Is calory theory a load of tosh, or is my BMR wrong?

366to266

I input all my food and exercise into fatsecret, which does all the calculations (like fitday etc).

It worked out that I use over 4,000 calories a day just being alive. Add to that my one hour of water aerobics every other day and some desk work and walking about and I need 5,000 calories on average per day to maintain my weight. I eat 1,500 calories a day, so I am running a deficit of 3,500 calories a day.

According to calorie theory, every 3,500 calory deficit equals one pound of bodyfat lost. Therefore, if calory theory is true, I should be losing a pound a day/7lb a week and 30lb a month. But I am not.

Is calory theory a load of tosh, or is my BMR wrong?

MY STATS

Height 5ft 4
weight 352 lb
age 54
sedentary

Maybe should find some more online BMR calculators?

Chief_Rocka

Is calory theory a load of tosh, or is my BMR wrong?

both

taso42

Dave Tate cuts on 4k+ calories per day

DrMAvDPhD

There is a chance that you have slowed your metabolism by chronically under-eating. 1500 cal/day is not enough for you.

stumblinthrulife

Here's at least one tool that says your calculated BMR is wrong -

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

366to266

The one you recommend says

Activity Level Daily Calories
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 2158
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2472
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2787
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 3102
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3416

auroranflash

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr <-- this is the one I reference the most since the number it spat out for me seems to be accurate, but you may have to play with the amounts and see for yourself. When you have a lot to lose, you can typically stand to be on more of a deficit, whereas if you have 5-10lbs to drop, your deficit needs to be more slight and it will take longer to accomplish.

Best of luck.

366to266

Thanks everyone.

I want to keep calories low because I want to lose as fast as possible, at least the first three or four stone. I can barely walk, my life is a misery.

"Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 2158 "

If I maintain in 2158 then how is 1500 too low? So low that I will mess up my metabolism? Any more and there will be barely any deficit. I want to lose at least 2lb a week and that according to calorie theory means a deficit of 1,000 calories a day.

So if my "Sedentary" number is 2158 I should be eating 1,000 a day less which is only 1,100.

twinketta

Hi, welcome to MFP. It is great that you are wanting to get to a healthy weight and feel good about yourself.

How long have you been eating at a deficit?

Things won`t happen over night. It takes a little time to find what works for you.

Thanks for giving us your stats.

Are you keeping your diary?

What has made you want to change and how are you changing your dietary habits?

pastryari

Thanks everyone.

I want to keep calories low because I want to lose as fast as possible, at least the first three or four stone. I can barely walk, my life is a misery.

\

You didn't gain the weight overnight, you're not going to lose it overnight. Slow and steady wins the race. Be safe and good luck.

366to266

Hi, welcome to MFP. It is great that you are wanting to get to a healthy weight and feel good about yourself.

How long have you been eating at a deficit?

Things won`t happen over night. It takes a little time to find what works for you.

Thanks for giving us your stats.

Are you keeping your diary?

What has made you want to change and how are you changing your dietary habits?

Since 2nd Jan
Yes, on fatsecret
I can't walk, I can't fit in seats in planes, theatres or cinemas and I struggle to get upstairs. Life is miserable!
I changed by going low carb and counting calories and carbs, and doing one hour of water aerobics 3 x weekly (I started going daily but I was too sore and strained too many muscles).

Chief_Rocka

Thanks everyone.

I want to keep calories low because I want to lose as fast as possible, at least the first three or four stone. I can barely walk, my life is a misery.

"Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 2158 "

If I maintain in 2158 then how is 1500 too low? So low that I will mess up my metabolism? Any more and there will be barely any deficit. I want to lose at least 2lb a week and that according to calorie theory means a deficit of 1,000 calories a day.

So if my "Sedentary" number is 2158 I should be eating 1,000 a day less which is only 1,100.

You can tolerate a large deficit at your current size, but that won't be the case forever.

twinketta

Just a little tip...if you go to community in the tab bar..and then search..you can type in something like 100lbs lost.

You will find people that have lost that amount of weight and send a friend request to them with a message and they will I am sure give you some great advice and support....or you can just read the threads that they have added.

I am sure you will do well x

enhance00

There is such a thing as too much deficit. Keep that in mind. Losing weight isn't simply about being in a deficit, it is about finding the right amount, learning your body, and making sure you keep with it.

I used to be close to your weight, though I'm a bit taller. I'm 6'2" and used to weigh a little over 340 lb. I started off eating about 2,500 calories a day to lose weight and averaged 2-3 lb per week in loss most of the time. There was a learning period in there where I lost nothing over the course of a month and a half. And there were times where I averaged high. All in all I lost 95 lb in one year (150 lb in 2 years).

Knowing _about_ where your calorie needs are at is good, but it may take a little experimentation to get it just right. Don't be afraid to up your calories if you aren't losing enough (sometimes things work that way).

babymaddux

Here's at least one tool that says your calculated BMR is wrong -

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

thanks for posting that link!

ninerbuff

Your BMR is about 2700. Just eat about 400 calories over it and you should lose weight just fine.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

DeanBurrows

Calculators are pretty poop

There is science behind BMR and therefore TDEE, just some people don't do the research.

