MFP warning about eating under BMR

mrsdizzyd84

Are we talking net or total? In other words, is it bad to have a NET below BMR or a TOTAL below BMR?

CoderGal

Where did you find out your tdee? Or is that the chart including activity level on the fat2fit site? Thanks

The fat2fit site includes a deficit for weight loss.

You can try: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/calorie-calculator.html

I like it as you can get a bit more specific with your activities.

^This. I started with the fitnessfrog calculator and it did me no wrong. I didn't take a cut though. I recently started spitting back the fat2fit one because it seems more popular.

CoderGal

Are we talking net or total? In other words, is it bad to have a NET below BMR or a TOTAL below BMR?

everything is ALWAYS above BMR. Start at TDEE and see if you loose weight...don't go to the a coma state (bmr).

sayoder7

Bump for later

yarwell

Start at TDEE and see if you loose weight.

if you do the TDEE isn't what you think it is, surely ?

Primm

My anecdata: I eat around 1200 cal a day. I don't eat back my exercise calories unless I burn off more than the 1200 cal I consume. I'm 5'8". I now run 10k and cycle 70k regularly, from a complete couch potato base in September 2011. I can bench press nearly half my body weight and do 30 toe pushups in a minute. I have dropped body fat and *shock* increased muscle mass according to my latest dexa scan, while losing 51 lb in about 8 months.

According to some of the studies above, that's not physically possible. But I've done it so it is.

One size does *not* fit all.

BigDaddyBRC

As this is a non-medically licensed site there can be no such "Warning". It can be suggested as to the overall outcomes of eating so given full disclosure of facts. And in that, this should be the suggestion for a future Board - a Basis of why and How with NON-Marketed medically proven facts.

CoderGal

Start at TDEE and see if you loose weight.

if you do the TDEE isn't what you think it is, surely ?

Read the rest of the thread. These are all calculations. Everyone is a little different. I found even with strip throat and being very very sedentary (essentially not leaving bed) I would still loose. Not to mention, Sometimes I was above or below. But I've netted for the week above the calculated TDEE values and still had a loss.

ChasingSweatandTears

Okay that's it, I'm upping my calories. All of these calculations tell me I'm burning anywhere from 1341 at bmr to 2214 at tdee. I've been netting 1200 calories for a month, and yes I'm making some progress but I work out almost every day and my energy levels are starting to decline. I just added strength training last week.
I don't think all of you would spend so much time posting about this if you weren't so passionate about it! I've looked at several others food diaries and they look fabulous and most of them eat way more calories than I do.

Hopefully a month of netting below my bmr hasn't done so much damage that I gain weight by upping yet....

I'm not sure what number to shoot for, I have 102 pounds of lean body mass. My goal weight is 125 and I'm at 150. For those of you who have done this, do you think 1600 is a good place to start or would you go up to 1700? Dang it, this shouldn't be so scary

rehtaeh78

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ is a good one.

Thanks for this link!

CoderGal

Okay that's it, I'm upping my calories. All of these calculations tell me I'm burning anywhere from 1341 at bmr to 2214 at tdee. I've been netting 1200 calories for a month, and yes I'm making some progress but I work out almost every day and my energy levels are starting to decline. I just added strength training last week.
I don't think all of you would spend so much time posting about this if you weren't so passionate about it! I've looked at several others food diaries and they look fabulous and most of them eat way more calories than I do.

Hopefully a month of netting below my bmr hasn't done so much damage that I gain weight by upping yet....

I'm not sure what number to shoot for, I have 102 pounds of lean body mass. My goal weight is 125 and I'm at 150. For those of you who have done this, do you think 1600 is a good place to start or would you go up to 1700? Dang it, this shouldn't be so scary

God love you *pant pant* all that typing is now worth it :P *light at the end of the tunnel* I was at 1200 as well...I wish I knew what I knew then. Just FYI, don't aim for BMR or hover around BMR and have a goal set to higher. Set it to somewhere below TDEE if you like but stay above your BMR.

Example, my BMR is ~1360. I usually try to hit at least 1500...and sometimes go over my goal (1650) occasionally by...um...thousands :P

yarwell

These are all calculations. Everyone is a little different.

Indeed, but if I lose weight eating at my estimated TDEE then the estimate's out by the amount I lose, shirley.

