BMR

martyc91

What is the significance of your BMR and how do you use that in helping with your weight loss?

jrich1

Its basically the amount of calories you burn just existing, its used to create the deficit in calories you eat to lose weight.

CodyD18

It is how much your body needs to live. So if you stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing it's how many calories your body would need. It can help you lose weight because it will tell you how many calories you should eat/burn to reach your weight loss goals.

I hope that helps!

mallorybriann

MFP calculates your BMR and then sets a caloric deficit based on how much you would like to lose per week.
My BMR is 1600 something, my calories are set at 1290, because I want to lose 1.5 lbs a week, therefore there is a 400 calorie or so difference, resulting in a loss.

CarolynB38

BMR is the amount of calories your body needs just to exist without doing anything at all. Imagine you didn't move at all, all day every day. Your BMR is what your body needs just doing nothing. You need to eat at least that amount just to function. To work out what your body needs for your usual level of activity MFP adds calories onto your BMR based on your activity level. This is the number of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. In order to lose one pound a week you need a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day so MFP works this out for you. If you do exercise on top of your usual daily activity you should eat those calories so that you maintain your 500 calorie deficit. I hope that makes sense!

robin52077

These answers are MOSTLY right...

Your BMR is the amount your body burns for the BASIC functions of LIFE, what you would need even in a COMA. To beat your heart and expand your lungs. NEVER eat less than this amount unless you are severely obese and under a doctor's supervision, then it might be safe to do so.

MFP takes this number and adds to it based on your chosen activity level:
-Sedentary - barely moves all day, from bed to couch and moves just to go pee and grab food, this one is NOT too many people.
-Lightly active-most people who THINK they are sedentary should choose this. This even includes someone who did a load of laundry, wiped down their table, drove to the grocery store, and washed a few dishes that day. If you sit the WHOLE time you are at work, you probably fall into this one.
-Active - most people who are parents of young children or work a job where they don't sit the WHOLE time.
-Very Active - people who's jobs keep them moving or just someone who is always on the go (but not driving all day because that's sitting, not active)

sedentary gives you 1.2 times your BMR for maintenance, highly active gets 1.9, and the others are in between....MFP does all this FOR you.
This new number is called your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure, otherwise known as maintenance calories.

It THEN takes THAT number and subtracts a 500 calorie deficit FROM it to give you your 1 lb per week loss (which is what you should have chosen.)
If you are obese you can safely do 2 lbs for a short time till you become "normal range", then switch it to 1 lb per week. Once you are within about 20 pounds of goal, change to .5 lb a week and slowly add to that until you hit maintenance level.

Now, since MFP ALREADY subtracted from your maintenance calories, you are NOT supposed to try to stay "under" it, you are supposed to REACH it. Your goal is the number you should EAT.

And since your goal is based upon your NORMAL daily life NOT INCLUDING exercise, when you DO exercise you need to eat MORE that day to fuel that workout and to avoid eating too little and screwing up your metabolism. And that is why MFP adds those exercise calories to your diary so you can eat more.

If you are using a good HRM with a chest strap they will be fairly accurate so you can be safe eating them all, but if you use MFPs loose estimates, only eat half of them because they estimate high, and so do the machines at the gym....

robin52077

BMR is the amount of calories your body needs just to exist without doing anything at all. Imagine you didn't move at all, all day every day. Your BMR is what your body needs just doing nothing. You need to eat at least that amount just to function. To work out what your body needs for your usual level of activity MFP adds calories onto your BMR based on your activity level. This is the number of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. In order to lose one pound a week you need a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day so MFP works this out for you. If you do exercise on top of your usual daily activity you should eat those calories so that you maintain your 500 calorie deficit. I hope that makes sense!

this answer went up while I was typing and is exactly what I said, just much shorter and to the point.

If you like math, read mine, if you hate math, this one should suffice...lol

bizco

Your BMR is how many calories you would burn even if you were in a coma. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it's OK to eat below your BMR for awhile since you have extra fat stores.

MFP is a dumb tool, meaning it will allow you to eat less than your BMR based on your personal inputs (age, gender, activity level, etc). For example, at one time MFP set my daily calorie goal at 1200 (i'm female) but my BMR was 1289. So I customized my goals to eat 1289, plus additional calories on the days I exercised. However, at that time I had less than 10lbs. to lose so it was unwise to eat below my BMR.

Read the "guide to calorie deficits" link in my signature. Lots of good info plus guidance on BMI (not BMR).