BMR and maintenance calories

Oishii

Why is the maintenance calories suggested by the calculator below so much higher than the maintenance calories suggested by mfp? Am I missing something?

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/bmr-calculator.html

Is it because you enter and eat your activity on mfp, or is there another factor I'm not aware of?

registers

Why is the maintenance calories suggested by the calculator below so much higher than the maintenance calories suggested by mfp? Am I missing something?

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/bmr-calculator.html

Is it because you enter and eat your activity on mfp, or is there another factor I'm not aware of?

Yes the thing you're missing is that "BMR" calculators are inaccurate.

Oishii

The reason I'm asking is that mfp's maintenance calculation makes me lose weight, even if I set it for very active, and I'm a teacher, not a bike courier!

I would love to have my BMR tested properly, but I don't know where to go for it in the UK. Googling just led to more calculators!

Oishii

And I eat back exercise calories, although I don't count washing up as I did when I was on 1200 calories...

registers

The reason I'm asking is that mfp's maintenance calculation makes me lose weight, even if I set it for very active, and I'm a teacher, not a bike courier!

I would love to have my BMR tested properly, but I don't know where to go for it in the UK. Googling just led to more calculators!

BMR is based on body weight, if you lose weight your BMR will go down, you're here to lose weight right? so your BMR will constantly be changing. DOn't worry too much about the BMR. You said you're losing weight, so keep on doing what you're doing, when it stops, change a few things so you get more results, don't make it complicated. It will just lead to overload, when you have so much information that whatever you do is wrong, and whatever you do is right. You won't know what to do and end up doing nothing. Just relax, don't worry too much about BMR... and keep getting results.

registers

And I eat back exercise calories, although I don't count washing up as I did when I was on 1200 calories...

Think about this, to lose weight you need to be in a caloric deficit. If you eat, you're offsetting that deficit. The entire starvation mode theory is a joke. Studies have shown that people who fasted (no food) for 3 days, had no change in their metabolic rate. Once again don't worry too much about this stuff, just eat healthy, means, no saturated fats, no sugary foods, eat at a decent portion, and with exercise you'd be fine.

Oishii

Thank you asmcriminal for your perspective. If you look at my signature you'll see that I'm done LOSING weight, and if you look at what I wrote you'll see that I lose weight if I stick to the maintenance calories of a bike courier and eat back my (very low) exercise calories.

I'm SCARED of losing more weight. From a numbers point of view, a BMI of less than 20 can have an effect on fertility, and from an aesthetic point of view my bones are sticking out enough already!

I believe knowledge is power, so if what is touted as knowledge (BMR from calculators) is nonsense, I feel powerless.

glassyo

Why is the maintenance calories suggested by the calculator below so much higher than the maintenance calories suggested by mfp? Am I missing something?

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/bmr-calculator.html

Is it because you enter and eat your activity on mfp, or is there another factor I'm not aware of?

Part of it is because the Harris Benedict formula (from that other website) is different than the formula used on mfp which I think is the Mifflin-St Jeor formula. I'm not sure what they use for the activity level multiplier.

If you're still losing weight by MFP's numbers, trying upping your calories about 100 a day for a couple weeks and continue that until you're maintaining your weight.

Oishii

That makes sense if they're using different formulas. I wonder how the two sites made their decisions on which to use...

I want a good target for me, because normally I've lost weight and then regained it. I like my current weight and want to stay (around) there.

registers

That makes sense if they're using different formulas. I wonder how the two sites made their decisions on which to use...

I want a good target for me, because normally I've lost weight and then regained it. I like my current weight and want to stay (around) there.

Okay congratulations on your weight loss. There is one thing that causes weight gain. That is insulin. Insulin stores sugar in muscles and it also stores fat when the muscles are already full of sugar. Insulin is also raised if you eat too many calories.
I wouldn't be concerned about the BMI saying stuff about fertility. I am not saying that it's wrong. I am just saying, your goal isn't to be at a NUMBER your goal is to be healthy. If your weight is down too low, yeah it can cause fertility issues.

If you're losing more weight than you want. There are 2 things you can do. 1 increase your calories. Or increase your carbs. That's really about it.