Calorie Intake Confusion - All those fancy numbers!

Marksman21
Marksman21 Posts: 126 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Alright, so my biggest problem in my goals has come up. At first it seemed simple, follow a set calorie goal and stick with it till you reach your needed weight. Sounds good, but then everything between MFP, My Doc, and my friends, started pushing me in so many different directions that I need to take a time out and ask!

Here's the number crunch:
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 242 lbs
Goal Weight: 200 lbs
Body Fat percentage: 26%
BMR: 2127 (2215 Harris-Benedict)
RMR: 2425
TDEE:2675
Lifestyle: Sedentary

So here's the situation. When I came to MFP, it gave me a set Calorie goal and something to keep steady with, and eventually work down as I reduced my weight. Seemed simple enough. But after a month, I slowed down. I expected it, but the fact was, I wasn't moving much after that. Figuring my body was just adjusting, I kept with it, but nothing changed.

After a doc visit, he introduced me to BMR and RMR. Yay, the simplistic got a bit more complex, but I could handle. From what he says, I should be eating at BMR, that's 200-300 calories more than I have eaten before. Confused a bit, since it threw what I was understanding out the window.

So I started to ask around, and that's when what was simple became an all too complex mess of math and numbers with little to no real proffessional commentary. Eat at MFP suggestion, Eat at BMR, Eat at RMR... enough is enough. I need help. Where do I look too for a reasonable number to stick to for daily calorie intake?!

Little help?

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I used this topic: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    I used the links to tools there to calculate my BMR and my TDEE, and following the guidelines in the thread, subtracted the appropriate percentage from my TDEE to set my calorie goal manually here at MFP (currently 1800 per day).

    The simplicity of it is to eat in between my BMR and my TDEE - by doing so I will still lose weight. I make sure I at least NET my BMR every day, and usually hit the 1800 no problem. I don't worry about eating back exercise cals, unless I need them to net the BMR, or if I'm hungry.

    On days that I go over the 1800, I don't sweat it because I know that as long as I'm not wildly over my TDEE, I'm still good to go. This system has worked very well for me and a lot of other MFPers! Check it out.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,322 Member
    Generally eating at your BMR is a good thing to do, but realize as you lose your weight your BMR will go down as will your TDEE. If you eat between your BMR and TDEE you will lose weight. If you eat at your TDEE you will maintain your weight. If you eat over it, you will gain weight. The problem is the numbers you have from the calculators are estimates. For the vast majority of people this will be quite accurate. However, you could be one of the few who is an outlier and does not fall in the middle of the bell curve.

    Beyond that, it is sort of hard to make concrete suggestions. As you lose weight you need to adjust your calorie goals lower since you will burn less since you are carrying around less weight.

    Do you exercise at all? If not, I will recommend you do, especially resistance training either with bodyweight or weights in a progressive program that increases the difficulty over time.

    I also recommend the In Place of a Roadmap suggested above.
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member


    Here's the number crunch:
    Height: 5' 7"
    Weight: 242 lbs
    Goal Weight: 200 lbs
    Body Fat percentage: 26%
    BMR: 2127 (2215 Harris-Benedict)
    RMR: 2425
    TDEE:2675
    Lifestyle: Sedentary
    A question...
    Is your goal of 200 lbs. just a preliminary one? I started at 200 and have lost 30 lbs. to date.
    I'm a 5'-7", 51 year old male and the top of the healthy weight scale is about 160 lbs. via BMI.
    Using fat percentage it's anywhere from 10-25% body fat.

    Here's a simple sheet I made to play with the estimates:

