MFP warning about eating under BMR

slara75

Am I doing my math wrong? When I take 20% from 2088, I get 1671. What am I doing wrong? This is in response to what cversey told one of the MFP members whose TDEE was 2088.

mbajrami

Bump! Thanks so much!

MrsGriffin67

I agree.

Although I don't understand why people just don't use the tools here HONESTLY and accurately. If you actually input the correct info, it's unlikely to give you "bad" numbers. The low 1200 numbers are given to people who choose "Sedentary" and "Lose two pounds a week." Almost no one is Sedentary. And unless they have 50 or more pounds to lose, they shouldn't be set at two pounds. The site will prompt you to choose more reasonably, but people override the tool.

One of the big problems these days on the Boards is the ten thousand different ways to calculate what you should be eating.

I lost over 50 pounds by using this site only. I've kept it off. I didn't go to ten different sites to try to figure things out. I did it the way this site is set up. I used all the numbers given to me. I think people make it harder by trying to speed up the process, and reading too many forum threads.

Keep it simple.

I, too, have lost a lot of weight using this site. Although, the past few months I have really been a slacker and have gained some of my weight back. I stay under 1350 calories most day but this is on Dr's supervision. Keep it simple and remember...you didn't gain all of your weight at once, you can't expect to lose it all at once either. :happy:

aimeeinohio

Oh man, I am so confused!

I'm confused to what you are confused about :P

LOL

2 yrs ago, when I found out I was pre-diabetic, the diet the Dr gave me was 1200 calories a day, which is what MFP has given me as well.
I went to the suggested link in this thread, at the sedentary lifestyle (which I am hoping will be changing to lightly active since I started C25k today), it gave me 1612 calories per day. I'll admit, staying at or below the 1200 is REALLY REALLY tough, so Id welcome being able to eat more and not sabotage myself. After doing that calculation, I came bak to MFP and changed my per week goal from 1.5 to 1 lb per week and its now closer to the other calculation.

I guess the confusion for me is that the Drs say weight loss is simply expending more calories than you take in in a day...If that were the case I'd be skinny dang it.

heybales

Like many other good ideas, this one will probably not prosper due to Legal implications.

The moment that MFP starts giving specific guidelines/advice, they are exposed to lawsuits.
Sad, but true.

What exactly is stopping at 1200 cal's considered? Recommended safetly lower level.
Why offer 2lb weekly if 1lb is recommended? People want it.

How could leaving it higher cause a legal problem, or rather, give an option or warning that your goal will cause you to eat under your BMR.

And then a paragraph of what the BMR is. User can then make their own unwise decision.

heybales

I don't think I have been doing this properly then my cal intake is ment to be 1200 I eat 1000 and exercise burns of 600 so now I look at it I'm only eating 400 after exercise is this really bad ,when I first started my diet I did find 1200 cals hard to stick to but now I'm so used to it I'm full up on 1000 a day and couldnt possibly eat any more x

That's because your body knows how to protect itself, it slows down and stops doing some functions of the BMR.
Staying warm, repairing muscle (building is out of the question), growing hair/skin, maintaining hair/skin, and major function, dealing with fluid levels in every cell of your body.

It also knows how to adapt by not being hungry anymore.

But there is a big difference between feeling fully fed, and your body being fed fully.

So when your body slows down to only getting 400 cals to do those functions, 1000 will become your maintenance level even if you were to exercise 6 days a week.

If you don't exercise that much, it'll balance out. You'll still burn off muscle weight though, very easily. So weight may go down.
But generally, you won't lose weight. You won't gain either. But any extra you eat is surplus now and will be probably stored as glucose/water, because a 1000 cal diet with exercise just doesn't top off glucose stores you are burning.

heybales

I cannot remember where I read this but I was under the impression that for obese or severely obese individuals it is ok to eat under BMR due to much lower meabolisms and a high fat storage %.

Part false, part true.

BMR estimates on age/height/weight are grossly over-estimated on obese, because the formulas for BMR were based on participants AT healthy weight, with expected fat/LBM ratios.

So they really aren't eating under their BMR, just the over-estimated BMR.

But, their metabolism is not slow, it's actually higher than it will be when they lose weight. The mere act of dealing with all the extra cells increases BMR compared to lighter weight. Also their TDEE will be higher because more cal's to push the bigger body around.

So for obese, best to get a decent bodyfat estimate, and use Katch-McArdle BMR formula, and not net below that better figure.

heybales

I think that we can find the actual TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), after a couple of months of consistent weight loss.

For example:

In my case, I had set MFP to lose 1 lb/week (sedentary, since I hardly have been exercising)

Following the calorie limit that MFP came up with to lose 1lb, I have actually been losing 2 lbs per week, since last November.
Since one pound of fat is about 3500 calories, that tells me right there that the MFP calculations are estimating my TDEE at about 500 calories less per day than actual.

So now I can tell what my real TDEE is !! I will use that information for when I reach maintenance mode.

