confused-help!!!

kaseyAnne425

Ive asked this before but I don't get it:

My BMR is: 1598
My daily caloric target is: 1410

Someoneeeee explain this, I'm lost. I get the calories part, obviously, but not the BMR like what it means, what I do with it..

rjt1000

Ive asked this before but I don't get it:

My BMR is: 1598
My daily caloric target is: 1410

Someoneeeee explain this, I'm lost. I get the calories part, obviously, but not the BMR like what it means, what I do with it..

BMR is your basal metabolic rate. That's the number of calories your body will use if you sit on the couch all day doing nothing. It's the calories the cells in your body need just to stay alive. If your BMR is 1598, and your daily target is 1410, then if you sit on the couch all day but stick to the calorie goal, you'll burn 180 calories more than you eat. And slowly lose weight. A pound is basically 3000 calories. So if you do nothing and stick to that calorie goal, you'll lose a pound about once a month. Now, if you do something other than sitting on the couch, you'll burn more calories and lose weight faster. If you exercise and increase your calorie burn by 300 calories more a day, then you'll lose that much more weight.

More calories you burn, if you eat the same amount every day, the more weight you'll lose in same amount of time. And that's speaking in general terms. Your specific weight loss may vary based on driving conditions and highway speeds......

angelashay42

Your BMR is your base metabolic rate. It just means how many calories your body burns in a day if you didn't exercise at all. So if your BMR is 1598, that means that if you slept all day long, you would burn 1598 calories. So if you eat 1598 calories everyday and you don't exercise at all, you will stay the same weight.

Your daily calorie intake goal is 1410. So if you eat 1410 calories per day, your "deficit" will be 188 calories. Meaning you are burning 188 calories more than you are eating and you will lose weight. If you exercise, that increases your "deficit". Let's say you run a mile and burn 200 calories, this will bring your "deficit" to 388 and you will lose twice as much weight.

Does this make sense?

Pebble321

The two answersabove have missed a step - allowing for your daily activities as well as just staying alive.

Your BMR is the number of cals needed to keep your basic bodily functions going and to keep you alive. (breathing, heart beating, that kind of stuff).
You also need to allow for your regular daily activities like walking around, talking, working etc. This doesn't include exercise, that gets added later on.

MFP takes your BMR of 1598 and multiplies it to allow for the calories you burn in your regular day. If you are sedentary, you multiply by 1.2.

This means that the calories that you need to eat to stay the same weight (without exercising) is 1917. This number is referred to as your maintenance calories.
If you have set your activity level to be "lightly active" or "active" then this number will be higher.

To lose a pound a week you need to create a calorie deficit of about 500 cals per day. So, MFP has subtracted 500(ish) cals from your maintenance calories to give you a daily allowance of 141 cals.

Note that this number doesn't include exercise. If you go to the gym and burn 300 cals, then you can eat an extra 300 and you stil have the 500 calorie deficit. This is waht people mean when they say "eating your exercise calories".
If you don't eat the extra 300 calories you have created a calorie deficit of 800 - and this may be a good thing or it may not. Some people lose weight faster with a big deficit, others find that their weight loss slows down or stalls when they don't eat enough - the only way to know is to experiment.

rjt1000

The two answersabove have missed a step - allowing for your daily activities as well as just staying alive.

Your BMR is the number of cals needed to keep your basic bodily functions going and to keep you alive. (breathing, heart beating, that kind of stuff).
You also need to allow for your regular daily activities like walking around, talking, working etc. This doesn't include exercise, that gets added later on.

MFP takes your BMR of 1598 and multiplies it to allow for the calories you burn in your regular day. If you are sedentary, you multiply by 1.2.

This means that the calories that you need to eat to stay the same weight (without exercising) is 1917. This number is referred to as your maintenance calories.
If you have set your activity level to be "lightly active" or "active" then this number will be higher.

To lose a pound a week you need to create a calorie deficit of about 500 cals per day. So, MFP has subtracted 500(ish) cals from your maintenance calories to give you a daily allowance of 141 cals.

Note that this number doesn't include exercise. If you go to the gym and burn 300 cals, then you can eat an extra 300 and you stil have the 500 calorie deficit. This is waht people mean when they say "eating your exercise calories".
If you don't eat the extra 300 calories you have created a calorie deficit of 800 - and this may be a good thing or it may not. Some people lose weight faster with a big deficit, others find that their weight loss slows down or stalls when they don't eat enough - the only way to know is to experiment.

No, straight BMR is resting, no activity, calorie burn. http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_BMR.php

Pebble321

The two answersabove have missed a step - allowing for your daily activities as well as just staying alive.

Your BMR is the number of cals needed to keep your basic bodily functions going and to keep you alive. (breathing, heart beating, that kind of stuff).
You also need to allow for your regular daily activities like walking around, talking, working etc. This doesn't include exercise, that gets added later on.

MFP takes your BMR of 1598 and multiplies it to allow for the calories you burn in your regular day. If you are sedentary, you multiply by 1.2.

This means that the calories that you need to eat to stay the same weight (without exercising) is 1917. This number is referred to as your maintenance calories.
If you have set your activity level to be "lightly active" or "active" then this number will be higher.

To lose a pound a week you need to create a calorie deficit of about 500 cals per day. So, MFP has subtracted 500(ish) cals from your maintenance calories to give you a daily allowance of 141 cals.

Note that this number doesn't include exercise. If you go to the gym and burn 300 cals, then you can eat an extra 300 and you stil have the 500 calorie deficit. This is waht people mean when they say "eating your exercise calories".
If you don't eat the extra 300 calories you have created a calorie deficit of 800 - and this may be a good thing or it may not. Some people lose weight faster with a big deficit, others find that their weight loss slows down or stalls when they don't eat enough - the only way to know is to experiment.

No, straight BMR is resting, no activity, calorie burn. http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_BMR.php

Agreed, that's what I was trying to say, but I must have done a bad job of explaining it!
I was trying to say:
- BMR is the cals you need to stay alive
- Maintenance calories are BMR x activity factor (eg. 1.2 if you are sedentary)

kaseyAnne425

So you're saying I need to eat my BMR calories?! How will I lose weight if I do that????

melaniecheeks

No, no-one is syaing that.

Your normally daily requirement would be approximately the BMR times your activity multiplier - around 1900 calories.

MFP takes 500 off that to lose a pound a week - 1400 calories.

You would still lose weight by eating your BMR,as you are BOUND to expend more than those calories even just during your normal daily activities.