In the absence of a metabolic lab that's how I would find out my TDEE but it may take a long time.

ChasingSweatandTears

Okay that's it, I'm upping my calories. All of these calculations tell me I'm burning anywhere from 1341 at bmr to 2214 at tdee. I've been netting 1200 calories for a month, and yes I'm making some progress but I work out almost every day and my energy levels are starting to decline. I just added strength training last week.
I don't think all of you would spend so much time posting about this if you weren't so passionate about it! I've looked at several others food diaries and they look fabulous and most of them eat way more calories than I do.

Hopefully a month of netting below my bmr hasn't done so much damage that I gain weight by upping yet....

I'm not sure what number to shoot for, I have 102 pounds of lean body mass. My goal weight is 125 and I'm at 150. For those of you who have done this, do you think 1600 is a good place to start or would you go up to 1700? Dang it, this shouldn't be so scary

God love you *pant pant* all that typing is now worth it :P *light at the end of the tunnel* I was at 1200 as well...I wish I knew what I knew then. Just FYI, don't aim for BMR or hover around BMR and have a goal set to higher. Set it to somewhere below TDEE if you like but stay above your BMR.

Example, my BMR is ~1360. I usually try to hit at least 1500...and sometimes go over my goal (1650) occasionally by...um...thousands :P

Thanks!

stefizzle9109

I googled all the information and I feel like Im starting to get a hang of it. I have lost almost 40lbs at 1200 calories and working my tail off, but lately Ive been stalled around the same couple pounds.
My TDEE-2097
BMR-1754
30% of my TDEE ( I still need to lose roughly 40lbs, so still going for 2lbs a week) I should be eating roughly 1470 calories a day.
Im 5'6 203lbs. Ive stopped working out until I can figure out this whole calorie thing. Im a student and spend most of my time doing homework so I have the sedentary lifestyle. Do these numbers look correct? This would put me negative 600 calories and would put me at 1.2lbs a week. I feel like I should be doing more. Thanks for all the input so far, really helpful!

**Edit, if I do 30% of my TDEE I would be eating under my BMR. Soooo if I ate above my BMR at 1800 calories. I would not be seeing that much weight loss would I?

cutchro

I increased my calories and started Netting at my BMR +200. I am in week #4 and just saw a slight weight loss this week of 3 pounds. However, my concern is my body fat percentage has steadily increased by about 6% week over week. Any suggestions on this?

eriemer

Why do you think what others eat is any of your buisness to stop or warn them? Who says under 1200 is unhealthy for everyone? There are studies, right now, in place using low calorie intakes, with all basic nutritions to ward off heart disease, alheimers, diabetes, and aging.

These threds are getting old pretty quick.

Sarauk2sf

Why do you think what others eat is any of your buisness to stop or warn them? Who says under 1200 is unhealthy for everyone? There are studies, right now, in place using low calorie intakes, with all basic nutritions to ward off heart disease, alheimers, diabetes, and aging.

These threds are getting old pretty quick.

This is a forum - people give and ask advice. If you do not like it, you do not have to read (or post!).

Sarauk2sf

I increased my calories and started Netting at my BMR +200. I am in week #4 and just saw a slight weight loss this week of 3 pounds. However, my concern is my body fat percentage has steadily increased by about 6% week over week. Any suggestions on this?

Do you strength train?

If not, I would really recommend addiing strength training (low reps, heavy weights) to your routine.

SassyCalyGirl

all I am going to say is what works for ONE doesn't work for EVERYONE. Worry about yourself!

KeriA

When you run a report on your net calories it would be nice to have a line for your BMR. Many calories calculators warn you to pick an interim goal so that you don't get a goal weight so you don't get one under your BMR but it has been too long for me to remember whether MFP has this suggestion/warning. Anyway I did do the same where I was eating under for more than a year and not even losing that much thinking that losing a setting of less than 2 pounds was safe. It wasn't and it didn't work for me. Really people need to spend some time personalizing the settings for themselves. I am now trying to discover my true maintenance calories. So I can set my calories at a saner deficit.

CoderGal

I increased my calories and started Netting at my BMR +200. I am in week #4 and just saw a slight weight loss this week of 3 pounds. However, my concern is my body fat percentage has steadily increased by about 6% week over week. Any suggestions on this?

