Yep, another question about BMR

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jenbenefit
jenbenefit Posts: 75 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, my head is in a bit of a muddle wirh all this talk of BMR and TDEE on the forums!

Basically, when I hear people say DONT GO BELOW YOUR BMR is this is calories eaten, or net calories?

Mine is 1480 according to a few different sources, will this decrease with fat/weight loss?

Another website recommended on MFP says I should a for 583 calorie deficit....again I don't know is this is net cal or calories eaten and also deficit from what? BMR or TDEE? -http://www.superskinnyme.com/calorie-deficit-calculator.html

It's all getting a bit confusing!

If it helps I'm 23, female, 185 pounds 5'9", 24.34% body fat

any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance!

Replies

  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
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    net. if you eat 1200 and work off 200, you may as well have only eaten 1000, which puts you about 400 below your BMR
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,238 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • jenbenefit
    jenbenefit Posts: 75 Member
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    thankyou both, that link was really useful!
  • kend9998
    kend9998 Posts: 35 Member
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    even after looking at that link, I am still confused. mfp has my goal calories at 1200, but my Bmr is 1550. I keep reading posts where people say 'don't go below your BMR," but wouldn't that just make me maintain the same weight? So, just plain and simple, should I be eating 1200 calories a day or 1550?

    If I'm not misunderstanding, I'm also supposed to eat back any calories I burn off from exercise, right? sounds weird, but you all know more about it than I do, so if you say that's true, I'll take your word for it...
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    You need to take in at least your BMR worth of nutritious food. Your body will take the nutrients it needs first so even if you net below that your body has had first shot at getting what you need. 1200 is as low as MFP will set you and if it's given you that as a budget you've probably set your goal too high.
  • kend9998
    kend9998 Posts: 35 Member
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    oh, I didn't know MFP would let me set the goal too high. is 2 lbs./ week too high? so i should eat 1550 calories/day?
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    2 lbs per week is too high unless you have a LOT to lose.

    Mokey is right. You need to eat at least 1200 calories per day for the nutritional aspect. If you NET below 1200, you are still ok as long as you actually ate more. Big misconception around here. Your body fat is its energy store, so as long as you are getting the nutrition you need, the fat will supply the energy. Be warned, though, if you do that for any length of time you are going to feel like crap!

    Personally, it is much more sustainable to go with a moderate deficit of 250-750 calories per day, but that is more from a psychological standpoint than a physical one.
  • kend9998
    kend9998 Posts: 35 Member
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    I appreciate the help,and sorry for being so dumb on the subject. I just want to make sure I'm starting with the correct information. So I do have a lot to lose (65 lbs. just to be in the upper range of 'normal' weight..) so is 2 lb./week still too high? And if not, is 1200 cal./day still too low? I'm just reading a lot of contradicting posts, and still a little confused... I understand that smaller changes will be easier to stick with, in the long term. I'm not interested in any crash diet, I've just always heard 1-2 pounds was a realistic and healthy goal. But again, I have been misinformed many times before. lol... thanks again for the info..

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