Confused, question on BMR!

Lyra89
Lyra89 Posts: 674 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been doing a lot of reading in the forum today about eating back exercise calories/sticking to 1200 per day...etc.

I lost 50lbs a couple of years ago and have kept it off, but now I'm back to weight loss again for the dreaded last 10lbs!

From all the advice given, it seems that the calorie 'sweet spot' is to eat at your BMR calories while also exercising. For me this would be 1400 calories, which is what I ate generally when I lost the 50lbs.

Is this correct? That we should work out our BMR on an online calculator and try to stick to that for fat loss?

Replies

  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,870 Member
    Almost right. :)

    BMR is the minimum you should be eating. Since you are close to goal weight, you would probably want to eat fairly close to BMR, but if you set your target to be at BMR, you run the risk of under-eating slightly in order to avoid the red numbers.

    Another number you should calculate online is your TDEE, or the number of calories you burn per day on average. As long as you stick between BMR and TDEE, you should lose weight.
  • Lyra89
    Lyra89 Posts: 674 Member
    Almost right. :)

    BMR is the minimum you should be eating. Since you are close to goal weight, you would probably want to eat fairly close to BMR, but if you set your target to be at BMR, you run the risk of under-eating slightly in order to avoid the red numbers.

    Another number you should calculate online is your TDEE, or the number of calories you burn per day on average. As long as you stick between BMR and TDEE, you should lose weight.

    Perfect reply, thanks for clearing that up! Can we manually reset our calories & macros on mfp?
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,870 Member
    Yup. Just go to My Home, then click on Goals. MFP will give you the option of resetting your goals manually or automatically.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
    my BMR is calculated at 1,900 - if I ate that much I would be HUGE
  • Lyra89
    Lyra89 Posts: 674 Member
    my BMR is calculated at 1,900 - if I ate that much I would be HUGE

    For a man I wouldn't think so? Any guy I've ever known who lost a lot of weight stuck to around 2000 per day + exercise.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,297 Member
    I would suggest setting your goal to lose 0.5lbs/week and eat back the exercise calories. The less you have to lose the smaller your deficit should be as larger deficits will lead to the loss of a larger % of lean muscle loss.
  • Lyra89
    Lyra89 Posts: 674 Member
    Yup. Just go to My Home, then click on Goals. MFP will give you the option of resetting your goals manually or automatically.

    THANK YOU! x
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,297 Member
    my BMR is calculated at 1,900 - if I ate that much I would be HUGE

    No you wouldn't, not if the 1900 is close to accurate, you would have to eat much more than 2000 to gain weight if that is your BMR.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,870 Member
    my BMR is calculated at 1,900 - if I ate that much I would be HUGE

    For a man I wouldn't think so? Any guy I've ever known who lost a lot of weight stuck to around 2000 per day + exercise.

    Agreed. I usually eat 1500 a day (your net target), and I'm a female of average size close to goal weight.
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    my BMR is calculated at 1,900 - if I ate that much I would be HUGE

    Well I am a 4'11'' lady 120 pounds and If I eat 1900 calories I still lose weight....so I don't think so
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
    my BMR is calculated at 1,900 - if I ate that much I would be HUGE

    Yeah that's not correct

    Your BMR is the amount of calories your body needs just to fucntion (in a coma for example)

    Your TDEE (Total daily enegy expenditure is the amount of energy your body will use up during the course of a day - making a cup of tea, climbing stairs, walking to the shops

    Typical TDEE could be your BMR x 1.5 - so if your BMR is genuinely 1900 and you are moderately active, your TDEE could be around 3000 calories - anything less than that and you MUST lose weight
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    my BMR is calculated at 1,900 - if I ate that much I would be HUGE

    Well I am a 4'11'' lady 120 pounds and If I eat 1900 calories I still lose weight....so I don't think so

    Same here. I'm 5'5 and 134-ish pounds, and I'm losing at 2000 a day.
  • newhabit
    newhabit Posts: 426 Member
    i have figured out my TDEE to be about 1900 and my BMR about 1300. So i have been looking to lose these last 10 lb at about 1600 calories a day. and i eat back some of my exercise calories. i did lost a few lb doing that since i got back from vacation so i'm thinking it will work. i'd encourage you to eat at a slightly lower amount than your TDEE. the weight loss might be slower but you'll be more satisfied and for me it's helped me avoid binging. oh and i'm about 5'4 and 130 lb
  • JennafurC
    JennafurC Posts: 65 Member
    Thank you for this! My BMR is 1364 and TDE is 1831...so I figure I should stay in the 1600/day range, which is what I aim for. Gotta lose these 5 pounds I gained on my cruise in August :-/
  • KALMdown
    KALMdown Posts: 211 Member
    Scooby Workshop tells me to eat below my BMR, about 150 calories less in order to lose a pound a week. Or am I reading it wrong? Sorry, about the photo being cut off.

    BTW my goal in step 6 was to lose fat, 25% calorie reduction



    Screenshot2012-09-12at93844PM.png
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
    Scooby Workshop tells me to eat below my BMR, about 150 calories less in order to lose a pound a week. Or am I reading it wrong? Sorry, about the photo being cut off.

    BTW my goal in step 6 was to lose fat, 25% calorie reduction



    Screenshot2012-09-12at93844PM.png

    You're reading it right but your figures are questionable

    Your TDEE is only 1.2 x your BMR - so that is assuming you are very sedentary and that you don't do any exercise in a week - is this correct?
  • KALMdown
    KALMdown Posts: 211 Member
    I put my activity level as sedentary, it moves up by a few hundred if I put light activity. I'm just wondering about people saying eat at your BMR when Scooby workshop says eat under.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    You can't have knee jerk reactions to the scale. Fluctuations are normal. Any time you increase your calories, you're likely to see a slight increase on the scale, but it's not true weight gain... it's fluid retention and your body storing fuel.

    Keep in mind that calculators like Scooby's aren't like MFP. MFP doesn't include your exercise in your calorie goal. Scooby's does. So unless you really and truly do absolutely nothing all day every day, you're not sedentary.
  • KALMdown
    KALMdown Posts: 211 Member
    Last question and I apologize for taking over this thread. If you eat at your BMR, do you then eat back your exercise calories? I thought the answer was yes, but would like confirmation. Thanks everyone for your patience.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,297 Member
    Last question and I apologize for taking over this thread. If you eat at your BMR, do you then eat back your exercise calories? I thought the answer was yes, but would like confirmation. Thanks everyone for your patience.

    This typically means that a 1lb/week weight loss is too aggressive and that it should be more like 0.5lbs/week (this will give you 250 more calories. Or it is best to eat 80-85% of your TDEE, if it puts you under BMR it will only be slightly and if you workout more it would have you well above it.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,870 Member
    Last question and I apologize for taking over this thread. If you eat at your BMR, do you then eat back your exercise calories? I thought the answer was yes, but would like confirmation. Thanks everyone for your patience.

    You should eat back your exercise calories, without regard to what your target is. If you were eating over BMR, I might say not to eat all of them back because people tend to underestimate calories from food and overestimate calories from exercise. However, if you are eating *at* BMR, then you wouldn't gain weight from those mis-estimations.
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