BMR question???

Mandakat17

I have a question. On my "goals" page it says Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activity 1,840 calories/day. When I calculate my BMR on MFP it's 1,475. Would you consider "calories burned from normal daily activity" my BMR also?? Thanks!

sweetheart03622

BMR is what you would burn just laying in bed all day, not moving. Your calories burned from daily activity takes into account your daily movements (walking around at work, doing household chores, etc.)

meggonkgonk

No BMR is what you would burn in a day if you were in a coma (supporting organ function and what not). It's much better used as a guideline for how low you can/should let your net calories get.

taso42_DELETED

Yep, what they said. MFP takes your BMR and multiplies it by a number based on activity level to estimate your daily burn.

There's some info on it here: http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html (there may be better sources, that's just what came up on a quick google search).

Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. Active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

* I don't know if these are the same exact multiplier #'s that MFP uses or not.

scagneti

It is really confusing because a lot of people misuse the term BMR. That does not take into account any activity at all, only breathing, your blood pumping through your body, your organs functioning and possibly blinking (not sure about that one!).

hpsnickers1

I call MFP's BMR my "comatose" BMR. That number takes care organ functions, system functions, etc. The moment you get out of bed you need more calories than this. And I agree with meggonkgonk's answer about it being used as a guideline. My BMR is 1188 and the general baseline for Starvation Mode is 1200. I'm 5'2" and 123lbs so pretty little now. I do my best to keep my NET calories above 1200 through most of the week. There is occasionally a day or two it might be under. Usually due to calories burned during exercise. And I a number of times per day, dinner time still being my highest calorie meal most of the time.

The calories that MFP gives you when you set up the account and choose your activity level are your Maintenance calories. And I do believe this could be a little on the low side too. It also doesn't take into account any calories burned during exercise. That's why it's good to eat your exercise calories.

Mandakat17

Thanks for all of your info everyone!!