BMR/ maintaining/ lossing.....read it all, and still confuse

cds2327

I've read the sticky notes, four times!!! Maybe I am just dense or dumb, but I need help.

MFP tells me to lose 1 pound a week to eat 1600 calories a day. it doesn't change when i add in various amounts of exercise on the tools bar, so apparently that is just icing. OK.

MFP tells me that my BMR is 1683/day. So by laying in bed all day, doing nothing...I will burn all the calories I've eaten???

The mayo clinic tells me to maintain my weight to eat 1700 per day. Obviously I don't want to maintain (207 and 5;7" right now). But if i need to eat 1700 to maintain and MFP tells me to eat 1600 to lose one pound a week.....I'm just not getting it. To me that is only a deficit of 100 calories a day, or 700 a week (because I get the idea i need to eat my exercise calories back). A 700 calorie deficit a week isn't going to do squat!
What am I not understanding?

pcbta

the only thing I can think of is that you're not just laying in bed all day. you're up and around, walking, active. even just a little activity raises your metabolism.
also, building muscle and regular workouts burn lots more calories....SO it is possible that you are burning off around 2400 cals per day. remember when you are setting up your profile you put in how active you are, and MFP makes a deficit for you...does this make sense?

Cindy

lilchino4af

When you did your profile, what did you set your physical activity level to? If you set it hight, MFP might have taken that into consideration. But either way, you need a calorie deficit of 500 every day to get to the 3,500 calorie deficit which equals 1 lb weight loss. So if your BMR is 1700, then your calories each day should be 1250...

Not sure where you're trying to put in exercise (not on the tool bar) so unless it was a setting with the goals section, those won't do anything because they're considered "goal" exercises. MFP doesn't take any exercise into consideration until you manually enter them in the Exercise tab under Cardio (Strength doesn't allot calories burned nor does it factor into your daily calories on the Food tab).

Hope this helps.

lotusfromthemud

I've read the sticky notes, four times!!! Maybe I am just dense or dumb, but I need help.

MFP tells me to lose 1 pound a week to eat 1600 calories a day. it doesn't change when i add in various amounts of exercise on the tools bar, so apparently that is just icing. OK.

MFP tells me that my BMR is 1683/day. So by laying in bed all day, doing nothing...I will burn all the calories I've eaten???

The mayo clinic tells me to maintain my weight to eat 1700 per day. Obviously I don't want to maintain (207 and 5;7" right now). But if i need to eat 1700 to maintain and MFP tells me to eat 1600 to lose one pound a week.....I'm just not getting it. To me that is only a deficit of 100 calories a day, or 700 a week (because I get the idea i need to eat my exercise calories back). A 700 calorie deficit a week isn't going to do squat!
What am I not understanding?

Are you sure that the mayo site is telling you 1700 to maintain your current weight? Because that may also be a BMR reading, not a maintenance calorie reading. For someone who is 200, a maintenance calorie should be well over 2000 calories per day.

I would go with what MFP is recommending to you. (1600, as you have a bit to lose judging by your ticker).

The biggest, most important question is: are you losing weight doing what MFP recommends? If the answer to that is "yes", then keep doing what you're doing.

cds2327

I set my physical activity level to sedentary, because other than working out I am a stay at home mom and i don't do a whole heck of alot during the day.
I just don't get how my MBR is 1683, but i need to eat 1600 to lose 1 pound a week??

nebulas

One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the base rates are estimates. Some folks are going to have their own way of calculating that based upon whatever books/doctors formula they are using and whatever else they decide to throw into the mix to give themselves the best chance of being right for MOST people. It's a gave of averages.

Everyone is different. If you want an accurate reading I recommend going to a doctor who can calculate this for you based upon the actual performance of your body.

lotusfromthemud

I set my physical activity level to sedentary, because other than working out I am a stay at home mom and i don't do a whole heck of alot during the day.
I just don't get how my MBR is 1683, but i need to eat 1600 to lose 1 pound a week??

I would contend that you would probably lose at 1683.

But, if 1600 is working, you're losing weight and have good energy levels, than I wouldn't mess with it.

A pound a week means that MFP will automatically set a 500 calorie (from your maintenance calories) deficit. (regardless of your individual BMI or BMR)
So, according to MFP your maintenance calories are 2100 calories per day to maintain your current weight. Over the course of seven days, 500 calories is a weekly deficit of 3500 which should translate to a pound of loss.

Does that help?

cds2327

kindof viviakay! thanks for the help. I feel bad posting this because i know most people just say "read the stickies", but I have....lol

i went to some other sites, and i don't know what the hell is wrong with the mayo clinic. i checked it four times. it tells me to maintain my weight to eat 1700 per day. i know that can't be right.
iam going to stick with the 1600 ish per day and see what happens.

But what if i burn another 500 per day with exercise, can i lose two pounds a week, or no?

MelleyJ

There is a difference in BMR and RMR. Resting Metabolic Rate is what you would burn if you slept for 24 hours. Basal Metabolic Rate is the calories you would burn doing your everyday activities, like walking, eating, watching tv, etc. If you are sedentary, it will be lower. If you are moderately active, it will be higher. That's where the difference is. Your RMR is probably lower, meaning if you laid in bed all day you would probably burn 1300 calories, if that's your RMR. If you are sedentary, meaning you have a desk job and don't do much moving, and then go home and watch tv and hang out at the house, your BMR could be 1700 and your RMR could still be 1300. Does that make sense? They are really two different measurements.

cds2327

There is a difference in BMR and RMR. Resting Metabolic Rate is what you would burn if you slept for 24 hours. Basal Metabolic Rate is the calories you would burn doing your everyday activities, like walking, eating, watching tv, etc. If you are sedentary, it will be lower. If you are moderately active, it will be higher. That's where the difference is. Your RMR is probably lower, meaning if you laid in bed all day you would probably burn 1300 calories, if that's your RMR. If you are sedentary, meaning you have a desk job and don't do much moving, and then go home and watch tv and hang out at the house, your BMR could be 1700 and your RMR could still be 1300. Does that make sense? They are really two different measurements.

