trying to understand...but confused

Dozrzz

When I lost weight previously it was on 1200 calorie diet and I lost over 100 pounds. Now I have gained back over 50 of that so obviously I need to try things a little differently. But I am having trouble understanding the whole BMR thing and figuring out how many calories I should be eating.


When I originally filled in my information for MFP, it set my calories limit to around 1400. But then my BMR is around 1900. I am just not sure how to figure this out and figure out what these numbers mean. And it is so counterintuitive to "eat more to weigh less." I think I just need a good explanation of the whole thing! haha

I am currently at 255. My goal is 180. I am 5'9". I would like to lose 1.5 to 2lbs a week.

Dozrzz

bump :yawn:

StarkLark

BMR = The calories your body burns to stay alive and warm, with no additional exercise counted in.

So if you don't exercise at all, and you live a relatively sedentary lifestyle, then with a BMR of 1900 calories and an intake of 1400 calories you have a 500 calorie deficit each day.

That is a weekly deficit of 3500 calories. One pound of fat is 3500 calories, so strictly from the math, this plan would have you losing 1 pound per week.

Now all these numbers can change based on your activity levels. But that is a basic overview of BMR, intake and deficits.

Dozrzz

Oh ok. So the 1400 is where I should be. Now would 1200 be too low?


Congrats on the awesome weight loss by the way!

StarkLark

A 500 calorie deficit per day is generally considered safe, but everyone is different. You may find that you lose and lose well with -500 but you may also lose well at -750. You may also find yourself plateauing if you bring your daily deficit higher than -500.

Take you time, pay attention to your measurements and what you body tells you. Make sure you are eating plenty of protein and drinking plenty of water. I would also suggest exercise so that while you melt away the fat you also keep your muscles strong and healthy. Of course if you do start exercising you will need to recalculate your daily calorie goal so your daily deficits aren't too high for your body to feel well.

For me personally I usually have a deficit of around 1000-2000 calories per day, which is much higher than people recommend. I am still a big guy and I exercise almost every day and feel great so I don't worry too much about a large deficit because it works for me and I feel stronger and healthier each week (and the stats I keep confirm this). Additionally I recently increased my calorie intake by about 600 calories per day to try and make my deficit smaller to keep my body happier.

For all the numbers you can study and acronyms you can learn I think it really comes down to a few things... a basic understanding of BMR, calories and deficits, logging your cals and paying attention to how you feel. Feel lethargic and weak? Increase your intake and eat healthy foods. Feeling great with tons of energy? Keep eating well and exercise a bit harder

Thanks for the congrats

StarkLark

I am currently at 255. My goal is 180. I am 5'9".

Also, considering your height and current weight, I would definitely recommend staying ABOVE 1200 cals everyday.

yarwell

ok, your BMR is estimated at 1900 calories a day, sedentary living is 20% over that making 2280 total (excluding any exercising)

for 1.5 lbs/week you need a deficit of 750 which would take you to a food intake of 1530. Try that for a month.

You may hear opinions that you should not eat below your BMR. Nobody has justified this view with robust evidence, and it's mathematically incompatible with your stated goal.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Okay--using the fat2fitradio calculator I get the following...estimating your BF% at 30 and age at 30...(didn't look so my apologies if it's REALLY REALLY off--the calculations don't change MUCH anyway):

Activity Level Daily Calories
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 2467
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2827
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 3187
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 3547
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3906

You should be eating AT LEAST 2467, that's without exercise. So more if you do exercise--this will lead to SLOW loss that is safe and sustainable. If you want to cut 300 from the above figures to lose faster at first then that's acceptable but I wouldn't go below 300 from what is calculated based on your activity level.

psuLemon

ok, your BMR is estimated at 1900 calories a day, sedentary living is 20% over that making 2280 total (excluding any exercising)

for 1.5 lbs/week you need a deficit of 750 which would take you to a food intake of 1530. Try that for a month.

You may hear opinions that you should not eat below your BMR. Nobody has justified this view with robust evidence, and it's mathematically incompatible with your stated goal.

^ This guys got is. Now, I know people suggest eating above your BMR, as you noted, but I have seen studies that suggest you can eat below and maintain your metabolic rate if you do strength training and have adequate protein. The below link discussed fat loss vs weight loss.


http://www.metaboliceffect.com/topic/38-nutrition-lifestyle.aspx

BMR = The calories your body burns to stay alive and warm, with no additional exercise counted in.

