What's the reasoning behind eating AT LEAST your BMR?
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It's more about establishing a healthy body economy. Calories are the monetary system. Your BMR is the bill your body has to pay to sustain the roof over its head. Think of a bank where you keep your calories. You have to keep paying your BMR or the bank will start seizing your valuable property (muscles). You invest calories into a diversified portfolio and you can watch your body prosper (muscle growth) while trimming away unnecessary expenditure (fat stores). It's pretty basic budgeting really only with some slight mechanical differences.0
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This may seem like a stupid question but, if my BMR is 1346 and I eat 1400 calories but my exercise calories are 876..... Should I now be eating back all my exercise calories to get my NET calories above my BMR???0
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It's more about establishing a healthy body economy. Calories are the monetary system. Your BMR is the bill your body has to pay to sustain the roof over its head. Think of a bank where you keep your calories. You have to keep paying your BMR or the bank will start seizing your valuable property (muscles). You invest calories into a diversified portfolio and you can watch your body prosper (muscle growth) while trimming away unnecessary expenditure (fat stores). It's pretty basic budgeting really only with some slight mechanical differences.
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nice!:flowerforyou:0 -
Just something I was thinking about, as I see people repeatedly say that you shouldn't eat below your BMR. The only explanation I've seen is along the lines of, "Because that's what your body needs to do its most basic functions," but that doesn't really make sense considering the whole point of a caloric deficit is to eat less than what your body needs to function so that it takes from its stored energy.
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OP I for one see your point and i ask this to everyone throwing your argument away.
can your body tell the difference between losing calories to exercise and losing calories to BMR? my guess is probably not.
Ahhh...... So is this the same as can your body tell the difference between eating back calories from exercise and eating calories above TDEE? I wonder how people become over weight then. What the hell is metabolism?0 -
This may seem like a stupid question but, if my BMR is 1346 and I eat 1400 calories but my exercise calories are 876..... Should I now be eating back all my exercise calories to get my NET calories above my BMR???
BMR is irrelevant to your question. You want your net calories to equal your daily calorie goal of 1400, so yes, you want to eat those puppies back.0 -
LOL isnt the whole point of a deficit to cause catabolism
OP I for one see your point
Yeah, I more or less agree. But this is a forum - we're all taking, giving or ignoring advice from amateurs.
I believe eating below your BMR would be dangerous for people with extremely low body fat. And that might be where this is coming from - body building forums.
Sure, you need to get adequate nutrition from the food you're eating (vitamins and minerals) - and that might play into this opinion too.
But as far as "your heart is going to stop because you have no fuel" - meh.
I have over a hundred pounds of "fuel" conveniently stored in my belly. Surely, my body will tap into that to keep my heart beating as long as I cover the hydration, vitamins and minerals.0 -
I think the "Don't eat below your BMR" is a general rule to prevent people from making diet plans with massive caloric deficits.
I think eating at you BMR and burning 1500 calories is just as bad as doing nothing but laying in bed and eating at 1500 calories below your BMR. In both cases the deficit is too large, and that can cause problems.0 -
I ate below my BMR 2 years ago and I dropped nearly 40 lbs in about 3.5 months I was running every day and doing P90X. The intensity of the workouts forced my body to eat a lot of the muscle I was using. So when I weighed about 165 I still looked pretty fat because my body consumed a lot of muscle. You'll lose weight, but don't expect to look fit if you eat below your BMR you'll be scrawny and flabby. The only muscles i had that looked decent were my biceps at the time because I used them so much my body was eating away at other muscles for energy. Then I plateaued. I definitely recommend eating above your BMR if you want to lose weight, build muscle, and look fit when you reach your goals.
Course your actual BMR is gonna differ from a standard calculator which is almost never your actual BMR (which is what I went off of) but if you do eat an extremely low deficit you'll be grouchy and you won't look good when you're at your goal weight either.
I love how the OP completely disregarded this. An actual case of someone who did eat low & ended up flabby. The very same thing happened to me, only I wasn't even lifting. I was eating like 1200 or less & doing cardio. I'm 5'5 120lbs 25% BF now & so skinny fat. Girls my weight and height are normally much lower BF% than I am now. People can't seem to learn by experiences of others though it seems.0 -
This may seem like a stupid question but, if my BMR is 1346 and I eat 1400 calories but my exercise calories are 876..... Should I now be eating back all my exercise calories to get my NET calories above my BMR???
Yes, ur net should b your BMR. Think of it this way. You ate 1400, but worked off 876, so now your body really only has 524 calories.0 -
I ate below my BMR 2 years ago and I dropped nearly 40 lbs in about 3.5 months I was running every day and doing P90X. The intensity of the workouts forced my body to eat a lot of the muscle I was using. So when I weighed about 165 I still looked pretty fat because my body consumed a lot of muscle. You'll lose weight, but don't expect to look fit if you eat below your BMR you'll be scrawny and flabby. The only muscles i had that looked decent were my biceps at the time because I used them so much my body was eating away at other muscles for energy. Then I plateaued. I definitely recommend eating above your BMR if you want to lose weight, build muscle, and look fit when you reach your goals.
