Just realised my BMR is 500 calories over what MFP has set i

kelda_shelton

I've been doing my best to lose weight using MFP since January 10th.

I'm 5 ft 11 and started at 16 stones.

So far I've lost 25lbs officially, although I've had done a sneaky weigh in and it looks like I've now officially hit the two stone/28lb mark.

When I first started the weight came off fairly easily and MFP set me at 1295 to lose 2lb per week. After I lost 10lbs it asked me to review and it automatically reset me to 1200 to lose 2lb per week.

I've been on that amount for probably 10 weeks. I've been stalling the last few weeks but this week seem to be losing again.

Anyway.. I just did my BMR and noting:

5ft 11, female, 29 years old, and 195 pounds it says 1705 calories..

Not sure what to do!! It seems kinds scary to go back up 500 calories. Especially since I seem to be doing well this week where Ive actually been right on 1200 this week after eating back exercise calories rather than my normal a 100 -250 calories over ....

Advice please!

cranmuffin

The BMR is the calories you would burn in a day of doing nothing (staying in bed all day) not the calories you have to consume to lose weight.

hush7hush

A BMR of 1700, eating only 1200, would be a 500 deficit a day.
500x7days in a week = 3500
You need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound.

jennywrens

It does sound as though the 1700 calories doesn't have a weight loss deficit built in to it!

jagianotti

Unless your really active, I would not go up 500 calories. Although, Im no expert or I would not be on MFP!:ohwell:

baisleac

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (also called Maintenance calories)
Calorie = (unit of measurement), a unit of energy or heat variously defined. In nutrition terms, the word calorie is commonly used to refer to a unit of food energy. (The word calorie is used instead of the more precise scientific term kilocalorie.)

BMR and TDEE are two different things..

BMR is the amount of energy (calories) your body needs to function in a coma.

TDEE is the amount of energy (calories) that your body actually uses (burns) each day by living your life.

Eating less than your TDEE will give you a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.

Eat less than your BMR and you risk slowing your metabolism down; making it that much harder to continue to lose weight and that much more likely that you will regain that weight when you get to maintenance.


If you've been eating less than your BMR for a while, you may have already slowed your metabolism down a bit. My advice would be to set yourself to lose 0.5 - 1 lb per week. You may gain a tiny bit for a couple of weeks, it's okay. Your metabolism will recover and you will start to lose again.

kelda_shelton

The BMR is the calories you would burn in a day of doing nothing (staying in bed all day) not the calories you have to consume to lose weight.

A BMR of 1700, eating only 1200, would be a 500 deficit a day.
500x7days in a week = 3500
You need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound.

See this is where I get confused hence why i have been just following MFP blindly!! Its easier than thnking about it!!

So actually at the minus 500 I'm currently set at (ie 1200) that would work out at 3500 calories less which is a 1lb so actually if i wanted to lose 2lbs i should be eating even less??

Not going to happen but just asking!

baisleac

The BMR is the calories you would burn in a day of doing nothing (staying in bed all day) not the calories you have to consume to lose weight.

A BMR of 1700, eating only 1200, would be a 500 deficit a day.
500x7days in a week = 3500
You need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound.

See this is where I get confused hence why i have been just following MFP blindly!! Its easier than thnking about it!!

So actually at the minus 500 I'm currently set at (ie 1200) that would work out at 3500 calories less which is a 1lb so actually if i wanted to lose 2lbs i should be eating even less??

Not going to happen but just asking!

From your ticker it looks like you have less than 30 lbs left to lose, correct? If that's the case 2 lbs per week is too much of a loss at this point. The closer you get to your goal, the less of a deficit is safe. Congratulations! on getting to a point where 1 lb per week or less is best!

kelda_shelton

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (also called Maintenance calories)
Calorie = (unit of measurement), a unit of energy or heat variously defined. In nutrition terms, the word calorie is commonly used to refer to a unit of food energy. (The word calorie is used instead of the more precise scientific term kilocalorie.)

BMR and TDEE are two different things..

BMR is the amount of energy (calories) your body needs to function in a coma.

TDEE is the amount of energy (calories) that your body actually uses (burns) each day by living your life.

Eating less than your TDEE will give you a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.

