Understanding BMR

19moose58

I simply need assistance understanding BMR and how that all works. If my BMR results show that I should automatically be burning off more calories by resting than I'm presently consuming in total, why am I still gaining weight - even with exercising?

yarwell

by BMR "results" do you mean the prediction of a calculation on the internet ( +/- 10%, only hits 70% of people in that range) or a measurement ?

Share some numbers - height, weight, % body fat etc plus what you're eating and exercising.

omma_to_3

Well, you will not gain weight by eating too little - it may hinder weight loss, but you won't actually GAIN weight from it. So, there is some miscounting going on. Either your BMR is way off the calculation (not typical - it may be off, but not by a lot) or your under-counting your food or over-counting your exercise.

But yes, stats would help here.

19moose58

Thanks for replying. I am a 54 year old female, 5' 7" 185#. I have always been a very slender gal, never weighing more than 135# until I had a hysterectomy in 1999. I gained about 20#, but it leveled off and I could live with that. Then, I lived in a house full of black mold and have developed tons of food allergies/intolerances. I only eat veggies (sweet potatoes, green peas, black beans, green beans, romaine, carrots) some fruits, lean proteins (skinned chicken breast, lean beef, talpia, salmon, some boiled shrimp, and every once in a while turkey bacon for breakfast), a few sunflower seeds on a salad, and two cups of popcorn for a snack 2x/week. I am allergic to dairy and most grains, so I don't eat any breads, pastries, desserts, etc. I only use light olive oil for any cooking or even to lightly moisten my otherwise dry salads, because I never use salad dressings. I can't use condiments. Well, that's all that comes to mind right now. Ask if you need to know more. I appreciate your willingness to help.

yarwell

Your "standard" BMR might be ~1400, not sure what the effect on hormones of the hysterectomy would have on that (if any). But it's an estimate anyway, +/- 10% at best so you could be down near 1200 at worst.

Taking 1200 as a worst case and adding 20% for sedentary takes you to 1440, add 360 for exercise ( ? ) and we're at 1800 burned.

How much you eating ?

19moose58

In all honesty! I NEVER go over the 1200 cal/day !!!!!!! And I DO use a food diary online !!! I have told my doctor this and he just keeps telling me... calories in must be less than calories burned. I keep telling him that they ARE !!! Very frustrating! The only thing I can say that I do wrong is I do not drink enough water.

DanaDark

Getting enough protein? Possible for the body to spend fewer calories naturally in a day than estimated BMR if it doesn't have the proper building blocks to repair cells and perform other vital functions (won't spend energy doing something it lacks the supplies for).

19moose58

Well, perhaps not enough protein. IDK. But, I eat some at every meal except one when I eat a big salad...i put Sunflower Seeds on it instead of meat. I will watch the protein intake. Thanks for helping. i ReALLY appreciate your trying to understand and help, because I am more concerned about my health going into this stage of my life in the 50's-60's age span.

DanaDark

Well, perhaps not enough protein. IDK. But, I eat some at every meal except one when I eat a big salad...i put Sunflower Seeds on it instead of meat. I will watch the protein intake. Thanks for helping. i ReALLY appreciate your trying to understand and help, because I am more concerned about my health going into this stage of my life in the 50's-60's age span.

Fish, poultry, and eggs are all very healthy sources of protein. You should aim for 20 to 30 percent of your calories from protein sources.

19moose58

Very frustrating too because everyone keeps telling me I'm doing all the right things. It just isn't working. Other suggestion was thyroid, which tests within normal range, albeit on the low side, but conventional medical physicians don't seem to want to do anything until it actually registers way to low.

Hummingbird82

IF it is a thyroid issue you should go to an endocrinologist, NOT an ordinary doctor as most doctors who don't specialize in hormones have no clue that being on the low side of "normal" CAN affect your weight and other issues.
Also, 1200 Calories is often too low for many people to lose weight on.
Is this 1200 calories total (Meaning really eating under 1200 calories because of exercise burn) or 1200 NET calories. You should never eat under your BMR because your body is holding on to every calorie because BMR is basic calories your body needs just to function your organs if you were in a coma all day, not for Total Energy expenditure throughout the day and not including exercise.

19moose58

I'm allergic to eggs, but I will watch to be sure I'm getting protein in those percentages from other sources. Thanks so much!

19moose58

Aren't you two the cutest couple ever! I am actually consuming between 900 and 1200 calories per day. I thought the same thing about "starvation mode" but there seems to be such controversy about that now, and I find it difficult to eat much more, primarily due to all of the foods I am allergic to! No wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy, corn, yeast, almonds, preservatives, vinegar, maltodextrin... gees I find it hard to overeat!

19moose58

@Hummingbird...thanks for the advice about the endocrinologist. I will give that a try once I find a job again and can afford it! Guess I figured a family doctor would be knowledgeable and treat it. Blessings!

psuLemon

Aren't you two the cutest couple ever! I am actually consuming between 900 and 1200 calories per day. I thought the same thing about "starvation mode" but there seems to be such controversy about that now, and I find it difficult to eat much more, primarily due to all of the foods I am allergic to! No wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy, corn, yeast, almonds, preservatives, vinegar, maltodextrin... gees I find it hard to overeat!

Have you tried to eat more? Most people your size can eat 1700 calories and still lose. Under feeding your body can make it hard to lose weight. Why dont you bump your calories to 1500 for a few weeks and then up to 1700.

psuLemon

Based on your stats alone, if you dont workout, 1500 calories should be your goal. If you are working out, it just augments the amount of calories required. Its like a fire, you need to keep putting fuel to maintain the fire. Well 900-1200 calories is not a lot of fuel.

19moose58

@LEMON ON WHEELS - OK...I'm reading the same thing everywhere on this site! I will try to eat more and will keep posting my progress! Thanks to everyone!

126siany

Just some ideas to consider, as they are common issues:

-How are you measuring your portions? Eyeballing? Measuring cups and spoons? Weighing?

If you aren't weighing, try weighing everything for a few weeks and see if that makes your logging more accurate.

-Are you sure that you are counting everything? Liquids, beverages, any "tastes" you take when preparing food or off a grandchild's plate?


-Do you think your Activity Level is set properly? Sometimes folks include their planned exercise when selecting an activity level and then also log exercise, so they double-count their exercise. Activity Level is just supposed to be a your normal workday without any planned exercise (like a trip to the gym).

-How are you estimating your Exercise Calories? MFP's estimate (which is often high) or some other method like a HRM or a BodyBugg, etc.? It's possible to overestimate calories burned in exercise.

tinytinam

That really does suck about the black mould. And about your dismissive doctor. You should keep a printout of your food and exercise diary for a month and bring it along to show him. it won't be so easy to dismiss you then, I have some food intolerances myself( and a hysterectomy) and find that they seem to increase the older you get. I am lucky though, I have a really good medical nutritionist who looks at everything and use a homeopath as well. Good luck with everything. Please do drink more water though.

kidcole11

Some swear by their cheat days for overcoming plateaus. Once in awhile they might eat a thousand or more calories than usual and it seems to work. With your allergies, it could take some research to find some higher calorie yet nutrient rich food.

kidcole11

do you get much calcium?

19moose58

All great ideas...I will take all into consideration and put into action that is possible with my restrictions! Mental notes: I am not counting exercise to add back in calories at all; A cheat day sounds extravagant!; printing out my food log is a great idea to show my doctor; changing doctors probably would be better ; yes, I do count absolutely everything, which really isn't difficult because eating isn't a big priority for me; I should really start drinking water; I measure using cups/spoons.

A GIANT THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!

@kidcole11 - I lack in calcium due to my dairy intolerance, I'm sure.

yarwell

So how many grams of protein are you logging per day ? Calcium supplements are widely available, you might also want to check your Vitamin D level or use a high dose VitD supplement 300 iu per day for a month just to be sure - many of us are VitD deficient.

If you're using this site for food logging you can open the diary for public view.

Perhaps you should consider intermittent fasting - two days a week with only calorie free drinks or if that's too hard with 500 cals and <30g of protein - this may break the impasse.

charitas32

Have you looked into yeast overgrowth as a cause of weight problems, Erica White has a very good cookbook, but basically if you think that could be a cause, you need to avoid all sugars and yeast. I only mention this because of the black mould and food intolerances. I know people that have been very sucessful doing this and it helped with other health problems like depression and arthritis too.

19moose58

@charita - i have read about yeast and wondered... my immune system has definitely been compromised by the black mold. I will look into it further. I don't do sugar (maybe 1x/month) and never do yeast of any sort due to my extreme allergic reactions to it, so that shouldn't be a problem. But, thank you sooooo much for thinking of me and sharing that word of wisdom, too.

erickirb

I simply need assistance understanding BMR and how that all works. If my BMR results show that I should automatically be burning off more calories by resting than I'm presently consuming in total, why am I still gaining weight - even with exercising?

most likely one or more of the following apply:
You are eating more than you think you are (weigh solid foods and measure liquids)
You BMR is lower than the calculator show (this can be due to a lower amount of muscle than average for your height, gender and weight)
You may have a hormonal issue (i.e. under-active thyroid)