BMR needs to match Calories consumed OR Net calories

anaisgh12

Ok, I'm confused...
This is what I'm doing, please let me know if it's ok

Since I've read that you're supposed to eat your BMR I upped my calories to eat above it, mine is 1,602
My age is 27
Female height 5'7
My current weight is 176.8
My Goal weight is 140



This is a typical day for me:
Calories consumed 1,620
Calories Burned 420 (tacked with Heart rate monitor)
Net Calories 1,200

So, are my consumed calories supposed to match my BMR, or my Net calories need to match my BMR????
What about the rule of netting 1,200 calories (that's what I was trying to do)
I need help, am I not eating enough calories?

HMToomey

I have the same question, I wish someone would answer! I look at net calories anywhere between 500 and 1000 every day and I just can't eat anymore! I work out 2 hours nearly every day burning between 800 and 1200 calories and I have my goals set at 1300 calories I eat between 1200 and 1800 calories but my net calories are very low. What do I pay attention to here? So confused!

MissTomGettingThin

Net

Windi43

Not knowing how old you are, but this is what my doctor told me (I am 55) and it's SO hard to lose as you get older. Anyway, 1200 calories, no more, no less daily. Exercise all you want but don't eat those burned calories. Fresh foods. Fruits, veggies, lean meats. No packed, pre made meals (like WW or Stouffers).

I have also switched from cow's milk to almond milk and have given up artificial sweeteners and use a little Truvia in coffee or smoothies.

I have been stuck at the same weight for 6 months and making the above changes I have finally lost 4 lbs in 3 weeks. May not sound like much but I'm thrilled. 1 pound a week is ok with me as long as it goes DOWN!! hope this helps!:happy: :happy:

Windi43

What the heck are you doing for two hours to burn that many calories? Even the Biggest Loser contestants don't burn that much in two hours. They exercise all day!

wolfchild59

What the heck are you doing for two hours to burn that many calories? Even the Biggest Loser contestants don't burn that much in two hours. They exercise all day!

Can't speak for the person that posted, but I'm about to go burn about 1400 calories in just over two hours. On a 14 mile run. I average 600 calories per hour running, doing the ARC/adaptive motion trainer, or the stair mill (the one that is like a never ending escalator). So 800-1200 in two hours seems totally reasonable to me.

bradp1979

What the heck are you doing for two hours to burn that many calories? Even the Biggest Loser contestants don't burn that much in two hours. They exercise all day!

It isn't hard to burn a lot of calories if you do the right thing. I weigh 205, and an elliptical burns 300 calories in 30 minutes, and I burn 463 for 30 minutes of jogging (as per HRM). If the Biggest Loser contestants aren't burning that much in two hours, they're doing something wrong.

LovetheNewMe

I rarely eat back my exercise calories unless it is a special occasion. I pay more attention to trying to achieve greater than 100 gms of protein a day especially on the days I do strength training. From my own personal experience I know I lose better if I eat around 90-100gms of protein and close to 1200 calories a day. I do know with my life style, sedentary, I only need about 1500-1600 calories to maintain current weight or if I eat over that amount and do not exercise I would gain weight.

jasonpclement

I'm going with my go-to advice. Eat to your BMR. Do cardio if you want to eat more. So you have approx a 1:1 ratio of calories in and out between the two. However, do 30 - 60 minutes of resistance training four or five days a week, and do not log that as any sort of calorie burn. This guarantees that you are in a calorie deficit on days where you lift. And on days where you do not lift, your BMR should be elevated from the repair processes. Make sure when your lifting, that your not just going through the motions however. You should feel fatigue, and burn as you workout, with a slightly elevated heart rate. Simply going through the motions of lifting something up and putting it down will not do much for you.

Also, always underestimate your cardio expenditure.

I hope this is helpful! ! !

nataliexxxx

What the heck are you doing for two hours to burn that many calories? Even the Biggest Loser contestants don't burn that much in two hours. They exercise all day!

I work out for an hour and a half a day and burn 800 calories so burning 800-1200 is possible

Grant_P

What I have found that is simple and is working for Both my wife and I is (she eats 1200-1400 calories) and I eat 1700 calories a day. I don't eat extra just because the computer says I can nor if I workout extra.

I'm not really focusing much on all of the extra calories that it is giving/allowing me back.

We wear a Fitbit all day.

We drink 10 glasses of water a day and on Saturdays and Sundays we are a little more lenient (especially Sunday since that is our official "cheat day".

WillowBreeze

Be careful not eating back calories... in my experience it hasn't worked out well because I end up going on a raving binge but I also don't necessarily have weight to lose.


