BMR and How Calories Work

DoingItNow2012

The website below offers some wonderful information to help negotiate the confusion and varying calculations of BMR and caloric need. But I am reccomending it because it has the neatest BMR calculator. There is a link in the middle of the article.

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TFCalories.html

According to the calculator, I am "a petite, nice-looking, medium-weight, 37-year old female. Good to meet you. Let's continue...":bigsmile:

Of course, it offers other information also. It would probably be more specific if you know your body fat percentage, but you can estimate it.

Edithrenee

thanks

DoingItNow2012

Something interesting that he also says:

"NOTE: If you are having trouble losing weight, it is wishful thinking to believe that eating more calories will help. Do not use the BMR calculation as a reason to increase your caloric intake. Even if you were taking in far too few calories, you would still lose lots of weight, but part of it would be muscle. So if you're losing neither fat weight nor scale weight, most probably you're eating too many calories that you aren't counting. (I write this because the research on this point is clear). You have to run a caloric deficit when you total it up over the full week, counting any free day. Sadly, some people use the BMR calculation and their free day to justify overeating. This is unfortunate. The only way to lose fat is to create a persistent, daily, sustained caloric deficit. Eating more frequent and smaller meals can help, but it is is superstition that simply eating more will help you to lose fat. Good Luck! And let me know how you do! John"

Before the debate starts, please note that he says under eating will result in muscle loss. And if you read through his site you will see that he doesn't discount a plateau and encourages exercise, including strength training, which of course will also create a deficit.

Just educating myself, still plenty to learn, and I enjoy doing it.

E1rlindsay

wow, this website was super informative and helpful...thanks!

DoingItNow2012

No prob. There is so much info out there. I think it's best we do the research and try to make the best decision we can for ourselves. It helps to hear from others because it cansprint you in a direction you may never have thought of going. I learned so much from being on MFP. Not necessarily advice, but exploring things I never considered. Good luck in your journey.

jmorrisof2

Thank you for posting this. This makes it simple to figure out how many calories I should be eating. MFP can make it confusing and everyone on here seems to have their own opinion on what works. I was told to eat back my exercise calories but I have noticed that the scale isn't moving. So I am going to try and reduce my calories to see what happens. Thanks!

peacemongernc

That is really helpful! Thank you for posting that. It leaves me confused though because just before I read that I sat down at the computer to average the calories I've eaten over the last 2 weeks. I came up with an average of 1885, including cheat days. John's calculations put that at the top of what it would take to lose fat... I think it was 1.7 pounds a week. That's exactly what I was going for. But I haven't lost any.

I suppose I could have underestimated portions on some things, but I've been super careful to measure everything. The exceptions have been when I've eaten out and I've had to guess. But no more than I've eaten out, I don't see how I'm not losing at all.

***Now here's a good question for you experts out there: John mentioned in one place "being careful to avoid sitting around all day after your workouts." I lead a fairly sedentary life outside the gym. How detrimental to weight loss is that? Would it make a difference if I made a point to go back to the gym for a mini workout in the evenings? I work out in the mornings. Could the sedentary time I spend outside the gym be undoing everything else I'm doing???

Shannon

tiggertastic1979

very interesting read, thanks for sharing.

DoingItNow2012

@peacemonger. That's an interesting question. Let us know what you find out.

@jmorris... There can be so many factors why the scale is not moving, increased exercise/strength training, sodium, etc. Your body adjusts, so you might need to shake things up (change exercise, modify diet, drink more water, etc) You should look into all of them. However, it is important to know exactly what you are taking in. I looked at your diary for the last 3 days. Doesn't appear that you regularly log and it seems like you are likely guessing portion sizes. So I would definately follow his reccomendation and log everyhitng as exact as you can.

I myself am going to try to measure more for the next couple of weeks. I often guestimate portions and such. I log everything, But I don't really know the ounces or grams in the baked potato for example. I eyeball a cup of rice and tablespoons of oil, etc. I really don't think I am too far off, but just to be sure, I will track for the next couple of weeks. It is easier when the food is prepackaged. No I do not intend to live my life measuring, but it is good to know your sizes and portions.

Good Luck!