Yikes, if I had a 'slight' weight loss of 3 pounds I'd have a 'dangerously low' BMI in a little over a week. And interesting! How long have you been measuring previous to this? How are you measuring? and are you doing it accurately and at the same point in the day after the same amount of food and exercise etc? We're not professionals, we cannot tell you for sure. But read around, I've seen articles about restoring things in the body which can cause to temporary stalls (and probably water retention). This may not be the case tho, since you're female. Females are notoriously known for always jumping all over the place when it comes to body fat measurements. I'm still trying to figure out if there's a way to really compare 2 people.

cutchro

I increased my calories and started Netting at my BMR +200. I am in week #4 and just saw a slight weight loss this week of 3 pounds. However, my concern is my body fat percentage has steadily increased by about 6% week over week. Any suggestions on this?

Do you strength train?

If not, I would really recommend addiing strength training (low reps, heavy weights) to your routine.

Yes twice a week full body and core at least 3 times per week along with intense cardio

cutchro

I increased my calories and started Netting at my BMR +200. I am in week #4 and just saw a slight weight loss this week of 3 pounds. However, my concern is my body fat percentage has steadily increased by about 6% week over week. Any suggestions on this?

Yikes, if I had a 'slight' weight loss of 3 pounds I'd have a 'dangerously low' BMI in a little over a week. And interesting! How long have you been measuring previous to this? How are you measuring? and are you doing it accurately and at the same point in the day after the same amount of food and exercise etc? We're not professionals, we cannot tell you for sure. But read around, I've seen articles about restoring things in the body which can cause to temporary stalls (and probably water retention). This may not be the case tho, since you're female. Females are notoriously known for always jumping all over the place when it comes to body fat measurements. I'm still trying to figure out if there's a way to really compare 2 people.

Ha I started doing "Fat Tuesday" measuring fat with a machine in the gym...hand held same time same place....started 4 weeks ago...It is frustrating... I am trying to not get discouraged about the weight loss as I know it takes time for my body to adjust to the change in diet but I did not expect my Fat to increase even if my weight stayed basically the same.

CoderGal

I increased my calories and started Netting at my BMR +200. I am in week #4 and just saw a slight weight loss this week of 3 pounds. However, my concern is my body fat percentage has steadily increased by about 6% week over week. Any suggestions on this?

Yikes, if I had a 'slight' weight loss of 3 pounds I'd have a 'dangerously low' BMI in a little over a week. And interesting! How long have you been measuring previous to this? How are you measuring? and are you doing it accurately and at the same point in the day after the same amount of food and exercise etc? We're not professionals, we cannot tell you for sure. But read around, I've seen articles about restoring things in the body which can cause to temporary stalls (and probably water retention). This may not be the case tho, since you're female. Females are notoriously known for always jumping all over the place when it comes to body fat measurements. I'm still trying to figure out if there's a way to really compare 2 people.

Ha I started doing "Fat Tuesday" measuring fat with a machine in the gym...hand held same time same place....started 4 weeks ago...It is frustrating... I am trying to not get discouraged about the weight loss as I know it takes time for my body to adjust to the change in diet but I did not expect my Fat to increase even if my weight stayed basically the same.

But when did you start measuring for the first time? If it was 4 weeks ago...then this is likely just normal for you. Watch what happens over a couple months. Females do weird things. Don't get discouraged. You'd have to do this for months and months to get a feel for where your gains are. The gym usually tells you to compare yourself to where you were in your cycle or month by month. So instead of comparing to last week, you look at last months values. This still can be a bit tipsy.

Also, the hand held things are arguably inaccurate. I won't give any input because I don't know. But I've been looking at weight scales and hand helds and gym scales and calibers lately. Apparently most people seem to think the calibers are more accurate. But you'd have to get the same person to do the same spots the same way every week.

Body fat, it's a hard thing to judge. Just look at what the different scales read, or even the same scales, or the US Department of Defense formula or the Covert Bailey Body Fat Calculator, they're all over the place.

