I near my goal weight. I am not dieting to lose weight, I am eating what I plan to continue eating and letting my body shrink to match.

Categories