Katch-McArdle formula below;

-For Men to calculate BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)

-For Women to calculate BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)

...For your weight, 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds

...For your height, 1 inch = 2.54 cm

Example #1: You are a male, 35 years old, 6 foot tall (182.88 cm), you weigh 200 pounds (91 kg). Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) will be 66 + 1246.7 + 914.4 – 238 = 1989.1 calorie intake per day!

Example #2: You are a female, 35 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall (170.69 cm), you weigh 132 pounds (60 kg). Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) will be 655 + 576 + 307.24 – 164.5 = 1373.74 calorie intake per day!

Once you know your BMR (basal metabolic rate) then use your daily activity factor to get your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE):

-Sedentary................BMR x 1.2 (little exercise)

-Lightly active...........BMR x 1.375 (light exercise)

-Moderately active.....BMR x 1.55 (moderate exercise)

-Very active.............BMR x 1.725 (hard exercise)

-Extremely active......BMR x 1.9 (hard exercise daily)

For example #1... if you are a moderately active male…your TDEE will be 1989.1 calories times your activity level of 1.55 which equals 3083 calories per day.

For example #2... if you are a moderately active female, your TDEE will be 1373.74 calories times your activity level of 1.55 which equals 2129.30 calories per day.

The Harris-Benedict equation has a separate formula for men and women and is not as accurate as the one shown above.

So with your stats;

BMR = 66 + (2187.4105) + (812.8) – (367.2) = 2699
TDEE x 1.2 = 3238.8 <---- Maintenance

So eat 2738.8 calories a day to safely lose weight.

Alex_is_Hawks

Thanks everyone.

I want to keep calories low because I want to lose as fast as possible, at least the first three or four stone. I can barely walk, my life is a misery.

"Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 2158 "

If I maintain in 2158 then how is 1500 too low? So low that I will mess up my metabolism? Any more and there will be barely any deficit. I want to lose at least 2lb a week and that according to calorie theory means a deficit of 1,000 calories a day.

So if my "Sedentary" number is 2158 I should be eating 1,000 a day less which is only 1,100.

do NOT...i repeat....do NOT get hung up on losing 2 pounds a week.

You won't achieve this. Loss is NOT linear...it does not line up to a cashier aisle everyday and check out it's 2 pounds. Some weeks you won't lose any and then all of the sudden you can't lose enough...

Do not and I repeat do NOT get hung up on the scale, take measurements of yourself, I know it's tough and hard at that weight, trust me, look at my ticker...i KNOW but use a string and measure the string and record it....you WILL see loss in your size even when you do not necessarily lose on the scale.

Again, do NOT get hung up on 2 pounds a week
and
Measure.

Good luck.

366to266

Your BMR is about 2700. Just eat about 400 calories over it and you should lose weight just fine.

I apologise for being incredulous given your impressive sig, but I cannot believe that I could lose weight on over 3,000 calories a day. That is, after all, what got me up to 362 pounds in the first place.

Alex.... sorry, I do know that I cannot control how much weight my body chooses to give up and I am sorry for not making that plain. I meant I would like to lose 100lb in a year, which is about 2lb a week. I appreciate that might mean no wieght loss one week and some loss the next, etc. In fact that is exactly what happened to me in the last two weeks (zero loss one week, then 8lb lost last week).

Not sure why you say measure with string... and not with a tape measure? Sorry, dumb question?

DeanBurrows

Your BMR is about 2700. Just eat about 400 calories over it and you should lose weight just fine.

I apologise for being incredulous given your impressive sig, but I cannot believe that I could lose weight on over 3,000 calories a day. That is, after all, what got me up to 362 pounds in the first place.

Alex.... sorry, I do know that I cannot control how much weight my body chooses to give up and I am sorry for not making that plain. I meant I would like to lose 100lb in a year, which is about 2lb a week. I appreciate that might mean no wieght loss one week and some loss the next, etc. In fact that is exactly what happened to me in the last two weeks (zero loss one week, then 8lb lost last week).

Not sure why you say measure with string... and not with a tape measure? Sorry, dumb question?

BASICALLY without going into too many details when you don't eat enough, the weight you lose is part fat and part muscle.
When you lose muscle your metabolism slows down and when you workout without eating enough calories your body eats your muscles for the energy first, not the fat.

Its a vicious cycle. this is why starvation diets don't work and anorexics die when they're 23 years old. losing weight properly is a slow process but its infinitely more beneficial for you if you plan on living for a long time

366to266

Thanks for the replies.

Before I started dieting a dietician had me keep a food journal for a week of how much I was eating (without restricting my eating in any way). It showed that I was eating between 2,000 and 3,000 calories a day and exercising one hour a week, and I was gaining the whole time. According to the calculators, I should have been losing the whole time.

I then went on a meat-only zero carb diet for five months, calories were unrestricted and so I stopped counting them. I lost 15lb. Then I got ill and went back to eating carbs and did no exercise. I gained back all of that 15lb. Again I kept a food diary for a week and was eating about 2,000 to 2,500 a day.

I started Atkins in October, 20g carbs a day, did not count calories but I'd guess I was having about 2,500. I lost nothing in 12 weeks of this.

This is why on 2nd Jan I decided to aim for 1,500. (In 21 days I have gone over that on a few days.)

If I increase this to 2,500 to 3,000 I will start gaining again, surely?