BMR

Nursehendrick
Nursehendrick Posts: 3 Member
edited December 18 in Introduce Yourself
Hi Everyone
I plugged in the numbers to get my BMR and it states that I need 1600 calories just to survive. With my fitness pal, it states my budget for the day is 1350 calories before exercise. Can anyone explain this to me?

Replies

  • AnnaSAF
    AnnaSAF Posts: 7
    Your BMR is the rate of calories you need to maintain your current weight, if you want to lose weight then you have to cut back slightly (there is a percentage but I've forgotten it). If you'd like to gain weight then you have to consume more calories than your BMR.
  • MrsR0SE
    MrsR0SE Posts: 313 Member
    Welcome to mfp :)
    BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate, which is the amount you need to eat every day just to stay alive, even if you were in a coma. It doesn't take account of any activity or exercise at all. I think the above poster was confusing this with TDEE , which is the estimated amount you need to eat every day to maintain weight, based on your estimations of your activity levels, for example sedentary etc. I am not an expert by a long shot, but it seems therefore obvious that you should never eat below your BMR, but in between that and your TDEE.
    There are LOADS of forum posts about this, just use the search facility above :):flowerforyou:
  • maricash
    maricash Posts: 280 Member
    Your BMR is the number of calories you burn in a day if you don't do anything -- it's what you would need even if you slept all day.

    Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is the number of calories you burn in a normal day. It's higher or lower depending on the activity level you chose.

    There is a lot of debate on this site about whether or not you should eat below your BMR. Personally, I've had more success eating over my BMR, but under my TDEE. MFP claims the calories I am eating will allow me to lose .7 pounds a week, but it's been closer to 1.5.

    Another site to calculate a calorie goal is: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ You'll see this talked about on here a lot too.

    In any case, you don't have to stick with the calorie goal MFP gives you. By choosing "custom" under goals, you can change to a higher calorie level and also adjust the percentages of carbohydrates/protein/fat that you want to aim for.
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