If you set your calorie goal to 1,200, but then workout for 2 hours and burn 1,400 then you're technically at a -200. The calories you burn during workouts are additional to the ones that your body needs for daily functioning... bodies don't survive on -200 days for very long before the hunger hits you or your metabolism slows down drastically.

I guess my only suggestion is that if you burn big numbers like that, be careful! Listen to your body and eat back some of those calories if you feel you need them to avoid problems later on with over eating. I always try to have my net match my BMR, but I never exercise heavily like that so I never need to consume much more than 3-400 extra calories for my net to reach my BMR. Everyone is different though, finding a balance is definitely the hardest work!

Hopefully my input helped a little?

ShaunMc1968

What the heck are you doing for two hours to burn that many calories? Even the Biggest Loser contestants don't burn that much in two hours. They exercise all day!

2 hrs steady gardening gives me 758 calories on a Garmin. I think it's achievable.

S.

WhitneyT586

From what I've read, you shouldn't eat below BMR and you should at least net your BMR. *This is what I've read on various sites. I'm not a pro.*

What works for me: I eat just above my BMR. On exercise days, if I'm feeling hungry or fatigued, I eat some of my ex-cals back. I use them as a buffer. If I stop losing, I'll reassess. But you find what works for you. Give each change you make 2-3-4 weeks to show results. Good luck!

sgthaggard

What the heck are you doing for two hours to burn that many calories? Even the Biggest Loser contestants don't burn that much in two hours. They exercise all day!

If you aren't burning 400 calories in an hour you might want to think about upping your intensity.

lucyjava

These BMR questions bring up a very interesting point. I checked, and at 5'1" and 48 yo, my BMR will be slightly LESS THAN 1200 when I get to my goal weight of 110 (and by then, I will even be OLDER). Doesn't this somewhat discount everyone's insistence that 1200 MUST be the ABSOLUTE minimum calories consumed?

chivalryder

The way I like to do it, which is proving to be very successful, is eating my maintenance calories (for me, that's about 2500/day, 2000 is my BMR 8 1.2 - desk job) and creating a deficit from my exercise (400-600/day right now. walking to/from work, and running in the morning 3x/week). This way, I'm feeding my body all the calories it really needs, and allowing it to burn off my extra fat cells to fuel my low-intensity exercise slowly.

When I get to the point where I'm creating a deficit of over 1000 calories, I'll start eating extra. I don't see it as a smart thing to eat a deficit, then burn even MORE calories from exercise. If you burn too much, your body will start to eat away at your lean mass as well as fat, causing a relapse in weight gain more likely. The way I'm doing it may be very slow, but at least I'm developing lean mass while losing fat.

ETA: For those who aren't in the know, your BMR is simply how many calories your body will burn in a day, if all you did was lay in bed and didn't do a thing. No going to the washroom, no eating, no getting up, no moving your arms, nothing. Basically a vegetative state. Simply by getting out of bed, you're suddenly burning off a lot more calories. I would say, at the very least, your NET calories should be your BMR.

2hobbit1

Hi,
You will see a lot of opinions about this but the best info I have seen is on Helloitsdan's post .

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

for safe and consistent weight loss with as little muscle loss as possible, you need to eat more than you BMR - the amount your body needs to maintain organ function and less than you TDEE - the amount of calories you burn in a day for all of your activities.

The link shows you how to figure this out - it will factor in both your planned deficit as well as you exercise burn so you don't need to chase after you exercise calories unless you do something way more than your usual program.

wolfpack77

Your BMR is what your body consumes doing absolutely nothing for 24 hours. Its the minimum energy required to run your bodily functions. This is the minimum NET calories you should be getting.

Your maintenance can be anywhere from 40-50% higher and most people start to experience fat loss at about 20% above. So if your BMR is 1500, your target fat loss (dieting) calories should be around 1800. This is NET. (includes exercise calories.)

So if you're burning 450 calories on an elliptical in a workout, you should eat 1800 + 450 = 2250 calories that day. If you're not exercising then just eat 1800. This would probably produce about a 1lb/week loss in most people.

HMToomey

Zumba. I'm 194 pounds right now so I am bigger and I don't stop running, high knees, jumping, squats, advanced jacks and dancing for the full hour, covered in sweat and HR up at 160 for the majority of the hour. If you find the right instructor and stick with it you burn a ton of calories. My instructor is more fitness oriented than dance and so it is more like a high impact aerobics class with kicking beats vs. a dance class. I am using Aerobics - high impact on MFP to enter it and it says 617 an hour.

I have no doubt that some contestants on the biggest loser are burning 600 calories in an hour when they can drop upwards of 15 pounds in a week. 600*8*7/3500 only equates out to 9.6 pounds lost. I am understanding that they work out for 8 hours a day, though I am not positive on that fact if they are working out less they are burning far more.

04ward

Bump