Should I really be counting my "net" calories?

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_lyndseybrooke_
_lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My caloric goal is set to 1200 calories a day. My BMR is a tad shy of 1500 calories at my current weight. On days I go to the gym, I burn about 300 calories. As it stands, I eat my 1200 calories, work out, and call it a day. I've never eaten my "burned" calories because I always felt it defeated the purpose of exercising.

If my BMR is 1500 calories, I'd need to eat 1000 calories a day in order to lose a pound a week. However, I know eating less than 1200 calories is very unhealthy. So, if I eat 1200 calories a day and burn at least 200, that's what it would take to lose a pound a week, correct?

I hit a plateau this week, and I keep reading that I should increase my calories because my body may be in starvation mode. However, given the information above, I don't see how that could be.

If I burn 300 calories at the gym, I'd have to eat 1500 calories a day, which is my BMR. So, my calorie deficit would only be those 300 burned calories. That's not a pound a week. On my gym days (Wednesday-Saturday), I do 30 minutes of cardio [10 minute warm-up on elliptical, 20-minute walk/jog on treadmill with slight incline at end of workout) and 30 minutes of strength training [3 sets of 15 reps - leg extensions/curls, squats, hip abductions/adductions, seated dip, pec fly, seated row, etc.]. Then, when I get home and before my shower, I do 100 crunches [50 of the regular and 50 elbow-to-knee type]. On Monday, I do 30 minutes on my stationary bike at home. On Sundays, I try to take the puppy for a long walk or at least to something active. Tuesday is my rest day.

So, am I eating too little? What would you suggest I do?

Replies

  • S_Arr_Uh
    S_Arr_Uh Posts: 77 Member
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    First of all: Your BMR? Not your maintenance calories. They're the calories your body needs should you be lying in hospital in a coma, just to keep your organs going. So in a nutshell, yes, you're eating too little, considering you're giving your body 300 calories less than it needs WITHOUT all the exercise that you do.

    What you're looking for is the TDEE number. Your total daily energy expenditure. You exercise at least 5/6 days a week, so your TDEE will be a lot higher than you think. I don't have your stats but there are plenty of online calculators you can use. Then using the TDEE-20% method, deduct 20% from the number you get and voila, that's how many calories you can eat and still lose weight at. You've gotta give it a few weeks though. E.g. If your TDEE was 2200, your daily goal would be to eat 1760 calories.

    Basically, fuel your body, fuel your workouts.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    You're confusing BMR with TDEE.

    BMR is the calories your body burns just functioning. Think of it as what you'd need if you were asleep or in a coma for 24 hours. As soon as you wake up, roll out of bed and stagger off to the bathroom, you've burned more calories than your BMR.

    Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is your maintenance calories. That includes your BMR, the calories you burn during your normal daily activities, AND the calories you burn through exercise. That number is considerably higher than your BMR, and that's what you should deduct your deficit from to lose weight.

    For instance, my BMR is only about 1300, but my TDEE is about 2300. With normal activity and exercise, I burn an extra 1000 calories a day. If I wanted to lose one pound a week, I would eat a total of 1800 calories a day. If I only ate 1200 calories, that would be a deficit of 1100 calories a day, meaning I should, in theory, lose more than 2 pounds a week. But in reality, I don't have enough excess body fat to lose that quickly, and eating so little would be bad for my body.

    MFP gives a lower-than-normal calorie goal because you're supposed to eat your exercise calories. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/3-how-does-myfitnesspal-work
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    Thanks so much! I guess I was ill-informed about what BMR actually means.

    I used a couple of online TDEE calculators and I'm a little confused. I'm getting a range of numbers from 1500 calories to 2700 calories when I'm putting in the same information. When I entered 60 minutes of moderate exercise daily, it lowered my TDEE about 400 calories. How am I burning less calories a day by working out?

    I found this simpler calculator: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    It says my TDEE is 2200 calories. If I subtract 20%, that's about 1760 calories. Even with my workouts, that would put me above my MFP caloric allowance. Would just eating my burned calories so my net is 1200 be good enough? I'm going to try to eat more next week and see if it helps at all. It's just an odd thing to eat more to lose more. I have to get used to it.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    By your ticker, you only have about 12 pounds to lose. If that's the case, a 20% cut or one pound a week might be too much. I would suggest aiming for a half pound a week, or maybe a 10-15% cut, and tracking your progress through how clothes fit, measurements and progress photos. The closer we get to our goals, the more meaningless the exact number on the scale is.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    True, I only have 12 lbs to go, but the ticker is a little deceiving. I started off at 155 lbs, but I lost 6 lbs of water weight during week 1. I'm 5'5" and 143 lbs right now. My weight loss has slowed down tremendously and most weeks I don't lose anything. I'm at 29% body fat, which the trainer at the gym told me means I'm at a health risk. So, sure, I've only got 12 lbs to go, but I'm not at a healthy weight and I think I should be losing more than I am.

    I'll up my calories and see what happens. Thanks again!
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
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    If you increase your calorie input, expect to gain weight in the first week or two. Especially as you've been eating at a low rate and your metabolism has probably slowed. It's totally natural. Happens to everybody. The ones who stick with begin to see rapid weight loss shortly after that!

    Also, exercise has a whole host of other benefits besides burning calories. Improved cardiovascular/cardiopulmanary function, cleansing the body of toxins, increased metabolism, increased endorphin production, increased bone density, improved oxygen uptake, etc, etc.
  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
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    True, I only have 12 lbs to go, but the ticker is a little deceiving. I started off at 155 lbs, but I lost 6 lbs of water weight during week 1. I'm 5'5" and 143 lbs right now. My weight loss has slowed down tremendously and most weeks I don't lose anything. I'm at 29% body fat, which the trainer at the gym told me means I'm at a health risk. So, sure, I've only got 12 lbs to go, but I'm not at a healthy weight and I think I should be losing more than I am.

    I'll up my calories and see what happens. Thanks again!

    I just calculated your base BMR from a number of different sites...according to your height/weight/age it is somewhere between 1400-1480...this should be a pretty close number for what you burn doing nothing at all.

    Your TDEE that you calculated is 2200...if you eat between these two numbers...you will lose weight. I think you may be trying to go for too high a deficit, coupled with not eating exercise calories, putting you in even more of a deficit. Your body will instinctively do whatever it can to "hold" onto every resource it has (fat is a resource) to try to ensure it can meet the demands on it.

    I would personally suggest, if you want to do it the MFP calculator way, that you set your MFP to sedentary with 1lb a week weight loss and eat back exercise calories.

    Now doing this will create a "jump" in your daily calories, this will cause the body to initially store that excess as fat, as it is used to a very low calorie level. Give it 4-6 weeks before you re-assess....you can weigh yourself during this time, but realize you will put on weight while your body acclimates to the new calorie base. This can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month. I would also suggest you try to get 100-110g of protein in your daily macros...it will make you feel fuller, and ensure your muscles are getting the protein they need to hinder muscleloss during your weightloss.

    I wish you luck in your journey!

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