Still lost on how many calories!

vsecret921

It says for me to lose 1lbs a week to eat 1270 calories a day.....seems way under my 1501 BMR

beekuzz

The way I understand it, and it's working, is your BMR is what your body burns just staying alive. BUT. . . to actually lose weight and not stay stagnant at that weight is to eat less than BMR. My BMR is over 1700, so I am allowed 1200 calories to actually eat. That's burning an extra 500+ calories so that I will LOSE WEIGHT but that would take forever if I didn't exercise.

Now, the main point is DO NOT EAT UNDER 1200 - not your BMR number. When you eat under the "lose weight" calorie count, your body goes into starvation mode. BUT . . . do not eat your exercise calories earned, if you can help it, because that's just extra burning of calories you get to benefit from.

Thus far, 3 weeks into the plan, I've lost 10 lbs.

If I've said anything wrong here, anybody please correct me.

Good luck

melisha922

@OP: From what I understand, MFP does take into account your BMR. It then takes into account your fitness level. If you don't do much during the day, then eating your BMR won't help you because you're not exercising enough to lose weight. Basically, you'll just stay the same weight- you won't gain but you won't lose. Then MFP takes into account how much you want to lose/week and creates a deficit so you can reach those goals. It will never let you eat less than 1200 because that would surely put you in starvation mode (so there are safety measures). I've been using a 1200 CAL plan and have been steadily losing weight. I notice that if I consistently eat more, I start gaining or stop losing. I eat most of my exercise calories back when I exercise. Good luck! You'll always find people with contrary opinions but this is my understanding of how MFP works and calculates your goal calories.

Oh... And I'm 5'6" and started at 134lbs (if that helps)

vsecret921

Thanks

Init_to_winit

Take this into account. one lb. equals 3,500 calories. So if you want to lose 1lb. a week, you need a 500 calorie a day deficiency. A 1,000 calorie a day deficiency is 2 lbs a week (which is extreme).

What I've been doing is I calculated my TDEE (this will vary by website, just go with whatever number you want, I used http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html)

It was around 1,950 so in order for me to lose a lb. a week I put my calorie goal at 1,450. Already I've been losing weight and I'm never starving, I work out occasionally but not often (I chose sedentary as my lifestyle). The important thing is to calculate the TDEE correctly, if you are sedentary and don't work out often then chose that, if you do workout, then chose lightly active and so on, don't cheat on that because you only end up cheating yourself in the long run by trying to eat a diet you can't keep lifelong.

em9371

You have to eat below it in order to loose weight or otherwise you would just stay the same. So if your 1500 bmi and you ate 1200 you would be banking 300 calories a day or 2100 a week. Without exercise you would loose a little over 1/2 a pound a week.

wrong!
BMR is what you burn by just being alive, you calculate your deficit from TDEE -
example a person with a BMR of 1500 who is sedentary, would multiply BMR x 1.2 to get TDEE = 1800.
to lose 0.5lb per week you would take 250 cals from 1800 and so eat 1550.
to lose 1lb per week take 500 from 1500 and eat 1300.

If the same person was lightly active, mutliply by 1.3 = 1950
1700 to lose 0.5lb / 1450 to lose 1lb.
Plus eat back any exercise cals (or choose a higher activity level), as the above numbers assume you are sedentary, ie no exercise at all.

Personally I lose best by netting around BMR (1550), and eating 2000ish total.


www.fat2fitradio.com has a good BMR / TDEE calculator, its more accurate than MFP as it takes into account your body fat %. At the end of the day, you need to remember that MFP is only a computer program that spits out numbers based on what you tell it.
OP - If MFP gave you 1200 cals, its more than likely you have chosen to lose too much per week, or your activity level is too low.

vsecret921

@OP: From what I understand, MFP does take into account your BMR. It then takes into account your fitness level. If you don't do much during the day, then eating your BMR won't help you because you're not exercising enough to lose weight. Basically, you'll just stay the same weight- you won't gain but you won't lose. Then MFP takes into account how much you want to lose/week and creates a deficit so you can reach those goals. It will never let you eat less than 1200 because that would surely put you in starvation mode (so there are safety measures). I've been using a 1200 CAL plan and have been steadily losing weight. I notice that if I consistently eat more, I start gaining or stop losing. I eat most of my exercise calories back when I exercise. Good luck! You'll always find people with contrary opinions but this is my understanding of how MFP works and calculates your goal calories.

That's makes sense for someone like me who isn't moviing during the day. I'm basically "staying alive" all day!

Truly it's as though it just "clicked"!

Thanks

holleysings

The way I understand it, and it's working, is your BMR is what your body burns just staying alive. BUT. . . to actually lose weight and not stay stagnant at that weight is to eat less than BMR. My BMR is over 1700, so I am allowed 1200 calories to actually eat. That's burning an extra 500+ calories so that I will LOSE WEIGHT but that would take forever if I didn't exercise.

Now, the main point is DO NOT EAT UNDER 1200 - not your BMR number. When you eat under the "lose weight" calorie count, your body goes into starvation mode. BUT . . . do not eat your exercise calories earned, if you can help it, because that's just extra burning of calories you get to benefit from.

Thus far, 3 weeks into the plan, I've lost 10 lbs.

If I've said anything wrong here, anybody please correct me.

