BMR and calories

allycat54

My BMR is now 1,153 calories/day. If my calories are set to 1,200, doesn't that mean I won't lose weight unless I exercise?

mallory3411

You will still burn extra calories throughout the day even with your BMR being the amount it is. The BMR is basically just the calories that your body burns to keep you alive in a sedetary state (sitting all day, laying in bed all day, etc). 1200 should be the min calories to consume in a day.

You will burn more in a day than the BMR you have but it's still a good idea to exercise.

susanswan

Agreed. BMR is your baseline metabolic rate. The number of calories your body requires to function for your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, your kidneys to work, etc. Anything extra such as talking, eating and digesting food, getting out of bed, walking around the house, going to work, doing laundry, taking a shower, etc. requires more calories to be burned by your body.

2Bgoddess

How tall are you? Your bmr is the calories to maintain your current weight. If you set MFPto lose 2 pounds a week,it creates a deficit. Meaning 500 calories less than your BMR, with a minimim of 1200.

For example if you are 5'2" and 119 pounds, your bmr is 1153 cals.

I'm 5'7" and 180. My bmr is about 1700 cals.

So yeah, i guess according to mfp ypu would have to exercise and not eat back those cals, IF your bmr falls below 1200...weird..

KareninCanada

^^^ agreed. And that is a really good explanation, susanswan! )


Allycat - Quick question... where did you figure out your BMR? You just don't look tiny enough in your picture to have the rate be that low, but it's obviously hard to tell from a picture. (... but to get that number you'd need to be 4'7" and 100 pounds.) There is a good calculator online here: http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html if you want to double check it. )

KareninCanada

How tall are you? Your bmr is the calories to maintain your current weight. If you set MFPto lose 2 pounds a week,it creates a deficit. Meaning 500 calories less than your BMR, with a minimim of 1200.

Actually you DON'T want to ever go below your BMR. That's the point where your body starts trying to conserve energy and fat in order to keep its functions operating. (per our trainer) You want to create a calorie deficit based on the calorie burn created by your daily activities and exercise.

2Bgoddess

How tall are you? Your bmr is the calories to maintain your current weight. If you set MFPto lose 2 pounds a week,it creates a deficit. Meaning 500 calories less than your BMR, with a minimim of 1200.

Actually you DON'T want to ever go below your BMR. That's the point where your body starts trying to conserve energy and fat in order to keep its functions operating. (per our trainer) You want to create a calorie deficit based on the calorie burn created by your daily activities and exercise.

So you are saying that a person like myself, bmr of 1700, should eat 1700 cals a day, and try to burn 500 a day exercising? Every day? No rest days? No thanks. I work full time and have a family, I exercise 120 minutes a week, and have lost 70 pounds of fat (yes, all fat, not muscle not water weight-says MY doctor...) - k that was a want, sorry. I am not giving the OP advice, just trying to clarify the difference between BMR and the presets that MFP gives when you set your goals.

bizco

How tall are you? Your bmr is the calories to maintain your current weight. If you set MFPto lose 2 pounds a week,it creates a deficit. Meaning 500 calories less than your BMR, with a minimim of 1200.

This statement is totally inaccurate. Your BMR is the amount of calories you would burn even if you were in a coma. To find your maintenance calories go to My Home>>Goals. Look at the right side of the screen for "calories burned during normal daily activity." That number is based on your input settings: height, weight, gender, activity/lifestyle (sedentary, light active, active, etc.) If you consumed that many calories per day you would not lose weight. On that screen you can also see how your calorie deficit is determined. MFP will not set your calorie limit below a floor of 1200 for females.

minnie84

i know im thick i never get all this my bmr is

You have a BMR of 1484.7.

can any one tell me what this means xx

meggonkgonk

How tall are you? Your bmr is the calories to maintain your current weight. If you set MFPto lose 2 pounds a week,it creates a deficit. Meaning 500 calories less than your BMR, with a minimim of 1200.

This is not actually correct. BMR is how many calories your body burns with NO activity what so ever. Like 'walking' or 'showering' - It's what you'd burn in a coma for 24 hours. So it is possible to have a BMR under 1200 and still lose weight without going below 1200 calories daily.

The number you should be focused on is the "calories burned from daily activity."

KatieJane83

How tall are you? Your bmr is the calories to maintain your current weight. If you set MFPto lose 2 pounds a week,it creates a deficit. Meaning 500 calories less than your BMR, with a minimim of 1200.

Actually you DON'T want to ever go below your BMR. That's the point where your body starts trying to conserve energy and fat in order to keep its functions operating. (per our trainer) You want to create a calorie deficit based on the calorie burn created by your daily activities and exercise.

So you are saying that a person like myself, bmr of 1700, should eat 1700 cals a day, and try to burn 500 a day exercising? Every day? No rest days? No thanks. I work full time and have a family, I exercise 120 minutes a week, and have lost 70 pounds of fat (yes, all fat, not muscle not water weight-says MY doctor...) - k that was a want, sorry. I am not giving the OP advice, just trying to clarify the difference between BMR and the presets that MFP gives when you set your goals.

Not sure, but there might be a little bit of confusion here. You're bmr is your calories per day to maintain your weight IF ALL YOU DO IS LIE AROUND AND NOT MOVE. Think bedridden, comatose, etc. The bmr is the number of calories your body needs each day SOLELY for life-sustaining activities like having a heart beat, breathing, having functioning organs.

Your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is what's really important. This is your bmr PLUS whatever else you burn by getting out of bed, having conversations, sitting at work, basically just all your day to day activities that go beyond lying in bed without moving, but not including extra workouts. That is why when mfp has you fill out your information you are required to select your lifestyle (ie sedentary, lightly active, etc). This is how mfp adjusts for the fact that you're not lying comatose in a bed, lol.

Now, you can lose weight eating at a huge deficit, but it probably won't be the healthiest way to do it, and you'll be losing muscle in addition to fat. It'll also be hard to maintain in the long run, since I'm sure you don't want to be on a 'diet' for the rest of your life. I certainly don't! Lol

So mfp is not having you eat at a deficit to your bmr. That would be eating less than your body would need to survive in a coma. mfp is having you eat at a deficit to your TDEE.

Hope this makes some sense!

kag1526

Your BMR is how many calories you would burn even if you were in a coma (but still breathing, heart beating, etc on its own).

If you move in any way you burn more that that.

on MFP this is estimated that if you put sedentary as your activity level that your real calories are 1.2 times your bmr.

So for the OP that is 1153 * 1.2 = 1383.6 (if your activity level is sedentary if its higher yours is more)

So with no exercise you would still have a deficit of 183.6 calories per day or 1285.2 per week.

This would be about 1/3 of a pound per week. To lose more you would have to exercise and not eat back all your calories... people disagree on if that is ok or not so I won't comment on that part.

meggonkgonk

i know im thick i never get all this my bmr is

You have a BMR of 1484.7.

can any one tell me what this means xx

This means how much you'd burn if you lay in bed or were in a coma ALL day. It's roughly as LOW as you should set your net calorie goal (so your body always has enough calories to run its basic, necessary functions). The number you want to look at is on your "Goals" page "Calories burned from daily activity".