So if you don't exercise at all, and you live a relatively sedentary lifestyle, then with a BMR of 1900 calories and an intake of 1400 calories you have a 500 calorie deficit each day.

That is a weekly deficit of 3500 calories. One pound of fat is 3500 calories, so strictly from the math, this plan would have you losing 1 pound per week.

Now all these numbers can change based on your activity levels. But that is a basic overview of BMR, intake and deficits.

You dont' make a deficit from your BMR, you decrease it from your TDEE. You burn calories by getting out of bed, walking around, etc...

StarkLark

You dont' make a deficit from your BMR, you decrease it from your TDEE. You burn calories by getting out of bed, walking around, etc...

Yeah, you are correct. I was definitely trying to oversimplify a bit. I also didn't calculate in the extra 20% for a sedentary lifestyle as pointed out above by another poster. Thanks for chiming in guys

Dozrzz

A 500 calorie deficit per day is generally considered safe, but everyone is different. You may find that you lose and lose well with -500 but you may also lose well at -750. You may also find yourself plateauing if you bring your daily deficit higher than -500.

Take you time, pay attention to your measurements and what you body tells you. Make sure you are eating plenty of protein and drinking plenty of water. I would also suggest exercise so that while you melt away the fat you also keep your muscles strong and healthy. Of course if you do start exercising you will need to recalculate your daily calorie goal so your daily deficits aren't too high for your body to feel well.

For me personally I usually have a deficit of around 1000-2000 calories per day, which is much higher than people recommend. I am still a big guy and I exercise almost every day and feel great so I don't worry too much about a large deficit because it works for me and I feel stronger and healthier each week (and the stats I keep confirm this). Additionally I recently increased my calorie intake by about 600 calories per day to try and make my deficit smaller to keep my body happier.

For all the numbers you can study and acronyms you can learn I think it really comes down to a few things... a basic understanding of BMR, calories and deficits, logging your cals and paying attention to how you feel. Feel lethargic and weak? Increase your intake and eat healthy foods. Feeling great with tons of energy? Keep eating well and exercise a bit harder

Thanks for the congrats

Ok that makes sense. Thanks!

Captain_Tightpants

If you lost 100lbs before you're not confused at all about how to lose weight. If you did that without thinking about BMR and TDEE and all the other stuff, no need to think about it now - just do the same again.

What you do need to do differently is figure out why you stopped eating that way and put the weight back on. It's probably because you thought of it as a 'diet' last time, and perhaps because you went at it a bit too hard and fast rather than creating sustainable lifestyle changes and relacing old bad habits with new good ones.

Set to lose 1lb a week and be patient. If you at it as hard as you did last time you'll get the same results - goal weight achieved, diet done, eat it all back. The longer you can take to get it off - the more time you'll be spending building lifelong habits.

Dozrzz

ok, your BMR is estimated at 1900 calories a day, sedentary living is 20% over that making 2280 total (excluding any exercising)

for 1.5 lbs/week you need a deficit of 750 which would take you to a food intake of 1530. Try that for a month.

You may hear opinions that you should not eat below your BMR. Nobody has justified this view with robust evidence, and it's mathematically incompatible with your stated goal.

Thanks! I think I'm starting to figure this out! I'm so appreciative of all these great responses!

Dozrzz

If you lost 100lbs before you're not confused at all about how to lose weight. If you did that without thinking about BMR and TDEE and all the other stuff, no need to think about it now - just do the same again.

What you do need to do differently is figure out why you stopped eating that way and put the weight back on. It's probably because you thought of it as a 'diet' last time, and perhaps because you went at it a bit too hard and fast rather than creating sustainable lifestyle changes and relacing old bad habits with new good ones.

Set to lose 1lb a week and be patient. If you at it as hard as you did last time you'll get the same results - goal weight achieved, diet done, eat it all back. The longer you can take to get it off - the more time you'll be spending building lifelong habits.

When I lost weight before it was with Nutrisystem. It was a great program and I was able to stick with it well but I just could not afford it anymore. I did well maintaining the portion control for about a year but then it is always the emotional eating that gets the best of me. Life happened and I had to deal with a lot of stress in my world and so I went to comfort food. I don't mind losing weight more slowly this time around but my concern is definitely how to prevent the emotional eating later on. The reason I am trying something new instead of Nutrisystem is $ mostly.

Dozrzz

Ok what is TDEE? hahaha

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Ok what is TDEE? hahaha

total daily energy expenditure. are you exercising?

