Help!

keannajohns
keannajohns Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok sorry I just started my journey of losing weight and the MFP put my calories at 1250 but reading all this stuff about tdee and bmr has me thinking maybe I'm wrong and idk what to do now! My tdee is 2835 and my bmr is 1661 , does anyone have any idea on what I should be doing? I just want to lose weight !

Replies

  • missmegan831
    missmegan831 Posts: 824 Member
    Thanks for posting this... as I too have been confused... I dropped my calories to 1200 and then was told to increase them to 1480, my Tdee is the same as yours... Hopeful someone can let us both in on the equation to properly adjust calories for weight loss..
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    You probably set your weight loss to 2 pounds a week. Unless you have more than 50 pounds to lose, this is going to default to the 1200 calorie minimum the site sets automatically.

    1200 calories a day is the minimum amount recommended to adults to prevent malnutrition, that is why it is the default on MFP.

    Try setting your weight loss at half a pound a week. Most people here find that 2 pounds a week is way too aggressive unless you are morbidly obese. It usually back fires and people will either re-set their goals or give up completely.
  • 20shan08
    20shan08 Posts: 219 Member
    I've lost 84 pounds since August 2011. I started mfp in march 2011 at around 236 pounds, I'm 162 now (took a few "breaks" since march) and I've stuck to mfp calories for the most part. I eat 1200-1300 calories, didnt eat back my excersize cals (at most I burned around 300 cals per day). I'm happy, healthy and I've had no problems. I stopped at 170 for about 2 months and maintained that weight, before I decided to lose a bit more.

    Lots of people on here will give you crap about eating more. But really, it's based on each person. My doctor told me what I was doing is fine, as long as I feel good. Feel free to add me, my diary is open so you can take a look of you'd like :)
  • LauraDotts
    LauraDotts Posts: 732 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    Weight loss is a funny thing. You don't necessarily lose weight equal to how much you food you cut out in a linear manner. There's only so fast your body wants to lose weight. So, please eat at least your BMR, and it sounds like you could comfortably eat about 2,000 calories a day and still have a significant caloric deficit.

    You'll probably be more successful at 2,000 calories as well, rather than unnecessarily punishing yourself and making weight management feel horrible instead of healthy!
  • missmegan831
    missmegan831 Posts: 824 Member
    Weight loss is a funny thing. You don't necessarily lose weight equal to how much you food you cut out in a linear manner. There's only so fast your body wants to lose weight. So, please eat at least your BMR, and it sounds like you could comfortably eat about 2,000 calories a day and still have a significant caloric deficit.

    You'll probably be more successful at 2,000 calories as well, rather than unnecessarily punishing yourself and making weight management feel horrible instead of healthy!

    Thank you for the information... I think I'm going to increase my calories... will prob help with my hunger on certain days too... I was trying to lose weight to fast and I think it caught up with me...
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    Ok sorry I just started my journey of losing weight and the MFP put my calories at 1250 but reading all this stuff about tdee and bmr has me thinking maybe I'm wrong and idk what to do now! My tdee is 2835 and my bmr is 1661 , does anyone have any idea on what I should be doing? I just want to lose weight !

    If your TDEE is 2835, then take out about a 20% deficit (567), and eat around 2268. For a more aggressive weightloss now at the beginning, you can even take it down to around 1800 or so. I'd keep a good buffer above BMR.
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Weight loss is a funny thing. You don't necessarily lose weight equal to how much you food you cut out in a linear manner. There's only so fast your body wants to lose weight. So, please eat at least your BMR, and it sounds like you could comfortably eat about 2,000 calories a day and still have a significant caloric deficit.

    You'll probably be more successful at 2,000 calories as well, rather than unnecessarily punishing yourself and making weight management feel horrible instead of healthy!

    Thanks for this reply. I'm stuck too and I know it's because my calories in are around 1200 or 1300. I'm not starving but that's still too little food.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    If your TDEE is 2835, then take out about a 20% deficit (567), and eat around 2268. For a more aggressive weightloss now at the beginning, you can even take it down to around 1800 or so. I'd keep a good buffer above BMR.
    ^ This. You may also want to read the first post in this thread:

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

    There's also a group for tips and discussion:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/7965-in-place-of-a-road-map
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Ok sorry I just started my journey of losing weight and the MFP put my calories at 1250 but reading all this stuff about tdee and bmr has me thinking maybe I'm wrong and idk what to do now! My tdee is 2835 and my bmr is 1661 , does anyone have any idea on what I should be doing? I just want to lose weight !

    If your TDEE is 2835, then take out about a 20% deficit (567), and eat around 2268. For a more aggressive weightloss now at the beginning, you can even take it down to around 1800 or so. I'd keep a good buffer above BMR.

