BMR vs MyFitnessPal Calories
jtoma686
Posts: 2 Member
has anyone else noticed a relatively large gap between their BMR (basal metabolic rate: this is how many calories your body needs just to live) and the calories MFP tells you to eat?
www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator
^that's the calculator that i used, and it is telling me to eat about 400 cals more than MFP. i know it's all just general calculations because it doesn't take into account many other factors, but that's still a pretty good gap. what would you do in this situation?
www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator
^that's the calculator that i used, and it is telling me to eat about 400 cals more than MFP. i know it's all just general calculations because it doesn't take into account many other factors, but that's still a pretty good gap. what would you do in this situation?
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Replies
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I get a BMR of about 1450 and MFP tells me to eat about 1250 calories, but this makes sense.
Basically, given my sedentary lifestyle, MFP figures that on top of my BMR of 1450, I will burn about another 300 calories by the little bit of walking around and stuff I do during the day. After all BMR is for really doing nothing. This gives a total of 1750 calories that I will burn in one day. MFP then factors in the 500 calorie deficit that I need to lose a pound per week. Leaving me to eat 1250 calories, so that I eat enough and still lose weight. I could eat my BMR, but then for the same deficit, I would have to exercise more.
On the website you linked, if you click through to their Harris Benedict Equation, it says for sedentary lifestyle you need 1.2x your BMR. So for me: 1450*1.2 = 1740 (almost the same!) . But, that would be for maintenance. To lose, I need the deficit, putting me at eating less, to lose weight.0 -
MFP is boiler plate. Calculating your BMR and figuring out your calorie consumption is customized. I recommend going by your BMR, always. The number MFP picked for me was not enough food. After I finally wrapped my head around that fact and ate more, I met goal.2
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I posted this exact topic yesterday LOL it was so confusing... then theres TDEE too!
Someone just give me ONE answer please!
I have got about 4 different answers from all different calculators too...sigh0 -
MFP assumes that you will follow their recommendation and eat back your exercise calories.
My BMR is 1350. If I were to lie (to myself) and tell MFP I am sedentary, want to lose 2 pounds a week, and don't exercise, an intake of 1200 would be only a 150-400 calorie per day deficit. On days I sit on my butt all day my Fitbit tells me I burn about 1600.
The problem with MFP is the USERS who set it up with unhealthy or unrealistic goals. I do think MFP needs to do a much better job of explaining how to set goals for healthy and sustained weight loss.3 -
The number of calories that MFP tells me to eat for 1 1b./week loss is almost exactly the same as my BMR. I think they have the 1.5 and 2 lb. goals and limits because people asked for them, but they recommend setting it at 1 lb./week.
I started out with it set at 1.5 lbs, but I found I was too hungry to stick with it and would lose control and go way over a couple times a week. I changed it to 1 lb/week and now I am steadily losing 1 lb a week without ever having a bad day. You have to figure out what works for you. Personally, I'd rather eat as much as I can to still lose weight.0 -
Really depends on how you want to do it. I use a spreadsheet that was set up by another MFP user, because it takes into account:
Measurements
Height
Weight
^
From that information it calculates approximate body fat %
^
Then it asks for hours of different types of activity you do in a week (if you input this you don't eat back exercise cal's, if you want to eat back exercise cals, then leave everything at zero)
^
Then it gives you your BMR, TDEE, and what you should eat at to lose weight
Spreadsheet can be found in this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/750920-spreadsheet-for-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones0 -
MFP does not pick how much to eat.
When you set a weight loss goal, you choose how much you will eat (you choose 1 lbs/week, MFP cuts 500 calories, you choose 2 lbs/week, MFP cuts 1000 calories per day). Other calculators have a default weight loss, like 1 lbs/week or a certain percentage of you body weight (percentahe being more realistic, cause it is quite normal to lose slower as you become smaller).
Sometimes online calculators are more reassonable than human loss expectance... but really, MFP is not to blame because people have unrealistic goals and want to lose weight faster than it is sane/possible/healthy/etc.2 -
MFP does math, nothing more. It doesn't care if you choose a loss that is greater than you should, it assumes that you supply the common sense portion. You shouldn't be eating under your BMR unless you are morbidly obese. Huge amounts of fat don't need to be fed but on average your body still needs your BMR at least to provide enough energy to your organs for basic function.0
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MFP does math, nothing more. It doesn't care if you choose a loss that is greater than you should, it assumes that you supply the common sense portion. You shouldn't be eating under your BMR unless you are morbidly obese. Huge amounts of fat don't need to be fed but on average your body still needs your BMR at least to provide enough energy to your organs for basic function.
Im glad you said this, because i have just increased my calorie goal from 1200 to 1512 (My BMR) I am petrified that i wont lose though.0 -
My BMR is 1450. I have a sit down job. I burn approx 500calories per day at the gym. With this excercise my average calorie burn is 2300 per day. my macros are based on carb 30 fat 30 protein 40. What should i enter as my calorie goal in my fitness pal? 1450? And eat only 1450 or eat more or less?0
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Courtesy of @tinkerbellang83:charlieelizabeth923 wrote: »I posted this exact topic yesterday LOL it was so confusing... then theres TDEE too!
Someone just give me ONE answer please!
I have got about 4 different answers from all different calculators too...sigh
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Courtesy of @tinkerbellang83:charlieelizabeth923 wrote: »I posted this exact topic yesterday LOL it was so confusing... then theres TDEE too!
Someone just give me ONE answer please!
I have got about 4 different answers from all different calculators too...sigh
This. In case there is still confusion:
BMR is the amount of calories you would burn if you were in a coma.
NEAT is your BMR plus the calories you burn doing your normal, daily activities.
TDEE is your NEAT plus the calories you burn doing exercise.
MFP uses your NEAT and subtracts calories based on the rate of loss you choose to get the amount of calories you eat per day. If you exercise, and this causes you to burn more calories than MFP expects you to burn, you get to eat extra calories because your TDEE was higher than your NEAT.3 -
My BMR is 1450. I have a sit down job. I burn approx 500calories per day at the gym. With this excercise my average calorie burn is 2300 per day. my macros are based on carb 30 fat 30 protein 40. What should i enter as my calorie goal in my fitness pal? 1450? And eat only 1450 or eat more or less?
Your BMR isn't really very useful in figuring out how much you should eat. BMR is how many calories you'd need if you were in a coma, which you're not.
You need a deficit off your TDEE. If your TDEE is 2300, and you want to lose 1 lb per week (so a 500 calorie deficit), your goal would be 1,800 calories.3 -
And FYI for future posters, most of the posts in this thread are from 2013. Zombies
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Considering most people immediately choose 2# a week loss to be their goal this is typically why they are given sub-BMR calories. Most people do not need to lose 2 pounds a week because they are not obese. Most people should aim for a goal of 0.5-1 pound a week which is reasonable and also won't leave you with a meager daily calorie goal. MFP also assumes you will be eating back your exercise calories (or at least a portion of them). The calculator is only as good as the information it has been provided with.1
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My BMR is 1450. I have a sit down job. I burn approx 500calories per day at the gym. With this excercise my average calorie burn is 2300 per day. my macros are based on carb 30 fat 30 protein 40. What should i enter as my calorie goal in my fitness pal? 1450? And eat only 1450 or eat more or less?
Why not just let this calculator calculate a weight loss calorie target for you...the calculator will do all of the work.4 -
@kimny72 I just noticed that. I also noticed there are quite a few posts like that today.1
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5 years later...same song.0
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