Few Q's regarding BMR method/MFP claorie allowance

summaryzn

Hi ... I have been reading up on this EM2LW for a few weeks now - officially obsessed with it and finally realized where my confusion lies:

1. I had a body analysis performed where my body fat % was calculationed. its currently 50.1% - EEK! as a result my BMR is 1496 bc using the Katch- Mcardle (sp) calc BMR considers body fat % among other things. Using the other method, Harris Benedict my BMR is 1797. Pretty large range. Getting to TDEE - I calculated using different sites and the ranges are equally large, but Im ok wiht that. I know I need to be above 1499 and 15% below my lowest TDEE calc, right? Whihc BMR should I consider, or shoudl I take an average?

2. Considering that TDEE considers your level of activity, does that mean when you update MFP you should ignore the activity level question? and also disregard the calculation for Net calories since MFP encourages you to eat back your exercise calories? Essentially what I'd like to know is can or shoudl I just go into MFP diet profile and put a hard number as my calorie allowance/ net and how do I handle the activity level? Are ppl entering their TDD less 15%, tracking exercise an just ignoring the calc FMP performs for net calories.

This should NOT be so confusing, but for some reason Im quite perplexed .If I am going to up my calories and prepare for a gain I need to be sure Im clear on my expectations.

Looking fwd to your responses.

Emancipated_Tai

This process can be very confusing! I’ll give you my method, because its working for me. I’m going to make the disclaimer that I’m not a doctor or nutritionals, nor do I believe that every method works for everyone:

1.) Eat AT LEAST your BRM of 1797. Yes, that means eat 1797 calories per day! It sounds scary, but you are doing your body a disservice by not doing so. My BRM is 1709, and I set my daily caloric goal at 1700; however, I usually eat between 1750-1900 calories per day.

2.) You should always eat lower than your TDEE. If your looking to lose weight you should subtract 10-20%. You didn’t state what yours was, but I’m sure by subtracting this amount it will put you somewhere close to your BRM.

3.) I don’t specifically eat exercise calories back. As I stated, my goal is 1700 per day, but I tend to eat more. This is because of my food options, not because I’m trying to re-consume those calories. As long as your eating at or above your BMR you shouldn’t have to.

I encourage you to join the group “Eat More To Weigh Less”. I upped my calories in April from 1200 to 1400 and lost 12 pounds. May first I upped my calories again to 1700. Thus far I’ve lost 4 pounds. (6 if you count the 2 pounds I gained when first upping to 1700.) If you are going to start to consume more calories, be advise that there will most likely be an initial gain. If you stay consistent with your diet and exercise you will start to see results. I seen inches start to go sooner than scale weight; that took three weeks to move.

Hope this info helps! :flowerforyou:

summaryzn

This process can be very confusing! I’ll give you my method, because its working for me. I’m going to make the disclaimer that I’m not a doctor or nutritionals, nor do I believe that every method works for everyone:

1.) Eat AT LEAST your BRM of 1797. Yes, that means eat 1797 calories per day! It sounds scary, but you are doing your body a disservice by not doing so. My BRM is 1709, and I set my daily caloric goal at 1700; however, I usually eat between 1750-1900 calories per day.

2.) You should always eat lower than your TDEE. If your looking to lose weight you should subtract 10-20%. You didn’t state what yours was, but I’m sure by subtracting this amount it will put you somewhere close to your BRM.

3.) I don’t specifically eat exercise calories back. As I stated, my goal is 1700 per day, but I tend to eat more. This is because of my food options, not because I’m trying to re-consume those calories. As long as your eating at or above your BMR you shouldn’t have to.

I encourage you to join the group “Eat More To Weigh Less”. I upped my calories in April from 1200 to 1400 and lost 12 pounds. May first I upped my calories again to 1700. Thus far I’ve lost 4 pounds. (6 if you count the 2 pounds I gained when first upping to 1700.) If you are going to start to consume more calories, be advise that there will most likely be an initial gain. If you stay consistent with your diet and exercise you will start to see results. I seen inches start to go sooner than scale weight; that took three weeks to move.

Hope this info helps! :flowerforyou:

Thanks Tai. Did you manually change your calories in the diet profile? And what did you use to calculate your TDEE. I used fitness frog and I used calorie count and the numbers vary between 2400-2800 for TDEE which is fine since I know I neet to cut so I put the highest TDEE cut at 2100. I will use the higher BMR of 1797.

I joined the group, which is where the question arose and I Find Lucia's explanations among others extremely helpful and insightful. I do think this is the right thing for me and have gotten past the 'fear factor' after reading that so many have done it and swear by it. Trying to scrounge and pilfer your calories thruout the day is incredibly stressful.

Thanks!

tangiesharp

To OP: regarding exercise calories. You still need to make sure that your net calories (food - exercise) is higher than your BMR on a daily basis. So, you may need to eat your exercise calories if you have a large burn.