BMR vs MFP Recommendations

elephant2mouse

Your estimated BMR is: 1,770 calories/day

Low You get little to no exercise 2117 Calories/Day

Light You exercise lightly (1-3 days per week) 2426 Calories/Day



MFP gives me 1490 calories/day

Which According to my estimated BMR is quite a bit lower...
Which number should I follow? I want to lose 1.5-2 lbs a week as I still have quite a bit left to lose.

I know I'm not 'new' here, but I'm restarting after a 20 lb gain when I stopped logging, ect, and thus I feel like a noob. ( ._.)

Thanks guys! :flowerforyou:




P.S. Yes I weigh my food, and I have no idea if I'm low or lightly active because I am inconsistent when it comes to exercise.

WalkingAlong

I would follow MFP's recommendation, unless something about the plan doesn't appeal to you and you want to try something else. Your intake can be below your BMR during weight loss, if that is your concern.

But if you quit logging and gained all or partly because your goal last time was too aggressive and your calories too low to stick to, definitely choose a slower loss rate so you can eat more.

Good luck!

elephant2mouse

I would follow MFP's recommendation, unless something about the plan doesn't appeal to you and you want to try something else. Your intake can be below your BMR during weight loss, if that is your concern.

But if you quit logging and gained all or partly because your goal last time was too aggressive and your calories too low to stick to, definitely choose a slower loss rate so you can eat more.

Good luck!

Thank you. I decided to up my calories from 1490 to 1700 just so it's closer to my BMR. I read that eating under can mess up your hormones/metabolism....
I initially lost 42 lbs, and now I'm back to 29 lost.

I have noticed that I tend to binge if I eat around 1200-1300 a day... so hopefully this helps with that aspect.

WalkingAlong

If for some reason you don't lose enough at 1700, just don't be afraid of lowering to 1500. What you read about metabolism and hormone damage under BMR is a myth. There are some links on my profile page if you want to read more. But there's nothing wrong with 1700, either, if you get results you can live with.

A lot of people binge when over-restricting and 1200-1300 is hard, and too low for you if MFP has you up around 1500.

Nice job so far! Good work getting back on the wagon so soon.

ana3067

MFP gives you 1400 because you want to lose 2lbs a week. It's just doing math, not considering logical and sustainable dieting practices.

The TDEE (not BMR btw) numbers you listed, are they just from MFP? I'd suggest using a calculator like scooby's, exrx.net or health-calc. You can average them out if you'd like, although for me Scooby's is like a low average of exrx and health-calc. Take that TDEE estimate and subtract 20% from it, and try eating that amount for a month (set it up in your custom goals). This is equal to ~1lb a week loss. I was eating on average 1950 for my first 2+ months and I lost 13lbs, which was about 1.2lbs loss a week on average. So based on that, my TDEE (maintenance needs) is likely closer to 2500-2600 and thus 2000-2100 deficit is probably low enough for me. Which is what I'm doing now.

So anyways, if you feel like 1400 is too low, then try those calculators and see how it works. Or even look at the calorie estimates MFP gives you, choose the one that seems most likely to be reasonable for your current weight and activity, and deduct 20% from it and make that your new custom calorie goal. If you customize your goals, you don't log activity and eat back exercise calories, which is how MFP is set up. I much prefer using an averaged out number than going day by day.

terbusha

Follow what works for you. Everyone is different, so the calculator may not be accurate. What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

What are your macros? How are you exercising?

Allan

elephant2mouse

I have no idea what to set my macros at. I had them at 30%carb, 35%fat, and 35%protein. I just changed my activity level from sedentary to lightly active, so it might have reset my macros.

Right now I just do a 25 minute hasfit video. I'm pretty much a total beginner and I actually enjoy their videos. I also try to squeeze in 20 additional squats (no weights) and 10 wall pushups.