That is where I am confused. If my BMR is 1700, and i'm being told to eat 1600 per day, isn't that only a deficit of 100 and will not help me lose weight??

Laceylala

That is funny, I just did my BMR on this site and RMR on another site (in another post) and they are only off by maybe 8 cals.

The way the other site (shapeup.org) explains RMR is that you measure this while you aren't digesting food, not physically active but just calm, relaxed and sitting, laying, etc. Not necessarily sleeping. So in my mind, BMR and RMR were essentially the same...at least according to the two descriptions i read.

MelleyJ

The only thing I can tell you is that it is an estimate. The only real way to know your BMR and your RMR is to get tested. We do it here at the hospital where I work. It's actually 2 floors below my office. It's non-evasive, but takes a bit of time. You have to be resting and relaxed in order for it to be more accurate. But the place that does this is awesome and I have seen some amazing things. They can do a body scan to measure your % body fat and tell you how much of your body fat is in different parts of your body. It really helps a lot of patients out because they get their actual numbers and not guesses as to their RMR and BMR and they can use the information to make sure they are eating at least the number of calories their body needs (RMR calories) and not going into "starvation mode" as we call it.
My suggestion, to you and myself, would be to go and have it done. I think it's $75 to have it done here, but an investment in your health. I really want to have it done, but my husband is a student so money gets tight sometimes. Check with your local hospital or physician to find out where they offer this testing. Let me know if I can help.

lotusfromthemud

There is a difference in BMR and RMR. Resting Metabolic Rate is what you would burn if you slept for 24 hours. Basal Metabolic Rate is the calories you would burn doing your everyday activities, like walking, eating, watching tv, etc. If you are sedentary, it will be lower. If you are moderately active, it will be higher. That's where the difference is. Your RMR is probably lower, meaning if you laid in bed all day you would probably burn 1300 calories, if that's your RMR. If you are sedentary, meaning you have a desk job and don't do much moving, and then go home and watch tv and hang out at the house, your BMR could be 1700 and your RMR could still be 1300. Does that make sense? They are really two different measurements.

That is where I am confused. If my BMR is 1700, and i'm being told to eat 1600 per day, isn't that only a deficit of 100 and will not help me lose weight??

Your BMR is not the same as your maintenance calories ! (a-ha...I think I got it)

Your BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate...what your body uses to stay alive. Just alive, as in bedridden. Everything you do during the day (not exercise, just stuff) burns calories. This is why your maintenance calories are 2100 according to MFP.

BMR + calories burned from normal activity (just stuff) - a deficit (500 calories a day right now for you) = what MFP tells you to eat.

HTH?!? :flowerforyou:

lotusfromthemud

BMR and RMR are actually the same!

TDEE is "total daily energy expenditure", which is BMR/RMR (interchangeable terms) + daily calories burned by activity.

cds2327

Thanks to everyone. i think i am slowly getting it......:blushing:

MelleyJ

Right.. so, if your BMR is 1650, you do not want to drop your calories below that number. Most people believe in the 1200 calorie rule, because that's the *magic number. But that would be the BMR of a 130 lbs person who wants to weigh 120 lbs. for example. Most people do not have a BMR that low. If you are using that number to start of fyour weight loss, you may not be eating enough, causing your body to break down muscle, which will cause you to lose weight, but not in a healthy way. If you are exercising and not losing weight, it's because you are not eating enough. Like I said, I would highly recommend getting your BMR tested so you know your numbers, but if you can't, stick with your calories and continue your exercise and see how you do. If you start to see the scale drop, you know it's working for you and go with it. There is no magic number unless it's your magic number. I am getting my RMR tested on Monday to make sure I am doing this the right way. Good luck.

acakeforawife

To be honest, I think the Mayo Clinic calculator is a bit wonky. I put in my info (177 lbs, 29, 5'6", female), and it gave me 1900, if I selected inactive. THEN I entered my weight as if I weighed 207 (which you mentioned was your weight) and then it gave me 1750!!! Hello, how can you need LESS calories to maintain a HIGHER weight????

(Ok, now personally I do feel that I actually DO burn more calories now than I did at 207 lbs, BUT that's because I've built up my muscle, etc. But in this case, setting 'inactive' in both scenarios should have resulted in MORE calories, IMHO.)

Maybe visit a couple other sites if you want a comparison (google "BMR calculator"), but ignore the Mayo one for now. Assume it's a bit off. I think most sites will give you a BMR of about 1600-1800. That's, as other's have said, what you would burn if you LITERALLY stayed asleep all day. But you are a SAHM, and everyone knows SAHM's are definitely not doing that! So GENERALLY the rule of thumb for figuring out your maintenance calories is to multiply your BMR by 1.2 (for inactive), 1.375 for lightly active, 1.55 for moderate, etc. Which means the amount of calories you are ACTUALLY burning in the day is more like 2000 -- THAT would be your maintenance calories. Then you can calculate the deficit you want from there.

Hope that helps a little!