Good luck

You will not keep the weight off if you eat under your BMR. Yeah, you might be losing now, but it will not stay off in the long run as you will go into starvation mode. BMR does not take into account your activity, so you will still burn more than you intake as long as you're moving and not laying in bed all day!

vsecret921

Thanks EVERYONE for your advice

em9371

The way I understand it, and it's working, is your BMR is what your body burns just staying alive. BUT. . . to actually lose weight and not stay stagnant at that weight is to eat less than BMR. My BMR is over 1700, so I am allowed 1200 calories to actually eat. That's burning an extra 500+ calories so that I will LOSE WEIGHT but that would take forever if I didn't exercise.

Now, the main point is DO NOT EAT UNDER 1200 - not your BMR number. When you eat under the "lose weight" calorie count, your body goes into starvation mode. BUT . . . do not eat your exercise calories earned, if you can help it, because that's just extra burning of calories you get to benefit from.

Thus far, 3 weeks into the plan, I've lost 10 lbs.

If I've said anything wrong here, anybody please correct me.

Good luck

as my last post, create deficit from TDEE not BMR. by deducting from BMR you are effectively creating deficit twice. Initially you will lose, but long term you will lose muscle as well as fat which will slow your metabolism and you will find it harder to lose / easier to gain.....the typical crash diet / regain the weight, and repeat many times cycle!!

lavieboheme1229

That's quite a load of muck.
Keep it simple.
Just eat lean meats, low fat dairy, nuts, whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies. And follow MFP recommendations for 1 lb per week as a goal. It's easy.
And track your training both cardio and resistance and eat back those exercise calories to maintain a steady deficit every day.
Simple.:bigsmile:

Good Luck!

This exactly.

phatycake

Vsecret921, to be honest you may have to try a few caloric intakes to find what works for your body. Be sure to take a multivitamin and log everything you eat, this way you can get great advice when or if you need to change it up.

Good lucl.

Hellbent_Heidi

Thanks for all the advice but I think I'm more confused due to all the conflicting information

Obviously you're new to the boards. Unfortunately you're going to get conflicting information from every direction here.

I'd start with the 1200 (net - meaning if you work out and burn 300 calories in a day, you actually eat 1500)...that MFP advises. If that doesn't work for you, then try adjusting it.

Cgrnlaw

Thanks ...this has helped me understand it better too.

knittermom07

I did the 1200 CAL and eating back it didnt work for me. I switched it to 150 and ate 1400 to 1800 each day and started losing weight. 1200 calories didnt work for my body.

^^^^ My thoughts are the same for the above poster. Remember that you are an individual and what works for one person may not work for you. Pick a number that you are comfortable with try it out for at least 3 weeks if not more and see what happens, if you don't see results try something different. My base goal personally is around 1250 but I go over that quite a bit sometimes, but I am still loosing, just very slowly, I am within 6 pounds of my ultimate goal so I don;t mind much. I try to eat at the very least, 1200, and I eat back all my exercise cals, but that might not work for you either, and I sometimes might go up as far as 1500 even on a non workout day, because my maintenance is around 1560, so really just do what works for you and see what happens. Good luck, try not to get frustrated, it can be very confusing... This is supposed to be a fun thing, don't let it mess with your mind too much...

dare2love81

Check out this forum...been following it for a few months and have been consistently losing for the last three months. And I'm eating between 1900 and 2200 calories per day.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/586298-if-you-are-scared-to-increase-calories

WaxMama

Sweetie, you need to eat at least your BMR because this is the amount of energy your body needs to perform basic functions. If you were to be lying in a hospital bed in a coma, your BMR is what they would be giving you through a feading tube. Morbid, I know, but hear me out! When I put in MFP that I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, it set me at 1200 calories as well. I'm a lot taller and heavier than you and yet we're supposed to eat the same? I don't think so! I think it's the minimum amount of calories MFP will allow you to set your goal to. Regradless of what you set it to, you will lose weight quickly in the beginning, level out in the middle and you'll have to bust *kitten* close to the end. Calories are energy, if you're hungry, EAT! You can't drive around on E because you've already used up your cash for gas for the week... There are a few links below that I would recommend reading:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

Good luck!

sunnybunny5us

I am trying to eat over 1200 but exercising enough to bring it under 1200 each day even if it is just 200-300 calories (rarely eating over 1500 gross and almost always ending up under 1200 net - but not by much). I don't have a good scale so I don't post my weight much. The setting I picked that gave me 1200 to begin with was for me to lose 1/2 a pound a week, so it will take a long time to see if it works. But I have been getting all my nutrients (RED (over) on protein, fiber, calcium, iron,vit A,vit C, good (poly & mono unsaturated) fats,and Potassium - and BLACK (under) on total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodiumand total carbs - sugar goes in the red a lot too though not all the time) so I should be well nourished. Does anyone else try for all the nutrients too? It took me a while to get my potassium high enough, and I'm still working on lowering my sugar intake. It looks like my diet has improved significantly over the last month. Steamed veggies and fresh fruit seem to help a lot.

vsecret921

Yes morbid but to the point!

MissTattoo

I have a BodyMedia Fit that calculates TDEE. MFP gives you a calorie goal assuming you are NOT working out.

My TDEE is around 3150 on work out days and 2700 on non work out days. My BMR is 2170. On work out days I eat 2500-2600 and on non work out days about 2200-2300. I'm also lifting heavy weights so I'm losing inches more than pounds which is okay because my skin looks amazing and I know if I do it slowly, I won't have loose skin.

But BMR is what your body would need to survive if you stayed in bed all day. TDEE is what your total burn is doing every day activities/working out. Eat more than BMR and less than TDEE. Don't make it complicated. 3500 calories equal 1 pound. You just have to have a 500 calorie deficit every day to lose 1 pound.