BMR help - sorry if this is basic but I'm confused!

maryjaquiss

Hi MFPers

I'm a bit confused about my BMR. Should you be eating calories at the rate it suggests, or are you supposed to take calories off it? (I'm hoping the former as it will give me an extra 100 calories a day!)

Thanks in advance x

StarryEyed500

BMR is (generally) the absolute minimum you should have. You need to work out your Activity calories and take from that.

Little/no exercise: BMR * 1.2 = Total Calorie Need
Light exercise: BMR * 1.375 = Total Calorie Need
Moderate exercise (3-5 days/wk): BMR * 1.55 = Total Calorie Need
Very active (6-7 days/wk): BMR * 1.725 = Total Calorie Need
Extra active (very active & physical job): BMR * 1.9 = Total Calorie Need

maryjaquiss

Thanks Starryeyed. So if my BMR works out at 1305 for little/no exercise, I should be eating that and exercise calories to lose say 1lb a week?

erickirb

Thanks Starryeyed. So if my BMR works out at 1305 for little/no exercise, I should be eating that and exercise calories to lose say 1lb a week?

That depends on if your BMR is 500 cals below maintenance. You need a 500 cal/day deficit to lose 1 lb/week, if your MFP is 350 cals below it will take 10 days to lose a pound.

StarryEyed500

If your BMR = 1305 then your TDEE (activity calories) = 1566. That would leave a difference of 261 meaning you would lose around 0.5lb per week if you don't exercise. You'd need to burn another 250 per day and eat back anything over that if you want to lose a pound.

maryjaquiss

Thanks Starryeyed. So if my BMR works out at 1305 for little/no exercise, I should be eating that and exercise calories to lose say 1lb a week?

That depends on if your BMR is 500 cals below maintenance. You need a 500 cal/day deficit to lose 1 lb/week, if your MFP is 350 cals below it will take 10 days to lose a pound.

You see this is what is confusing me. Does MFP work it out with a 500 cal/day deficit? Because surely I shouldn't be supposed to eat 1305 cals minus 500. That would just be silly and I would probably collapse lol!

maryjaquiss

If your BMR = 1305 then your TDEE (activity calories) = 1566. That would leave a difference of 261 meaning you would lose around 0.5lb per week if you don't exercise. You'd need to burn another 250 per day and eat back anything over that if you want to lose a pound.

Ah, fab. Thanks! x

StarryEyed500

If your BMR = 1305 then your TDEE (activity calories) = 1566. That would leave a difference of 261 meaning you would lose around 0.5lb per week if you don't exercise. You'd need to burn another 250 per day and eat back anything over that if you want to lose a pound.

That's assuming you have a desk job

maryjaquiss

If your BMR = 1305 then your TDEE (activity calories) = 1566. That would leave a difference of 261 meaning you would lose around 0.5lb per week if you don't exercise. You'd need to burn another 250 per day and eat back anything over that if you want to lose a pound.

That's assuming you have a desk job

Yep, sitting typing all day, so that sounds about right!

DixiedoesMFP

Your BMR is the bare minimum that you should be eating. That rate is based on basic bodily functions that simply keep you alive.

To lose a pound a week, calculate your TDEE (google a calculator). That is based on your daily activity level. When you figure out your TDEE, subtract 10 - 20 %. That should be your daily deficit.

The great thing about this is the more active you are, the more you move, the more you can eat!!!!!

Using myself as an example: 5'4" 145 pounds 32 year old female
BMR: 1436
TDEE based on moderate exercise: 2216
2216 - 10% = 1994 2216 - 20% = 1776

I aim for around 1700 calories per day. When I exercise, I sometimes add an additional 100 - 200 calories, depending on how hungry I am. Hope that helps.

erickirb

If your BMR = 1305 then your TDEE (activity calories) = 1566. That would leave a difference of 261 meaning you would lose around 0.5lb per week if you don't exercise. You'd need to burn another 250 per day and eat back anything over that if you want to lose a pound.

Yes, but if you didn't eat back 250 that you burned OP would only be netting 1055, which is less then the min recommendation of 1200. With little to lose, such as the OP, she should be netting around her BMR and not less. So OP you should aim to lose only 0.5 lbs/week.

Here is a guide for setting weekly weight loss goals, and on top of the goal MFP gives you, eat back the cals burned from exercise. :
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

The reasons: the less you have to lose the less fat stores you have to pull from. The less fat you have to pull from the less your body wants to take any. So if your deficit is too large given your stats you will burn a large % of lean muscle. Doing the above also helps set you up for maintenance without a large increase in caloric intake all at once.

androde

my BMR is 1600 and have loads to lose, well loads of body fat anyway

erickirb

Your BMR is the bare minimum that you should be eating. That rate is based on basic bodily functions that simply keep you alive.

To lose a pound a week, calculate your TDEE (google a calculator). That is based on your daily activity level. When you figure out your TDEE, subtract 10 - 20 %. That should be your daily deficit.

The great thing about this is the more active you are, the more you move, the more you can eat!!!!!

Using myself as an example: 5'4" 145 pounds 32 year old female
BMR: 1436
TDEE based on moderate exercise: 2216
2216 - 10% = 1994 2216 - 20% = 1776

I aim for around 1700 calories per day. When I exercise, I sometimes add an additional 100 - 200 calories, depending on how hungry I am. Hope that helps.

If your TDEE is 2216 with is almost 800 cals above BMR, I would suggest only eating any exercise cals if you burn well over 500 cals that day, otherwise you are double counting the exercise you did, with what you planed to do in the moderate exercise multiplier. following MFP's guideline and eating back cals will get you pretty much to the same place.

As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900(1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

erickirb

my BMR is 1600 and have loads to lose, well loads of body fat anyway

If you have a lot to lose you can safely eat below your BMR, but I would not eat a Net lower then your goals weight BMR. So if at your goal weight your BMR would be 1350, try to eat at least 1350 Net.

maryjaquiss

If your BMR = 1305 then your TDEE (activity calories) = 1566. That would leave a difference of 261 meaning you would lose around 0.5lb per week if you don't exercise. You'd need to burn another 250 per day and eat back anything over that if you want to lose a pound.

Yes, but if you didn't eat back 250 that you burned OP would only be netting 1055, which is less then the min recommendation of 1200. With little to lose, such as the OP, she should be netting around her BMR and not less. So OP you should aim to lose only 0.5 lbs/week.

Here is a guide for setting weekly weight loss goals, and on top of the goal MFP gives you, eat back the cals burned from exercise. :
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

The reasons: the less you have to lose the less fat stores you have to pull from. The less fat you have to pull from the less your body wants to take any. So if your deficit is too large given your stats you will burn a large % of lean muscle. Doing the above also helps set you up for maintenance without a large increase in caloric intake all at once.

Makes sense. Thank you!

DixiedoesMFP

Eric: Thank you. That was a general example. I wear a body bugg, so my TDEE is actually more like 2500 - 2600, but I was trying to provide an example for the OP. I should have added that I do NOT typically eat back my exercise calories because they are already accounted for, but I also don't feel bad for eating around 1900 calories on days when my TDEE is even higher (generally weekends when I am moving nonstop instead of my dreaded weekday desk job).