Beating a dead horse..

Lissette_Brooks

Every time I think I undserstand I find myself questioning what I think I know..

I'm sorry to be the queen of redundant topics, but I'm curious... I hear a lot of people say NEVER eat bellow your bmr because that's what your body needs just to function.

Then I hear people say you should eat your tdee- 500..

If I follow these rules then I would be eating bellow my bmr on the days I don't excersize..

my bmr 1631

tdee 1958 (with little to no excersize) = 1458 Bellow bmr?...
tdee 2243 (1-3 days excersize) =1743
tdee 2529 (3-5 days excersize) =2029

Is this right? Basically my calories for the day would be determined by my activity level and subtracting 500 from that days tdee?

mcarter99

You don't need to eat above your BMR. That's the biggest bit of misinfo thrown around like fact here. You're fine with your TDEE minus 500.

angelaraedesigns

Every time I think I undserstand I find myself questioning what I think I know..

I'm sorry to be the queen of redundant topics, but I'm curious... I hear a lot of people say NEVER eat bellow your bmr because that's what your body needs just to function.

Then I hear people say you should eat your tdee- 500..

If I follow these rules then I would be eating bellow my bmr on the days I don't excersize..

my bmr 1631

tdee 1958 (with little to no excersize) = 1458 Bellow bmr?...


tdee 2243 (1-3 days excersize) =1743
tdee 2529 (3-5 days excersize) =2029

Is this right? Basically my calories for the day would be determined by my activity level and subtracting 500 from that days tdee?

Yes, this topic is talked about a lot.....but I, like you, think that just when I think I understand I question it all over as well. So thank you for posting a new thread on this popular topic. Because I'm a petite, when I reduce my TDEE by 500 I'm way below my bmr. AND I'd like to lose more than 1 lb a week. So WTH?
Patience is a virtue, but it ain't one of mine. lol.
I'd like to know if someone has ever, dropped their calories below their BMR and achieved their weight loss goal and then kept it off for more than 6months. Is that possible?

ok, now. others....join in. love to follow this thread.

Lissette_Brooks

. So this tdee- 500 ( depending on my daily activity) is the way to go then?

tenunderfour

You don't need to eat above your BMR. That's the biggest bit of misinfo thrown around like fact here. You're fine with your TDEE minus 500.

+1 million!

Lissette_Brooks

Glad i'm not alone! I feel confident one minute and totally lost the next reading these message boards! lol


Every time I think I undserstand I find myself questioning what I think I know..

I'm sorry to be the queen of redundant topics, but I'm curious... I hear a lot of people say NEVER eat bellow your bmr because that's what your body needs just to function.

Then I hear people say you should eat your tdee- 500..

If I follow these rules then I would be eating bellow my bmr on the days I don't excersize..

my bmr 1631

tdee 1958 (with little to no excersize) = 1458 Bellow bmr?...


tdee 2243 (1-3 days excersize) =1743
tdee 2529 (3-5 days excersize) =2029

Is this right? Basically my calories for the day would be determined by my activity level and subtracting 500 from that days tdee?

Yes, this topic is talked about a lot.....but I, like you, think that just when I think I understand I question it all over as well. So thank you for posting a new thread on this popular topic. Because I'm a petite, when I reduce my TDEE by 500 I'm way below my bmr. AND I'd like to lose more than 1 lb a week. So WTH?
Patience is a virtue, but it ain't one of mine. lol.
I'd like to know if someone has ever, dropped their calories below their BMR and achieved their weight loss goal and then kept it off for more than 6months. Is that possible?

ok, now. others....join in. love to follow this thread.

Lissette_Brooks

You don't need to eat above your BMR. That's the biggest bit of misinfo thrown around like fact here. You're fine with your TDEE minus 500.

Thanks!!!

wareagle8706

You don't need to eat above your BMR. That's the biggest bit of misinfo thrown around like fact here. You're fine with your TDEE minus 500.

Did this person just say you DON'T need to eat ABOVE BMR??? WRONG WRONG WRONG

What people are trying to say is, it you eat at your TDEE you will maintain your weight. If you eat below your TDEE (but not below BMR) then you will lose weight. The amount you eat below TDEE will have a factor on how quickly you lose weight.

If you consistently eat BELOW your BMR your body (most likely) will not be getting all the energy it needs to function to the best of its ability.

verapamil

bump-- I had the same confusion.

