BMR and Exercise Question

hablondi
hablondi Posts: 127 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
New to the site and have a quick question about BMR and exercise calories. I just got done reading ALL of the suggested newbie threads and want to make sure that I am understanding this right. If my BMR is 1300 should I aim for my NET calories after exercise to be above that? or is it my actual calories consumed? TIA!

Replies

  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,674 Member
    Yes, you will want to eat more than BMR. Your net will be above that.
    How much above that will depend on what works for you, what is sustainable.

    How did you calculate BMR?
    I used fitnessfrog.com
    I'm 43 and weigh 160 at 5'7" My BMR is 1460
  • hazalopez
    hazalopez Posts: 2
    Hi and welcome,

    You are going to love this site. I will give you my wife's example: Her BMR is 1700 calories. She is trying to eat less than that, plus exercising. Remember that it takes 3250 calories to lose one pound, therefore, if she is eating 1500 that leaves her with 200 calories not consumed, plus she has been burning at least 300 calories on exercise, which gives her a total of 500 calories under her BMR and
    500 X 7 days = 3500 calories burn (1 pound). She is not starving herself, and has been knocking down at least 5-7 pounds per Month. I am following the same method. So to answer your question, you should be consuming calories either close to your BMR or less, and burning extra calories through exercise. You will notice the difference in two to three weeks. Hope this helps and I hope I did not confuse you : )
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    You are talking about two different things here.

    BMR is the amount of calories that you will burn just lying around in a coma all day.
    Many people suggest that you don't eat less than this amount when you are trying to lose weight. If you like this idea, go for it, manually set your goals to your BMR amount.

    MFP uses your BMR to calculate your base daily calorie allowance, but it applies a few extra formulas to calculate your calories. MFP's recommended daily calorie intake is made up of your base daily calories plus whatever calories you burn from extra exercise.
    If you do this, chances are you'll be eating more than your BMR anyway (unless you don't have much weight to lose and have chosen an unrealistic weight loss goal like "lose 2 pounds a week").

    These are different methods to determine how much you eat. I suggest you pick whichever theory makes sense to you and give it a try for a month or so. This is the only way to work out exactly how your body responds.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Hi and welcome,

    You are going to love this site. I will give you my wife's example: Her BMR is 1700 calories. She is trying to eat less than that, plus exercising. Remember that it takes 3250 calories to lose one pound, therefore, if she is eating 1500 that leaves her with 200 calories not consumed, plus she has been burning at least 300 calories on exercise, which gives her a total of 500 calories under her BMR and
    500 X 7 days = 3500 calories burn (1 pound). She is not starving herself, and has been knocking down at least 5-7 pounds per Month. I am following the same method. So to answer your question, you should be consuming calories either close to your BMR or less, and burning extra calories through exercise. You will notice the difference in two to three weeks. Hope this helps and I hope I did not confuse you : )

    I think you are mixing up BMR and TDEE here.

    BMR is the cals needed to sustain you is you lie around in a coma all day (more or less).
    TDEE is the your BMR multiplied by an activity level factor. So, even if you have a sedentary lifestyle, you need to multiply your BMR x 1.2, THEN you subtract 500 cals/day in order to lose 1 pound a week (more or less!)
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,674 Member
    Hi and welcome,

    You are going to love this site. I will give you my wife's example: Her BMR is 1700 calories. She is trying to eat less than that, plus exercising. Remember that it takes 3250 calories to lose one pound, therefore, if she is eating 1500 that leaves her with 200 calories not consumed, plus she has been burning at least 300 calories on exercise, which gives her a total of 500 calories under her BMR and
    500 X 7 days = 3500 calories burn (1 pound). She is not starving herself, and has been knocking down at least 5-7 pounds per Month. I am following the same method. So to answer your question, you should be consuming calories either close to your BMR or less, and burning extra calories through exercise. You will notice the difference in two to three weeks. Hope this helps and I hope I did not confuse you : )


    I think you are mixing up BMR and TDEE here.

    BMR is the cals needed to sustain you is you lie around in a coma all day (more or less).
    TDEE is the your BMR multiplied by an activity level factor. So, even if you have a sedentary lifestyle, you need to multiply your BMR x 1.2, THEN you subtract 500 cals/day in order to lose 1 pound a week (more or less!)
    Yes:)
  • hablondi
    hablondi Posts: 127 Member
    Okay. I understand everything that has been said. What I think is confusing me is the fact that MFP Gives me a net calorie amount that is under my BMR even when set at losing 1 pound a week. So is it okay for my net calories to be under my BMR as long as my total consumed falls above it?
This discussion has been closed.

Categories