MFP suggests cals below BMR

davidr730

I have always been taught never drop below your BMR. I noticed for myself as well as others posting the calculations when setting goals is often below my BMR. My BMR is 2013 but MFP is suggesting a diet of only 1300 calories. This seems dangerous to me. Am I missing something?

Generalle

It depends on what goals you've put in. If you've typed in that you want to lose 2lbs a week, to do that, you will need to eat under your BMR - it's all up to you how much each week you want to lose and what you put in your goals.

davidr730

It depends on what goals you've put in. If you've typed in that you want to lose 2lbs a week, to do that, you will need to eat under your BMR - it's all up to you how much each week you want to lose and what you put in your goals.

No offense but I don't think that's accurate. To safely loss weight a person should stay above their BMR but below total calories burned. The BMR id the calories needed for normal bodily function if a person never got out of bed.

EvanKeel

The weight loss goals as they're managed by the system do not fit everybody, especially those of us who are less active outside of our exercise.

I'd suggest calculating your TDEE and reducing that by 15 or 20%. If that number isn't comfortable for you, then eat slightly above your BMR.

TinaS88

If you eating your bmr you are going to maintain your weight (this is with no exercise at all). If you are not exercising, you are going to need to eat less to loose. You HAD to have entered something wrong??? I eat 1350 a day with no exercise, you should NOT be eating less then me.

EvanKeel

If you eating your bmr you are going to maintain your weight (this is with no exercise at all). If you are not exercising, you are going to need to eat less to loose. You HAD to have entered something wrong??? I eat 1350 a day with no exercise, you should NOT be eating less then me.

You'll maintain weight eating your BMR if you're in a coma, yes. He didn't necessarily enter anything wrong. My BMR is 1930-ish (supposedly). Without exercising and and having a desk job, if I wanted to lose 1lb/week, MFP would have me eating 1800-ish calories, which is below my BMR.

I exercise and I have a body bugg that tells me how much I'm burning so I don't actually use MFP to figure my deficit, but if I followed the plan without exercising I'd be eating below my BMR with 1lb/week loss as a goal.

dsjohndrow

I set it up to lose 2 pounds a week, and it was about 1370. I knocked off 50 pounds by doing that and eating my exercise calories. After about 6 months I hit a plateau. It lasted months and I tried eating more 2200+, eating less 1400+, upping my exercise to 6 days a week and everything else that was suggested.

I saw a nutritionist and she gave me the same info you did. I did 500 below my supposed BMR and gained 10 pounds in three months. She said I should have more good carbs, but I still gained weight. (I pretty much eat whole foods, so not a lot of processed junk.)

I cut my intake back to 1600 on non exercise days, and 1800 on exercise days. I lost 10 pounds in three months.

My point is that the numbers are guides. Younger people seem to do better with the standard MFP calculations then those of us in out 50s. I eat 1600 per day and the weight is coming off. I also dumped the MFP suggested carbs because that wasn't working either. It's 35% C 35% P 30% F S 2000, 25 F. I am closer to my goal than I have ever been.

That is what works for me. I am healthy, my blood work is awesome, and I feel great.

mcarter99

I have always been taught never drop below your BMR. I noticed for myself as well as others posting the calculations when setting goals is often below my BMR. My BMR is 2013 but MFP is suggesting a diet of only 1300 calories. This seems dangerous to me. Am I missing something?

Where have you been taught that? I've never seen that advice anywhere but here, in this forum.

Your BMR has nothing to do with today's intake, unless you have zero body fat to lose.

yarwell

I have always been taught never drop below your BMR

You were taught wrong, especially as you probably don't actually know your BMR.

Target calories below BMR is almost a mathematical certainty with the sedentary setting and a loss rate of 1 lb/week :-

BMR = 2400 (very high)
*1.2 for sedentary = 2880

subtract 500 for loss rate = 2350

Hence for any BMR below 2500 the sedentary setting and 1lb/week results in a target below BMR. This is because the real world doesn't think it's an issue eating less than BMR when losing weight by burning some of the hundreds of thousands of calories in your fat reserves.

davidr730

I have always been taught never drop below your BMR. I noticed for myself as well as others posting the calculations when setting goals is often below my BMR. My BMR is 2013 but MFP is suggesting a diet of only 1300 calories. This seems dangerous to me. Am I missing something?

Where have you been taught that? I've never seen that advice anywhere but here, in this forum.

Your BMR has nothing to do with today's intake, unless you have zero body fat to lose.

In college, as a nursing student, studying nutrition.

keeponkickin

It depends on what goals you've put in. If you've typed in that you want to lose 2lbs a week, to do that, you will need to eat under your BMR - it's all up to you how much each week you want to lose and what you put in your goals.

No offense but I don't think that's accurate. To safely loss weight a person should stay above their BMR but below total calories burned. The BMR id the calories needed for normal bodily function if a person never got out of bed.

^^ THIS ^^ Eat above BMR and below TDEE for safe weight loss. Lose fat and not muscle.

mcarter99

I have always been taught never drop below your BMR. I noticed for myself as well as others posting the calculations when setting goals is often below my BMR. My BMR is 2013 but MFP is suggesting a diet of only 1300 calories. This seems dangerous to me. Am I missing something?

Where have you been taught that? I've never seen that advice anywhere but here, in this forum.

Your BMR has nothing to do with today's intake, unless you have zero body fat to lose.

In college, as a nursing student, studying nutrition.

Any chance you recall where you read it? Or know the instructor's source?

davidr730

I have always been taught never drop below your BMR. I noticed for myself as well as others posting the calculations when setting goals is often below my BMR. My BMR is 2013 but MFP is suggesting a diet of only 1300 calories. This seems dangerous to me. Am I missing something?

Where have you been taught that? I've never seen that advice anywhere but here, in this forum.

Your BMR has nothing to do with today's intake, unless you have zero body fat to lose.

In college, as a nursing student, studying nutrition.

Any chance you recall where you read it? Or know the instructor's source?

nutrition concepts & Controversies by Sizer/Whitney 12th edition.