KeriA

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 did the same thing you did. I didn't set my calories for 2 pounds but 1 pound loss even though I had alot to lose and ate my exercise calories back. I logged everyday. I exercised regularly. I barely lost. I would have been fine with a half a pound loss a week but nothing so I thought my setting was too high for me so I lowered it. Yes I lost - 30+ pounds in a year and but then hit a 9 month plateau where I tried everything but eating above my BMR since I didn't know that much about it and that I should keep my calories above it and nothing worked. What I heard was that losing 1 pound a week for my amount of weight to lose was safe. What I heard was calories in calories out. What I heard was don't underestimate your food intake or over estimate your exercise burn. I never lowered to 1200 calories and I never went for the quick loss. I just wanted some loss. It is just lately that I have seen recommendations on the board about eating above your BMR, about jmaking sure to not lower metabolism by eating too few calories. If it wasn't for forum threads I would still be eating under BMR. I did need to go to other sites to get better estimates of my BMR and other important estimates as well. I am now eating maintenance calorie settings using MFP after slowly increasing calories and yes I gained a bit at each upped level but settled back down again. Recently I have lost more than 2 pounds in the last 2 days with my calories set at maintenance. I have taken more than a month to increase my calories to this level and keep them up. Thank you for those posting information about eating above your BMR to lose. I have to see if I am just settling down and this is really my maintenance or if it is still a deficit for me. Oh and due to an injury I have had to really limit exercise as well. Except for exercise I am relatively sedentary and I used MFP setting as to how to set my activity level.

I think MFP is great. I am thankful for all of its tools and for some the settings may work at least for awhile. I did lose inches from exercise (but I started exercising before MFP) and I think I lost because I was in school and finals weeks saved me. I always stalled out on breaks since I upped my exercise and kept to my calorie goal with eating back exercise calories. It was when I eased up on things that I lost. It is because of the community and the forums that MFP is a great site and the free logging tools.

CoderGal

I did the same thing you did. I didn't set my calories for 2 pounds but 1 pound loss even though I had alot to lose and ate my exercise calories back. I logged everyday. I exercised regularly. I barely lost. I would have been fine with a half a pound loss a week but nothing so I thought my setting was too high for me so I lowered it. Yes I lost - 30+ pounds in a year and but then hit a 9 month plateau where I tried everything but eating above my BMR since I didn't know that much about it and that I should keep my calories above it and nothing worked. What I heard was that losing 1 pound a week for my amount of weight to lose was safe. What I heard was calories in calories out. What I heard was don't underestimate your food intake or over estimate your exercise burn. I never lowered to 1200 calories and I never went for the quick loss. I just wanted some loss. It is just lately that I have seen recommendations on the board about eating above your BMR, about jmaking sure to not lower metabolism by eating too few calories. If it wasn't for forum threads I would still be eating under BMR. I did need to go to other sites to get better estimates of my BMR and other important estimates as well. I am now eating maintenance calorie settings using MFP after slowly increasing calories and yes I gained a bit at each upped level but settled back down again. Recently I have lost more than 2 pounds in the last 2 days with my calories set at maintenance. I have taken more than a month to increase my calories to this level and keep them up. Thank you for those posting information about eating above your BMR to lose. I have to see if I am just settling down and this is really my maintenance or if it is still a deficit for me. Oh and due to an injury I have had to really limit exercise as well. Except for exercise I am relatively sedentary and I used MFP setting as to how to set my activity level.

XD it's ridiculous how many people have messaged me to thank me for posting this thread (and have already lost weight with it). I know the BMR threads get tiring but I'm glad I spotted them. How do you know what to look for when you've never heard of it?

I guess there will always be that set of people who:
- shrink their organs until they are satisfied on very little without realizing/believing they can have more and refuse to try it for more then a few weeks even if they do loose
- stall...and stumble upon a thread :P

Unfortunate. Thanks for your post!

hanna6774

Having read several fiery threads regarding low calorie intake, eating/not eating your exercise calories, not eating below your BMR etc. I certainly can understand the confusion many people are experiencing, myself starting to be one of them. MFP calculated my calories to be 1349 based on moderate exercise for a 2lb a week loss. Any extra exercise I did basically riding a stationery bike (357 calories) I ate back for a total of 1700 calories. I have enjoyed a reasonable weight loss, certainly not the two pounds a week calculated by MFP. I have been in a plateau for almost a couple of months, but happy I am maintaining. Physically I am able to do more now so I want to step it up. As such, looking at all options.

