I Had My BMR Tested - It's 1032 Calories

That's why I recommend people never to use hunger or fullness as a measuring tool when determining meeting energy expenditure needs during a deficit. It should be the other way around.

What do you mean the other way around? You kind of lost me there

I'm saying that people should base their dietary energy intake on their daily energy expenditure as opposed to basing dietary energy intake on hunger. If one feeds their body based on actual energy needs, their maintenance calories will remain quite stable whereas those who eat only when hungry (while on a continuing deficit) they will find themselves eating less and less due to the adaptations occurring.

What do you mean the other way around? You kind of lost me there

I'm saying that people should base their dietary energy intake on their daily energy expenditure as opposed to basing dietary energy intake on hunger. If one feeds their body based on actual energy needs, their maintenance calories will remain quite stable whereas those who eat only when hungry (while on a continuing deficit) they will find themselves eating less and less due to the adaptations occurring.

Maybe I can help. Because hunger will diminish even on an extremely low calorie diet, the absence of hunger should not be used as any indication of what your TRUE caloric needs are. Our hormones respond to a chronic deficit in such a way that the individuals who embark on a 1000, 1200 or any extremely low calorie diet, will initially feel hungry but QUICKLY adjust. Working in reverse you'd figure out your maintenance requirements and set your calorie target based off of that.

Someone maintaining their weight on 2500 calories SHOULDN'T automatically reduce their calories to 1200--that's a 1300 calorie deficit--and yes they'll lose weight but they'll also wreak havoc on their hormones.

A 15-20% cut is sufficient and sustainable.

Thank you. Both of you. :flowerforyou:

You're welcome!

I had my tested at a university, and it again tok all day, but to their shock my BMR was 2346, I am 5ft 2 inch

How much do you weigh? If you don't mind me asking...

179lbs

definitely want to read this later. bump!

I hear you, when I was tested at my local university mine varied between 970 and 1107 or 1170...can't remember but it was low. I've always been thin though, even though I net almost 2000 calories daily at a sedentary level.

That's interesting. Sounds like there's more to the ideal calorie intake than BMR, like maybe some people naturally burn more calories doing everyday activities?

I really don't know, I don't fidget, I'm rather lazy.

bump...

Thank you for posting! I have always believed the 1200 calorie thing is untrue. On here I am finding it hard most days to hit 1200-I'm simply not hungry. Whenever I have dieted and exercised and kept my cals between 700-900 per day I have lost weight. Right now I am 5'3 135 pds and trying to drop 25 pds.. I believe with my height and weight 1200 is too high for me to intake to lose any pounds.

Tell that to your organs.

Bump

I agree that people tend to overestimate their BMR. I used to follow what the generic calculators told me from sites like MFP or any other BMR calculator out there, depending on the formula they used my BMR was estimated to be any where between 1260 and 1400, usually about 1320 was the average. Last year for about 5 weeks I started to track all of my calories, and I was very exact with it, I mostly only ate things that I knew the calories, and I was doing cardio 5x per week. After eating about 1100 calories per day, and burning an extra 2000 calories per week, after 5 weeks I got on the scale and didn't lose one pound. I was so angry, I gave up on the whole thing.

Last August I went to have metabolic testing done at an athletic club with their dietician using the breathing device. I followed the instructions to not eat 4 hours prior and to not exercise in the last 24 hours. My BMR was 970! And seeing that I didn't lose any weight when I was eating 1100-1200 calories a day, I would have to agree with this calculation. Sometimes I hate typing in my info on these sites, because they don't let you enter in less than 1200 calories a day as a goal, if I were to eat that amount, my weight would stay the same considering I did light exercise, or if I cut back on the exercise, I would GAIN weight if I ate 1200 calories per day! Those online calculators are full of crap! And don't buy into that bull**** about eating TOO LITTLE or "starvation mode", eating more calories will NEVER cause you to lose weight, if you aren't losing weight, that means your consuming too many calories, and not burning enough. I would recommend BMR testing if you want a more accurate reading.

Now I feel worried about what I am eating