New at this and trying to figure it out

tgfain

Hi!
My friend who is a total health nut got me hooked on mfp and I am trying to figure things out. I am 5'4" and weigh 178 and I am 37 years old. I am so confused about BMR and calories. I would like to lose between 35 and 40 pounds. My BMR is 1477. I run 3days week and burned about 380 in calories. On the opposite days I do 8 min arms, legs and belly where I typically burn about 125 calories, which I am working on trying to increase the intensity. Any advice on how to do this. Sorry I am so clueless about this but I am really trying to make a real evert to get rid of this weight and for good. I have immediate family members who have type 2 diabetes and I have no desire to be in those shoes having had gestational diabetes with all three of my kids was enough. Help!!!

stfuriada

So what exactly is your question?

BMR - amount of calories your body burns, if you just stayed in bed all day without moving. Basically, the amount of energy your body uses to run its normal functions.

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), I think the name speaks for itself. It's the amount of energy you burn a day, given your lifestyle.

Your daily calorie needs is based on how active you are. There are charts that translate your activity level into numbers. You then multiply your BMR by this number to get the amount of calories you need a day. See below:

Sedentary - desk job and little to no exercise
Lightly Active - light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk
Moderately Active - moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk
Very Active - hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk
Extremely Active - hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or training

Sedentary - 1.2
Lightly Active - 1.375
Moderately Active - 1.55
Very Active - 1.725
Extremely Active - 1.9


To lose weight, most people eat 10-20% less calories than they need each day.

So at your 1477 BMR, if you consider yourself 'Lightly Active', then 1477 x 1.375 = 2030.875 calories you need to eat each day, TO MAINTAIN YOUR CURRENT WEIGHT.

To lose weight you either eat between 1828 (10% deficit) to 1625 cals (20%).

If you trust your assessment of your calories burned, then add that to your MFP thing under exercises, and you get calorie credits, which you may choose to eat back.

tgfain

Thanks that helps a lot! Sorry I didn't actually get to my question, I have three kids and got distracted.