BMR/TDEE uh what?

daniellexcara

Okay so i keep seeing things about bmr and tdee. i looked them up but I still dont really understand them. I think i calculated my BMR and i subtracted 500 from that to get my calorie intake needed to lose weight. was that right? Also from that, i got about 1760 which seems a little high. help?

Blaineyyy

I'm not entirely sure on this myself, so I'll be curious to see answers too. Bump bump bump.

dellashanks

Bumb! I hope someone answers. I would love to know

trink68

BMR is the amount of calories your body burns in a day doing absolutely nothing....its said keep your intake 500 below that and you lose 1 lb a week.100 below and lose 2 lbs a week....but try and never go below 1200....stuff confuses me too.but i kinda have it figured out,I think :-) Not sure what this tdee stuff is

soontobesam

Check this out

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

gayje

Check this out

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Was just about to post that link :flowerforyou:

JessLLoser

BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate is what your body needs the function when it is completely still. Like, in a coma. It is what you need to keep your organs functioning. It is not o.k. to eat below that number ever.

Your TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure. How much energy your body needs to move around.

Most people`s are about 400 or more calories above BMR.

Take your 20% cut from your TDEE.

soontobesam

Check this out

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Was just about to post that link :flowerforyou:

Great minds my dear, great minds! :flowerforyou:

daniellexcara

sorry that i sound stupid, but i dont understand the percentages and stuff. i'm 19, 5'3 and 136 pounds. who wants to do the calculation for me

PLUMSGRL

Check these sites, the first one will figure out BMR and TDEE... for the activity use HOURS per week (not how hard you THINK your working out):

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

this article will tell you why a LOWER cut (about 10-15%) is better:

http://www.oxygenmag.com/Community/Expert-Q-A/How-does-starvation-versus-eating-fewer-calories-affect-fat-loss.aspx

daniellexcara

Okay so once I find this all out, how do i set my MFP to this, because it just keeps giving me 1200 cals a day, and i think i want more. right?

soontobesam

Check these sites, the first one will figure out BMR and TDEE... for the activity use HOURS per week (not how hard you THINK your working out):

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

this article will tell you why a LOWER cut (about 10-15%) is better:

http://www.oxygenmag.com/Community/Expert-Q-A/How-does-starvation-versus-eating-fewer-calories-affect-fat-loss.aspx

Was just coming back to post the scooby link! Haven't seen the oxygen one before though, checking it out now. Thanks!

soontobesam

Okay so once I find this all out, how do i set my MFP to this, because it just keeps giving me 1200 cals a day, and i think i want more. right?

On the home tab, select the goals option and then change goals and you can manually input your calculated calorie goal and change your macros (percentage of carbs, protein and fat).

daniellexcara

thank you guys so much!

kadinlucas

Check these sites, the first one will figure out BMR and TDEE... for the activity use HOURS per week (not how hard you THINK your working out):

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

this article will tell you why a LOWER cut (about 10-15%) is better:

http://www.oxygenmag.com/Community/Expert-Q-A/How-does-starvation-versus-eating-fewer-calories-affect-fat-loss.aspx

Doesn't MFP do this for you anyway when you enter your details at the start and say you want to lose lb/wk etc.
I just tried the site and the difference between what scoobys and mfp recomends was ~40 calories so I think you can just stick with this site just fine.

daniellexcara

wait one more problem, im so sorry that i dont understand this stuff. be patient with me i changed the goals according to that scooby site and on MFP it says projected weight loss is only 0.2 pounds per week now when it was like 1.3 before when i was at about 1200 cals a day. whaaaaa

AFitJamie

Hi Danielle,

So, I'm not a fan of making things too easy for people - but I certainly understand that this can be confusing at the start... You will want to actually read a fair bit about what it is you are doing when you count calories to avoid being consumed by the wealth of misinformation out there....

I grabbed a simple BMR calc on the web and entering your data it says your BMR is 1453.

This essentially means that if you sleep all day, the activity of your beating heart, and working of your muscles (like breathing for example) , cellular activity etc etc etc will consume 1453 calories. you should make sure you give your body this many calories each day to manage your energy level, etc.

Now, depending on how active you are in your daily living, the calories you burn in a typical day will be higher than this. essentially, these calories, plus the calories you burn doing the extra activity.... this is the number that people say take 500 calories off of if you want to lose 1 Lb a week... that is because when your body burns a Lb of fat, it produces 3500 calories... 3500 divided by 7 days in a week is 500 a day. So, eat at a 500 deficit and you will lose 1 Lb a week...

You will need an assessment of how active you are in a day, but if I assume you are "lightly active" your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) based on that site is 1903. If the correct activity level, this would suggest you eat at 1903 - 500 = 1403. Since this is lower than your BMR, I'd suggest you target your BMR of 1453....

Feel free to friend me if you like and I'm happy to answer some questions further...

soontobesam

Check these sites, the first one will figure out BMR and TDEE... for the activity use HOURS per week (not how hard you THINK your working out):

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

this article will tell you why a LOWER cut (about 10-15%) is better:

http://www.oxygenmag.com/Community/Expert-Q-A/How-does-starvation-versus-eating-fewer-calories-affect-fat-loss.aspx

Doesn't MFP do this for you anyway when you enter your details at the start and say you want to lose lb/wk etc.
I just tried the site and the difference between what scoobys and mfp recomends was ~40 calories so I think you can just stick with this site just fine.

If MFP is working for you - stick with it. For the most part the program is designed very well and it can be considerably less confusing.

I stuck with the MFP settings until I started having issues, and then I made adjustments after doing extensive reading.

konswela

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Great website!!!!! Do not lower your TDEE more than 10 or 15%.. Do not go to 20%

soontobesam

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Great website!!!!! Do not lower your TDEE more than 10 or 15%.. Do not go to 20%

I love it! I just changed my calorie goal to the scooby recommendation.

AFitJamie

Check these sites, the first one will figure out BMR and TDEE... for the activity use HOURS per week (not how hard you THINK your working out):

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

this article will tell you why a LOWER cut (about 10-15%) is better:

http://www.oxygenmag.com/Community/Expert-Q-A/How-does-starvation-versus-eating-fewer-calories-affect-fat-loss.aspx

Doesn't MFP do this for you anyway when you enter your details at the start and say you want to lose lb/wk etc.
I just tried the site and the difference between what scoobys and mfp recomends was ~40 calories so I think you can just stick with this site just fine.

Essentially yes. One thing MFP does that seems a bit odd is that it drops your target, but never lets that target go below 1200.... It may be better to target a person's BMR as a minimal number. Just an opinion. Also, given the way MFP "Asks" the question, I find many many people simply tell MFP what they "want" - and that is to lose 2 or more pounds in a week... but depending on the amount overweight someone is, that may not be practical. Those more overweight typically have a capacity to lose much more (sustain a larger caloric deficit) than those closer to their target weight. Ultimately I agree than the tool generally gives reasonable guidance if you give it reasonable data, but many people want to understand "why" it is giving the numbers it is...