We shouldn't net under BMR?

bradthemedic

Is that correct?

bradthemedic

Bump

kristy6ward

That's the word I've been seeing around the boards. I'm working slowly on upping my calories because gaining is scary.

mrsnathanandrew

That's what I've been told, but I seem to ALWAYS net under my BMR.

bradthemedic

That's going to be so hard since I burn about 500 a day or so on average and my BMR is 2670

FlaxMilk

I don't understand why, to be honest. I believe in EATING at least your BMR for nutrition reasons and to avoid weakening your organs. But I thought weight loss was a result of your body needing more than you give it. So I don't understand why it makes a difference. I am probably not making sense, I am having a hard time expressing it.

But if I eat 1200 calories (my BMR is 1153), do no exercise, and have a TDEE of 1500, I would net below my BMR for a total "intake" of 900 calories, since my body used up the 1200 and then had to dip 300 calories into reserves.

Why is this different than if I eat 1500 calories, exercise 300, and then still have that extra 300 of TDEE to use? They both take me to negative 300 calories.

nikkiprickett

I just read the NROLFW book and it gives a specific formula for women to follow to know how many calories our body needs to run efficiently...not just get by. They also have a book called new rules of lifting, this one is for men but I'm sure it has something like the same...

What my book told me was cutting calories was the worst idea ever because we can't fuel our body on much under 2000 calories....I started on MFP eating about 1300 (because that's what it said) but it's not accurate. Since I've read the book i've upped it to 1600 and getting ready to up it to 1800 because I didn't want to jump from 1300 to 2000 something right away.

It's also about what you eat...if you're eating clean you will be fine unless you're eating when you're not hungry or binging obviously.

Eating less than about 1500 is very harmful to your body and even though it might be "working" now, you are causing your muscle mass to deteriorate and even your bones. If you workout you NEED to eat more...especially right after workouts when your body need it the most.

DanielleRN8

I just read the NROLFW book and it gives a specific formula for women to follow to know how many calories our body needs to run efficiently...not just get by. They also have a book called new rules of lifting, this one is for men but I'm sure it has something like the same...

What my book told me was cutting calories was the worst idea ever because we can't fuel our body on much under 2000 calories....I started on MFP eating about 1300 (because that's what it said) but it's not accurate. Since I've read the book i've upped it to 1600 and getting ready to up it to 1800 because I didn't want to jump from 1300 to 2000 something right away.

It's also about what you eat...if you're eating clean you will be fine unless you're eating when you're not hungry or binging obviously.

Eating less than about 1500 is very harmful to your body and even though it might be "working" now, you are causing your muscle mass to deteriorate and even your bones. If you workout you NEED to eat more...especially right after workouts when your body need it the most.

What was the formula, if you don't mind me asking? I upped my intake to 1,600 but have been considering upping it again. I just feel like I can't build muscle properly if I don't...

Mindmovesbody

CORRECT!!! You should NOT net under your BMR. Once you understand BMR and TDEE, it makes complete sense. Look up the group Eat More to Weigh Less.....a wealth of info there!

Edit: if you don't want to look up the group, just go to www.scoobysworkshop.com and find his calorie calculator, enter all your info ( choose the correct activity level for you) and choose 15% deficit. Your TDEE minus the 15% deficit is your CUT. Your cut is the number of cals you should eat everyday and this ALREADY includes your activity. IF YOU NET BELOW YOUR BMR, this is when you should eat back exercise cals. If you choose to go this route, you will have to go into MFP settings and enter your own numbers instead if using the recommended! Good luck

c8linmarie

CORRECT!!! You should NOT net under your BMR. Once you understand BMR and TDEE, it makes complete sense. Look up the group Eat More to Weigh Less.....a wealth of info there!

^^^agree completely!

Timkoetta

How do you lose weight if you dont? MFP said my BMR was 1500 something... if I eat that I will not lose any weight. I cant workout everyday but when I do workout I usually eat more. I thought in order to lose the weight you have to eat less than what you need so it burns the fat??

mzhokie

I usually try to net 1200 ... most days I eat a net between 1200 - 1400. But I get between 300-500 exercise calories a day. So I'm not trying to eat them all back but if I'm hungry I will eat more. I just find when I go too far below 1200 that I'm moody, irritable and I get headaches. My weight loss slows down too.

I'm in no rush. I have done a million different diets and I have yo-yo'd a lot in my life. I was trying to change my life style so when I'm done I can keep it off vs just losing weight this time. I also plan to keep coming back here when those bad habits creep back in too! LOL

mzhokie

How do you lose weight if you dont? MFP said my BMR was 1500 something... if I eat that I will not lose any weight. I cant workout everyday but when I do workout I usually eat more. I thought in order to lose the weight you have to eat less than what you need so it burns the fat??