Lissette_Brooks

You don't need to eat above your BMR. That's the biggest bit of misinfo thrown around like fact here. You're fine with your TDEE minus 500.

Did this person just say you DON'T need to eat ABOVE BMR??? WRONG WRONG WRONG

What people are trying to say is, it you eat at your TDEE you will maintain your weight. If you eat below your TDEE (but not below BMR) then you will lose weight. The amount you eat below TDEE will have a factor on how quickly you lose weight.

If you consistently eat BELOW your BMR your body (most likely) will not be getting all the energy it needs to function to the best of its ability.

So what would I do with days I don't excersize? Eat my bmr? I'm sorry to sound like a dumb *kitten* but i'm hearing different things from people. I'm just trying to set my cals each day accordingly without feeling like its too much or too little...

gaia3rd

Did this person just say you DON'T need to eat ABOVE BMR??? WRONG WRONG WRONG

What people are trying to say is, it you eat at your TDEE you will maintain your weight. If you eat below your TDEE (but not below BMR) then you will lose weight. The amount you eat below TDEE will have a factor on how quickly you lose weight.

If you consistently eat BELOW your BMR your body (most likely) will not be getting all the energy it needs to function to the best of its ability.

^this^ - with the caveat that it's almost impossible to know your exact BMR - however, these are good general calculations. Way too many folk eat way below BMR - definitely not a good idea to do that for any length of time: slowing your metabolism just makes this all harder.

mcarter99

Any slowdown in metabolism is (1) slight and (2) temporary. It's a myth that you will hurt yourself or starve or not lose or die or be miserable and eat your couch and murder your family.

burbanum

I have done the Very low cal concept too many times. It will work for awhile until your body realizes it is really hungry and starts holding onto eveyr morsel you put in it. I highly recommend eating at least BMR....this is what you need to maintain your weight and the energy you need daily if you were to lay in bed all day and only get up to pee. Since I am sure you are doing more than that, you want to give your body fuel so it knows you are not starving it. It may not come off 3-5 lbs a week, but it will go down (your weight). You did not gain weight at 5 lbs a week and it is not really realistic to lose it that way either. Patience is not fun, but a maintainable lifestyle is so important if you want to succeed beyond the weight loss part of this. I wish you the best. You are doing great!!!
Brittany

wild_wild_life

Every time I think I undserstand I find myself questioning what I think I know..

I'm sorry to be the queen of redundant topics, but I'm curious... I hear a lot of people say NEVER eat bellow your bmr because that's what your body needs just to function.

Then I hear people say you should eat your tdee- 500..

If I follow these rules then I would be eating bellow my bmr on the days I don't excersize..

my bmr 1631

tdee 1958 (with little to no excersize) = 1458 Bellow bmr?...
tdee 2243 (1-3 days excersize) =1743
tdee 2529 (3-5 days excersize) =2029

Is this right? Basically my calories for the day would be determined by my activity level and subtracting 500 from that days tdee?

If you are doing the TDEE-500 method, you eat the same amount every day. If you exercise 1 to 3 days a week, eat 1743 every day, for instance. Only if you're using the MFP method do you tailor your eating so strictly to your workout on a daily basis.

Regarding whether it's "ok" to eat below BMR, I don't think that debate is ever going to be settled. Read up on the pros and cons and pick a side, I guess. Personally I wouldn't but if I were very obese I might consider it.

mcarter99

http://www.livestrong.com/article/397422-how-does-my-bmr-affect-my-diet/

That's a nice article on BMR. Very, very short. They recommend "eating enough" so you don't "slow your metabolism" but their recommendation of enough is up to 2 lbs/week loss. And they say they're talking about the thermic effect of food with the "slow your metabolism" part. I.e., you burn a higher percent of that gram of protein in digestion than you do the gram of fat because it's harder to digest the protein. So you're not actually hurting your metabolism or slowing it for a long time. You're burning fewer calories in the act of digestion that day, hence "slower metabolism".

I've read there is another metabolism slowing effect, namely that a deficit makes you feel like moving less so you're actually less active. But if you track your activity, you can compensate. There might be other slowing effects but they're slight and temporary, from all I've read.

theartichoke

In all seriousness, there is no right or wrong. Do what you need to do to achieve your goals. Here's the never. If you want to lose fat never eat above TDEE. The rest is up to you.

If you'd like to go lower cal then do it. Just be aware of what you'll be facing should you ever move to maintenance calories. Pay attention to your micros and enjoy your weight loss.

