trying to make sense of BMR and TDEE

charmcnab
charmcnab Posts: 20 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all......I am confused. I have been reading this am about BMR and TDEE and trying tomake sense of it all. I know there are LOTS of posts here on this topic but it is becoming overwhelming reading through them all. Thought I would post a new thread.

I have been eating healthy on MFP for about 2 months now. I have lost 6 pounds. I am happy with that. It has been suggested, however, that I may not be eating enough calories. I am currently eating 1380 calories per day. I am 5'4", 160 pounds, 41 years old, female. I do not exercise but once per week, sometimes twice. My goal is to increase this to at least 3 times per week.

Should I stay with what I have been doing and icnrease my exercise or look at TDEE and BMR more carefully?

TIA
Charlene

Replies

  • amakowska
    amakowska Posts: 1 Member
    Hey Charlene,
    There is no simple answer to your question except 'if it's working, keep doing it'! Important thing would be to take a look at how much protein you are eating - weight loss is one thing but fat loss is something different - you may be losing weight but if it's muscle then you are not doing yourself any favours. With your height and weights I would say your protein intake should be at least 150g. At 1350 kcal a day which seems ok if you are not exercising the nutrient split I would recommend is following:
    Carbs: 84g, Protein: 170g, fat: 37g. If you could introduce weight lifting you would benefit greatly as it increases metabolism.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    1380 for a sedentary 5'-4" woman sounds fine, especially if it's working.

    Increasing your deficit by extra exercise may not help, hence people suggest eating more if you exercise more.
  • Scrute11
    Scrute11 Posts: 51 Member
    There are some great resources on BMR and TDEE on the Eat More, Weigh Less Board

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less

    There are also some folks who really seem to get it and are happy to answer questions.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    Hi Charlene- My stats are very similar. Keep doing what you're doing! BMR matters to nothing except to arrive at TDEE. Once you have an idea of your TDEE, forget BMR.

    Possibly your best estimate of your actual body's TDEE (not a web estimate) is your results. If you've lost 6 lbs in 9 weeks at 1380 average intake, you're losing around 2/3 lb. a week, which equates to around 2300 calories. So you're logging a 2300/7=333 calorie deficit or so a day. That means you're burning around 1380+333= 1713 calories a day total (TDEE). That might be right around your web-estimated TDEE or not.

    2/3 lb. week is a great rate! And you can definitely get adequate nutrition at 1380 calories/day.

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