Calories per pound

mellieyeg
mellieyeg Posts: 14
in Health and Weight Loss
I was reading some of the links provided to estimate ho wmany calories one should really be eating based on BMR and one of the articles said (http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-to-estimate-maintenance-caloric-intake.html ) i should plug my numbers in and so i did and MFP gave me BMR of 1560 calories. when I read the article and i followed the 10lbs per lb it said my BMR should be 1960 when i was reading further into it, it said to lose effectively i should be eating in calories 8 lbs per lb, so that means i should eat around 1500 calories a day, i am on 1200 calories. i feel so confused with what this actually means. any help please! i am 5.2 196 lbs and female. and would like to lose 2 lbs a week.

Replies

  • Vicstar1977
    Vicstar1977 Posts: 82
    Im just as confused as you are. I've worked out 3 different BMR's???? The one Im going with is on Fat to Fit Radio, theres a calculator in the tools section. Apparently its the one they use in the military. Thats good enough for me! :smile:
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - Amount of calories you would burn in a coma. In general, you want to eat at least this many calories, although the net calories can be lower
    Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) - Amount of calories you burn per day including exercise. You need to eat less than this number to lose weight, exactly this number to maintain weight, and more than this number to gain weight.
    Net Calories - Amount of calories you eat minus the calories you burn from exercise. This is the goal MFP gives you based on your calculated BMR and an activity multiplier from daily (non-exercise) activity. So if you have an active job/life, you will have a higher net calorie goal and if you have a less active job/life you will have a lower net calorie goal.

    If you use the default MFP settings and set it to 1 lb per week (generally what people should use unless they have a lot or very little to lose), you should log your exercise and eat back at least some of them (the estimates are generally high, so you can leave 100 or so calories for wiggle room).

    Best wishes, feel free to PM if you have questions
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    I was reading some of the links provided to estimate ho wmany calories one should really be eating based on BMR and one of the articles said (http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-to-estimate-maintenance-caloric-intake.html ) i should plug my numbers in and so i did and MFP gave me BMR of 1560 calories. when I read the article and i followed the 10lbs per lb it said my BMR should be 1960 when i was reading further into it, it said to lose effectively i should be eating in calories 8 lbs per lb, so that means i should eat around 1500 calories a day, i am on 1200 calories. i feel so confused with what this actually means. any help please! i am 5.2 196 lbs and female. and would like to lose 2 lbs a week.

    I think that everywhere you say lbs per week, you mean cals per week?
    The 10 cals per lb is estimating your TDEE (NOT BMR), so you should eat less than 1960 cals.
    The 8 cals per lb is how many cals you should eat (not net, so if you set this goal, you should NOT log exercise calories and NOT eat them back).

    So, you should either use the MFP settings to set a net goal (and eat back your exercise cals) or you should set it to 1500 and not eat back your exercise cals unless it is something out of the norm, like if you went on a 3 hour hike or something.
  • mellieyeg
    mellieyeg Posts: 14
    thanks that helps :)

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