Very confused with my tdee and bmr

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chandra2802
chandra2802 Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So checking my stats.. BMR is 1821 my TDEE -20% is 2003. MFP says to eat 1870. But if i eat more than 1800 I notice i gain a bit of weight not lose the weight. I work out 4-5 times a week 1 hour a day atleast. I bike to work and am standing and walking the whole time while working. My question is.. i know everyone has to find their sweetspot at times to continue to loose weight. But what i see most people say is that its not healthy to eat under your BMR.

CW235
Height 5'11
30 female

I have checked all the different websites and i still dont understand. I normally just use the setting light activity and dont add in my excersise. I weigh and measure everything. Only think i dont log is my water intake... i know its between 1 to 1.5 liters per day. For the rest i have been very faithful on logging and measuring. I know already some days i am very sluggish in the afternoon between my snack and dinner. But other than that i feel fine. I guess my question is.. Is it ok to be eating under my BMR? Or am i missunderstanding the whole concept?

Replies

  • jetlag
    jetlag Posts: 800 Member
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    Online calorie calculators are estimates at best. Personally, I would think it's safe to eat less than 1800 calories.

    How are you measuring calorie burn?
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
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    A few useful links that might help explain:

    TDEE / MFP from the Sexypants guide guy:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1072049-thoughts-on-tdee-calculators-and-switching-from-mfp-to-tdee

    You're probably eating more than you think:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    The imfamous Sexypants guide
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    Important posts:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read


    Edit:

    P.S. Here's a guide on how to measure your TDEE yourself. It's mathsy and nerdy, but might be useful. It does require very accurate logging of calories in - see the "Your're probably eating more than you think" post above.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1111515-for-the-nerds-in-you-tdee-estimation-with-graphs?hl=TDEE+measurement+with+graphs


    Edit 2:
    I did a quick calculation of your BMR etc.
    BMR 1882
    TDEE (Sedentary) 2258
    TDEE - 20% 1806

    If you want to eat back your exercise calories, you need to set your activity level as sedentary. If you can't be bothered to track your exercise, then estimate how much you do per week and take that into account, but DON'T include your exercise calories in your TDEE calculate AND eat them back :smile:

    Hope that's helpful.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    First things first you are eating more than you think.

    You are not measuring your food...therefore you are not being accurate.

    I don't see any exercised logged...

    Buy a ktichen scale and start weighing your portions. You will be surprised

    Here is the latest post about this

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1186508-weighing-food-vs-measuring-wow?hl=Wow&page=4#posts-18526270

    At your height and weight you could easily lose on 1800 calories...I lose on 1600 and i am shorter...
  • chandra2802
    chandra2802 Posts: 29 Member
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    I have a digital food scale. and i do measure everything i eat. I dont add butter or oil to anything. . I dont log my exersise because i have my activity set to light. On the lower setting and adding my exercerise It was telling me to eat like 2500 calories. I do zumba 5 days a week, 30 day but challenge (squats lunges and bridge and now up to 90 second plank (still shaky buti can do it). I didnt say i wasnt loosing. I am loosing. I have lost nearly 10lbs already. I was confused because i notice that when i eat the actual 1800 i see a small flucuation in weight on the + side. If i stay lower than that i lose. I was just wondering because it says my BMR is 1821. So i am eating under my BMR.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
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    I have a digital food scale. and i do measure everything i eat. I dont add butter or oil to anything. . I dont log my exersise because i have my activity set to light. On the lower setting and adding my exercerise It was telling me to eat like 2500 calories. I do zumba 5 days a week, 30 day but challenge (squats lunges and bridge and now up to 90 second plank (still shaky buti can do it). I didnt say i wasnt loosing. I am loosing. I have lost nearly 10lbs already. I was confused because i notice that when i eat the actual 1800 i see a small flucuation in weight on the + side. If i stay lower than that i lose. I was just wondering because it says my BMR is 1821. So i am eating under my BMR.


    It says you've only joined in January - does that mean that in January you have lost 10 lbs? That's a pretty huge amount! Well done!

    Also, do you weigh every day? I have been over the last couple of weeks, just as an experiment. I have noticed that my weight can fluctuate by about 0.5 - 1 kg (i.e. 1-2 lbs) from one day to the next, but the general trend is down.

    More links you might find helpful :smile:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1098806-newbie-loss-plateaus-and-weight-loss-math-with-graphs
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    I don't see any exercised logged...
    Using the tdee method does not require logging exercise, bc you don't eat those back...it's counted into the tdee.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I have a digital food scale. and i do measure everything i eat. I dont add butter or oil to anything. . I dont log my exersise because i have my activity set to light. On the lower setting and adding my exercerise It was telling me to eat like 2500 calories. I do zumba 5 days a week, 30 day but challenge (squats lunges and bridge and now up to 90 second plank (still shaky buti can do it). I didnt say i wasnt loosing. I am loosing. I have lost nearly 10lbs already. I was confused because i notice that when i eat the actual 1800 i see a small flucuation in weight on the + side. If i stay lower than that i lose. I was just wondering because it says my BMR is 1821. So i am eating under my BMR.

