Does a 200cal deficiency really do anything?

u334556

Hi All,

I know that everyone carries on that 1200cal is the minimum recommended intake for your body to function, and as per MFP recommendations this has been my target for the last few weeks. However, aloss of few hundred grams here and there over the weeks is a little under whelming.

My GW of 57kg gives me a BMI of 21.5, right in the middle of the 'Normal' range (It's currently 25 (66kg), dancing on the fence between Normal and Overweight)

So I've figured out my BMR Calorie intake is 1,411, so really I'm only 211 cals under maintaining... This made me a lil disappointed. I've been finding that consuming 1200cals doesn't leave me hungry.

Do you think it would be worth while to maybe aim for 1000 cals and see how that goes after a week (and I eat back 50-75% of exercise cals)??

Thanks

jmatthews75

BMI is a joke and who ever came up with it should be burried head first in the sand.

bjshooter

It will be a lot bigger than 200cals. BMR is what you would burn staying in bed and not doing anything at all in a day and I presume you do a lot more?

asyouseefit

Don't forget BMR is the amount of calories your body needs to function. Everything you do on top of that (walking, talking, typing, ANYTHING...) also consumes calories. With 1200 cals, your deficit is higher than 200, even if you sit on your butt all day!

u334556

I use BMI, because I know alot of people using this site are from countries that use the Standard System (Feet, inches, pounds ect) however I'm from Australia, so we use the Metric system (Centimeters, Meters and Kilograms), so I've used the BMI as a point of reference for those too lazy to do the conversion :P

Is anyone else in a similar position? I like the idea of learning the amounts of foods that I should be consuming, but only losing 300grams (0.66 pounds) each week is disappointing...

aa1440

Are you getting any kind of workout? What do you do to burn calories?

catodd

Your bmr might be lower than you think due to the small amount of calories you are consuming and your body might be in "famine" mode already!! So instead of just cutting the calories further you may need to assess where you are actually going wrong. For example what you are eating and how you are training rather than the just the calorific values of the food you eat and the exercise you take. For instance if you were training very very hard you might need 6000 calories a day just to sustain yourself!

asyouseefit

I use BMI, because I know alot of people using this site are from countries that use the Standard System (Feet, inches, pounds ect) however I'm from Australia, so we use the Metric system (Centimeters, Meters and Kilograms), so I've used the BMI as a point of reference for those too lazy to do the conversion :P

Is anyone else in a similar position? I like the idea of learning the amounts of foods that I should be consuming, but only losing 300grams (0.66 pounds) each week is disappointing...

Slow and steady wins the race. Especially since you don't have that much to lose so you can't expect to lose 2-3 pounds a week.
T
Are you exercising at all?

fastbelly

BMR stands for the calories you'd burn if you were in a coma, since you're typing here I assume you're not therefore you will have a AMR... Active Metabolic Rate that is where your deficit is calculated. you don't have a deficit of 200 calories, depending on your activity levels if you ingest only 1200 calories you will have a deficit that can be of thousands of calories.

On average a woman will burn 2000 calories a day... so if you were average you'd be on a 800 calorie a day deficit.

Pebble321

Your deficit will be higher than 200 cals.
You need to multiply your BMR to allow for your daily activity (work, walking around, talking etc) then take your calorie deficit from that.
Even if you are sedentary you multiply by 1.2 so your maintenance calories would be 1693. That means if you are eating 1200 cals a day you have a deficit of nearly 500 cals/day.
If you have a look at your goals page on MFP you will see that it has done the maths for you!

Edited to add: see how you feel as you get closer to your goal weight, I think BMI is OK as a guide but you need to work out what is healthy for you.
I'm 164 cm (5'4") tall and to be at the top of the "healthy BMI" I should be 57kg (just under 150 pounds). Currently I'm between 70 - 71kg and wearing size 10-12 pants (Aussie size, that's about 6-8 US) and I just don't think I need to drop more weight. What I do need to do it to tone up and get more strength and muscle definition. I think that will make me look leaner, not just dropping weight. You might be in the same situation.

russelljclarke

BMI is a joke and who ever came up with it should be burried head first in the sand.

I agree - my brother-in-law, who's a builder and fit as a butcher's dog, is told by BMI he's overweight! Horse****!

u334556

I have a fairly sedentary lifestyle (work in a Call Centre, drive to/from work, ect) so when I do do anyform of activity (wash the car, walk the dog, mow the grass, walk to the Video/DVD store) I don't tend to log it as I figure I really should be doing that much activity daily anyway (Unless I take the dog for like a 1-1.5 walk - then I would usually log .5-1hrs to eat back).

In terms of 'Workouts' I'm VERY limited as to what I can do. I have a knee injury (from March this year) and an ongoing sternum injury which limits me to fairly low impact exercises (And I'm wayyyyy to young to show up at the water aerobics class :P )

I usally do a few sets of lunges, squats and dips at night just to maintain some muscle. I haven't been given the all clear by my Chiro or physio as yet, so I can only control the food side of things for the moment

sandislim

BMI is a joke and who ever came up with it should be burried head first in the sand.

I agree - my brother-in-law, who's a builder and fit as a butcher's dog, is told by BMI he's overweight! Horse****!

My hubby has a physical job and a six pack - he's pretty slim yet he is also overweight according to BMI - and they use BMI for life insurance!

Elleinnz

Have a read of this - explains how your MFP figures are calculated

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

capriciousmoon

BMI is a joke and who ever came up with it should be burried head first in the sand.

The person that created it said it shouldn't be used for individuals.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439&sc=fb&cc=fp

u334556

I'm 164 cm (5'4") tall and to be at the top of the "healthy BMI" I should be 57kg (just under 150 pounds). Currently I'm between 70 - 71kg and wearing size 10-12 pants (Aussie size, that's about 6-8 US) and I just don't think I need to drop more weight. What I do need to do it to tone up and get more strength and muscle definition. I think that will make me look leaner, not just dropping weight. You might be in the same situation.

Unfortunately I'm not that lucky I carry all my weight in my Bootay! So my GW is based on what I was a year or two ago (57kg and wearing a size 10 - top & pant) however ATM I'm 66kg and wearing an aussie size 14 in pants (just to streach around my *kitten*! And a top sz 8-10) Definately not in proportion...

Pebble321

So, with a sedentary lifestyle your maintenance will be almost 1700 giving you a 500 cal deficit and theoretically 1 pound a week weight loss, which is a very respectable amount of weight to lose.
This deficit is there just from food calories, it doens't assume ANY exercise, so don't stress that your can't do too much at this time.

Having said this, you aren't overweight at the moment so you might find that it doesn't come off at this rate, that just seems to be the way it goes.
But, once you are able to add in some extra exercise that should help. It would be worth asking your chiro/physio about strenghtening exercises rather than just cardio.

dad106

I've been finding that consuming 1200cals doesn't leave me hungry.

My question is, why do you want to be hungry? The point of MFP(and losing weight in general) is to eat enough so that you are satisfied, but still lose weight.

I'd suggest going to your homepage and looking at your goals.. it will show you that there is not a 200 calorie deficit due to your activity and other things.

Like others said that number you quoted is what you'd burn lying in bed all day.. and you burn calories walking to the car, driving to work, sitting at your desk, walking around the office during the day. All of those things are figured in here by MFP, so there is no way that you have a 200 calorie deficit.