BMR cals goal vs MFP cals goal

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CherryOnionKiss
CherryOnionKiss Posts: 376 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,
I have a question. I've read the road map 2.0 and everything I could find but I'm still confused.

A friend that's been here a long time now told me to never eat below my BMR which is 1580 calories per day. I tried that for a while but never lost a single pound. I went back to the MFP method and set my goal to lose 1lbs per week. Which sets me to 1390 calories per day. Which is below my BMR.

I've started to lose weight only with the MFP method. I eat my exercise calories back. My exercise consist of talking walks.
I don't understand why it is suggested that I never eat below my BMR if I never lost any weight by doing this.

If you have to eat AT LEASt at your BMR level and never under, why is MFP suggestion calories goal that is 190 calories less than my BMR?


To find out my BMR I used this link : http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,962 Member
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    Because MFP's Goal Wizard is dumb tool.

    Set your weight loss at "Lose 1 pound per week" and be honest with your Activity level. If you have any type of job, go to school or care for kids at home, don't choose Sedentary. It should then give you more than your BMR.

    The tool will try to help you lose weight, no matter how ill-advised the goals you choose.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    because a calculator assumes you are the same as their average for everyone else - your actual BMR could be much lower (or higher). the BMR/TDEE calculators don't work for me either. just use whatever system works for you :)
  • CherryOnionKiss
    CherryOnionKiss Posts: 376 Member
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    It's all so confusing
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
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    Not eating below your RMR is a general bit of health advice. Your body needs X number of calories to function properly. Remember that it's a complicated thing (your body). Making hair healthy and strong takes energy. Creating the balance of hormones that's best for you takes energy. Cognition takes energy. Bone density takes energy. Maintaining muscles takes energy. Keeping your blood warm (or cool) takes A LOT of energy.

    If you don't eat enough your body has to take energy from somewhere. So stuff will get cannibalized. Maybe your hair starts to thin or fall out or get weaker. Maybe it doesn't produce the optimum set of hormones to keep you happy. Maybe it slows down your metabolism. Maybe your bone density drops. A lot of this won't show up on a routine physical. Sure, you can go a month or three without any serious side effects. But they are there.

    What I found that worked great is to set my weight loss goals to 0, set my daily intake to my RMR, and then not eat back exercise calories. Everybody is a little different.

    Bottom line, though, is don't stress it and listen to your body. If you're feeling tired, irritable, sluggish, etc, eat more. If you aren't dropping weight for a month or more, eat less.
  • CherryOnionKiss
    CherryOnionKiss Posts: 376 Member
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    Not eating below your RMR is a general bit of health advice. Your body needs X number of calories to function properly. Remember that it's a complicated thing (your body). Making hair healthy and strong takes energy. Creating the balance of hormones that's best for you takes energy. Cognition takes energy. Bone density takes energy. Maintaining muscles takes energy. Keeping your blood warm (or cool) takes A LOT of energy.

    If you don't eat enough your body has to take energy from somewhere. So stuff will get cannibalized. Maybe your hair starts to thin or fall out or get weaker. Maybe it doesn't produce the optimum set of hormones to keep you happy. Maybe it slows down your metabolism. Maybe your bone density drops. A lot of this won't show up on a routine physical. Sure, you can go a month or three without any serious side effects. But they are there.

    What I found that worked great is to set my weight loss goals to 0, set my daily intake to my RMR, and then not eat back exercise calories. Everybody is a little different.

    Bottom line, though, is don't stress it and listen to your body. If you're feeling tired, irritable, sluggish, etc, eat more. If you aren't dropping weight for a month or more, eat less.


    That's the best advice I ever got on MFP. Thank you!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Are you sure you're not confusing your BMR with your TDEE (very common mistake as some websites are unclear)?

    BMR is the basic number of calories your body needs to function - heart beating, brain firing, lungs breathing, etc - as if you're in a coma.

    TDEE is the number of calories you'd burn in an entire day including activity whether sedentary or exercise or cleaning...

    If you'd like, give us your stats and we can double check the numbers for you
  • CherryOnionKiss
    CherryOnionKiss Posts: 376 Member
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    age : 29
    weight: 176.4 lbs
    height : 5'3
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Ok, that's right your BMR is 1576 and your sedentary TDEE would be 1891 (I used the scooby's workshop website).

    I personally use sort of a combination of the In Place of a Road Map method (aka TDEE-20%) and the MFP method. My daily calories are set at my goal BMR (which for you would be about what MFP is giving you for a goal) and then eat back all of my exercise calories. I figured that way I will be eating the same amount of calories now as when I reach goal so I won't have to change much. And so far it's working realy well for me. I've been using this method for almost 2 months and I've lost about 3 pounds as of my last weigh in. Considering I'm close to goal and I had a vacation 2 weeks ago, that's a pretty good rate.

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