Eating at BMR and not losing....question nr 1019 :D

luziferl
luziferl Posts: 82
in Health and Weight Loss
He pals!

I've been eating 1200 over the past few weeks and lost, then plateaued! I read a lot of posts about BMR and TDEE and started eating my BMR (I am not very active these days, as I am studying for finals and just walk from home to the library and back :D)

I lost 2 pounds and was very happy... but then I gained them back and cant get rid of them or more weight... Am I doing sth wrong? Is BMR too much for me or do I simply have to wait?

My BMR is 1556. I am 5'10 and weigh 161 lbs (about 72.5 kg)


Thanks guys :)

Replies

  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Do you exercise? Did you start recently? How long have you been dieting? Is the 1,200 calories gross, or is it netted off for excerise?

    Do you weigh all solid and semi solid foods and measure liquids? Do you log everything?


    ETA: How much did you put in to lose each week?
  • carolyn0613
    carolyn0613 Posts: 162 Member
    If you eat your BMR then do anything movement, you will be netting below your BMR. BMR is the energy your body would need to maintain weight if you were lying in a coma. Therefore just being up, dressed, teeth cleaned, walked to library you are using more energy than your BMR. You need to eat below your tdee (the energy you need to do your daily activities) but above your BMR. Your TDEE is probably around 2,159 so try eating about 1900 and you should see a weight loss.
  • Hbazzell
    Hbazzell Posts: 899 Member
    If you set MFP to your BMR, eat back your workouts. Measure everything. If you have cheat days (which I don't agree with really) then make sure they are never over your TDEE.
  • luziferl
    luziferl Posts: 82
    I don't exercise at all... As said above, I just go to uni and home again and study a lot.

    I ate 1200 calories and often netted below that amount.
    I absolutely measure everything!


    In mfp I put my own goal to my bmr :-)


    Do you exercise? Did you start recently? How long have you been dieting? Is the 1,200 calories gross, or is it netted off for excerise?

    Do you weigh all solid and semi solid foods and measure liquids? Do you log everything?


    ETA: How much did you put in to lose each week?
  • luziferl
    luziferl Posts: 82
    I am really inactive... Just studying at the moment... Don't u think 1900 is easy to high then? :-)
    If you eat your BMR then do anything movement, you will be netting below your BMR. BMR is the energy your body would need to maintain weight if you were lying in a coma. Therefore just being up, dressed, teeth cleaned, walked to library you are using more energy than your BMR. You need to eat below your tdee (the energy you need to do your daily activities) but above your BMR. Your TDEE is probably around 2,159 so try eating about 1900 and you should see a weight loss.
  • surreygirl23
    surreygirl23 Posts: 85 Member
    You're very tall. You also look young and don't have a great deal to lose, so it will be slower.

    Even with being inactive, 1200 is very low for someone of your height/weight/age.
    I'm only 5'2" and my BMR is 1248, I would say without a doubt you are eating too little.

    Can you not find a long way round from your student digs to the library! You should be getting fresh air into your lungs and vitamin D onto your skin anyway so you can study better and sleep better (looks out of the window at the the teeming rain :ohwell: ).
    Sorry - I have two school kids and it's hard not to nag!

    Add some brain food to your meals - salmon, nuts, olive oil yada yada yada
    And get a bit more exercise!

    (Good luck!)
  • lisamarie1780
    lisamarie1780 Posts: 432 Member
    I would die a death if I lived on 1200 calories a day and I am only 5'3 and weigh less than you

    1200 calories is a pretty rubbish amount to expect your body to function properly on. I would eat more and maybe don't be so 'inactive'....... :ohwell:
  • bigmike1974
    bigmike1974 Posts: 51 Member
    This will explain why you shouldn't worry about apparent plateaus:

    http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/

    Brief summary:
    Daily food + water intake + output dwarfs actual weight loss the real trend often gets lost in the "noise" of your weight readings. Unless you are looking at the trend you will almost certainly get hung up (and depressed by!) plateaus which are often nothing more than water + food matter weight.

    How often do you weigh yourself? Do you have a log available in some sort of electronic form? I could plot the trend line for you (or if you're handy with Excel you can do it yourself easily) to see if you have really plateaued or if it is just "noise" :)

    Cheers,

    Mike
  • luziferl
    luziferl Posts: 82
    I am moving in June and will finally have acres to a gym again yeeeah :-)

    If I di the shred, do I have to east back those 200 cals I've burnt?
    At your weight and height you should be eating at the least 1400. Also you should considering doing exercise as you'd want to start toning up. Not excessing will lead to being skinny with flabby bits which is always a pain. Have you considered joining the University's gym? or you could take 20 mins out of a few days in the week and try 30 day shred. You don't have to do it everyday but let's say you did and it's only 20mins. You would be toned and fit by the end of it. I had a friend who was 5.9 and 72kgs and she did the 30 day shred and was on a diet of 1400 when she didn't exercise. 1600 when she did. And she toned up and lost weight ready for her new bikini. She looks great!

    Another thing you could try is seeing your GP just to rule out any issues which could be preventing weight loss.

    I hope that helps. Good luck with your journey!

    Cat xo
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I don't exercise at all... As said above, I just go to uni and home again and study a lot.

    I ate 1200 calories and often netted below that amount.
    I absolutely measure everything!


    In mfp I put my own goal to my bmr :-)


    Do you exercise? Did you start recently? How long have you been dieting? Is the 1,200 calories gross, or is it netted off for excerise?

    Do you weigh all solid and semi solid foods and measure liquids? Do you log everything?


    ETA: How much did you put in to lose each week?

    If you are pretty sedentary, then eating at your theoretical BMR is probably fine. Your BMR however would have you at a higher calorie intake than 1,200. If you are eating to your BMR, I would eat your exercise calories back.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    At 5'10" and 161 lbs you probably don't need to lose weight as much as get some muscle going. My daughter is 5'11" and at 160 lbs is pretty ripped. Losing more weight won't really help except to make you skinny fat.
  • lisahewitt22
    lisahewitt22 Posts: 102
    I've heard that you should eat less than you're BMR, not drastically but just a little. My BMR is 1546 so I set me calorie goal to 1450.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    I've heard that you should eat less than you're BMR, not drastically but just a little. My BMR is 1546 so I set me calorie goal to 1450.

    You should NOT, I repeat NOT, eat less than your BMR unless you are grossly overweight. Your BMR is the number of calories you would burn in a coma, does it sound like it would be a good idea to eat less than that? Your eat less than your TDEE to lose weight which is a totally different thing.
  • little28
    little28 Posts: 9
    For me if I don't exercise I don't lose. No matter how much or little I eat. Especially the closer I get to my goal. I was stuck at 149 for 4 weeks almost not working out regularly eating between 1200-1500 cals a day. I decided to add a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio and in the last 2 weeks I've lost 4 pounds.

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