Conflicting Information

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xX_Samantha_Xx
xX_Samantha_Xx Posts: 166 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I just wanted to ask a simple question..

I've seen info on the BMR and TDEE style of eating all over the forum, BUT, it seems people are saying different/conflicting things..
I've witnessed people saying eat slightly under your BMR, and then people who say eat 20% under your TDEE.

Which is it?

For those that say eat slightly under your BMR, I thought BMR was the lowest you should be eating.
Am I missing something? LoL.

Edited for typos.

Replies

  • Escape_Artist
    Escape_Artist Posts: 1,155 Member
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    So, I just wanted to ask a simple question..

    I've seen info on the BMR and TDEE style of eating all over the forum, BUT, it seems people are saying different/conflicting things..
    I've witnessed people saying eat slightly under your BMR, and then people who say eat 20% under your TDEE.

    Which is it?

    For those that say eat slightly under your BMR, I thought BMR was the lowest you should be eating.
    Am I missing something? LoL.

    Edited for typos.

    BMR is your Basic Metabolic rate, meaning what your body uses to survive, as in if you are in bed all day not lifting a finger. Never eat under your BMR
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    BMR is the number of calories your body would need if you were in a coma. TDEE is the number of calories you burn in an average day. You need to eat between your BMR and your TDEE in order to lose weight.
  • xX_Samantha_Xx
    xX_Samantha_Xx Posts: 166 Member
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    So, I just wanted to ask a simple question..

    I've seen info on the BMR and TDEE style of eating all over the forum, BUT, it seems people are saying different/conflicting things..
    I've witnessed people saying eat slightly under your BMR, and then people who say eat 20% under your TDEE.

    Which is it?

    For those that say eat slightly under your BMR, I thought BMR was the lowest you should be eating.
    Am I missing something? LoL.

    Edited for typos.

    BMR is your Basic Metabolic rate, meaning what your body uses to survive, as in if you are in bed all day not lifting a finger. Never eat under your BMR

    Yes, this is what I understood. But then I see people all over the forum telling people to eat under their BMR and create a deficit. I didn't think that was right. But it's crazy how many people are saying this.
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    Anyone who says to eat less than your BMR is not educated on what the difference between BMR and TDEE are.

    BMR is what your body NEEDs to run if it were in a coma.

    TDEE includes normal activities such as bathing, standing in the kitchen making food, using the restroom, doing laundry, ect. If you exercise, it is also added to your TDEE.

    When people eat below their BMR, the amount of lean muscle mass lost to fat ratio increases and can end up leading to a lower metabolism and not looking the way you thought you would at your goal weight (flabby).
  • Escape_Artist
    Escape_Artist Posts: 1,155 Member
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    Yes, this is what I understood. But then I see people all over the forum telling people to eat under their BMR and create a deficit. I didn't think that was right. But it's crazy how many people are saying this.

    *shrugs* yes and some people say Bananas and mangos got them fat :flowerforyou:
  • xX_Samantha_Xx
    xX_Samantha_Xx Posts: 166 Member
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    Yes, this is what I understood. But then I see people all over the forum telling people to eat under their BMR and create a deficit. I didn't think that was right. But it's crazy how many people are saying this.

    *shrugs* yes and some people say Bananas and mangos got them fat :flowerforyou:

    That made me laugh. Haha.
  • Squidgeypaws007
    Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    *shrugs* yes and some people say Bananas and mangos got them fat :flowerforyou:

    I swear it was the bananas!! The cake had NOTHING to do with it ok!
  • CSJAN12014
    CSJAN12014 Posts: 46
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    Oh no... i just eat a banana... thank god i avoided the mango!!! :-)
  • kendragetshealthy
    kendragetshealthy Posts: 87
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    I struggle with this too. My BMR says 1601. MFP says 1200 per day. I know it should be more than 1200 and MFP uses that as a baseline for most people that sign up.

    I worry that if I eat 1600 calories I won't lose! ARGH. I am losing slowly now. I lost more quickly in the beginning when I was doing weight watchers. In the past month I have quit ww and shifted to calorie counting and much more exercise.

    Any thoughts?
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    I struggle with this too. My BMR says 1601. MFP says 1200 per day. I know it should be more than 1200 and MFP uses that as a baseline for most people that sign up.

    I worry that if I eat 1600 calories I won't lose! ARGH. I am losing slowly now. I lost more quickly in the beginning when I was doing weight watchers. In the past month I have quit ww and shifted to calorie counting and much more exercise.

    Any thoughts?

    MFP makes it 1200 based on info you entered. It sets it up that way as if you were not going to exercise at all. So if you do any exercise you should eat those calories back. You will still be at a deficit.

    Now if you are like me and you like knowing exactly how many calories a day to eat then I use the TDEE-10-20% method and I track my exercise but log it as 1 calorie burned. Because you would not eat your exercise calories back.
  • Risarox
    Risarox Posts: 8
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    That is helpful, I am also very confused with the 1200 base and then the increase as I work out since I want to loose and it seems like if I eat what I burned I won't. Thank you for explaining it that way.
  • jbwork
    jbwork Posts: 9
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    Ok, BMR calculators aren't super accurate, its just a guesstimate. It doesn't take into account your fat to muscle ratio etc etc. For the most part its usually within 10% of what you are really at though. But your metabolism, and BMR, and RMR, all that garbage is a moving target. So you have to dial it in yourself, the calculators just give you a place to start essentially.

