BMR Madness???

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Charity2001
Charity2001 Posts: 24
in Introduce Yourself
So I'm a 5'11" woman smack in the middle of my weight loss journey. I checked my BMR today on this site just to ensure I'm aiming for the right goals. First, mine is 1735 per day....and that's BEFORE I subtract 500/day for weight loss! And my daily goals for protein/fat/carbs....45 for protein? Really? 145 for carbs?? REALLY???

Am I the only one to whom this sounds crazy? I work at a desk all day, try to get 30 minutes of cardio every day plus clean house and do some yard work every day. And I have an adjustable dumbbell to use while zoning in front of tv (spare me the guilt trip).

A little guidance would be great!

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  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
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    First of all, BMR is how many calories your body needs to stay alive; you should be eating above this number. 1735 sounds normal for your height (for comparison, I'm 5'5" and my BMR is about 1,400). The number of calories you burn per day including physical activity is called TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). You want to be eating 500 less than THAT number. The beauty of MFP is that it estimates your TDEE excluding exercise and, as you add exercise, it readjusts to tell you what your TDEE that day was approximately, and subtracts the 500 calories.

    Current US government guidelines are that 55 percent of calories should come from carbs, 30 percent from fat, and 15 percent from meat. It often makes sense for someone trying to lose weight to eat a higher percentage from protein, but yeah, that's why 45 grams of protein and 145 grams of carbohydrates.

    Feel free to friend me, if you want.
  • Charity2001
    Charity2001 Posts: 24
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    So that's why it's okay to "eat" our exercise calories back? I've been avoiding doing that and get so frustrated when the more I work out, the slower my weight loss/inches loss seems to go. Lesson learned, serve up that extra half portion of lean roast!
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
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    Yup, that's why you get to eat them back! By the way, it's actually not uncommon to see slowed weight loss or even weight gain when starting a new exercise regimen, but it's all water being retained by the muscles as they get used to the new activity. After a few weeks, it passes.
  • Charity2001
    Charity2001 Posts: 24
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    Interesting! Personal trainers, dieticians, and it takes MFP to gleen that piece of news! LOL

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