A question about BMR

hennyben

My BMR is calculated at 1,438. So do I need to eat less than this (like 1,200) on days I don' t work out? Or do I just eat this everyday regardless of whether I workout or not? I get really confused by all this....

hairpleaser1

I would go under the BMR on the days you do not work out.

JennLifts

While that won't be the exact number, your BMR is how many calories it takes your body to digest food, pump blood, utilize oxygen, keep organs alive. That doesn't count walking to the car, doing laundry, sitting at the computer, working, etc. Therefore, A) never go below that, and eat a good bit more, or what it tells you to. When you exercise, it's up to you whether or not to eat the energy back. If you're tired, hungry, maybe not losing, etc, eat them. If you're feeling stuffed, and like you can't get it all in, or maybe not losing... don't.

mlemonroe2

Are you sure this is your BMR or is it the suggested calories you should eat in a day to lose whatever your goal is?

kao708

Under TOOLS/BMR it says this:

Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is an estimate of how many calories you'd burn if you were to do nothing but rest for 24 hours. It represents the minimum amount of energy needed to keep your body functioning, including breathing and keeping your heart beating.

Your BMR does not include the calories you burn from normal daily activities or exercise.

Our calculator uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equations to estimate your BMR which is believed to be more accurate than the more commonly used Harris-Benedict equation.

I would eat what MFP tells you to eat based on your daily activity level. Don't try to adjust any of your goals unless advised to do so by a doctor. Tons of people have had great success with this program exactly as it's built. Give it a try and then make changes if needed.

erickirb

My BMR is calculated at 1,438. So do I need to eat less than this (like 1,200) on days I don' t work out? Or do I just eat this everyday regardless of whether I workout or not? I get really confused by all this....

You can lose weight eating more than your BMR. Your caloric deficit to lose weight is the amount you are under your maintenance caloires (which will always be higher than maintenance). If you chose your activity level as sedentary and your BMR is 1438 your maintenance cals would be about 1780. eating less than 1780 without exercise will lead to weight loss. 1280 would be to lose 1lb/week.

That being said since you don't have a lot to lose I would suggest you eat your BMR calories or higher. Try changing your goal to 0.5lbs/week. If my calculation above is correct, this would give you 1530 cals/day.

jane77

Dont think thats your BMR i think that your suggest intake double check

backinthenines

Seems like some people are mixing up their BMR and their maintenance calories?

BMR is the minimum requirement of calories to maintain the basic functioning of vital organs... often explained as "the number of calories you would burn if you were asleep all day".

This is not the same as "sedentary" calories or "maintenance" calories.

hennyben

Are you sure this is your BMR or is it the suggested calories you should eat in a day to lose whatever your goal is?

Hi, yeah on the BMR calculator page it told me 1438 is my BMR. MFP said eat 1200 cals a day to lose 1.5 lbs a week. It's worked for first few weeks but I've been 158 for last 3 weeks:(
I am staying within my calorie allowance (with the exception of 2 days out of 30) and I'm on level 3 of 30 Day shred.
So I'm not sure if I need a little shake up or should I just keep going as I'm going and ride it out.

erickirb

Are you sure this is your BMR or is it the suggested calories you should eat in a day to lose whatever your goal is?

Hi, yeah on the BMR calculator page it told me 1438 is my BMR. MFP said eat 1200 cals a day to lose 1.5 lbs a week. It's worked for first few weeks but I've been 158 for last 3 weeks:(
I am staying within my calorie allowance (with the exception of 2 days out of 30) and I'm on level 3 of 30 Day shred.
So I'm not sure if I need a little shake up or should I just keep going as I'm going and ride it out.

change your goal to 0.5 or 1lb/week max as you don't have a lot to lose. Having to large a caloric deficit when you are near your goal can cause your body to burn muscle instead of fat for fuel.

hennyben

change your goal to 0.5 or 1lb/week max as you don't have a lot to lose. Having to large a caloric deficit when you are near your goal can cause your body to burn muscle instead of fat for fuel.

Thanks for that. I will hold you personally responsible if I don't lose anymore weight LOL!

mlemonroe2

also make sure you are eating back your exercise calories :happy:

SHBoss1673

To clear it up a little.

BMR is not what you burn "at rest". It's the minimum amount of energy your body requires to perform certain basic life functions, like the heart, liver, brain, kidneys...etc. The closest you could equate to it would be in a coma, but even then you're probably burning more than your BMR.

BMR, for most people, is between 60 and 75% of your maintenance calories. So depending on how much weight (and fat) you have to lose, it may be a bad idea to go under that, but it may not. This directly correlates to how much energy your body can mobilize at any one time, the more fat you have, the more energy your body can mobilize to make up the difference between calorie intake and calories needed. That's why, even though you may set your deficit at 1.5 pounds per week, if your body can't support a deficit that big, you won't acutally lose that much.