My BMR is too high? Confused?

sillyjessica
sillyjessica Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My stats:
female
20 years old
213 lbs.
5'1"
moderately active (bike/walk to my classes on campus every morning and afternoon, and lately I've been going for 30 minute bike rides around campus every day)

I calculated my BMR, and it's at 1774.25. I've seen in a lot of places that you should never eat below your BMR... is it bad to do so? I tend to eat anywhere between 1200-1300 cal a day (occasionally 1400 if I had a particularly demanding workout) and even that is sort of a struggle for me some days - I cut out 99% of processed foods so I'm mainly running on fruits/veggies/whole grains/a "one sweet a day" rule (with my sweet usually being something that's vegan/organic/gluten free)

I'm losing weight (7 pounds in the past 3 weeks), but would I lose weight faster if I ate my BMR? Should I stick with what I'm doing now? Or should I raise my calorie intake? And if I raise my calorie intake, should I raise it to my BMR, or to less than my BMR, or what?

Replies

  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Raise it to ~1800, wait at least three weeks, see what happens. Aim for 1g protein per pound of LBM and at least .35g fat ore pound of body weight. The details are up to personal preference.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    u are 213 pounds 2013 or less
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    i am 206.6
    and bmr is 1800
  • Cobwellac
    Cobwellac Posts: 75 Member
    I think that as long as you feel energetic and good, it's okay to eat at 1200-1300.
  • aronao
    aronao Posts: 112 Member
    You will lose weight eating 1200-1300 cals/day. However, your metabolism will slow down as a result. Try calculating your TDEE (see this thread, first post for more info http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm) which will recommend eating more than you have been - always above your BMR. Your weight loss will be slower but less likely to cause a slow down in metabolism which can stall your weight loss in the long run.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    You can eat below BMR when you have a lot to lose. As you get closer to goal you'll need to adjust your calories. If you want to eat in the 1200 range you need to make sure that you're getting good nutrition with those calories.

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