need advice on caloric intake

raising2ells

I'm new to MFP and just calculated my BMR in the "tools" section. I guess it's right that the calories per day I should eat is less than the BMR calories needed per day? Just making sure that I'm not going to put myself into starvation mode. This dieting stuff is all new to me. /

Here's a "typical" day for me:
BMR is 1874
Calories needed to lose 1.5 lbs/wk is 1600
Exercise per day burns 200
Eaten calories per day is 1300-1500 (I want to lose quicker)

Is this OK?

Mindful_Trent

Please check out this post. It's older, but addresses all the important info about calories deficits for weight loss.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/69708-calorie-deficit-for-dummies-a-little-long

ashlee954

That actually shoul be fine. Typically it is said that you should not go below 1200 NET cals/day. 1500 for guys. So if you burn 200 you should eat 1400. This is just a rule of thumb. My doc actually told me that it is recommended to not go below 1200 but it is dangerous to go below 1000.

xiaolong13

I'd recommend going to the posting in accountant_boi's comment. I recently took a nutrition and sports nutrition class and discovered I've probably screwed up my metabolism by eating less than my BMR.

Simply put, never go below your BMR. If you do you will lose weight, but your body will start breaking down lean body mass (muscles) as well as some fat. Less muscle = low metabolism.

Learning that finally made sense why I would constantly lose energy and ultimately fail every time I "dieted" cause I wasn't eating enough to basically support my body's need to just exist.

The formula for weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume. Make sure you are consuming enough for your body to function and create the deficit through exercise. I'd also recommend incorporating strength training if you aren't already. You may gain some weight from increased muslce mass (women don't bulk up) but increased msucles mass = higher metabolism, so you'll benefit more long term.

erin6026

The trick to PERMANENT weight loss is to eat just a liiiiitle less calories than your body needs. That way it burns excess fat but DOESN'T GO INTO STARVATION MODE. Sorry for the caps, but I see a lot of people on these boards saying they're going to eat less than their recommended calories to lose quicker.

it doesn't work that way. When you eat too few calories, your body goes into panic mode and will grab onto any excess calories that it can get. If you fall off the wagon for a day or a week, it will want to keep those calories a lot more than if it wasn't in starvation mode.

The trick is to stick to your recommended calories and eat regularly. That signals to your body that it's being fed what it needs and often, so it doesn't ever think "food is scarce".

hpsnickers1

Your BMR is what your body burns just sitting doing absolutely nothing for 24 hours. The calories need to lose 105 pounds is what you should eat each day - deficit is in there. Any calories burned during exercise are extra calories you can eat for that day. You can eat some or all but it won't affect your weight loss.

TateFTW

I'm new to MFP and just calculated my BMR in the "tools" section. I guess it's right that the calories per day I should eat is less than the BMR calories needed per day? Just making sure that I'm not going to put myself into starvation mode. This dieting stuff is all new to me. /

Here's a "typical" day for me:
BMR is 1874
Calories needed to lose 1.5 lbs/wk is 1600
Exercise per day burns 200
Eaten calories per day is 1300-1500 (I want to lose quicker)

Is this OK?

If your recomended intake to lose 1.5 lbs a week is 1600, then your maintenance calories is around 1350. That means your deficit is currently in the 1000-1200 range, after exercise is taken into account. This is acceptable for someone who is extremely obese, but for most this will be too much and cause your fat loss to stagnate once the metabolism has slowed down in response to the extremely low intake.

How your intake relates to your BMR is not as important as how it relates to your maintenance calorie number, which matters far more because it takes into account how many calories you burn in your daily life. If you are extremely inactive, then you may need to eat under your BMR in order to lose. If you are very active, then you can eat over your BMR and lose.

I would suggest to forget about how fast you lose. This is a long term proposition. Weight loss is not a journey with a specific destination, just ask anyone who has lost and then succesfully maintained. I would highly recomend changing your settings to lose 1 lb/week and doing your best to eat all of your calories. If you find success and that level of intake comes easily, then try 1.5 lbs/week, but hit your numbers consistently.