Another new chick! (And a question about BMI)

Stella1011
Stella1011 Posts: 4 Member
edited September 21 in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone! I'm new to MFP (is that the right lingo?) but not new to tracking. I've tried Livestrong and FatSecret but their trackers just left something to be desired. I came across something that said this is supposed to be the best tracking website currently available, so here I am! :)

Quick question about daily calories: on previous sites my recommended intake was about 1800-2000. Most recently I've been aiming for 1800. When I came here it initially said my goal should be 1390. When I went to the BMR calculator under the Tools section of the site, it says Your estimated BMR is: 1,910 calories/day*.

I'm so confused as to why it would tell me 1390 on my food tracking section?

Replies

  • Rhonnie
    Rhonnie Posts: 506 Member
    The 1910 calories is how many calories you burn in an average day - so if you wanted to maintain your weight you'd eat 1910 a day. Based on how many lbs you said you wanted to lose in a week it came up with your target calories you should eat in a day to lose that weight.

    One note place people seem to get confused is their 'exercise calories' - if you do some activity that burns 300 calories (as an example) then you add that to your target calories for the day. So in this example your target calories would be 1690 for the day you burned 300 calories.

    Hope that helps.
  • leg8
    leg8 Posts: 49
    Because it has factored in the deficit for you. Depending on which amount of weight you desire to lose per week, the site calculated the deficit required to obtain that goal.
  • brandy130lbs
    brandy130lbs Posts: 10 Member
    I
  • Precious_Nissa
    Precious_Nissa Posts: 416
    Hello I'm new here as well....so far i'm loving the site.....i'm 32 with 3 kids and working hard and trying to not just lose but maintain it.....
  • Stella1011
    Stella1011 Posts: 4 Member
    The 1910 calories is how many calories you burn in an average day - so if you wanted to maintain your weight you'd eat 1910 a day. Based on how many lbs you said you wanted to lose in a week it came up with your target calories you should eat in a day to lose that weight.

    One note place people seem to get confused is their 'exercise calories' - if you do some activity that burns 300 calories (as an example) then you add that to your target calories for the day. So in this example your target calories would be 1690 for the day you burned 300 calories.

    Hope that helps.

    Ahh ok! I figured it must be something like that. :) I'm not really comfortable with an intake that low (1390). I'll have to rethink my loss goals I guess.
  • nahhan12
    nahhan12 Posts: 79
    One thing I've found I really like about this site is that it keeps your goals in the healthy range. I'm used to crash diets where I'd lose 5 pounds a week, but then gain it all back plus more a month later. Here, if I try to lose more than 1/2 a pound a week or so, my calories for the day go too low and I realize my goal needs to be slower. There are a lot of people on here that suggest eating most of your "exercise calories" as well..and they still lose weight that way. :)

    Welcome to MFP!
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