BMR and exercise

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jmsoland81
jmsoland81 Posts: 2 Member
edited January 3 in Health and Weight Loss
I just recently got measured for my BMR with a machine at my gym. It says that it is 1375. I am working out 4-5 days a week burning about 400-500 calories. I've also recently hit a plateau so what was working (net 1500 calories a day) needs to be tweaked. Should I eat to my BMR and then exercise to have a net less than that or should I include my workouts and eat enough to still be at my BMR as the lowest amount? I hope this doesn't sound confusing, but I would love some help on this!

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  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
    The second one. Don't go below your BMR.

    That usually works at first but when your body decides it's done losing it's time to up your goals to be at or around your BMR and eat back exercise calories. That should still leave you a calorie deficit for the day b/c your TDEE even at sedentary is 1.2xBMR.
  • soehlerking
    soehlerking Posts: 589 Member
    Oh man I am so bad at the BMR/TDEE stuff, but here's a guy who's NOT bad at it:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    My understanding is that your BMR is what you'd need to eat if you were just lying in bed all day. And if you're only eating at your BMR while simultaneously being active (which it sounds like you are), then you're going to cause unseen damage to your body--it won't be provided enough fuel to keep up with what you're asking of it. But again, read through Dan's stuff b/c I'm just repeating what I've heard!
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Think of your BMR as the floor and your TDEE as the ceiling. You need to be eating somewhere between the 2, preferably at least 100 to 200 over your BMR.
  • Jaytee79
    Jaytee79 Posts: 237 Member
    Best. Description. Ever. Thank you!
  • jmsoland81
    jmsoland81 Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks so much everyone! I got confused when I got it and thought I had to lower my calories more to get over a plateau, but it is the opposite! I guess the really low calorie net worked for a while, but now I need to adjust. So glad to understand this better :)
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