In numbers: MFP is setting my calorie limit at 1810 calories per day, for 1 lb/week loss
Therefore MFP estimates my TDEE at : 1810+500 = 2310
Since I am losing 2 lbs/week, when eating 1810 calories, that means actual TDEE is: 1810+500+500 = 2810 calories

Once I reach maintenance mode, I expect my TDEE will be about 100 calories less than 2810 (since at lower weight I will burn less)

Dead on best method.

Well, really best would be to record a couple weeks of food before making diet changes. What did one really eat and maintain their current weight.

And then that true TDEE divided by current BMR is your personal mulitplier, if you don't change activity levels.

But I like your method too, because you may have a certain activity level now you plan on keeping, and knowing personal multiplier, you can do that at goal weight/BMR.

MissLuana

I agree. I thought this site was correct as i've been eating 1200, where can I go to find out my real Cals??

go online and call up BMR calculator. This will give you a rough estimate of your BMR.

heybales

It just depends on the purpose. You have to know your own body - the site can't do EVERYTHING for you. It just stops at 1200 because that is the lowest recommended limit.

I'd dare suggest that the vast majority are here because they do not know their body, and frankly should NOT trust their body.

You have to have knowledge and use your mind. Do what is best, not what feels best, or you'll be back in the same boat, or off the wagon, or whatever it is.

How much time and effort is used to pick the right gym?

How much time and effort is given to go look up what BMR even means?

Imawonder

bump

Cupcake596

Do you mean netting your BMR or eating your BMR? I always eat at BMR through eating back my exercise calories

SmexAppeal

I didn't read all the comments so not sure if this has been said.
But when you log your food and exercise at the end of the day, if you eat under 1200 cals it tells you on the screen where it says you should weigh this much in 5 weeks.
It says something about you are eating too few calories and this could put you in starvation mode. So there is some type of warning. The more education, the better chance of success. I think more people just need to research how to get healthy and fit properly!

JennieAL

I always eat at BMR through eating back my exercise calories

If this thread were a test, and this your answer... you would be incorrect.

...do some more studying.

CoderGal

TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure - that is, the number of total calories your body burns on any given day. Unless you are hooked up to special machines and go through a rigorous scientific process, it is impossible to know your *exact* TDEE. All of the calculators on the internet are just estimates.

Excuse me, I can't write 10 paragraphs explaining every word I say every time I reply :P If you read the rest of the thread it's stated that we can only estimate. I don't think anyone can know your "*exact* TDEE", not even you.

CoderGal

Oh heybales, thank you thank you thank you. I was just about to quote all your replies, that's some great, well put advice.

GasMasterFlash

Perhaps they could set it up to alert the local police and/or the user's mom too.

heybales

I've been eating between 250 to 500 calories below my BMR for the last 9 months, have lost 63 pounds of fat and gained lean muscle mass in the process. I'm in the best shape of my life. Oh and I spike once a week at about 4000 to 5000 calories.

Are you going to tell me and about 90% of my circle of support which is a good number of bodybuilders they're doing it wrong?

Sounds like some folks need to step back and realize that regardless of works for you and what you believe works for you that you may not have all the facts about what others are doing or how their bodies re-act. Most people can lose as much as 2 pounds of fat per week w/o compromising lean muscle mass. That requires approximately a 7000 calorie weekly deficit to achieve or 1000 calories a day. For most people that's about 500 below BMR. It's not dangerous and if you employ proper re-feed methods, spikes or dietary breaks you won't end up with a slowed metabolism either.

And that is exactly why Spike days work when you start your diet with them.

You are NOT, on avg, eating below your BMR. You are well over. Enough to gain muscle, you hope.

So does that extra 4000 min say, avg over 6 other days, being 666 calories, put your avg daily over your BMR now?

That whole Spike day theory works that way.

I don't believe I saw anyone say dangerous - more difficult weight loss. Slower, more prone to muscle burning. So these are warnings for doing it smarter, faster, better. If you want slow, fine. if you want chances of burning off muscle eating too little, fine. if you want to make maintenance more difficult possibly, fine.

Most people can lose 2lb weekly without effecting lean muscle? Love to see that study of most.

Here a study using obese folks that had plenty of fat to use, and only eating under BMR by about 200-300.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/25/3/431.full#T2

They all lost some, DietOnly, DietResistance, DietCardio.

CnocNaCu

Oh man, I am so confused!

Just eat right at your BMR and then you will please both camps :drinker:

LOVE IT :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
The best advice I got today :flowerforyou:

heybales

That being said the rest of the nonsense about eating below your BMR is utter hooey. You can eat moderately below your BMR for quite some time before it shows any adverse affect. There are several ways to re-boot your metabolism if it starts to slow down as well.

However, in order for a complete stall to happen it has to be for quite a long time and at quite a severe caloric deficit not just a few hundred calories below their BMR.

is 8 weeks a long time for men?

Showing the predicted changes in metabolic rates decline sharply in individuals undergoing adaptive thermogenesis which does lead to plateauing. ie suppressed BMR, slower metabolism, ect.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11430776

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19660148

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20054213

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17260010