    Yes, you can eat under your BMR, I eat under my BMR 4 days a week and only go over it slightly on my lifting days. I'm cutting weight, and the only way to lose weight of any kind is to create a deficit, thats where you have to figure out your own numbers basically. If you're eating 2000 cals a day, working out and lose 1lbs a week, then use that data to better determine what exactly your body needs. If you don't do anything all week, and eat your at "BMR" and gain weight, guess what, thats not your BMR. You need to worry about the overall picture of how many calories you burn in a day/week, and create a deficit based on that data.
  • jbwork
    jbwork Posts: 9
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    Oh, and just a note about the 1200 cals thing, thats a hard limit set in most(MFP included) calculators because that is deemed the smallest amount of calories a person should take in during a day. You can most certainly go below that number, especially if you are overweight, but I would consult a physician or maybe even an endocrinologist about it. Technically, the only thing an overweight body needs to survive are daily water, and vitamins, :P
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    That is helpful, I am also very confused with the 1200 base and then the increase as I work out since I want to loose and it seems like if I eat what I burned I won't. Thank you for explaining it that way.

    Thank you.

    Trust me, I have been there. I was dead set on 1200 calories that's it and eating my exercise calories back. After awhile I stalled, because I was working out more and harder. So I looked into TDEE-10-20% because I just want a set # not a variable.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    So, I just wanted to ask a simple question..

    I've seen info on the BMR and TDEE style of eating all over the forum, BUT, it seems people are saying different/conflicting things..
    I've witnessed people saying eat slightly under your BMR, and then people who say eat 20% under your TDEE.

    Which is it?

    For those that say eat slightly under your BMR, I thought BMR was the lowest you should be eating.
    Am I missing something? LoL.

    Edited for typos.

    BMR is your Basic Metabolic rate, meaning what your body uses to survive, as in if you are in bed all day not lifting a finger. Never eat under your BMR

    Yes, this is what I understood. But then I see people all over the forum telling people to eat under their BMR and create a deficit. I didn't think that was right. But it's crazy how many people are saying this.

    I also see people on the forums saying to eat 400 calories a day, take a magic pill, do a cleanse, sprinkle fairy dust on your food and that unicorn poop doesn't have calories. Doesn't mean it is correct.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    BMR is your Basic Metabolic rate, meaning what your body uses to survive, as in if you are in bed all day not lifting a finger. Never eat under your BMR

    Yes, this is what I understood. But then I see people all over the forum telling people to eat under their BMR and create a deficit. I didn't think that was right. But it's crazy how many people are saying this.

    People use the term BMR wrong.

    Most people should not be eating at or below BMR. However, people who are very obese can eat at that level for a time without doing any damage because they have a lot of excess to lose. People with say, less than 75 pounds to lose should not eat that low.

    People who are closer to their goal weight who eat that low can do damage to their metabolism, making it difficult for them to continue to lose weight.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    I struggle with this too. My BMR says 1601. MFP says 1200 per day. I know it should be more than 1200 and MFP uses that as a baseline for most people that sign up.

    I worry that if I eat 1600 calories I won't lose! ARGH. I am losing slowly now. I lost more quickly in the beginning when I was doing weight watchers. In the past month I have quit ww and shifted to calorie counting and much more exercise.

    Any thoughts?

    How many pounds per week did you say you want to lose? This is going to override your BMR. This is how MFP works:

    It figures out your estimated daily calorie needs NOT INCLUDING exercise. So, just what your body needs to function and do ordinary daily stuff, work, school, taking care of children, whatever you do normally. Then it takes a set amount off of that depending on how many pounds per week you say you want to lose. For 2 pounds a week, it deducts 1,000 calories. 1 pound a week is 500 calories. But it will not go below 1200 as a minimum. Choosing 2 pounds a week is not reasonable unless you have more than 75 pounds to lose. Then, remember, this number it gave you did not include exercise, so that is why it gives you more calories after you do exercise.

    Here's an example. For round numbers, lets say a person has a calorie need of 2000 calories a day, not including exercise. They have 50 pounds they need to lose, so they choose "I want to lose 1 pound a week". This deducts 500 calories and gives them 1500 calories a day PLUS exercise calories.

    1500 (amount of food)
    -300 (calories burned in exercise)
    +300 (more food to eat for energy)
    =1500 Net calories (but you ate 1800 altogether, and still have a 500 calorie deficit from your 2000 to lose 1 pound a week).

    Now if that person chose "I want to lose 2 pounds per week", it would set them at 1200, and that would be too much of a deficit for most people, unless it truly was appropriate and healthy for them to lose 2 pounds per week.

    Okay, now same person, lets look at the TDEE -% method. Their calorie needs WITH exercise is 2300 calories. (this is known as TDEE - total daily energy expenditure).

    2300 x 20% = 460. 2300 - 460 = 1840.

    See how close the methods are when done correctly?
  • oldenn
    oldenn Posts: 2
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    Its not just 1600 cals or 2000 cals.. its making sure that every calorie in is rich in vitamins and not just dense calories full of rubbish .... you must aim to achieve a daily deficit of around 500 cals... so if you do excersises one day than you need more cxals than a day you don't exercise.

    make sure your meals are a balance of low gi carbs eg. sweet potatoes- oats etc and not bread - pasta- that are high gi and fast energy - balance that with good proteins with each meal..this will keep you in FAT-Burning mode and not STAVATION mode which is FAT-storing ....(the body will use the muscles to get the energy if you starve them of good carbs)

    Also, don't look for one-size-fits-all - roughly 40%carbs-40%protein-20%fats (good fats - eg- peanut butter)

    lastly - don't go on a diet- stay on a life-change - You Deserve to Feel Good!!!

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