HELP! How does the eating more to lose weight work?

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Replies

  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    Okay, BMR is what your body burns if it is in a coma. It doesn't even include digestion because your nutrition is provided via IV and feeding tube so not much digestion is needed. On top of BMR, you have to add calories for your normal daily activity. This is done by multiplying your BMR by an activity factor based on how much you are up and around throughout the day to get what I was taught is the RMR. Additional calories are also added for the thermic effect of food (cost of digestion), but we typically don't add additional calories to our consumption for that because the calories per gram is rounded down to account for it based on the type of macronutrient consumed. After you've added for your activity, then you add for exercise to get your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). In order to lose body fat, one should eat no less then 80% of the TDEE and never (NEVER) under the BMR.

    There are several different formulas for determining BMR, but I use the simple one from ACSM which is 1 kcal x 24 hours x lean body mass in kg. Assuming a 25% body fat at your current weight I get a BMR of 1317 kcal/day. Then assuming sedentary and using a multiplication factor of 1.2, I get 1581 kcal/day for your RMR. You would then want to add Calories for exercise, so I'll again estimate and use 200 which is about the norm for a 2 mile walk. You then get a TDEE of 1781 kcal/day. 80% of that is 1425 kcal/day, which is what I would suggest is your minimum caloric intake per day that you exercise. Notice that the 1425 is more then your BMR of 1317. Never eat below the BMR, even on days when you are not exercising and 80% of RMR (which is TDEE on non-exercise days) is less then your BMR, don't eat below BMR.
    16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
    9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
    Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
    ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
    NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

    Thanks...so I'll try to stick to 1317 and then up it on days i workout

    The numbers I used are an estimate IF you are 25% body fat and IF you are sedentary and IF you are burning 200 calories per workout. You need to check your body fat and look at your activity level and calorie burns from exercise to determine your actual numbers.
    16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
    9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
    Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
    ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
    NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member

    Yes that makes sense. i was just using the 1317 calories that trainingwithtanya said is my actual bmr. It's hard becuase there are so many different calculators out there.

    I made some assumptions to refigure your BMR because there are so many formulas out there. Too many of them are figuring RMR instead of BMR and a lot of people get the two mixed up because numerous places use them interchangably when they aren't interchangable. I can't say for sure that the number I gave you is a more accurate BMR, because I used a body fat percentage I pulled from thin air to get it. But when I did that, I got an RMR that is similar to what you were saying is your BMR, so I again assumed that it was an RMR calculation instead of a a true BMR. So, before you decide how many calories to eat, find out your actual body fat percentage and PM me. A body fat % higher then 25% will decrease your BMR and a body fat % lower then 25% will increase your BMR, so you have to know an accurate body fat % to get an accurate BMR.
    16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
    9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
    Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
    ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
    NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
  • lostinureyes17
    lostinureyes17 Posts: 112 Member

    Yes that makes sense. i was just using the 1317 calories that trainingwithtanya said is my actual bmr. It's hard becuase there are so many different calculators out there.

    I made some assumptions to refigure your BMR because there are so many formulas out there. Too many of them are figuring RMR instead of BMR and a lot of people get the two mixed up because numerous places use them interchangably when they aren't interchangable. I can't say for sure that the number I gave you is a more accurate BMR, because I used a body fat percentage I pulled from thin air to get it. But when I did that, I got an RMR that is similar to what you were saying is your BMR, so I again assumed that it was an RMR calculation instead of a a true BMR. So, before you decide how many calories to eat, find out your actual body fat percentage and PM me. A body fat % higher then 25% will decrease your BMR and a body fat % lower then 25% will increase your BMR, so you have to know an accurate body fat % to get an accurate BMR.
    16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
    9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
    Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
    ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
    NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

    I go to school m-f from 7-3 and when I get home I spend most of my time studying, writing flashcards, or doing homework so I would say I am def. sedentary. The only exercise I really get is trying to take a walk around my block so I am sure i am not burning 200 calories doing that... I also have my body fat percentage as 30% according to my scale. I know its not 100% accurate but I have very little muscle so I'm sure it is close. Would this make the number lower?

    I really do appreciate all your help! Thank you for taking the time to help:smile:
  • lostinureyes17
    lostinureyes17 Posts: 112 Member
    Bump
  • Mishka84
    Mishka84 Posts: 17
    Okay, BMR is what your body burns if it is in a coma. It doesn't even include digestion because your nutrition is provided via IV and feeding tube so not much digestion is needed. On top of BMR, you have to add calories for your normal daily activity. This is done by multiplying your BMR by an activity factor based on how much you are up and around throughout the day to get what I was taught is the RMR. Additional calories are also added for the thermic effect of food (cost of digestion), but we typically don't add additional calories to our consumption for that because the calories per gram is rounded down to account for it based on the type of macronutrient consumed. After you've added for your activity, then you add for exercise to get your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). In order to lose body fat, one should eat no less then 80% of the TDEE and never (NEVER) under the BMR.

    There are several different formulas for determining BMR, but I use the simple one from ACSM which is 1 kcal x 24 hours x lean body mass in kg. Assuming a 25% body fat at your current weight I get a BMR of 1317 kcal/day. Then assuming sedentary and using a multiplication factor of 1.2, I get 1581 kcal/day for your RMR. You would then want to add Calories for exercise, so I'll again estimate and use 200 which is about the norm for a 2 mile walk. You then get a TDEE of 1781 kcal/day. 80% of that is 1425 kcal/day, which is what I would suggest is your minimum caloric intake per day that you exercise. Notice that the 1425 is more then your BMR of 1317. Never eat below the BMR, even on days when you are not exercising and 80% of RMR (which is TDEE on non-exercise days) is less then your BMR, don't eat below BMR.
    16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
    9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
    Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
    ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
    NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
    [/quote


    Thanks for this information, finding it difficult to up my calories at the moment. It's easy to do physically, difficult to accept mentally!
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
    metabolism.
  • fififox
    fififox Posts: 360 Member
    This is good reading! I have a question. I am definitely on a plateau - as a result I am sure of eating too little (1200 calories for 9 mths generally give or take a few bad days). I have been stuck for at least 3 mths and recently upped my calories to about 1500 a day average - I am trying zig-zagging as well. I think I need to go back and calculate and really up more. I was afraid to....I guess that's normal. So far I have gained 4lbs in 3 weeks despite a lot of exercising, but I am guessing that is probably because I am still eating too little? If my metabolism is messed up from such a long spell of eating too little will 3 or 4 weeks eating high really be able to fix this? I am so afraid of ballooning - I have worked so hard to get to where I am. I just need a little reassurance - it has been very frustrating and demoralising to work so hard and then start to go wrong.

    If I exercise between 200cal burn and 600cal burn every day (probably an average of 350-400) what activity level do you think I should put into the calculators? Thanks for any help :smile:

    Good luck lostinureyes. I feel your frustration!!!

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