    ^^good approach.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    Ok sorry I just started my journey of losing weight and the MFP put my calories at 1250 but reading all this stuff about tdee and bmr has me thinking maybe I'm wrong and idk what to do now! My tdee is 2835 and my bmr is 1661 , does anyone have any idea on what I should be doing? I just want to lose weight !

    I recommend eating net 1700 to lose. Eat your 1700 plus your exercise calories... if you burn 300 per day in exercise, that would put you at maybe 2000 daily with an 800 calorie/day deficit.
  • Gettingthin67
    Gettingthin67 Posts: 14
    Droping your calories down to 1200 or less is never a good idea!
    To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

    If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
    If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
    If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
    If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
    If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

    Then if you want to gain weight add 500 more calories and if you want to lose weight you just remove 500kcal.

    You have to make sure to eat the exact amount of calories everyday not less because that may leads to muscle loss and we actually want FAT LOSS. For that all you need is a healthy lifestyle, don't call it a diet because it's not. You have to eat as healthy as possible; which means lots of veggies and fruits, protein and fat but also carbs (GOOD ones)
    To help you lose weight you'd have to lower your carbs intake because that's often the main reason why people are gaining weight.
    -Bad carbs= White bread, white rice, pasta, chips, alcohol everything that is processed and full of sugar= biscuits, candies, breakfast cereals, sodas, juices, pastries, nutella and so on. Those are low in fiber and nutrients, high GI (Glycemic Index), the calories are converted to fat, they increase your insulin level which will increases your cravings, make you feel tired..

    -Good carbs= veggies, fruits, whole grains, brown rice, quinoa.. those are called complex carbs, they are high in nutrients and fiber, low GI and they also stimulate your metabolism!

    Believe me chosing between good carbs and bad carbs will really make a difference in your weight loss!

    Also you'll need to drink water, TONS OF WATER. Give up about all the sugary drinks, they're full of unecessary calories so useless, have water instead, or green tea (= boost your metabolism), coffee.

    Weight loss is about: 80% diet and 20% exercice, so for an efficient weight loss you'll need to exercice 5 to 7 days a week at least for 30min: Cardio will help you lose fat from ALL your body so I have to tell you that you cannot spot a reduce, like doing crunches everyday won't help you lose fat from your tummy but from all your body, you cannot choose to target an area, your body will! Cardio means running, walking, biking, dancing ... everything that will increase your heart rate!
    Start lifting weights, seriously! 2 weight lifting sessions a week can help reduce body fat by 3% in just 10weeks. Because the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn, the more fat you lose! So you really need to concentrate on muscles gain, don't worry i'm not talking about getting bulky like bodybuilding or something haha! In order too gain muscles it's super important to NOT starve yourself, which means never eat below 1200kcal and eat between 50 and 100g of protein everyday!

    Don't forget that patience is key, it's gonna be taugh, but you have to stick to it! Because if you want it bad enough, nothing can stop you! Push yourself, learn to love the burn and listen to your body, if you need a rest then rest, if you crave chocolate then have a piece of dark chocolate but not the entire bar. Treat yourself once a week, have fun and remember to stay positive!

    I'm sorry for the bad english, i'm french actually haha. I'm not a nutritionnist, but i made tons of researches so you can trust me, find what works for you, if you don't like running don't run for example, just enjoy and don't frustrate yourself, remember it's a lifestyle not a diet! Hope it helped, you can ask me stuff if you want, i don't know everything but i can still try to answer!

    GOOD LUCK, YOU CAN DO IT SO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    You've already gotten some good advice here. In general you shouldn't be eating below BMR. Remember that a fast weight loss due to extreme changes is less likely to be maintainable than a reasonably speed loss as you learn to change your lifestyle.

    Here's where I've collected some of the better advice I've seen here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin_Bin/view/how-to-use-myfitnesspal-427993
  • keannajohns
    keannajohns Posts: 11
    Thank you everyone for the replies! The carbs is what gets me , I drink water nothing else but it's really hard to completely cut out sugar , I stopped eating candy but there is sugar in everything ! I think I'll probably up my calories a little bit and try to figure out what's a good range . I went from eating fast food and candy and soda everyday to eating healthy fast so it's going to take time to get used to it !
  • Gettingthin67
    Gettingthin67 Posts: 14
    That sounds perfect, congrats! I know it's hard it's a long process but you really have to stay focused!
    And of course it's impossible to cut out carbs completely, because you need them! It's what gives you energy! You just have to choose the good ones! Eat whenever you're hungry, have healthy snacks such as nuts and fruits and peanut butter!
    Yeay junk food is seriously disgusting so glad you give up on them!
  • julie781
    julie781 Posts: 221 Member
    Eat somewhere in between your bmr and tdee. Maybe 1800 or 1900 and see how that goes.

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