Another BMR/TDEE question

quara

Hi everyone,

I've been on MFP (on and off) for over two years, but I haven't been good at sticking with it for too long. I lose a bit of weight, gain it back, leave for a few months, and do it all over again. So this is going to sound like a real "noob" post, but I've been reading the forums for years, I just haven't been fantastic at applying the information to myself.

I'm 30 years old, 5'10, 160 lbs. I would like to go back down to about 145. So based on a sedentary lifestyle and a 1lb/week loss, MFP calculated a calorie intake of about 1420 cals/day. I'm generally not sedentary - I usually get about 1.5 hours worth of quick walking in a day for my commute, and I usually eat back some of those calories. This week, it's been *really* cold (colder than -30) so I have not been getting much exercise.

I "got started" again almost two weeks ago and in that time the scale has gone up 3 pounds. I have read every post about this, I understand the reasons why, and I'm not that worried (of course, it would be nice to see the scale go down, but I feel better, physically). Water weight, not giving it enough time, etc. I totally get it.

But I'm starting to wonder if I'm not eating enough calories. Again, I'm sure if I give it more time, the scale would go down, but in the last few days I've been reading posts about BMR and TDEE. A few websites have been giving my BMR as about 1530, and my TDEE around ~2200 calories (assuming I'm not sedentary - about 1840 if I am). So should I really be eating between 1500-1700 calories to lose weight? I've been eating around 1300 - 1500 calories most days.

As I mentioned, this week is a bit of an anomaly for me, being so inactive, but based on a lifestyle where I am moving during the day, should I up my calories? I think my diary is open - I know I need more fruits and veggies, but any tips would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Yanicka1

You will hate my answer but I do not know. Lol

You have to try it for 6-8 weeks and see what it does. It might help you to stick with it.

Good luck

UsedToBeHusky

I would say yes. If your goal is less than 50 lbs, you should be between BMR and TDEE. A common suggestion is to cut 30% of your TDEE, but that puts you under BMR. I have two suggestions... 1) Try eating at BMR for 3 weeks and then reassess 2) Read New Rules of Lifting for Women. The problem could also be what you are eating and when I say that, I don't mean eating clean, I mean that you could be cutting something out of your diet that your body needs. The reports feature here on the website well let you examine your consumption of different nutrients. You might want to check that out too. Best of luck!

kcallas88

I used a calculator with your body stats and pretty much came up with the same thing.
For a lightly active lifestyle, meaning you do 1-3hrs per week of light exercise, your bmr would be 1531. Meaning EVERYDAY, the bare minimum you should eat would be 1531 calories. If you do the 1-3hrs of light exercise per week, your TDEE would be 2106. You would eat 2106 calories a day to maintain your current weight. In order to loose about .8lbs a week, you should eat 1685 calories per day. Above your BMR and enough to sustain your exercise.

Personally, i have found lots of success eating 1600 calories a day, which is about 20% under my TDEE. On a daily basis, i eat 1600 calories a day, regardless of if i work out or not. ITS WONDERFUL! ha, no more stressing over calories and counting calories burned and whatnot. The weight loss is slower, which isn't what people want to hear, but its something that is more sustainable in the long run and won't let you feeling crappy or like you're unsuccessful. If you don't already do strength training routines into your day, id suggest buying some weights and doing them. I absolutely HATE strength training but your metabolism stays up higher for longer after strength training exercises as opposed to cardio. Plus, after a couple weeks you see muscle definition which is awesome

Sorry its long! Hope it helps!!