BMR ans weightloss confusion

Just a few clarifying questions so that we can give you the most direct answer..... First, why only the 6 day week? Are you going to have a cheat day on the 7th day? Just curious as to the number 6. Also are you saying that for everything you eat in a day, calorie number "X", you are going to do "Y" amount of exercise so that the calories burned in the day are Y=X?

First off, you are never going to be able to regulate your weight loss that way. Weight loss could be fat, water, or muscle. The body has very specific reactions to weight loss that you have very little control over. Additionally, as a female, hormones are going to cause you water fluctuations that will appear on the scale temporarily, but will ultimately interfere with an accurate reading of your progress.

BMR is the bare minimum that your body requires to perform all of its automatic functions such as breathing, pumping blood, and what not. If you go below this number in calorie consumption for an extended period of time, your body will react as if it were starving, and will release hormones that will increase your appetite and cause you to burn less calories. The total energy required for automatic AND concious activity is referred to as 'Total Daily Energy Expenditure' or TDEE.

The body regards stored fat as an essential organ. If it is forced to rely to excessively on stored fat, then it will draw upon other sources (muscle or even organ tissue in extreme cases) to diversify that demand and preserve the stored fat as much as possible.

It is generally recommended that people eat at a calorie deficit between 10% to 30% below TDEE, but above BMR, to ensure that the body focuses on stored body fat to make up the energy requirements that are not met by calorie intake.

Here is a link to a good calculator. The one on the right uses your BF% and the one on your left gives you your BMR based on age and height for your ideal weight.

http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

What is your height and weight? It seems there's a chance you're mixing up TDEE and BMR but we need a little more info.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Go to this website, plug in your numbers for steps 1 - 5, ignore the weightloss percentage thing for now, we'll get to that after we have the right numbers and info. Then tell us what it says for your BMR and TDEE are.

Ok. Done that: BMR=1741
TDEE=3309

Your TDEE would only exceed your BMR by that much if you are working out A LOT.

But assuming that it is accurately calculated:

Your deficit should be based on TDEE. It is considered that 30% below TDEE will ensure that your weight loss will primarily be fat loss. Therefore, you should eat at least 2300 calories a day. The rate at which you will lose will probably come out to what you want to lose (3 lbs a week), but it will really depend on how much you have to lose. Also, you won't consistently lose the same amount of weight. Over time, 3 lbs a week will decrease to 2 lbs a week to 1 lbs a week. It just depends on how much body fat you have to lose at the time.

Also, your BMR will lower as you lose weight so you will have to adjust your calorie goal over time.

Exactly what UsedToBeHusky is saying, now the way MFP works when you plug in exercise and such can add to the confusion of how much to eat and such so feel free to ask any questions on that. But if you stick to the numbers from above for a good portion of time, you'll see the weight come off. Good luck!!

Sure, thanks for that. I work out 2 hours a day plus weights.
So, if I were to eat the 2300kcals as you suggested, how do I work that out against what I burn through exercise? Would that mean whatever I burn, thats the amount im in deficit by?

Yes. You would not want to eat back exercise calories using this method. But you also have to manually set your calorie goal in MFP.

BMR is the number of calories your body burns sustaining essential functions like breathing and keeping your blood pumping. This would be the number of calories the doctors would feed you through a tube if you were laying in bed in a coma.

TDEE is BMR+the amount of calories you burn completing day to day activities like cooking, going to work, exercise etc...

So lets say that your BMR is 1700 cals and your TDEE is 2200 cals (making up these numbers, cause I don't know them for real), if you ate 2200 cals you would maintain your current weight. Theoretically, any amount you ate less than 2200 cals you should lose weight. However, if you ate below 1700 cals you would be dipping into the amount of calories your body needs to maintain essential functions. Your body would still use those calories for essential functions but non-essential functions like hair and nail growth will not get the calories they need to function properly. Also, the higher the cut in calories the more lean muscle your body is going to dip into for cals.

For me, when I read that an obese person actually has more muscle mass from carrying around extra weight I decided that I would do everything I could to keep that muscle while losing fat. Why? Because more muscle means higher metabolism. I don't want my body fighting against me. The approach I have taken is more moderate which means the weight-loss has been slower, but it is sustainable for the long-term. I lift weights 3x per week and do HIIT 1-2x per week. I eat between 2000 and 2500 cals a day. I don't always see movement on the scale but I see steady improvement in my physique.

I can't say enough about being patient.


Eta: While I was typing you gave your actual numbers. Your TDEE already has your exercise calories figured in so you would not eat back exercise calories.

Right, last question;
If my BMR is 1700 and I eat 600kcals, would that be a deficit of 1100?
As I've been working on calories consumed minus BMR minus calories burnt through exercise to get my deficit. So thats wrong?

Yes, that is wrong. You need to eat over your BMR and under your TDEE. Never eat below BMR.

2303 is already eating at a deficit, just eat that.

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