3600 calories = 1 pound?

hprozy

So according to mfp I am suppose to eat 1200 calories a day and my BMR is 1410. Mean that my deficiency is only 210 calories. So then my weekly calorie deficiency is 1470 which is not even close to 3600 calories. How is it that MFP thinks I am going to loose a pound a week?

Sonnie124

Add some kind of excersize. :ohwell:

Crawflowr

Are you in a coma and not moving at all? Probably not so you will be using more than your BMR per day. If you are sedentary you will be using BMR x 1.2 = 1692 calories per day. To lose 1lbs per week you need to be 500 calories below this figure which would be 1192 but MFP doesn't recommend going below 1200 as you won't get the right balance of nutrients below this so it has limited you to 1200 calories.

LoraF83

Your BMR is the number that your body needs to just exist. It does not include any activity you may do....like walking, bending over, washing dishes, etc. Add in all your daily activity and you have what's called your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) which will be much higher. That is where your deficit comes from.
As a side note, you will get a lot of advice on here about eating your BMR and eating back your exercise calories. Listen to those people - they know what they are talking about

hprozy

I never herd of TDEE, that makes perfect sense! thank you!

em9371

Your BMR is the number that your body needs to just exist. It does not include any activity you may do....like walking, bending over, washing dishes, etc. Add in all your daily activity and you have what's called your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) which will be much higher. That is where your deficit comes from.
As a side note, you will get a lot of advice on here about eating your BMR and eating back your exercise calories. Listen to those people - they know what they are talking about

^^^^ this.
deficit is taken from TDEE not BMR.
With the amount you have left to lose you should be aiming for 0.5lbs per week, as you have found, a goal of 1lb puts you below BMR which is not healthy.
Also the goal MFP gives you is NET so it expects you to eat back any exercise cals to hit this goal.
helloitsdan's post 'in place of a roadmap' explains all about BMR, TDEE, and why you should eat above BMR :-)

jmapes9

LoraF83, eating my BMR and eating back my exercise calories would be a serious daily increase for me. I currently weigh 356.2 pounds, and MFP tells me I should take in 2280 calories daily. My BMR is 2941. If I were to increase my daily intake another 661 calories, plus eat back the 350 cals (on average) of exercise I do daily, I'd start gaining weight.

Honestly, I've been eating the calories MFP tells me to, and eating back most of my exercise calories, and have been losing, on average, 2 pounds a week. MFP's program seems to be pretty accurate, so far.

LoraF83

LoraF83, eating my BMR and eating back my exercise calories would be a serious daily increase for me. I currently weigh 356.2 pounds, and MFP tells me I should take in 2280 calories daily. My BMR is 2941. If I were to increase my daily intake another 661 calories, plus eat back the 350 cals (on average) of exercise I do daily, I'd start gaining weight.

Honestly, I've been eating the calories MFP tells me to, and eating back most of my exercise calories, and have been losing, on average, 2 pounds a week. MFP's program seems to be pretty accurate, so far.

Congrats on your loss so far! I'm glad MFP is working for you!!

However, the difference between you and the OP is that you (according to your profile) have a lot of weight left to lose. The OP does not. She is much closer to her goal. It wouldn't be healthy for her to have a huge deficit and lose 2lbs a week. You can get away with a large deficit right now, but as you get closer to your goal, you may need to reevaluate and see if you need to change your approach.

inside_lap

It's the MFP safety net due to nutrition recommendations. You "must" net 1200. It doesn't matter how your numbers work out. Which gives you really, REALLY wonky numbers if you are short and have a sendentary lifestyle/job. For example, MFP has me only losing less then 2 pounds for 5 weeks at that number, it doens't matter what I say I "want" to lose. But I'm REALLY short and literally sit for my job all day long.

Edit: Oh, I'm also really close to my goal weight and am within normal weight guidelines. These are factors to consider when looking at the recommendations.

ladyraven68

It's the MFP safety net due to nutrition recommendations. You "must" net 1200. It doesn't matter how your numbers work out. Which gives you really, REALLY wonky numbers if you are short and have a sendentary lifestyle/job. For example, MFP has me only losing less then 2 pounds for 5 weeks at that number, it doens't matter what I say I "want" to lose. But I'm REALLY short and literally sit for my job all day long.

Edit: Oh, I'm also really close to my goal weight and am within normal weight guidelines. These are factors to consider when looking at the recommendations.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to that *in 5 weeks you will be* as MF thinks, that based on my intake, I should lose 0.1lb per week.

em9371

LoraF83, eating my BMR and eating back my exercise calories would be a serious daily increase for me. I currently weigh 356.2 pounds, and MFP tells me I should take in 2280 calories daily. My BMR is 2941. If I were to increase my daily intake another 661 calories, plus eat back the 350 cals (on average) of exercise I do daily, I'd start gaining weight.

Honestly, I've been eating the calories MFP tells me to, and eating back most of my exercise calories, and have been losing, on average, 2 pounds a week. MFP's program seems to be pretty accurate, so far.

I think the reason your cals calculated by MFP are so different in relation to your BMR is your body fat %, its highly likely that you are actually eating ABOVE BMR, and the figure is just not accurate as MFP doesnt take BF into account when calulating BMR. I guess if you got your BF checked then reran BMR using Katch Mcardle formula your BMR would be much lower than 2941.

I dont know your height / age etc, but just as an example:
30 yo male, 350lbs, height 70 inches (5'10) BMR = 2969
Add body fat @ 40% = BMR 2471
BF 50% = BMR 2118
BF 60% = BMR 1764

Also you will not gain weight from eating above BMR, its your TDEE that you must eat below to lose. TDEE = BMR x activity factor (inclusive of exercise). TDEE is what MFP shows as your 'maintenance cals'

OP is very close to goal weight, so what works for you will be very different to what will work for her.