Eating below BMR? Eating back exercise cals?

Options
LucyLocket92
LucyLocket92 Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys,

Okay, I know that both the topics in the title have pretty much been done to the death on here, but I'm stuck and in need of a little advice :-)

I basically started out on MFP eating just 1200 cals a day. Now, that worked for a while, but then I hit a plateau at around 164lbs. After a few weeks of deliberating, I decided to actually up my calories to 1400. I figured that as I was nearing my goal (140lbs), my loss would slow down, so aiming to lose 1lb a week instead of 2 seemed sensible. It worked for a while and now I'm down to 157lbs, and again seem to have hit another plateau.

I've been reading various posts about eating below BMR; not to eat below, to eat below anyway, to eat back exercise calories etc. etc, and I'm really quite confused as to what to do. Currently, I'm aiming to eat 1400 calories a day and not eat exercise calories back. If I do feel ridiculously hungry that day, I only eat half of them back so as not to over-estimate the calories burned.

I know a lot of people tend to do this, however, if I am to believe what the posts about eating below BMR are saying (slows down your metabolism etc.) could this be part of the reason why I've hit a plateau? Should I perhaps bump up my calories again a little, and eat back my exercise calories?

Pleeeeease help :-)

xx

Replies

  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    Options
    The 1200 calorie goal is after deducting exercise calories. Thus, if you were actually eating 1500, and burning 300 in total exercise, then you were not only reaching the 1200 net goal but adhering to the 2 lbs a week plan.

    However, if you were eating 1200 and doing 300 calories of total exercise, you were going below the net goal and ending at 900. A 900 net goal would lead to a hypothetical 2.6 lbs a week plan.

    So, if you adhered to the latter scenario, you were attempting to lose more than initially planned.

    But whether you realize it or not, you figured out what to do when you have less body fat and ultimately hit the next plateau - up your calories and/or reduce exercise to reduce the overall deficit. As you get leaner, your weekly projected weight loss needs to go down. So you may have started off at 2.6, but dropped to 2.1, then need to drop to a true 1.6 followed by 1.1 and so forth.

Categories