RMR, BMR, TDEE...I'm so confused!

JessicaKingerySC
JessicaKingerySC Posts: 27
in Health and Weight Loss
I know the right balance is different for every person...but I could really use some guidance here! I kinda understand what these terms mean, but I don't know how to apply them to my actual daily calories. According to this site, fitnessfrog.com, my RMR is 1659, my BMR is 1676 and my TDEE is 2012 (very little activity/desk job). MFP has my daily goal set at 1200, plus exercise calories.

I have read several posting where people have reference these numbers and said things like "don't eat less than your RMR" or "as long as you eat below your TDEE you will lose", "1200 calories is too few, you are in starvation mode".

From your experience, based on my numbers above, what would you reccomend?? Any thoughts/suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,425 MFP Moderator
    I know the right balance is different for every person...but I could really use some guidance here! I kinda understand what these terms mean, but I don't know how to apply them to my actual daily calories. According to this site, fitnessfrog.com, my RMR is 1659, my BMR is 1676 and my TDEE is 2012 (very little activity/desk job). MFP has my daily goal set at 1200, plus exercise calories.

    I have read several posting where people have reference these numbers and said things like "don't eat less than your RMR" or "as long as you eat below your TDEE you will lose", "1200 calories is too few, you are in starvation mode".

    From your experience, based on my numbers above, what would you reccomend?? Any thoughts/suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

    Estimate your TDEE (to include exercise) and cut 20%. It's what I have used for over 250+ people on this board and it works. It will also help you maintain your lean body mass if you do that plus weight training and high protein.
  • JessicaKingerySC
    JessicaKingerySC Posts: 27

    Estimate your TDEE (to include exercise) and cut 20%. It's what I have used for over 250+ people on this board and it works. It will also help you maintain your lean body mass if you do that plus weight training and high protein.

    Thanks! My TDEE with 3 days of light exercise is approximately 2300...so cutting that by 20% would put at about 1840. That is much higher that the MFP goal...does that seem right?
  • Sweetsugar0424
    Sweetsugar0424 Posts: 451 Member
    I think that sounds much better than 1200. I think MFP's auto settings are really low. I don't know what your stats are, but I'm 5'11" with a CW of 172 lbs and my TDEE - 20% working out 5x/week is 1973 and I'm losing weight eating at this level. It's a slow loss, but the slow loss is the best loss as it is more sustainable.
  • sunshinesquared
    sunshinesquared Posts: 2,733 Member
    Bump
  • JessicaKingerySC
    JessicaKingerySC Posts: 27
    I think that sounds much better than 1200. I think MFP's auto settings are really low. I don't know what your stats are, but I'm 5'11" with a CW of 172 lbs and my TDEE - 20% working out 5x/week is 1973 and I'm losing weight eating at this level. It's a slow loss, but the slow loss is the best loss as it is more sustainable.

    I am 5'8", 192 pounds and a size 12. Today is the last day of my first full week of doing green smoothies, counting calories and working out and I have not lost anything so far...I have been staying right around 1200 calories. Do you think I would have more success if I increased my calories?
  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
    I think it depends on how much you want to lose. If you want to lose more you need a higher deficit so maybe something like 1600 would be better to start and get you motivated.
  • JessicaKingerySC
    JessicaKingerySC Posts: 27
    I think it depends on how much you want to lose. If you want to lose more you need a higher deficit so maybe something like 1600 would be better to start and get you motivated.

    Thanks Kelli! Overall I would like lose about 30 pounds by the begining of the year...which is approximately 2 pounds per week. I have increased my calorie goal to 1400...I will try that for a week or so and see if I notice a difference.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,425 MFP Moderator

    Estimate your TDEE (to include exercise) and cut 20%. It's what I have used for over 250+ people on this board and it works. It will also help you maintain your lean body mass if you do that plus weight training and high protein.

    Thanks! My TDEE with 3 days of light exercise is approximately 2300...so cutting that by 20% would put at about 1840. That is much higher that the MFP goal...does that seem right?


    You have to remember that MFP sets it up based on your goals. So if you set it up to lose 2 lbs per week, it's going to cut 1000 calories from your estimated TDEE. And if you set it at sedentary, then it's going to do BMR * 1.2 - 1000 = estimate weight loss. That is why you go the 1200 calories. IMO, the better way to do calories is to include exercise in your TDEE and create a deficit from there. I do 20% because it's a bit more adaptives based on size. So 20% less than TDEE for you would be about 1 lb per week. Unfortunately, new comers design programs, they don't understand that the less weight you have, the smaller the deficit can be as noted below.