If you'd like to eat at a cut of your TDEE then do it. Educate yourself and know what that process entails. Enjoy your fat loss.

20 methods, 20 different ways to get this done. Tweaks are part of the process but pick the method you can stick to and to hell with the rest. If what you pick doesn't give you the results you want, go to plan B. It's like a science experiment.

Whatever gives you what you want out of this is 100% the right thing to do.

angelaraedesigns

:flowerforyou:

In all seriousness, there is no right or wrong. Do what you need to do to achieve your goals. Here's the never. If you want to lose fat never eat above TDEE. The rest is up to you.

If you'd like to go lower cal then do it. Just be aware of what you'll be facing should you ever move to maintenance calories. Pay attention to your micros and enjoy your weight loss.

If you'd like to eat at a cut of your TDEE then do it. Educate yourself and know what that process entails. Enjoy your fat loss.

20 methods, 20 different ways to get this done. Tweaks are part of the process but pick the method you can stick to and to hell with the rest. If what you pick doesn't give you the results you want, go to plan B. It's like a science experiment.

Whatever gives you what you want out of this is 100% the right thing to do.

brill! well said theartichoke

Lissette_Brooks

In all seriousness, there is no right or wrong. Do what you need to do to achieve your goals. Here's the never. If you want to lose fat never eat above TDEE. The rest is up to you.

If you'd like to go lower cal then do it. Just be aware of what you'll be facing should you ever move to maintenance calories. Pay attention to your micros and enjoy your weight loss.

If you'd like to eat at a cut of your TDEE then do it. Educate yourself and know what that process entails. Enjoy your fat loss.

20 methods, 20 different ways to get this done. Tweaks are part of the process but pick the method you can stick to and to hell with the rest. If what you pick doesn't give you the results you want, go to plan B. It's like a science experiment.

Whatever gives you what you want out of this is 100% the right thing to do.

Thanks!

PittShkr

mrmanmeat

Eat below what your body needs to survive in a coma?

Sounds smart to me.

MizSaz

Do what works for you. It's been my experience that 9 people out of 10 on MFP don't know their backside from their elbow but talk like they have a PhD in nutrition.

myfitnessnmhoy

Whatever you decide to do, try at least to bring your fat, carbs, and proteins into balance so every calorie counts for as much as it possibly can for your body.

You can also try eating a fairly consistent number of calories daily and try to build your deficits on a weekly basis (overeating a bit on non-exercise days, undereating a bit on exercise days, but maintaining an average of a good caloric deficit).

But undereating by a small number of calories won't hurt you as long as you are making the most of each calorie and getting all the nutrients you need. If it affects your metabolism, you'll feel it in the quality of your workouts (you won't be able to sustain the same level of performance) and in your daily life (more tired, less sleep, etc). At that point, you'll have a pretty good idea of what you need to do (it involves the words "eat" and "more" and also the measurement "a little").

I am NOT espousing underating by many hundreds of calories a day, by the way, for the "starvation mode" or "eating disorder" folks out there. But the thinner you make your diet, the more you want to make each and every calorie count for something to your body to stave off any metabolic effects.

mcarter99

Eat below what your body needs to survive in a coma?

Sounds smart to me.

By that logic one should never log any sort of caloric deficit at all. We would all just have to keep our body fat right where it's at, forever. Because you're implying it's not available to be used for energy.

No one is going to argue that deficit eating (up to 1000 calorie deficit per day) isn't harmful to the human body, if it's overweight. What difference does it make if you're making your body lift the barbell with deficit calories or lift your phone or expand your lungs? We don't get to assign each calorie to various functions. We burn X total calories per day, partly by daily intake, partly by fat stores.

mrmanmeat

Eat below what your body needs to survive in a coma?

Sounds smart to me.

By that logic one should never log any sort of caloric deficit at all. We would all just have to keep our body fat right where it's at, forever. Because you're implying it's not available to be used for energy.

No one is going to argue that deficit eating (up to 1000 calorie deficit per day) isn't harmful to the human body, if it's overweight. What difference does it make if you're making your body lift the barbell with deficit calories or lift your phone or expand your lungs? We don't get to assign each calorie to various functions. We burn X total calories per day, partly by daily intake, partly by fat stores.

Because your phone doesn't provide calorie burns. Nor does cleaning. But, I see you're one of those types of people.

sneekspeete

What's TDEE?

mcarter99

In contrast, I think you're a terrific person. But that's not terribly relevant to the discussion as it's not about you or me.

