BMR is higher than my alotted calories??

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amccabe110
amccabe110 Posts: 29 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Help! I was under the assumption that your BMI calories are what you're body burns doing nothing...anyway, my BMR is 1308, and my daily calories are 1200 without exercise. I'm having a hard time eating 1200 calories and usually am under by 100-200. What am I doing wrong? Also, is it terrible that I am under my calories? I do try to eat more when I exercise, but I'm under by 200-300....any advice would help!

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  • tARAtzu
    tARAtzu Posts: 2
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    You really shouldn't eat any less that your BMR. Your organs, brain, etc. all depend on these calories to function normally. If you starve them for too long then your body will eventually compensate in a negative way.
    There is no excuse for you to be eating less than 1200 calories unless you have trained your body that way. It really is not hard to get in more calories than that unless you have some fear of doing so. Nuts are high in calories and a handful of them can easily satisfy a couple hundred. I would suggest you train your body to eat every three hours and and more calories, your metabolism will boost by feeding it regularly and then you also won't starve your body. If you do this, your body will crave more calories when it knows you will feed it and then you win and win. More calories and higher metabolism.
  • amccabe110
    amccabe110 Posts: 29 Member
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    thanks....I'm not starving myself at all..just eating what I normally would-but I've never counted calories before. I will have to bump it up! Is it strange that my BMR is LESS than my allotted calories though?
  • Beth720
    Beth720 Posts: 661 Member
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    If I read right, your BMR is 1308. Your MFP allottment is 1200. So it's NOT over your BMR. It's 108 UNDER.
  • teasdino
    teasdino Posts: 228 Member
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    Ok,
    I think tara has a point..much to my chagrin. I am also guilty of that 100-200 calorie deal. And the idea of eating every 3 hours is quite smart. Toasted pumpkin seeds are wonderful and provide protien. If you have small hands then use a measuring cup to see how many fit inside a 1/4 cup. I am tall and wear a size 8 1/2 ring and my handful was less than 1/4 cup. Also you can throw some more fruits/veggies in there to make up the difference. Thanks tara for giving me a reminder of how important it is to do things the healthy way. :flowerforyou:
  • pratrat150
    pratrat150 Posts: 20
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    I have heard that you should eat the same number of calories that your goal weight BMR is. So calculate the BMR at your goal weight and eat accordingly. I got this info from the podcast Fat 2 Fit Radio. Check it out. It has some good information and tips.

    Also, I am in the same boat. I am having a hard time keeping within my budget. I have found allocating a number of calories per meal/snack helps (e.g. 1500 calories and 3 meals and 1 snack a day means 400 calories per meal a 300 calorie snack). Also, enter your meal BEFORE you eat. That is key. My first few days of recording I just ate and then recorded. I was almost 1,000 calories over!! It was ridiculous. I started to record the meal first and then eat. Now, I am much more under control.

    Best of luck!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    thanks....I'm not starving myself at all..just eating what I normally would-but I've never counted calories before. I will have to bump it up! Is it strange that my BMR is LESS than my allotted calories though?

    Actually eating less than 1200 calories is essentially starving yourself. You should never go below 1200 NET, so if you burn 200 cals from exercise the lowest caloric intake you should have would be 1400 which is 1200 net (1200+200-200)
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    you're alloted calories from MFP is less than your BMR because you chose a high loss per week total (I.E. 2 lbs per week probably). The less weight you have to lose, the smaller your weekly deficit should be. I.E. if you're looking to lose 15 to 20 lbs, your goal should probably be between 1/2 and 1 lb per week max. The body can only pull extra calories from places it HAS extra calories, if you don't have much fat to burn, then you can't pull fat from those places, the body will compensate by pulling muscle and lean tissue (not good) and slowing down your metabolic processes to compensate (also not good). So the sweet spot is finding that deficit that's big enough to satisfy your desire for weight loss, yet small enough to make sure your body doesn't start adjusting your calorie burn.
  • 0Jaime0
    0Jaime0 Posts: 26
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    I just found this site last week, and learned the reason I am at a plateua in my weight loss struggle is because I was eating 1200 calories or less a day. This past week, I have made myself eat a snack after breakfast and lunch. Surprisingly, I lost 2 pounds my first week. I learned by eating too few calories my body was going into starvation mode, and my metabolism wasnt burning any food, just storing it because I was in starvation mode. Best of luck!
  • amccabe110
    amccabe110 Posts: 29 Member
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    Ok..I think I found my answer...I'll adjust my weight loss goals ( I originally wanted to lose 2lbs/week). As I've said, this is my very first time counting calories and exercising ( I'm on week 6 of c25k). Thank you all so much for the info-I bought some peanuts to snack on this afternoon, and added chicken to my regular salad lunch. I've already started eating breakfast where before joining I never did, so I'd say I'm on the right path! I love being able to get the answers I need here-thanks to all:happy:
  • willimh
    willimh Posts: 227 Member
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    Try to eat more by adding fruit, vegetables, nuts and dairy. We should never eat less than 1200 calories cause then the body would go into starvation mode and hold on to whatever we give it. When you exercise you earn calories so try and eat atleast half the calories so that your body is fueled properly so it will burn.
  • willimh
    willimh Posts: 227 Member
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    If your BMR is 1308 and your alotted calories is 1200 then your BMR is greater not less.
  • amccabe110
    amccabe110 Posts: 29 Member
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    Right...my bad! I adjusted my weight loss goals and now both my BMR & calories are 1308. Now I just have to work on eating more....... thanks everyone
  • tARAtzu
    tARAtzu Posts: 2
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    Well I am glad to see you are now on the right track!!!

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