    You are not logging like you are weighing your food. 1/2c of dry pasta is different than what an actual serving size is...1 sandwich...1cup of this...those are the things I was seeing. Measuring is not weighing you will get some suprises if you start weighing everything...some good some bad...

    For MFP you need to log your exercise calories and eat some of them back....you are a tall woman and can afford it.

    As for weight loss it's not linear...you will see ups and downs and when you exercise you will see water weight to help with the repair of the muscles...

    As for eating below your BMR it's fine...really...there are a few posts linked in an answer that confirm that.

    To be frank tho you have about 45lbs to lose you could reasonable to that at 1lb a week (no more)and eat the recommended calories + some of your exercise calories.

    I wouldn't go up to 2300 calories all at once ...normally what people do is increase them 100 calories for a few weeks get used to it and let their body adapt and bam they lose weight. That happened to me when I went up to 1600 from 1340+exercise calories. I didn't lose weight for 2 weeks then bam 2lbs gone...didn't lose weight the next week then over the next couple I lost more.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
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    As a slight aside, I don't really like the "TDEE" method. Although I think it is helpful to know your TDEE, I prefer doing the MFP sedentary + log and eat back some or all of my exercise calories. It seems more precise to me than estimating roughly how many calories you burn per week, and if you have a quiet week you adjust your eating downwards so you still lose.
  • chandra2802
    chandra2802 Posts: 29 Member
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    My main goal is 180.. so its more like 55 still to go... i am very happy with my 10lbs. And i dont try to weigh my self on a daily basis.. but i have wii fit.. which i do every other day. Mostly yoga and the muscle work outs. ok.. and super hula hoop cause that just kills my mid section lol. I normally have to look on about 10 different sites for calorie info. I live in the netherlands so not all brands or things are the same.
  • marjoleina
    marjoleina Posts: 189 Member
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    My main goal is 180.. so its more like 55 still to go... i am very happy with my 10lbs. And i dont try to weigh my self on a daily basis.. but i have wii fit.. which i do every other day. Mostly yoga and the muscle work outs. ok.. and super hula hoop cause that just kills my mid section lol. I normally have to look on about 10 different sites for calorie info. I live in the netherlands so not all brands or things are the same.

    I live in the Netherlands too! But I have lived in the States for 26 yrs. I do use a food scale though and measure everything. I don't use cups/spoons, but a plate, bowl or whatever, and reset my scale to zero (scale from Ikea, cheap) and otherwise I scan labels with my phone.
    If you like, send me a PM, perhaps we are in the same City and can connect.
    Groetjes
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Your numbers look too high. I'm a 6'1" male and my BMR is "only" 1900ish.

    I would start by knocking a few hundred calories off of your goal and see where that gets you.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    So checking my stats.. BMR is 1821 my TDEE -20% is 2003. MFP says to eat 1870. But if i eat more than 1800 I notice i gain a bit of weight not lose the weight. I work out 4-5 times a week 1 hour a day atleast. I bike to work and am standing and walking the whole time while working. My question is.. i know everyone has to find their sweetspot at times to continue to loose weight. But what i see most people say is that its not healthy to eat under your BMR.

    CW235
    Height 5'11
    30 female

    I have checked all the different websites and i still dont understand. I normally just use the setting light activity and dont add in my excersise. I weigh and measure everything. Only think i dont log is my water intake... i know its between 1 to 1.5 liters per day. For the rest i have been very faithful on logging and measuring. I know already some days i am very sluggish in the afternoon between my snack and dinner. But other than that i feel fine. I guess my question is.. Is it ok to be eating under my BMR? Or am i missunderstanding the whole concept?

    these calculators are estimates...and there is only a 133 calorie difference between MFP and your TDEE - 20% which is pretty negligible really and well within an acceptable rate of error. Ultimately you have to make adjustments per your real world results.

    Also, your true BMR is likely not as high as 1821. Most calculators use your total weight in the calculation and if you're overweight then all of that fat is being used in the calculation...you don't need to fuel fat. There are calculators that determine your BMR as per your lean mass and these are more accurate because they are ignoring the fat part. My BMR with lean mass only is like 1780 or something like that...when I use my total weight it's like 1,870 or something like that.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
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    I think in summary, TDEE calculations are only a guide: if you are losing weight at a rate of around 1-2 lbs per week, your current limit is fine; if you're not losing, you need to reduce your calorie intake; if you're losing significantly faster than 2 lbs per week you need to eat more or risk losing lean muscle mass and getting saggy skin. Adjust your intake smidge by smidge to make sure you don't crash / binge. Don't worry about eating below your BMR.

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