New and somewhat confused

nabeelbitar

I am new here, started yesterdy. I've been reading the posts and learned a lot, however I am somewhat confused about the BMR number.

In my diet profile, it says the following:
Normal Daily Activity 2,380 calories/day
Daily goal to lose 1 lb/wk 1,380 calories/day
Daily goal to lose 2 lbs/wk 1,880 calories/day

According to the tools my BMR is 1,908 calories/day

So here's my question:
I saw in some posts that you are NOT supposed to consume less than your BMR per day, does this mean I should not even think about losing 2 lbs/wk? Even 1 lb/wk number is slightly less than the BMR. If it is unhealthy to consume less than your BMR, shouldn't the website give a big warning?

Any feedback will be appreciated!

nabeelbitar

I am new here, started yesterdy. I've been reading the posts and learned a lot, however I am somewhat confused about the BMR number.

In my diet profile, it says the following:
Normal Daily Activity 2,380 calories/day
Daily goal to lose 1 lb/wk 1,380 calories/day
Daily goal to lose 2 lbs/wk 1,880 calories/day

According to the tools my BMR is 1,908 calories/day

So here's my question:
I saw in some posts that you are NOT supposed to consume less than your BMR per day, does this mean I should not even think about losing 2 lbs/wk? Even 1 lb/wk number is slightly less than the BMR. If it is unhealthy to consume less than your BMR, shouldn't the website give a big warning?

Any feedback will be appreciated!

ali106

I'm not too sure but I believe you should not go under 1200 cals a day!

I know I wanted to lose two pounds a wk but it was under so I changed it to 1 lb a week, and honestly its been more like 1 1/2- 2 lbs a wk....now I'm all about measurements because the scale can totally get you over exiced of under and I don't want to deal w/ the mind games LOL....sorry for my mini rant!:ohwell:

I wish you luck! and I'm sure you'll get more detailed info soon! I'm pretty new here too!
hugs!
Ali

time2wrk

You should not go below the minimum calories listed for the day because your body can possibly go into starvation mode, which will actually SLOW your metabolism. I have actually had days where I went over by a couple hundred calories and still dropped weight. I use the daily goal because my exercise varies from day to day and that makes the calories I can eat different from day to day. And ali106 is right, make sure you never go below 1,200 calories!

nabeelbitar

Thanks Ali and time2wrk, this helps. I just wanted to make sure I am ok going below the BMR which supposedly is 1908 for me, and sounds like it should be ok. I will make sure I don't go below the minimum.

Thanks again

Nabeel

lotusfromthemud

I respectfully disagree with the website on the 1200 calories a day rule, as does my trainer, my nutritionist, and my doctor.

First of all, if you reduce to 700 less than your BMR, where will you reduce to if you hit a plateau?

Secondly, the BMR is what your body requires to work. Going any lower than this, according to my nutritionist and much research I have done causes you to lose: muscle mass and water weight.

Thirdly, many people, myself included, have experienced greater weight loss by exercising and eating more calories. Calorie restriction slows your metabolism. Eating and moving increase your metabolism.

I believe that the fact that this program will allow you to eat under your BMR is its only flaw. Two pounds a week is extremely aggressive weight loss, and should be reserved for people who have a great percentage of their body weight to lose. Slower weight loss is more likely to be sustainable weight loss.

nabeelbitar

vivakay,

So you suggest that I target my BMR as my daily goal (total calories consumed minus excercise calories)? For me this seems too easy to do with my BMR being 1,908. I could try that and see how it goes, one pound a week is ok with me, I just have so much to lose (50-60 pounds) which makes me want to lose more per week. But I want to make sure I do it the right way.

Thanks

Nabeel

lotusfromthemud

Are you sure your BMR is 1908 and not your daily allowance with activity? Just something to double check.

I would start with what the website tells you to do to lose a pound a week (JMO) and see what happens. You may lose just fine and feel less deprived, which will make you more able to stick with it.

My theory is that if you cut too much at the beginning, where will you go from there, right? I actually lost more weight eating more calories than I did when I was really depriving myself.

TamTastic

It could be all about trying some different things and seeing how your body reacts because everyone seems to have a different reaction based on what they are doing.

I started to lose weight at 270 lbs in September and was eating around 1500-1600 calories a day. I lost anywhere from 2-4 lbs a week (3 being the average) for a long time. I am now down 63 lbs and my weight loss has slowed to 1-2 lbs a week and I eat around 1400-1500 calories a day.

My point is that I am not starving at all. I make sure the foods I do eat are healthy and will keep me feeling satisfied. But, you might want to play around with the calories to see what happens. Just don't lower them too much! You would be surprised at how much you can actually eat and still lose weight. And don't worry about losing 1-2 lbs a week. It might seem like it will take forever but time flies and before you know it the smaller losses are going to add up to be a significant loss. Just think of where you will be already by Summer!

Good luck!
Tami

catlover

I feel like I'm missing something (like I've entered something wrong) on here sometimes because of what I think the answers should be. My diary says eat 1200 calories, the BMR is only 1257. If I let MFP set the weight loss, I get one pound a week, if I go in and do it myself to reflect a two pound weight loss, the calories come up about the same and my page reflects only a one pound weight loss anyway when I look at the 5 week projection, so the site doesn't really let me set that as a limit, because, in theory, if I need to eat 500 calories less per day for one pound, then I'd eat 1000 less per day for two pounds, but it never says eat 700 calories.

Anyway, I have cut down to only 300 to 600 exercise calories, and have increased my intake to use most of them, along with my 1200 of course, so I always meet the 1257 minimum, and I'm going to be down four pounds this month. So that's all good. I have a very mathematical oriented mind so I tend to overanalyze everything. So I use the numbers as a guide, and do what I am finding works.

jenn4skinny

I agree.. you definately lose more on the scale when your eating more calories and exercizing
Sorry, I'm new to this site, but have been on a plan since jan 1st. I have seen better advantages to eating more calories, which is a struggle for me to begin with, and exercizing.

I have a hard time eating the amount of calories I need to eat, I find myself having to eat more frequently during the day/night... I work graveyard shift, so I find if I eat every 4-6 hours, I'm eating enough calories for the day.