I do not understand my BMR.

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freyaheart
freyaheart Posts: 220 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was talking to my mother today about my weight loss and she asked me how many calories can I have a day I told her somewhere around 1900ish according to this app. She looked at me funny and said that I should only be having 1400-1600 if I want to lose weight.

Then we started talking about BMR and I said that "it is the amount of calories that it takes just for your body to work" at least that was my understanding. She had said that is it the amount of calories you would eat to maintain your weight and that I need to be eating less than that.

So I do not know who is correct here. I changed my weight loss plan from 1 pound a week to 1.5 pounds a week changing my intake number to 1680 calories a day.

This is definitely going to be more difficult having cut out 300 calories but I am now in the range that my mother suggests. I am just really confused now.

Edit: my BMR is 1804

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    You're correct - BMR is the amount of calories you need to stay alive doing nothing. Don't eat below that. TDEE is the amount of calories needed to maintain your weight - eat less than that to lose weight.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) = The amount of calories you burn in total each day and as such is also the amount you need to eat to maintain.

    You were correct about your BMR.
    The number of calories your body uses to carry out these basic functions is known as your basal metabolic rate — what you might call metabolism. Several factors determine your individual basal metabolic rate:

    Your body size and composition. The bodies of people who are larger or have more muscle burn more calories, even at rest.
    Your sex. Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than do women of the same age and weight, burning more calories.
    Your age. As you get older, the amount of muscle tends to decrease and fat accounts for more of your weight, slowing down calorie burning.
    Energy needs for your body's basic functions stay fairly consistent and aren't easily changed. Your basal metabolic rate accounts for about 60 to 75 percent of the calories you burn every day.
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/metabolism/WT00006
  • freyaheart
    freyaheart Posts: 220 Member
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    I forgot to say what my BMR was. It's 1804.

    I had MPF set to lose 1 pound a week and it calculated around 1900 calories a day

    I just changed it to 1.5 pounds a week and it dropped to 1680 calories a day.

    Is the 1680 to low? I work out pretty regularly and at work I spend almost my entire day on my feet.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    I forgot to say what my BMR was. It's 1804.

    I had MPF set to lose 1 pound a week and it calculated around 1900 calories a day

    I just changed it to 1.5 pounds a week and it dropped to 1680 calories a day.

    Is the 1680 to low? I work out pretty regularly and at work I spend almost my entire day on my feet.
    Yes 1680 is probably lower than you need and it's usually best to stay above your BMR. Also it's best to stick with something you actually want to do, instead of trying to suffer through being hungry (and annoyed/sick/weak/foggy/etc) for no good reason.

    I'd suggest getting a pedometer or fitbit to track your activity. On non-workout days I often burn 1000+ calories just walking around and stuff during the day. (My fitbit just adds those automatically to my MFP goal.) If you're using MFP's setup you also eat back any exercise calories so you'd be eating more than your usual 1680 or 1900 on your workout days.
  • freyaheart
    freyaheart Posts: 220 Member
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    I forgot to say what my BMR was. It's 1804.

    I had MPF set to lose 1 pound a week and it calculated around 1900 calories a day

    I just changed it to 1.5 pounds a week and it dropped to 1680 calories a day.

    Is the 1680 to low? I work out pretty regularly and at work I spend almost my entire day on my feet.
    Yes 1680 is probably lower than you need and it's usually best to stay above your BMR. Also it's best to stick with something you actually want to do, instead of trying to suffer through being hungry (and annoyed/sick/weak/foggy/etc) for no good reason.

    I'd suggest getting a pedometer or fitbit to track your activity. On non-workout days I often burn 1000+ calories just walking around and stuff during the day. (My fitbit just adds those automatically to my MFP goal.) If you're using MFP's setup you also eat back any exercise calories so you'd be eating more than your usual 1680 or 1900 on your workout days.

    I have one :) I even have it set to track the negative calories when for when I'm being lazy. I have my activity level set to lightly active, I'm a greeter at home depot so lots of standing but not a lot of lifting. And I can't sit still so I pace a lot. In an 8 hour day I can take 10,000+ steps easily.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    If your BMR is actually 1800 then I would try to eat around there. That sounds high though, mine is only 19xx and I am a 210lb, 6'3" male. I shoot to eat a minimum of 2000 a day (usually ends up around 2300-2400 after exercise). I'm not saying it's not possible, just seems high. If you're confident that it's accurate, and your results show the same (this is the key part), then go ahead and eat around 1800.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    Here's my explanation from a blog post here:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/mrsbigmack/view/finding-the-sweet-spot-452184

    Every day you burn a certain amount of calories that can be easily lumped into 3 categories:

    - Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): The number of calories your body will burn in 24 hours to support vital organ function i.e. heart beating, maintaining core temperature, breathing etc. You could describe this as the number of calories your body would burn if you were alive but comatose. You can find your BMR in any number of places, like here, here or here.