Course your actual BMR is gonna differ from a standard calculator which is almost never your actual BMR (which is what I went off of) but if you do eat an extremely low deficit you'll be grouchy and you won't look good when you're at your goal weight either.
I love how the OP completely disregarded this. An actual case of someone who did eat low & ended up flabby. The very same thing happened to me, only I wasn't even lifting. I was eating like 1200 or less & doing cardio. I'm 5'5 120lbs 25% BF now & so skinny fat. Girls my weight and height are normally much lower BF% than I am now. People can't seem to learn by experiences of others though it seems.
I appreciated the post, but I disregarded it because it is almost certain that her problem was the result of too large of a deficit, rather than eating below BMR.0 -
This may seem like a stupid question but, if my BMR is 1346 and I eat 1400 calories but my exercise calories are 876..... Should I now be eating back all my exercise calories to get my NET calories above my BMR???
Yes, ur net should b your BMR. Think of it this way. You ate 1400, but worked off 876, so now your body really only has 524 calories.
Assuming you want to stay at your current weight, yes.0 -
^ people in third world country who are constantly eating way less than their BMR.0 -
^ people in third world country who are constantly eating way less than their BMR. Now OP, can you tell me...... Do you think that is healthy?
Lol, are you kidding?0 -
^ people in third world country who are constantly eating way less than their BMR.
There is a significant difference between eating slightly under your BMR when you have weight to lose, and when you have a large deficit and don't have the extra weight to lose.
Comparing a malnourished child from a third world country is not a fair comparison to someone who is losing weight eating slightly under their BMR. It's trying to equate the two and use an appeal to emotion to make the point.
Eating at a significant deficit will have very similar effects whether you're under your BMR and sedentary, or way under your total expenditure and working out a lot, but staying above your BMR.0 -
This may seem like a stupid question but, if my BMR is 1346 and I eat 1400 calories but my exercise calories are 876..... Should I now be eating back all my exercise calories to get my NET calories above my BMR???
Yes, ur net should b your BMR. Think of it this way. You ate 1400, but worked off 876, so now your body really only has 524 calories.
Assuming you want to stay at your current weight, yes.
She's have to eat her TDEE if she wanted to do that.0 -
I appreciated the post, but I disregarded it because it is almost certain that her problem was the result of too large of a deficit, rather than eating below BMR.
I think people overestimate how much muscle they have to begin with also. plus iam pretty sure even if you eat stupid low calories 1000cals or less as long as you give yourself adequate protein you shouldn't lose much muscle mass.
This can help with long-term adherence. Even a 2-4 week period with a large deficit to get some quick initial weight/fat loss before moving into a more moderate deficit approach can be beneficial here.
And, assuming the diet is set up appropriately (adequate protein) with the right kind of training (heavy weight training as discussed in Weight Training for Fat Loss, muscle loss actually turns out to be minimal or zero. I know this runs counter to the commonly held belief but it’s 100% true (as people following my The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook properly have demonstrated).
Certainly early research suggested that bigger deficits and very low caloric intakes led to more muscle loss but invariably they had inadequate protein and didn’t have weight training as part of the program. When someone is on 300 cal/day and half of that is carbs, well, that’s only 40 grams of protein. Of course muscle is lost, but not because calories are low per se; rather it’s because the diet is set up stupidly.
-lyle mcdonald
this says 2-4 weeks but still.
edit
link
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/setting-the-deficit-small-moderate-or-large.html0 -
Just something I was thinking about, as I see people repeatedly say that you shouldn't eat below your BMR. The only explanation I've seen is along the lines of, "Because that's what your body needs to do its most basic functions," but that doesn't really make sense considering the whole point of a caloric deficit is to eat less than what your body needs to function so that it takes from its stored energy.
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
So, in other words, it's the caloric deficit that matters rather than the BMR. Glad we cleared that up. Now we need others to understand that BMR isn't some sacred number, other than for calculating TDEE.
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 nutrition0 -
It's more about establishing a healthy body economy. Calories are the monetary system. Your BMR is the bill your body has to pay to sustain the roof over its head. Think of a bank where you keep your calories. You have to keep paying your BMR or the bank will start seizing your valuable property (muscles). You invest calories into a diversified portfolio and you can watch your body prosper (muscle growth) while trimming away unnecessary expenditure (fat stores). It's pretty basic budgeting really only with some slight mechanical differences.
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 nutrition0 -
She's have to eat her TDEE if she wanted to do that.
My Bad, For some reason I was thinking TDEE....0 -
It's more about establishing a healthy body economy. Calories are the monetary system. Your BMR is the bill your body has to pay to sustain the roof over its head. Think of a bank where you keep your calories. You have to keep paying your BMR or the bank will start seizing your valuable property (muscles). You invest calories into a diversified portfolio and you can watch your body prosper (muscle growth) while trimming away unnecessary expenditure (fat stores). It's pretty basic budgeting really only with some slight mechanical differences.
That is an awsome explanation. Very well done.0
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