Eat less than your BMR and you risk slowing your metabolism down; making it that much harder to continue to lose weight and that much more likely that you will regain that weight when you get to maintenance.


If you've been eating less than your BMR for a while, you may have already slowed your metabolism down a bit. My advice would be to set yourself to lose 0.5 - 1 lb per week. You may gain a tiny bit for a couple of weeks, it's okay. Your metabolism will recover and you will start to lose again.

Confused again! But thanks for the explanation..

But at the moment I eat my exercise calories which i see from your linked post that when using TDEE you shouldn't??

kelda_shelton

From your ticker it looks like you have less than 30 lbs left to lose, correct? If that's the case 2 lbs per week is too much of a loss at this point. The closer you get to your goal, the less of a deficit is safe. Congratulations! on getting to a point where 1 lb per week or less is best!

I have 31 pounds to lose.. I'm guessing soon MFP will ask me to review? So you're saying I should move to 1lb through MFP?

To be honest thats generally my weigh loss per week these days anyway as I'd say most days I go over my 1200 limit by about 100.. So maye I should just set it to 1lb per week!!!

hush7hush

I wasn't saying you should eat even less.
You can get the other 3500 from exercise, assuming you don't eat back your exercise calories.
But the dangerous thing about that, is if you have a net less than 1200, you can risk damaging your body, or developing an ED.



Point is:
Everyone's body is different.
What works for me, might send you into shock, and vice versa.
You need to try and see what suits you best.

baisleac

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (also called Maintenance calories)
Calorie = (unit of measurement), a unit of energy or heat variously defined. In nutrition terms, the word calorie is commonly used to refer to a unit of food energy. (The word calorie is used instead of the more precise scientific term kilocalorie.)

BMR and TDEE are two different things..

BMR is the amount of energy (calories) your body needs to function in a coma.

TDEE is the amount of energy (calories) that your body actually uses (burns) each day by living your life.

Eating less than your TDEE will give you a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.

Eat less than your BMR and you risk slowing your metabolism down; making it that much harder to continue to lose weight and that much more likely that you will regain that weight when you get to maintenance.


If you've been eating less than your BMR for a while, you may have already slowed your metabolism down a bit. My advice would be to set yourself to lose 0.5 - 1 lb per week. You may gain a tiny bit for a couple of weeks, it's okay. Your metabolism will recover and you will start to lose again.

Confused again! But thanks for the explanation..

But at the moment I eat my exercise calories which i see from your linked post that when using TDEE you shouldn't??

MFP calculates your TDEE or "Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activity". That is your maintenance calories or how many calories you should eat to maintain your weight at the activity level you gave MFP.

Since you want to lose, MFP subtracts your deficit depending on what you tell it you want to lose; 250 cal/day for 1/2 lb/wk, 500 cal/day for 1 lb/wk, 750 cal/day for 1.5 lb/wk and 1000 cal/day for 2 lbs/wk. That amount is subtracted from from your "Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activity" so that you lose weight.

Your BMR is a number you should try to stay above. Your body needs that amount of calories (energy) to pump your heart, to breath, to maintain your brains and liver and muscles and everything else you need to live. MFP will let you go lower because it can only use a "standard" minimum vs. an individual one.

And yes, you should eat your exercise calories when following MFPs guidelines. MFP does not use your exercise to calculate your calories until you log them.

edit to add: The linked post is for folks calculating their TDEE and deficit by themselves and only using MFP to count calories.... or rather was. I've redirected to a blog post.

kelda_shelton

so basically if im eating back my exercise calories just stick to what MFP tells me to eat but at 1lb setting rather than 2lb??

baisleac

so basically if im eating back my exercise calories just stick to what MFP tells me to eat but at 1lb setting rather than 2lb??

Exactly.

rileysowner

If no one has said so, reduce your weigh loss going to 1 pound per week.

kelda_shelton

Thanks guys.

kelda_shelton

So... I set it to 1.5lbs a week so my calories went up to 1390 a day. And have been on that for the past week.

A few days I went a little over the calorie amount. . On saturday I went 960 over due to a friends 30th bday.

I stepped on the scale this morning and have put 1lb on!

Whats that all about? Surely I should have stayed the same at least?

Because when you do the maths over the course of the week I averaged at 1579 cals per day (My maintain weight mark is 2140 cals and my 1lb off mark is 1690 cals)