StarkLark

Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

TDEE = BMR + all the calories you burn from moving and exercising each day.

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Dozrzz

Ok what is TDEE? hahaha

total daily energy expenditure. are you exercising?

I'm teaching all day. Does that count? lol I have not started exercising regularly yet. I go for walks sometimes but its not like a set time certain days a week or anything. I am teaching full time and going to graduate school part time and so I am still working on adjusting my schedule. I know I need to, I just have not gotten that far yet.

kittykismet

I really need help figuring this out, too.
I really don't like eating much since I got food poisoning in January, and my stomach is still healing...but I know I need more calories in my diet than I eat.

5 days a week I do carpentry for work and burn around 500-700 calories each day, doing just that. And I only eat around 800-1000. Not out of choice, my stomach just struggles with food. And a lot of times I don't have the ability to eat healthy, so I have a hard time choosing what to eat instead!

I'm 5ft, 137lbs. I want to get down to 120 at least. What should I be doing?

Dozrzz

I really need help figuring this out, too.
I really don't like eating much since I got food poisoning in January, and my stomach is still healing...but I know I need more calories in my diet than I eat.

5 days a week I do carpentry for work and burn around 500-700 calories each day, doing just that. And I only eat around 800-1000. Not out of choice, my stomach just struggles with food. And a lot of times I don't have the ability to eat healthy, so I have a hard time choosing what to eat instead!

I'm 5ft, 137lbs. I want to get down to 120 at least. What should I be doing?

I'm sure these guys will answer about the calories since I am still very new and not sure either. But I was wondering if maybe you could eat easier if you were eating things like shakes? Could that be easier on your stomach and still help you get the calories you need?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I really need help figuring this out, too.
I really don't like eating much since I got food poisoning in January, and my stomach is still healing...but I know I need more calories in my diet than I eat.

5 days a week I do carpentry for work and burn around 500-700 calories each day, doing just that. And I only eat around 800-1000. Not out of choice, my stomach just struggles with food. And a lot of times I don't have the ability to eat healthy, so I have a hard time choosing what to eat instead!

I'm 5ft, 137lbs. I want to get down to 120 at least. What should I be doing?

you should be eating at least 2x that. your net is only 100-500 calories. You should be consuming 1700-1900 calories with the amount of activity you're doing. pack nuts, trail mix, dried fruit, protein bars, bananas, peanut butter sandwiches.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Ok what is TDEE? hahaha

total daily energy expenditure. are you exercising?

I'm teaching all day. Does that count? lol I have not started exercising regularly yet. I go for walks sometimes but its not like a set time certain days a week or anything. I am teaching full time and going to graduate school part time and so I am still working on adjusting my schedule. I know I need to, I just have not gotten that far yet.

Well, if you're teaching then you're at least "ligthly active" as that's lots of walking around (at least when i was student teaching it was). So you'd multiply your BMR (1900) by 1.375 to get your estimated TDEE.

TDEE = 2612.

Lose 1 pound per week: 2112 calories per day
Lose 1.5 pounds per week: 1862 calories per day

So if I were you I'd eat about 1850-2100 calories per day depending on hunger and take it slow.

StarkLark

I really need help figuring this out, too.
I really don't like eating much since I got food poisoning in January, and my stomach is still healing...but I know I need more calories in my diet than I eat.

5 days a week I do carpentry for work and burn around 500-700 calories each day, doing just that. And I only eat around 800-1000. Not out of choice, my stomach just struggles with food. And a lot of times I don't have the ability to eat healthy, so I have a hard time choosing what to eat instead!

I'm 5ft, 137lbs. I want to get down to 120 at least. What should I be doing?

I'm sure these guys will answer about the calories since I am still very new and not sure either. But I was wondering if maybe you could eat easier if you were eating things like shakes? Could that be easier on your stomach and still help you get the calories you need?

Good suggestion. I use shakes with protein powder and they are a great and easy way to put some extra healthy calories into your diet. Mine are about 360 calories each and about 1.5 cups in volume so they're easy to drink.

Dozrzz

Ok what is TDEE? hahaha

total daily energy expenditure. are you exercising?

I'm teaching all day. Does that count? lol I have not started exercising regularly yet. I go for walks sometimes but its not like a set time certain days a week or anything. I am teaching full time and going to graduate school part time and so I am still working on adjusting my schedule. I know I need to, I just have not gotten that far yet.

