Need help with my BMR and TDEE!

RoosMommy01

Ok here's the deal. I started my weight loss journey at 299.5 and am down as of this morning to 252. I never did keep up with my calorie intake when I first started; I just cut out cokes and sweets and cut back on what I was eating and started exercising. Now that I started MFP and am paying attention I'm only averaging 1,200-1,400 and I'm not losing anything! The sales goes between 249-252 all week long. I exercise Monday-Friday for a total of 90-120minutes on a daily basis; I burn usually 700-1000 (if not more) depending on what exercise I do that day.

I've been reading that I need to eat way more (which honestly scares the crap out of me.) I have the mindset of eat less and burn what you eat but everyone is telling me that that is wrong! So here are my numbers.

BMR 1920 TDEE 2626 Does this sound about right?! Like I said I'm 252, 5'6 and am 30 yrs old.

They said to lose weight I need to take my TDEE and take 25% off which made it 1970. So my question is, with the amount of exercise I do and the calories I burn, do I have to eat back all of my exercise calories or is that factored in somewhere between the BMR and TDEE?!

sgmomma

My BMR is 1570 and I'm trying to eat 1700+ my exercise calories...You honestly have to find a number between your BMR and your TDEE that works for you. I hope this helps a lil as i'm no expert on this and have a hard time explaining it to people.

yarwell

the 1920 BMR fits your numbers, the TDEE of 2626 is 37% up on the BMR so "lightly active".

Given that you should be able to eat 1626 calories for a 1000 deficit ie 1 lb/week target. Or a 25% deficit to 1970 as you said, which will lose a bit slower.

You real TDEE including exercise sounds likely to be higher, if you enter exercise in MFP it adds the exercise calories onto your food goal. You might prefer to stick at the same daily intake instead - personal choice.

Pick a number in the 1600 - 2000 range and try it for 3 weeks. If it's too high you aren't going to gain 20 lbs in that time but you need to give it long enough to stabilise and be measurable outside daily variation.

RoosMommy01

Ok thanks. I'll try that.

sandown12

I started at 229lbs I was on 1200-1300 a day after 12 weeks it was 0-0.5 loss a week doing Zumba 4 times a week
My buddies on here said up it as I felt ill hungry etc
I joined the group Eat more to weigh less
I've gradually upped it to 1700 gross
I never eat exercise calories I've set my calorie goal first number to 1700 & I eat that I'm not hungry not tired exercise more
I'm losing 1-1.5lbs a week still not 1-2 like I'd want so after I weight Tuesday if it's not 1.5 lbs I'll up it to 1800 a day

Your eating far to low your body's holding into the fat for as long as it can
Eat more group explains it all )
Your never be hungry or deprived again and stop yoyo

PrfctGdess

How did you calculate your TDEE/BMR? (i.e. which tool did you use?) It looks to me after inputting your numbers that you might have looked at the wrong TDEE. I used this one with your stats: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

At your height, weight, age, and exercise level, you have a BMR of 1914 and a TDEE of 3303. If you wanted to maintain both your exercise level AND stay at your current weight, you'd need to average 3300 calories a day. The 2600 calorie number you posted (2642) was the number this calculator proposed you eat to LOSE weight at a 20% deficit from your TDEE.

So, basically ....
- your body NEEDS a BARE MINIMUM of 1900 calories just to maintain functions like breathing. ANYTHING you do above that (not just exercise, but also walking around your house, getting up to cook dinner, going downstairs to wash laundry, etc) is ABOVE that 1900 mark.
- If you consume 3300 calories each day and still continue to work out as hard as you are, you will stay 250 lbs (which of course isn't the goal, but stay with me :P)
- If you eat LESS than your bare minimum (your BMR) AND you work out, burning more calories, your body will feel like it doesn't have enough fuel to operate, so your metabolism will slow down and your body will hoard all your fat stores as a defense mechanism.
- so to lose weight, you need to find a number between 1900 and 3300 that works for you. Most people recommend you start at about 15-20% less than your TDEE; this seems to be the sweet spot for most people (which is why it's recommended as a starting point). Your TDEE (3303) - 20% (3303x0.20) = 2642. This is where this number came from.
- So even though this seems like a TON of calories, check the math and it makes sense. Your body NEEDS 3303 calories to maintain your current weight and exercise level. It's getting 2642. However, that is MORE than the 1914 it needs to sustain basic function, so your body will feel like it's getting enough food to operate, but not quite enough to maintain, so the reaction is to burn some of the fat so there's less to maintain.

I hope that makes sense. Keep in mind that all these calculations depend on your current exercise level, which is pretty high (go you! :P). If your exercise habits start to taper off - i.e. you start working out 3-4 hours a week at a lower intensity instead of the 5-6 hours a week at high intensity that you're currently doing), you will need to readjust your numbers. Also, after every 5 lbs or so of loss you should readjust. So just keep the link for the calculator handy and re-input your numbers every so often as they change.

On a personal note, I just recently upped my calories as well (we're in a very similar boat, you and I - I"m 5'6" at currently 183, but I haven't lost any significant weight in months). Today I saw about a 1lb increase on the scale, but I knew that might happen, so I'm going to just keep plugging and see what happens after a month or two. I believe all this will work (it makes total sense to my math-based engineering mind :P), so I'm going to give it a decent shot. Besides, I already lost 20 lbs - the worst thing that could happen is I gain a few back; I can always lose them again