    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,425 MFP Moderator
    I think it depends on how much you want to lose. If you want to lose more you need a higher deficit so maybe something like 1600 would be better to start and get you motivated.

    Thanks Kelli! Overall I would like lose about 30 pounds by the begining of the year...which is approximately 2 pounds per week. I have increased my calorie goal to 1400...I will try that for a week or so and see if I notice a difference.

    2 lbs per week is too aggressive for you. YOu will increase the chances of your body catabolize lean body mass to create energy which long term will make it harder to lose weight as you will decrease your metabolic rate. Additionally, losing muscle makes it harder to look good in a bathing suit. Ideally, you want to lose weight without losing muscle so you can be tight and lean. The more muscle you have, the more calories you can eat and the more your definition you will have. As seen below. And as a heads up, it's a lot easier to look this way when you start with this goal than to try and gain lean body mass to fill out your body. Most woman can only gain about 10 lbs of muscle a year.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat
  • JessicaKingerySC
    JessicaKingerySC Posts: 27
    I think it depends on how much you want to lose. If you want to lose more you need a higher deficit so maybe something like 1600 would be better to start and get you motivated.

    Thanks Kelli! Overall I would like lose about 30 pounds by the begining of the year...which is approximately 2 pounds per week. I have increased my calorie goal to 1400...I will try that for a week or so and see if I notice a difference.

    2 lbs per week is too aggressive for you. YOu will increase the chances of your body catabolize lean body mass to create energy which long term will make it harder to lose weight as you will decrease your metabolic rate. Additionally, losing muscle makes it harder to look good in a bathing suit. Ideally, you want to lose weight without losing muscle so you can be tight and lean. The more muscle you have, the more calories you can eat and the more your definition you will have. As seen below. And as a heads up, it's a lot easier to look this way when you start with this goal than to try and gain lean body mass to fill out your body. Most woman can only gain about 10 lbs of muscle a year.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

    Thank you! This has been very helpful!!! I think I will try bumbing my calories to between 1400 and 1600. It wasn't even that hard to stay around 1200 calories...I wonder how I can use the extra 200-400. :smile:
  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
    I think it depends on how much you want to lose. If you want to lose more you need a higher deficit so maybe something like 1600 would be better to start and get you motivated.

    Thanks Kelli! Overall I would like lose about 30 pounds by the begining of the year...which is approximately 2 pounds per week. I have increased my calorie goal to 1400...I will try that for a week or so and see if I notice a difference.

    2 lbs per week is too aggressive for you. YOu will increase the chances of your body catabolize lean body mass to create energy which long term will make it harder to lose weight as you will decrease your metabolic rate. Additionally, losing muscle makes it harder to look good in a bathing suit. Ideally, you want to lose weight without losing muscle so you can be tight and lean. The more muscle you have, the more calories you can eat and the more your definition you will have. As seen below. And as a heads up, it's a lot easier to look this way when you start with this goal than to try and gain lean body mass to fill out your body. Most woman can only gain about 10 lbs of muscle a year.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

    Thank you! This has been very helpful!!! I think I will try bumbing my calories to between 1400 and 1600. It wasn't even that hard to stay around 1200 calories...I wonder how I can use the extra 200-400. :smile:

    Just a thought but if you're switching goals to losing slowy and getting lean <and someone correct me if I'm way off> you might change your macros to 40/30/30 which would be a little higher protein and lower carbs that the preset MFP settings and make sure you're doing some weights with your cardio. That way you can concentrate on getting in more protein and for me filling out the calories when I have so much protein to eat is really easy. Plus I hear all the time you need protein for those nice tone muscles you want to see.
  • JessicaKingerySC
    JessicaKingerySC Posts: 27
    [/quote]
    [/quote]

    Just a thought but if you're switching goals to losing slowy and getting lean <and someone correct me if I'm way off> you might change your macros to 40/30/30 which would be a little higher protein and lower carbs that the preset MFP settings and make sure you're doing some weights with your cardio. That way you can concentrate on getting in more protein and for me filling out the calories when I have so much protein to eat is really easy. Plus I hear all the time you need protein for those nice tone muscles you want to see.
    [/quote]

    Thanks for the tip! My macros are currently set at 50/25/25...but I may change them. I have always tried to include weights in my routine, but mostly focused on cardio...but after seeing other MFP posts about results from weights I will definitely be focusing more on weights. :smile:

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