I am very impressed by the before and after pictures of the MFP members that do Power90 and researched the Beachbody site. Their nutritional information, based on moderate exercise, put my calorie intake at 3000 calories. To lose 2 lb a week I would reduce this by 1000/day for a total of 2000 calories per day and not eat exercise calories back. Not much more info available to me on this site unless I pay to become a club member.

Then I checked out the link fat2fit and found the following. My BMR is 1509 (Katch method) 1788 (Harris method). I choose to go with the Katch method as Harris does not take into account lean body mass (water, bone & tissue). One reason I'm not obsessed with the scale as it is just weight, includes everything, not just fat. According to this site, If I was sedentary I need 2071 calories, exercise 1 - 3x/week I need 2071 calories, and exercise 3 - 4x/week I'd need 2334 calories. Seems high but the explanation is below:

"We advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels you see in the chart are not extreme, but they do create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You'll never be on a diet again.

Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point." (Again, that would put me at about 2000 calories based on my current exercise)

Based on everything I have read, the healthier and fitter I get, the more leaner muscle mass I will build (that's the plan anyway). Muscle burns faster and requires more calories to sustain so my thinking is I want to be able to eat more. That being said, I am proposing a little experiment for the next month. I am going to eat 2000 calories while exercising no more than I did before and see what happens. Worse case scenario is that I gain but I still have quite a lot of wiggle room as far as calorie intake and my BMR to play with. I can also just increase my exercise if I am up to it. I am more scared of not eating enough rather than eating too much so here goes.

CoderGal

Having read several fiery threads regarding low calorie intake, eating/not eating your exercise calories, not eating below your BMR etc. I certainly can understand the confusion many people are experiencing, myself starting to be one of them. MFP calculated my calories to be 1349 based on moderate exercise for a 2lb a week loss. Any extra exercise I did basically riding a stationery bike (357 calories) I ate back for a total of 1700 calories. I have enjoyed a reasonable weight loss, certainly not the two pounds a week calculated by MFP. Physically I am able to do more now so I want to step it up. As such, looking at all options.

I am very impressed by the before and after pictures of the MFP members that do Power90 and researched the Beachbody site. Their nutritional information, based on moderate exercise, put my calorie intake at 3000 calories. To lose 2 lb a week I would reduce this by 1000/day for a total of 2000 calories per day and not eat exercise calories back. Not much more info available to me on this site unless I pay to become a club member.

Then I checked out the link fat2fit and found the following. My BMR is 1509 (Katch method) 1788 (Harris method). I choose to go with the Katch method as Harris does not take into account lean body mass (water, bone & tissue). One reason I'm not obsessed with the scale as it is just weight, includes everything, not just fat. According to this site, If I was sedentary I need 2071 calories, exercise 1 - 3x/week I need 2071 calories, and exercise 3 - 4x/week I'd need 2334 calories. Seems high but the explanation is below:

"We advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels you see in the chart are not extreme, but they do create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You'll never be on a diet again.

Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point." (Again, that would put me at about 2000 calories based on my current exercise)

Based on everything I have read, the healthier and fitter I get, the more leaner muscle mass I will build (that's the plan anyway). Muscle burns faster and requires more calories to sustain so my thinking is I want to be able to eat more. That being said, I am proposing a little experiment for the next month. I am going to eat 2000 calories while exercising no more than I did before and see what happens. Worse case scenario is that I gain but I still have quite a lot of wiggle room as far as calorie intake and my BMR to play with. I can also just increase my exercise if I am up to it. I am more scared of not eating enough rather than eating too much so here goes.

Thanks for sharing! It's normal to feel what you're feeling, you'll get to the point where you don't worry about it later because you're loosing. Personally though, I found that going from an average of 4000 calories to 1200 was pretty extreme. And in the 2000 range is not allot of food! It's what your average nutritional recommendations are based on.

FlaxMilk

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 was given a 1200 limit on sedentary, lightly active. Even at very active (which I'm not) it only gave me 1350. And that was at 1 lb a week, two pounds a week, and .5 pounds a week. I think it says to base your activity level on your job, doesn't it?

Linda6580

bump