Newbie (sort of)! Help with BMR & how much to eat

Chrissiecurit

Just restarted my weight loss journey (again). I want to do things the right way this time. I read the post in the Newbie section called "THE answers to THE questions". It talks about your BMR and how you should eat all of your BMR calories. I want to be sure I understand all this correctly and I think I have been eating less than what I should be. Eating more will be a little scary but hopefully it works!

I am 5' even and 154. According to MFP, my BMR is 1289. So I should be eating at least 1289 calories a day just to "survive", correct? MFP has my daily calorie goal set at 1200. Should I change that to the 1289? Some days I have been eating less than that which I think is what could be hurting me? I work at a desk job all day and am walking every other day (going to try every day) for at least 30 mins. and go 2 miles. According to the post mentioned above, I should also make sure I eat my exercise calories as well, correct? I just purchased a HRM so I can get a better read on the actual calories I am burning.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I am one of those people that if I don't see results, I tend to sabotage myself and eat comfort foods such as chocolate, cookies, McD's, etc! Ugh!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Well it would only recommend that amount if you selected sedentary and/or losing more than 1/2-1 pound a week.

--decrease the rate of weight loss

--try to be a bit more active and select lightly active for activity level

Yes, eat your exercise calories. I'd actually recommend using fat2fitradio.com to find your calorie target.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Okay, guesstimating that you're 35 years old and wanting to be 125 pounds..this is what fat2fit recommends:

Custom BMR Calculation
Thanks for checking your BMR here on Fat 2 Fit Radio. If you're not already subscribed to Fat 2 Fit Radio, consider doing so today. Please visit the Subscribe page to get the podcast delivered automatically to your iTunes, Juice, e-mail inbox or the podcatcher of your choice for FREE.

Entered information: 35 year old female, 60 inches tall, weighing 154 pounds.

From the information that you entered, you'd like to weigh 125 lbs.

Harris-Benedict Formula
There are a few different methods to calculating yourbasal metabolic rate (BMR). One of the most popular, developed in the early 1900's is called the Harris-Benedict formula. Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1442 calories.

Katch-McArdle Forumla
The numbers above are fairly accurate, however they don't take into account your lean body mass. A more accurate formula that does take your lean body mass into account is the Katch-McArdle formula. Since many of us have scales that will tell us our current body fat, this formula may yield more accurate results. Based on the information you provided, body fat percentage of 30%%, you have a lean body mass of 108 lbs., and your BMR is 1430 calories.

Activity Level Daily Calories
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1579
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1810
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2040
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2270
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2500

so basically you should be eating about 1800 calories a day. not eating back exercise calories. I think this approach is simpler and easier to understand. Try this for 4-6 weeks and reassess.

Content2BVee

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

I had this same question and many recommended I should check out this link to help me...from what I understand you should not eat under your BMR and not go over your TDEE; and eat back your exercises...I too want to get a heart rate monitor to see how many calories I'm burning, hopefully it works well for both of us But I think the response about the fat2fit website is accurate because that's what I've been using too. Good luck

sharonlouiset

I've just checked my BMR and it says I should be eating 1525. I eat 1200 at the moment but sometimes when I've earned exercise cals between 1200-1500. Don't quite understand the BMR but should I be eating what they say?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

you should be eating MORE than your bmr. that's quite a bit below your total daily energy expenditure. use the calculator at fat2fit with your goal weight specified and go by the chart.

sharonlouiset

you should be eating MORE than your bmr. that's quite a bit below your total daily energy expenditure. use the calculator at fat2fit with your goal weight specified and go by the chart.

sharonlouiset

you should be eating MORE than your bmr. that's quite a bit below your total daily energy expenditure. use the calculator at fat2fit with your goal weight specified and go by the chart.

I used the calculator which said my BMR was 1525. There was a chart at the bottom of the page saying whether you was lightly active very active etc. Is that chart the cals your meant to be eating to lose weight?

BrettS1973

The fat2fit radio philosophy seems to work I had pretty much stalled my weight loss using MFP's calculated calories, worked out my TDEE using the spreadsheet here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm which seems similar to the fat2fit calculations, and happy to say eating about 250 extra calories a day and losing weight again.