Question about which BMR to follow

steadk
steadk Posts: 334 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I went to fat2fit and based on it's calculations, and my goal weight (which it also provided based on my info) it gave me two BMR's based on the different formulas. The First BMR was 1771, and the second was 1254. To reach my goal weight it told me to consume 1630 calories. But which BMR do i follow?? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Replies

  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Where are you finding two different calculations? I am looking at their site and all I see is the Harris-Benedict formula.
  • scottc561
    scottc561 Posts: 329 Member
    I went to fat2fit and based on it's calculations, and my goal weight (which it also provided based on my info) it gave me two BMR's based on the different formulas. The First BMR was 1771, and the second was 1254. To reach my goal weight it told me to consume 1630 calories. But which BMR do i follow?? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

    a 517 difference between 2 formulas is way more then I have ever seen. For me when I was 270 there was a 200 cal difference between the 2 usual formulas. So I am guessing one of those numbers is incorrect. If you give us your height, weight and age we can let you know approximately what it is.
  • steadk
    steadk Posts: 334 Member
    I plugged in my height of 61.5, weight of 215 hips at 51, waist at 44. goal weight of 120, which is the higher of the two weights it gave me. Age is 24
  • huntindawg1962
    huntindawg1962 Posts: 277 Member
    OK - it probably gave you your current and your "at goal" rates if you plugged in two numbers. BMR is less important that TDEE - you want to be below the "total daily energy expenditure" which is you "all in calorie needs for the day" and that will vary every day with activity.
  • steadk
    steadk Posts: 334 Member
    Where are you finding two different calculations? I am looking at their site and all I see is the Harris-Benedict formula.

    The other formula was the Katch-McArdie formula.

    Also, it stated my BF% was 58.3, when most other places say its 41%
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    Give us both site addresses please.
  • steadk
    steadk Posts: 334 Member
    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/
  • scottc561
    scottc561 Posts: 329 Member
    I plugged in my height of 61.5, weight of 215 hips at 51, waist at 44. goal weight of 120, which is the higher of the two weights it gave me. Age is 24

    here's a really good site, it has multiple formulas you can use to get bmr and tdee and other things.

    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    one calc says your bmr is 1681 and the other says 1769 (this is at 5'2" since it can't take 5'1.5") so the difference is only 88 calories. I would go with the lower number for your bmr since it is more accurate if you don't know you true bodyfat %. The higher number calc is better when you are in shape. At sedentary your TDEE is about 2018 calories. Of course if you do alot of exercise or stay active all day it will be higher. Hope that helps, and I have no idea where you got a bmr of 1254 from, that is extremely low based on your numbers.
  • pinkita
    pinkita Posts: 779 Member
    I get the same thing the OP does. If you're on the fat2fit site and first calculate your body fat percentage, the BMR calculator asks you for that percentage, then generates different BMRs. One is Harris-Benedict, the other is Katch-McArdle (which is supposedly more accurate since it takes into account body fat percentage). At the bottom is displays a table of the calories you should consume based on activity level (e.g., sedentary, light activity, etc.).
  • steadk
    steadk Posts: 334 Member
    Thanks for the help everyone!!! I'm trying to do as much with my food choices as I can to make sure I get in the right mind set about food, since i've been oblivious for so long. I appreciate the help!!
  • scottc561
    scottc561 Posts: 329 Member
    Thanks for the help everyone!!! I'm trying to do as much with my food choices as I can to make sure I get in the right mind set about food, since i've been oblivious for so long. I appreciate the help!!

    Also regarding bodyfat%, unless you got it tested by a medical facility that uses very accurate ways to calculate yours then disregard it. Most ways we get it are not accurate at all. None of them take into account true muscle mass, bone density and other factors. I have a scale that does the electro bodyfat calc everytime I step on it and it is useless. Changes everytime I jump on it by huge factors.
  • steadk
    steadk Posts: 334 Member
    [/quote]Also regarding bodyfat%, unless you got it tested by a medical facility that uses very accurate ways to calculate yours then disregard it. Most ways we get it are not accurate at all. None of them take into account true muscle mass, bone density and other factors. I have a scale that does the electro bodyfat calc everytime I step on it and it is useless. Changes everytime I jump on it by huge factors.
    [/quote]

    Good to know!!
  • pinkita
    pinkita Posts: 779 Member
    Thanks for the help everyone!!! I'm trying to do as much with my food choices as I can to make sure I get in the right mind set about food, since i've been oblivious for so long. I appreciate the help!!

    Also regarding bodyfat%, unless you got it tested by a medical facility that uses very accurate ways to calculate yours then disregard it. Most ways we get it are not accurate at all. None of them take into account true muscle mass, bone density and other factors. I have a scale that does the electro bodyfat calc everytime I step on it and it is useless. Changes everytime I jump on it by huge factors.

    So is it better to just go with the Harris-Benedict formula then?
  • scottc561
    scottc561 Posts: 329 Member
    So is it better to just go with the Harris-Benedict formula then?

    That formula was invented in the early 1900's on healthy active men. It is not considered to be as acurate on current unhealthy(most of todays society) as Mifflin-st. joer is. Also if you don't know your true bodyfat% then it is even less accurate. I go with Mifflin myself and there is almost 200 cal difference between the 2 for me.

    ps- if you know your true bodyfat% neither is as accurate as other formulas. For most people you will only be about 50 to 100 calories off from one to the other unless your really heavy(like me)
  • pinkita
    pinkita Posts: 779 Member
    So is it better to just go with the Harris-Benedict formula then?

    That formula was invented in the early 1900's on healthy active men. It is not considered to be as acurate on current unhealthy(most of todays society) as Mifflin-st. joer is. Also if you don't know your true bodyfat% then it is even less accurate. I go with Mifflin myself and there is almost 200 cal difference between the 2 for me.

    ps- if you know your true bodyfat% neither is as accurate as other formulas. For most people you will only be about 50 to 100 calories off from one to the other unless your really heavy(like me)

    Thanks for the info! Now I wanna go get my BF tested :smile:

Categories