    http://68.179.34.113:9000/axs/u:c05ebc7fe5e71fdd76ef459809fbff1b/BMR-TDEE calc.xls
  • JennKie1
    JennKie1 Posts: 200 Member
    I agree w/ AmyRhubarb!! :smile: : http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Tons of valuable information! It gave me a good understanding of how things work and falls within the guidelines suggested by my doctor. He said the recommended calories MFP gave me were "ridculously low" for my activity level and suggested 300-600 more calories a day (more for heavy workout days). I followed the instructions on the thread above, and they also put me in the range suggested by my doctor. The beauty of it is that it's really easy to plug in your numbers and make appropriate adjustments as your body changes and you progress. MFP is great, but the guidelines are very generic and certainly don't work for everyone.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    The first thing to realize is that MFP only does math. If you chose too aggressive of a goal it does the math and spews out a number. It's up to you to add the common sense part that says that the number is too low and you need to back up a bit.
  • Marksman21
    Marksman21 Posts: 126 Member
    Generally eating at your BMR is a good thing to do, but realize as you lose your weight your BMR will go down as will your TDEE. If you eat between your BMR and TDEE you will lose weight. If you eat at your TDEE you will maintain your weight. If you eat over it, you will gain weight. The problem is the numbers you have from the calculators are estimates. For the vast majority of people this will be quite accurate. However, you could be one of the few who is an outlier and does not fall in the middle of the bell curve.

    Beyond that, it is sort of hard to make concrete suggestions. As you lose weight you need to adjust your calorie goals lower since you will burn less since you are carrying around less weight.

    Do you exercise at all? If not, I will recommend you do, especially resistance training either with bodyweight or weights in a progressive program that increases the difficulty over time.

    I also recommend the In Place of a Roadmap suggested above.

    Mondays and Fridays I do 15 - 30 minute strength exercising. Mostly just pushups, crunches, sit ups, lunges, squats. Tues to Thursday USED to be for 30+ minutes biking ... until one of my bike's pedals broke off, strangely the pedal is intact, the screwpoint it was installed in has been worn and the metal is twisted. Trying to jury rig repair it, but nothing is quite working.

    Once that's back in order though, I'm back to the schedule. Its usually light biking, nothing too heavy, but enough to burn out that excess energy I have left from my job.

    PS. To add to this, despite the exercises, I spend the rest of my day in front of my PC.
  • Marksman21
    Marksman21 Posts: 126 Member


    Here's the number crunch:
    Height: 5' 7"
    Weight: 242 lbs
    Goal Weight: 200 lbs
    Body Fat percentage: 26%
    BMR: 2127 (2215 Harris-Benedict)
    RMR: 2425
    TDEE:2675
    Lifestyle: Sedentary
    A question...
    Is your goal of 200 lbs. just a preliminary one? I started at 200 and have lost 30 lbs. to date.
    I'm a 5'-7", 51 year old male and the top of the healthy weight scale is about 160 lbs. via BMI.
    Using fat percentage it's anywhere from 10-25% body fat.

    Here's a simple sheet I made to play with the estimates:

    http://68.179.34.113:9000/axs/u:c05ebc7fe5e71fdd76ef459809fbff1b/BMR-TDEE calc.xls

    200 is my first major milestone. I don't mind being a big guy, but I do wanna be healthier about it. I wan't to get to 200 lbs and hold there for a bit, if I feel like pushing back into an even more fit form (which I might considering I'm enjoying what I'm accomplishing now), I'll set a new goal. Reach for the stars, but take small steps.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,322 Member
    Generally eating at your BMR is a good thing to do, but realize as you lose your weight your BMR will go down as will your TDEE. If you eat between your BMR and TDEE you will lose weight. If you eat at your TDEE you will maintain your weight. If you eat over it, you will gain weight. The problem is the numbers you have from the calculators are estimates. For the vast majority of people this will be quite accurate. However, you could be one of the few who is an outlier and does not fall in the middle of the bell curve.

    Beyond that, it is sort of hard to make concrete suggestions. As you lose weight you need to adjust your calorie goals lower since you will burn less since you are carrying around less weight.

    Do you exercise at all? If not, I will recommend you do, especially resistance training either with bodyweight or weights in a progressive program that increases the difficulty over time.

    I also recommend the In Place of a Roadmap suggested above.

    Mondays and Fridays I do 15 - 30 minute strength exercising. Mostly just pushups, crunches, sit ups, lunges, squats. Tues to Thursday USED to be for 30+ minutes biking ... until one of my bike's pedals broke off, strangely the pedal is intact, the screwpoint it was installed in has been worn and the metal is twisted. Trying to jury rig repair it, but nothing is quite working.

    Once that's back in order though, I'm back to the schedule. Its usually light biking, nothing too heavy, but enough to burn out that excess energy I have left from my job.

    PS. To add to this, despite the exercises, I spend the rest of my day in front of my PC.

    Great. The working out will be of great benefit.

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