Your BMR is the number of calories you need if you did absolutely nothing and stayed in bed all day. So if you get out of bed in the morning, you are already burning more than your BMR. You need to figure out how many calories you burn in a day vs your BMR. I wear a pedometer so I know how many I have burned today. I think it's called your TDEE.

MFP takes into consideration what you put in your profile.... how active you are, how many work outs you plan for the week and your BMR. It averages out your weekly burn, subtracts 3500 for 1 lb a week and gives you your daily calorie intake. It takes into account that some days you will not be working out and some days you will. You don't have to adjust for that.

nikkiprickett

Here's the link to the formula it gives, someone else put it on here before I got the book but it's correct, it also emphasizes that only if you feel like you need to cut the calories you should only do so up to 300 less than the formula gives you,

here it is:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538943-how-to-calculate-calorie-goals-according-to-nrolfw

MindyG150

My BMR is set at my goal weight and I am losing! And re-training my brain to eat what I am supposed to.

bradthemedic

Ive read a lot on the group but it doesn't seem right to me that my BMR is 2670, tdee is 3370 and that on days I am active I should be netting at least 2670. My brain is spinning.

JessLLoser

Right! But it is totally true! Why did people before the aerobics craze of the 80`s stay slim without all this exercise? Sure they ate at home but they didn`t do any weight lifting did they?

If your BMR is 1100 I guarantee your tdee is more that 1300. Unless you are comatose and someone moves your legs around for you twice a day. Even that burns calories.

We have to eat more! I got a tracker for my exercise. Like a fitbit but one sold in Japan. Anyway it says I burn atleast 1000 calories a day.
It can`t tell the difference between sitting and standing.
It can`t tell the difference between bike riding or hard exercise.
It really just goes by the pedometer and my height and weight to calculate calories.

The pedometer only calories are always around 1000. That is for about 8000 steps.
I`m 5'9" and 183 lb lady!
If I also weight lift on that day I am burning more. When I stand during my classes I`m burning more.

It`s good news to me that I get to eat a lot.
I lost 2.2lbs this week eating a lot.
I was gaining a lb a week just a month ago eating 2000 cal a day.
Eating more works!

Helloitsdan

Depends how much fat you have.
A man at 40% body fat could net below BMR for a few weeks before having to come out for a diet break.

OP are you above 6 foot?

Post your stats here and i'll run numbers really quick.

Age
Height
Weight
Body fat%
How often and what kind of exercise you do.

yarwell

if you don't want to look up the group, just go to www.scoobysworkshop.com and find his calorie calculator

I did that, it suggested I ate below my BMR. I have no problem with that anyway, but it wasn't what I expected it to say.

yarwell

Ive read a lot on the group but it doesn't seem right to me that my BMR is 2670, tdee is 3370 and that on days I am active I should be netting at least 2670. My brain is spinning.

That does seem a high BMR, but leaving that aside some of your confusion is caused by the mythology of "not eating below your BMR" which you hear hereabouts.

If you're sedentary your TDEE is 20% above your BMR and if you take off 500 cals for 1 pound a week (hardly life threatening !) most people are below their BMR. Your BMR above is so high that 500 off 3370 is actually above BMR as is a 20% cut to 2696.

If you're trying to lose a decent amount of fat then a 500 calorie deficit is sustainable for a good while.

It is impossible to gain clarity here, as people try to "help" you use the site by telling you how to use different methods, bit of a train wreck really. No wonder you're confused.

Helloitsdan

Ive read a lot on the group but it doesn't seem right to me that my BMR is 2670, tdee is 3370 and that on days I am active I should be netting at least 2670. My brain is spinning.

That does seem a high BMR, but leaving that aside some of your confusion is caused by the mythology of "not eating below your BMR" which you hear hereabouts.

If you're sedentary your TDEE is 20% above your BMR and if you take off 500 cals for 1 pound a week (hardly life threatening !) most people are below their BMR. Your BMR above is so high that 500 off 3370 is actually above BMR as is a 20% cut to 2696.

If you're trying to lose a decent amount of fat then a 500 calorie deficit is sustainable for a good while.

It is impossible to gain clarity here, as people try to "help" you use the site by telling you how to use different methods, bit of a train wreck really. No wonder you're confused.

This is kinda where I was going also.
Hoping OP posts stats to run the numbers.