Well, if you're teaching then you're at least "ligthly active" as that's lots of walking around (at least when i was student teaching it was). So you'd multiply your BMR (1900) by 1.375 to get your estimated TDEE.

TDEE = 2612.

Lose 1 pound per week: 2112 calories per day
Lose 1.5 pounds per week: 1862 calories per day

So if I were you I'd eat about 1850-2100 calories per day depending on hunger and take it slow.

It is alot of walking but I didn't realize just walking like that could make such a difference as far as calories go. Hmmm so I definitely need to start eating more calories than I have been this week since I have been eating about 1250 and I have not lost anything so far (although I know it has only been one week and so I should not be weighing myself so often! haha bad habit!)

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Ok what is TDEE? hahaha

total daily energy expenditure. are you exercising?

I'm teaching all day. Does that count? lol I have not started exercising regularly yet. I go for walks sometimes but its not like a set time certain days a week or anything. I am teaching full time and going to graduate school part time and so I am still working on adjusting my schedule. I know I need to, I just have not gotten that far yet.

Well, if you're teaching then you're at least "ligthly active" as that's lots of walking around (at least when i was student teaching it was). So you'd multiply your BMR (1900) by 1.375 to get your estimated TDEE.

TDEE = 2612.

Lose 1 pound per week: 2112 calories per day
Lose 1.5 pounds per week: 1862 calories per day

So if I were you I'd eat about 1850-2100 calories per day depending on hunger and take it slow.

It is alot of walking but I didn't realize just walking like that could make such a difference as far as calories go. Hmmm so I definitely need to start eating more calories than I have been this week since I have been eating about 1250 and I have not lost anything so far (although I know it has only been one week and so I should not be weighing myself so often! haha bad habit!)

please don't take this the wrong way but someone your size should DEFINITELY not be eating that few calories--you can lose on much much more. take your time, it will STICK this time if you develop healthy habits and don't be overly restrictive as you get to goal!

StarkLark

Well, if you're teaching then you're at least "ligthly active" as that's lots of walking around (at least when i was student teaching it was). So you'd multiply your BMR (1900) by 1.375 to get your estimated TDEE.

TDEE = 2612.

Lose 1 pound per week: 2112 calories per day
Lose 1.5 pounds per week: 1862 calories per day

So if I were you I'd eat about 1850-2100 calories per day depending on hunger and take it slow.

Yep, I definitely agree with this.

Dozrzz

please don't take this the wrong way but someone your size should DEFINITELY not be eating that few calories--you can lose on much much more. take your time, it will STICK this time if you develop healthy habits and don't be overly restrictive as you get to goal!

Right, I am getting that now. :-) You have to understand though that on the program that I was on and the way I have been doing it, I was eating a ton of food for only the 1250 calories. So I always felt good and full. And it was working so I had no reason not to do it that way. Obviously when I couldn't continue that way it became a problem and I gained it back. But I never felt like I was starving or that I was weak or slowing down, so it wasn't ever a problem until I couldn't afford the Nutrisystem way anymore.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

You seem offended. Not my intent. You asked for advice and I attempted to explain my rationale in addition to giving you the numbers. Good luck on your journey.

Dozrzz

You seem offended. Not my intent. You asked for advice and I attempted to explain my rationale in addition to giving you the numbers. Good luck on your journey.

Oh no, I wasn't offended at all. I just wanted to explain where I was coming from. It just gives a littl emore background on me to help you guys give the best advice. It is always hard to tell over the internet the tone of what I'm trying to say. Trust me! I wasn't hurt and I really do appreciate the advice! :-) :-)

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Good :flowerforyou:

kittykismet

I really need help figuring this out, too.
I really don't like eating much since I got food poisoning in January, and my stomach is still healing...but I know I need more calories in my diet than I eat.

5 days a week I do carpentry for work and burn around 500-700 calories each day, doing just that. And I only eat around 800-1000. Not out of choice, my stomach just struggles with food. And a lot of times I don't have the ability to eat healthy, so I have a hard time choosing what to eat instead!

I'm 5ft, 137lbs. I want to get down to 120 at least. What should I be doing?

I'm sure these guys will answer about the calories since I am still very new and not sure either. But I was wondering if maybe you could eat easier if you were eating things like shakes? Could that be easier on your stomach and still help you get the calories you need?

Probably! I noticed I can down the Naked fruit smoothies easily. And that's something I really have been thinking about...Liquid calories are easier for me. I want to make more shakes/smoothies but we hardly ever have much fruit. >: