who is right... Fintness Frog or MFP? different BMR??

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shakybabe
shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I checked out Fitness Frog after seeing it mentioned on here (never heard of it before)

MFP says my BMR is 1,237 (43yrs female 132lbs (60Kg) 5ft 4)

Fitness Frog says my BMR is 1322!

Someone also mentioned resting metabolism on here so I checked RMR too and that is lower than BMR at 1306? Surely I burn more whilst awake but resting than I do when I'm asleep or in a coma??

My TDEE according to Fitness Frog is 1586 for sedentary, 1817 for light exercise 1-3 times a week, 2048 for Mod exercise 3-5 times a week. I'm still not sure what my TDEE is I usually chose sedentary as wheelchair user and just add any calories I burn doing exercise though I only have the figures on Wii and passive trainer bike to go on?

I was recommended 1200 on here so have been on that since last August when I joined here and not lost anything for last few months.

Exercise depends on pain levels yesterday I burned 1,139 cals on passive trainer bike whilst watching telly, today I can barely move so not exercising but moving about doing laundry emptying washer/dryer, tidying up etc I won't go on bike again today but hoping to do 50 mins on Kettlebell tomorrow morning with probably 30-45 mins of Wii Fit. . usually about 200 cals on wii Fit not sure what it is for Kettlebell DVD as have to adapt some of the exercises so I don't count the session. .. I probably go on bike later to burn 300 cals and make it 500 as I've no idea what I'd burn doing Kettlebells from sitting and floor exercise section.

I think my numbers are probably off (though doesn't help getting different number from each site) but maybe cos my body has reached its set point? (I was around 60kg for most of teens early adulthood till thyroid went wrong and gained loads of weight) I only have another 3lb to go to finish wii fit game (says I should be 9st 3)

I'd really like to finish it (and get the last 3lb off) before xmas cos I was wanting to get the new Wii Fit U and finish the old one before starting the new one!

Can anyone help me with the numbers?

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    there are multiple formulae for predicting your BMR based on height, weight, age, gender, lean mass, etc (or some of these). None of them are spot on exact for everyone, most of us are within 10% of what they say.

    So I would say MFP is estimating your BMR to be 1110 - 1360 (but it may be outside this range) and FF 1190 - 1450 (ditto)

    RMR should be more than BMR as it includes more things (by definition).
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
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    I checked the numbers again t make sure i didn't get them wrong way around and it definitely says 1306 for RMR and 1322 for BMR unless they have wrong heading on the wrong calculator and its the other way around!

    I do spike days so haven't been on 1200 for every day solid since last august. Usually I stay low mon, tues, go up a bit wed (calorie wise) lower thurs, fri, bit higher sat and sun spike day so can do cooked brunch and have sunday dinner and usually a brandy and coke! (1800-2000 cals) but sometimes i exercise sunday and burn about 600 of those off, but would still have been over the recommended 1200 so still classed it as a spike day.

    I don't know if having an under active thyroid means I'd be at the lower end of those predicted ranges automatically for BMR? (and due to age and peri menopause?)
  • Claire411
    Claire411 Posts: 10 Member
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    I read ....somewhere... that you burn more calories while asleep than awake (but resting) because your body does stuff like grow and heal while you're asleep where it doesn't when you're awake.

    I think that's where that trivial info 'You burn more calories sleeping than watching TV' comes from.
  • Claire411
    Claire411 Posts: 10 Member
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    I read ....somewhere... that you burn more calories while asleep than awake (but resting) because your body does stuff like grow and heal while you're asleep where it doesn't when you're awake.

    I think that's where that trivial info 'You burn more calories sleeping than watching TV' comes from.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
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    oh right., that kind of make sense cos your body heals and stuff while you're sleeping. I know at hospitals they sometimes keep people in a coma for that reason, so body will heal itself after major trauma (strokes, burns etc).

    So which number do I go by then? surely it should be RMR x activity level to get calories burned? is it 1.2 for sedentary?
  • McLifterPants
    McLifterPants Posts: 457 Member
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    Personally, i would say whatever the highest BMR estimate you got is, don't go below that. You said your sedentary TDEE is 1586, and the higher BMR estimate was 1322, so maybe try upping to 1450 calories? Also, you didn't mention whether you eat back your exercise calories or not, but if you're burning 1100 calories some days you DEFINITELY need to eat more on those days! Otherwise you're only giving your body 100 calories to use in normal function for the full day, which is nowhere near enough!

    Final note: the less you have to lose, the slower it comes off, so don't be surprised if it really does take until Christmas to lose those last 3 lbs. What matters is that you get where you want to be eventually, so be patient :) It's a marathon, not a sprint!
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
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    How does my body know I'm on my last 3lbs? for all it knows I could be aiming for 9st and have another 6lbs to go!

    It's just odd how all the same things were working and weight coming off steadily each month then as soon as I have only a few more pound to go nothing works anymore!

    I do tend to eat more those days will usually allow bread that day for sandwiches or carbs with dinner, might treat myself to oven chips for a change and have a chocolate brownie for 'pudding', or crisps for supper as I know I got loads of spare cals! Sometimes its red meat for a change like might do (gluten free) spaghetti and meatballs one of my favourite but high in cals!

    Is that eating 1450, not counting any exercise?
  • wheels5894
    wheels5894 Posts: 26 Member
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    Check out http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/bmr-formula.php This site gives you the formula to work this out. I'd use a spreadsheet so you can check the changes as your weight decreases.
  • McLifterPants
    McLifterPants Posts: 457 Member
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    How does my body know I'm on my last 3lbs? for all it knows I could be aiming for 9st and have another 6lbs to go!

    It's just odd how all the same things were working and weight coming off steadily each month then as soon as I have only a few more pound to go nothing works anymore!

    I do tend to eat more those days will usually allow bread that day for sandwiches or carbs with dinner, might treat myself to oven chips for a change and have a chocolate brownie for 'pudding', or crisps for supper as I know I got loads of spare cals! Sometimes its red meat for a change like might do (gluten free) spaghetti and meatballs one of my favourite but high in cals!

    Is that eating 1450, not counting any exercise?

    Yes, 1450, PLUS exercise.

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