Lifting your phone and cleaning your house actually do take energy, ie calories. Everything you do takes calories.

MinnieInMaine

Every time I think I undserstand I find myself questioning what I think I know..

I'm sorry to be the queen of redundant topics, but I'm curious... I hear a lot of people say NEVER eat bellow your bmr because that's what your body needs just to function.

Then I hear people say you should eat your tdee- 500..

If I follow these rules then I would be eating bellow my bmr on the days I don't excersize..

my bmr 1631

tdee 1958 (with little to no excersize) = 1458 Bellow bmr?...
tdee 2243 (1-3 days excersize) =1743
tdee 2529 (3-5 days excersize) =2029

Is this right? Basically my calories for the day would be determined by my activity level and subtracting 500 from that days tdee?

If you are doing the TDEE-500 method, you eat the same amount every day. If you exercise 1 to 3 days a week, eat 1743 every day, for instance. Only if you're using the MFP method do you tailor your eating so strictly to your workout on a daily basis.

Regarding whether it's "ok" to eat below BMR, I don't think that debate is ever going to be settled. Read up on the pros and cons and pick a side, I guess. Personally I wouldn't but if I were very obese I might consider it.

I like this answer the best. You don't change your TDEE on a daily basis depending on what you're doing, you set it just like you set your activity level here on MFP. Pick one and stick with it...at least until your activity level changes drastically like you get hurt and can't workout for a month or decide to up your activity from 1-3 days exercise to 3-5 days exercise.

Good luck!

RuthieCass

Every time I think I undserstand I find myself questioning what I think I know..

I'm sorry to be the queen of redundant topics, but I'm curious... I hear a lot of people say NEVER eat bellow your bmr because that's what your body needs just to function.

Then I hear people say you should eat your tdee- 500..

If I follow these rules then I would be eating bellow my bmr on the days I don't excersize..

my bmr 1631

tdee 1958 (with little to no excersize) = 1458 Bellow bmr?...
tdee 2243 (1-3 days excersize) =1743
tdee 2529 (3-5 days excersize) =2029

Is this right? Basically my calories for the day would be determined by my activity level and subtracting 500 from that days tdee?

You subtract 500 from your daily TDEE if your goal is to lose 1 lb per week. If you are close to your goal weight (say within 20 lbs), a better goal is around 1/2 a lb per week. Also, a simpler way is to accurately identify your activity level to determine your TDEE instead of choosing sedentary and "eating back exercise calories."

Of course, you could stick with a large deficit which would likely take you under you under your BMR. I think a lot of people find that hard to sustain b/c of energy levels, especially if you exercise, and nutrition. You will also probably lose muscle mass at a faster rate than you would at a more moderate deficit. You probably wouldn't want to eat that little for a long period of time, but most people asking this question probably will try it anyway. But I don't think BMR is a magic number and you won't harm yourself by doing it for a short time. Just keep your protein intake up (and your fat levels fixed) and reduce calories from your carbs. This is better than sticking to the percentage methods MFP recommends.

Lissette_Brooks

LMAO

psuLemon

As much as an advocate I am for eating more calories, I don't believe it's terrible to eat below your BMR. Now, what I do suggest is to exercise to increase your calories in order to maintain lean body mass as well as your metabolism. But below is a study of those on LCD with two groups (one anaerobic workouts and one with resistance training).

"At the end of the twelve-week study, both groups lost weight but the difference in muscle vs. fat loss was striking. The aerobic group lost 37 pounds over the course of the study. The resistance-training group lost 32 pounds. A focus on weight loss would lead us to the conclusion that aerobic exercise is best. However, when looking at the type of weight lost it was shown that the aerobic group lost almost 10 pounds of muscle on average while the resistance training group lost fat exclusively and maintained their muscle mass. Most important, when the resting metabolic rate of the participants was calculated, the aerobic group was shown to be burning 210 fewer calories at rest per day!! In contrast, the resistance-training group actually increased their metabolism by 63 calories per day."

I understand the concept and believe it will help maintain LBM, but in reality, RT can offset said loss. Now,this is only a 12 week study, so long term affects of a LCD can end up being detrimental to your maintenance of LBM, but I haven't found a study that backs it up. But I will note, that for the 200+ people I have designed programs for, I use 20% less then TDEE to cut fat.


http://www.metaboliceffect.com/topic/38-nutrition-lifestyle.aspx

LuvAsia

What's TDEE?