    - Exercise Expenditure: The number of calories burned doing specific exercise/sports activity. The best way to estimate these is using a heart rate monitor that uses your age, gender, height and weight in its calculations. You can also use a variety of online calorie burn estimators like this one, this one, and this one.

    - Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): The calories you burn doing everything ELSE you do in a day - showering, eating, reading, working, talking, driving, changing diapers, cleaning stuff etc.

    (There is a 4th category, and that's the thermic effect of food, which is the calories burned digesting what you eat. This number can change based on what you eat and slightly alter your daily calorie burn, but for simplicity's sake I'm not going to discuss it further. Just know it exists and if you're a numbers nerd you can look it up yourself. It only makes up maybe 10% of your daily calorie burn anyway.)

    The sum of those 3 categories is what I'll call your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    I forgot to say what my BMR was. It's 1804.

    I had MPF set to lose 1 pound a week and it calculated around 1900 calories a day

    I just changed it to 1.5 pounds a week and it dropped to 1680 calories a day.

    Is the 1680 to low? I work out pretty regularly and at work I spend almost my entire day on my feet.
    Yes 1680 is probably lower than you need and it's usually best to stay above your BMR. Also it's best to stick with something you actually want to do, instead of trying to suffer through being hungry (and annoyed/sick/weak/foggy/etc) for no good reason.

    I'd suggest getting a pedometer or fitbit to track your activity. On non-workout days I often burn 1000+ calories just walking around and stuff during the day. (My fitbit just adds those automatically to my MFP goal.) If you're using MFP's setup you also eat back any exercise calories so you'd be eating more than your usual 1680 or 1900 on your workout days.

    I have one :) I even have it set to track the negative calories when for when I'm being lazy. I have my activity level set to lightly active, I'm a greeter at home depot so lots of standing but not a lot of lifting. And I can't sit still so I pace a lot. In an 8 hour day I can take 10,000+ steps easily.
    Yeah, then I would base things on how your previous goal was working for you. That's assuming you've been doing the same thing for a few weeks or more.

    If you were losing at a pace that you're satisfied with and eating enough to keep you satisfied then I'd leave things as they were and keep going. (Don't argue with success, right?)

    If you weren't losing or not enough, then you might need to drop your MFP goal by however many calories. (500 a day = 1 lb a week. You can do any amount you want though if you set a custom goal, you don't need to lose a whole number of lbs a week. :wink: )
  • lambchristie
    lambchristie Posts: 552 Member
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    bump (for future reading):wink:
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I forgot to say what my BMR was. It's 1804.

    I had MPF set to lose 1 pound a week and it calculated around 1900 calories a day

    I just changed it to 1.5 pounds a week and it dropped to 1680 calories a day.

    Is the 1680 to low? I work out pretty regularly and at work I spend almost my entire day on my feet.

    So you picked MFP's level of Lightly Active as your non-exercise daily routine. If that is 5 days of almost entire day on your feet moving somewhat, you are not Lightly Active, you are Active.

    That will give you a goal of 1863 - right about where it should be for now.

    Then any true exercise, not your daily activity since it's already included in maintenance, you'd eat back those workout calories to keep the 750 cal deficit daily.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    Fitbit determines your activity level by tracking how much you move during the day. If you choose "sedentary" and then move around all day, you will get the same result as if you had chose "active." That's kinda the point of having a fitbit.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Fitbit determines your activity level by tracking how much you move during the day. If you choose "sedentary" and then move around all day, you will get the same result as if you had chose "active." That's kinda the point of having a fitbit.

    If you sync it and actually eat back the adjustments given, true. But search the forums for how many skip that part because they did the sync too late and didn't want to attempt eating that much after their day, or skip the adjustments. Not sure why to use it in that case.

    Setting it correctly will minimize those adjustments, allowing better food planning and adherence.

    Then only the exercise need come across as adjustments, either because you logged them on MFP and replaced FitBit's estimate, or took the FitBit adjustment at face value.
    Just in case workouts are variable or irregular.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    I forgot to say what my BMR was. It's 1804.

    I had MPF set to lose 1 pound a week and it calculated around 1900 calories a day

    I just changed it to 1.5 pounds a week and it dropped to 1680 calories a day.

    Is the 1680 to low? I work out pretty regularly and at work I spend almost my entire day on my feet.
    I would say that's low. My bmr is around 1300 and I'm eating 2100 and am nearly under weight. And you're on the right track. BMR is what you said and TDEE is what your mom thinks it is. You'll hit a wall sooner if you stick to the lower calorie goal but you'll drop water weight fast. I'd suggest keeping your calories higher and getting lots of protein to help preserve lbm.

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