question about my BMR and TDEE through scooby

megsta91
megsta91 Posts: 92 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
hey everyone! I'm sure this question is asked all the time but I havent found an answer about my situation.

i am a 22 year old woman, 260lbs, with a pretty sedentary lifestyle.

when i used the scooby calculator, i put "desk job" as my activity level and a goal of 20% calorie reduction . I came up with my TDEE being 2391 and BMR being 1992 and my daily calorie goal being 1912.

do you think it's odd that my BMR is only 399 calories below my TDEE? And also, I've heard that you are never supposed to go below your BMR, so why are they giving my a daily calorie goal of 80 calories below it? Ideally, to lose about 2lbs a week, where do you think i should be eating calorie wise?

Thanks for the help in advance, i'm pretty new at this :):blushing:

Replies

  • megsta91
    megsta91 Posts: 92 Member
    bumpiddy bump bump
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    If you do more than sit at your desk all day, then you should pick the "lightly active" selection. Very few people are truly sedentary.
  • megsta91
    megsta91 Posts: 92 Member
    alright, i did that and it bumped me up to a TDEE of 2739. sounds a little better. should i still be eating above my BMR or slightly below, which is what scooby advised?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    i am a 22 year old woman, 260lbs, with a pretty sedentary lifestyle.

    when i used the scooby calculator, i put "desk job" as my activity level and a goal of 20% calorie reduction . I came up with my TDEE being 2391 and BMR being 1992 and my daily calorie goal being 1912.

    do you think it's odd that my BMR is only 399 calories below my TDEE? And also, I've heard that you are never supposed to go below your BMR, so why are they giving my a daily calorie goal of 80 calories below it?

    Sedentary TDEE is BMR + 20%, about 2000 + 20% = about 2400 (these things aren't so accurate as to need 4 significant figures). So that's correct.

    "Not eating below your BMR" is not anything widely recognised outside of MFP. It's nonsense.
  • Unknown
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  • megsta91
    megsta91 Posts: 92 Member


    So, I use iifym.com, which is better and more realistic.

    I will definitely check that out; not the first time i've heard about that. Thank you for your advice!
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    You didn't say your height, but back calculating from your BMR your BMI is around 42 and you have about 50% body fat. The latter puts your BMR at ~1600 using the Katch McArdle formula which isn't deceived by heavy people.

    So BMR *1.2 is about 1900 or *1.375 for lightly active is about 2200.

    Giving your starting point I would knock ~30% off that and eat 1400 - 1600 a day for say 4 weeks, then re-appraise.

    You have ample reserves to supply a high calorie deficit in the short term at least.
  • megsta91
    megsta91 Posts: 92 Member

    "Not eating below your BMR" is not anything widely recognised outside of MFP. It's nonsense.

    I've seen the whole BMR thing so much while cruising the forums that I figured that concept was common knowledge in the diet world and eating below it would be detrimental. Thank you for the advice!
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    Personally, I prefer the IIFYM calculator at http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ -- and use the "Enter Activity Level" to calculate TDEE.

    My personal experience at eating below BMR (and only a couple hundred under, at that) was that I tended to be run-down and cranky a lot. Eating at my BMR has worked out better, even if I'm losing a little less weight per week.

    Personally, I'd start out at BMR and drop further after a few weeks. If you feel like crap doing it, adjust back up. Everybody's different , 'tho.
  • megsta91
    megsta91 Posts: 92 Member
    Giving your starting point I would knock ~30% off that and eat 1400 - 1600 a day for say 4 weeks, then re-appraise.

    You have ample reserves to supply a high calorie deficit in the short term at least.

    I am 5'7''. MPF gave me 1460 I believe when I first started, but then I started researching the BMR thing and thought OMG I can eat an extra 500 calories a day and still lose! My mind got all scrambled and I've seemed to lose my initial focus on the calories I need.
  • megsta91
    megsta91 Posts: 92 Member
    Personally, I prefer the IIFYM calculator at http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ -- and use the "Enter Activity Level" to calculate TDEE.

    My personal experience at eating below BMR (and only a couple hundred under, at that) was that I tended to be run-down and cranky a lot. Eating at my BMR has worked out better, even if I'm losing a little less weight per week.

    Personally, I'd start out at BMR and drop further after a few weeks. If you feel like crap doing it, adjust back up. Everybody's different , 'tho.

    Thank you for the link and advice!

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