Do you count the calories you burn in your sleep?

The calories I burn when I sleep are included already in my BMR.

The calories I burn when I sleep are included already in my BMR.

^^^^ this

Question, if my BMR is 1800 do I need to burn twice as much as that to loose weight? The BMR thing is a bit confusing to me.

No, your BMR or basal metabolic rate is basically the calories you burn/expend at complete rest in a 24 hour period (includes sleeping). Since most people stand up, walk around, etc, you actually expend more calories than that each day even without doing any exercise. MFP does the math for you to figure out your estimated maintenance calorie needs and then subtracts a portion of that to give you a calorie target for weight loss.

To lose weight, you simply need to eat less than you expend.

This might help:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Question, if my BMR is 1800 do I need to burn twice as much as that to loose weight? The BMR thing is a bit confusing to me.

BMR is the calories your body uses keeping all your cells alive and your organs functioning right. You need to eat this number of calories, to feed your cells and fuel your organs. Eating less than this number day in day out isn't healthy.

You also need to calculate the calories your body uses moving around. How many calories this is depends on how active you are. If you have a manual job or you're on your feet all day, you'll burn more calories than someone with a desk job who's sitting down all day. If you go to the gym, you'll burn more calories than someone who's sitting watching TV.

So, to work out how many calories you need to eat each day, you need to calculate this by adding your BMR to your activity calories. So:

BMR calories + activity calories = total calories burned each day (total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE)

BMR calculators should have activity factor multipliers so you can work out your TDEE. If your BMR is 1800 then your TDEE is probably at least 2000-2100 calories a day.

Please note: you have already burned these calories, just by being alive and moving around. You need to eat enough food to keep your body functioning well, so most of these calories you have to eat back. You don't need to burn this many again by doing more exercise. If you do more exercise, your activity calories will be higher, so your TDEE will be higher, and you'll need to eat more.

You will lose weight provided you eat less than your TDEE. How much less depends on how much fat you have to lose:

if you have loads and loads and loads of fat to lose, as in 100lb+ super obese, you should be fine eating 30% less than your TDEE. The more fat you have to lose, the bigger a deficit you can get away with without causing any problems associated with undereating.

If you have a moderate amount of fat to lose, i.e. you're obese but not that obese, then 20% less than TDEE is probably a better option.

If you're trying to lose the last few stubborn lbs of body fat, then sticking to 10% less is best, because you have that much less to lose and there's a greater risk of problems associated with undereating, including loss of muscle mass and bone density, so you have to be more careful about not undereating.

Many people don't realise how much you can actually eat and still lose weight, especially if you exercise. A lot of people when they go on diets eat too little and find it hard to stick to in the long term because of that, or in some cases even cause health problems from eating too little. A lot of people don't realise how many calories the body burns just staying alive. If your BMR is 1800 calories, then your body burns 1800 calories just staying alive.

Meep.

I count the calories I burn opening my car door....ha ha..I joke cuz I love...

I am counting the calories I use to type this message.

Weight Loss Tip: Never use internet acronyms like "LOL". Instead type, 'hahahahahahahahahaha".

Feel the burn.

We are truly going to hell...well, chalk it up to a Monday...hahahahahahahahahahahah (10 cals burned)

Ha, no way! If you count the calories you burn while your sleeping than your just making excuses for yourself to eat more. Only count the calories when you workout, not what you do on a normal basis. So don't count cleaning or walking around in your daily life as a workout. Count running, elliptical trainer, weights, zumba, biking, ballet, yoga, etc as a workout. You will see better results if you don't over compensate your calories.

Sorry - but I DO count the cals when I clean and walking during the day due to my job...I base my TDEE on workouts I KNOW I'll do during the week (1-3 hrs/wk) which are OVER AND ABOVE vacuuming, pulling out the furniture, washing floors, etc...

But no - you don't count your sleeping cals lol.. that IS in your BMR.

lol

What if you sleep walk, sleep run or sleep lift?