Is it okay to net less than BMR?

charleigh78
charleigh78 Posts: 247 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
As long as you are eating at least BMR, often over...is it okay to net less? Any opinions or thoughts on this?


Edited to add:

My BMR is 1565 and I always make sure I eat at least 1300 calories.

Replies

  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    What are your goals? Fat loss? Just weight loss in general? Do you want to keep as much muscle as you can while you lose weight? How much weight do you have to lose? Do you lift?
  • pennyllayne
    pennyllayne Posts: 265
    It honestly depends on how your body works and how long you want to be dieting for. I'm not going to advocate any sort of starvation diet, but whilst a small deficit is recommended initially, the longer you diet the worse things get physiologically and psychologically. So for me, I'd rather go as low as possible whilst still maintaining as much muscle and nutrition as possible whilst also losing weight at a decent rate. Because weight loss stalls and fluctuates, it can drive you mad to be on a deficit that should make you lose at a rate of 0.5lbs per week and then lose nothing for a couple of weeks. Some people have no problem with long term calorie counting, but for people who have major issues with hunger that increases the urge to binge or a tendency to become obsessive and have a bad relationship with food, long term dieting is far from ideal. 1200 calories is the recommended minimum, but I see no reason why you absolutely must be ABOVE that number unless it is causing you problems.
  • VinceDelmonte
    VinceDelmonte Posts: 31
    I was going to say the same fantastic advice from this young lady

    Good luck with your quest my friend you will succeed :)
  • charleigh78
    charleigh78 Posts: 247 Member
    What are your goals? Fat loss? Just weight loss in general? Do you want to keep as much muscle as you can while you lose weight? How much weight do you have to lose? Do you lift?


    I lift 3 x a week. I also try to add in cardio. On lifting days I box some after and use a HRM to judge calories burned. On non-lift days I try to walk or do some sort of cardio. My BMR is 1565, my TDEE-20% is almost 1800. I never allow myself to eat less than 1300 calories net. I tried upping my calories at one time to BMR plus half of my exercise calories and all weight loss stalled (and I gave it over a month). I do have metabolic and thyroid issues so I even question whether an online calculator can accurately calculate my BMR?

    If I eat at least 1300 calories a day, but net less than my BMR of 1565, am I compromising my metabolism somehow? My goal is to be healthy. I need to lose 40+ pounds.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    What are your goals? Fat loss? Just weight loss in general? Do you want to keep as much muscle as you can while you lose weight? How much weight do you have to lose? Do you lift?


    I lift 3 x a week. I also try to add in cardio. On lifting days I box some after and use a HRM to judge calories burned. On non-lift days I try to walk or do some sort of cardio. My BMR is 1565, my TDEE-20% is almost 1800. I never allow myself to eat less than 1300 calories net. I tried upping my calories at one time to BMR plus half of my exercise calories and all weight loss stalled (and I gave it over a month). I do have metabolic and thyroid issues so I even question whether an online calculator can accurately calculate my BMR?

    If I eat at least 1300 calories a day, but net less than my BMR of 1565, am I compromising my metabolism somehow? My goal is to be healthy. I need to lose 40+ pounds.

    I can't speak too much to the metabolic and thyroid issues, but as for compromising your metabolism. The only real way you'll compromise your metabolism is if you eat at a large deficit and in turn lose weight at a rapid speed. If that's not happening then you're not going to have any severe metabolic adaptation.
  • charleigh78
    charleigh78 Posts: 247 Member
    What are your goals? Fat loss? Just weight loss in general? Do you want to keep as much muscle as you can while you lose weight? How much weight do you have to lose? Do you lift?


    I lift 3 x a week. I also try to add in cardio. On lifting days I box some after and use a HRM to judge calories burned. On non-lift days I try to walk or do some sort of cardio. My BMR is 1565, my TDEE-20% is almost 1800. I never allow myself to eat less than 1300 calories net. I tried upping my calories at one time to BMR plus half of my exercise calories and all weight loss stalled (and I gave it over a month). I do have metabolic and thyroid issues so I even question whether an online calculator can accurately calculate my BMR?

    If I eat at least 1300 calories a day, but net less than my BMR of 1565, am I compromising my metabolism somehow? My goal is to be healthy. I need to lose 40+ pounds.

    I can't speak too much to the metabolic and thyroid issues, but as for compromising your metabolism. The only real way you'll compromise your metabolism is if you eat at a large deficit and in turn lose weight at a rapid speed. If that's not happening then you're not going to have and sever metabolic adaptation.


    This is what I was thinking. Thank you for confirming that. I can't be eating at too much of a deficit because I am losing like a turtle. I do not have food issues and I have never been a big eater. I am not hungry netting 1300 calories. Often, I eating extra after dinner to get to 1300.
  • charleigh78
    charleigh78 Posts: 247 Member
    It honestly depends on how your body works and how long you want to be dieting for. I'm not going to advocate any sort of starvation diet, but whilst a small deficit is recommended initially, the longer you diet the worse things get physiologically and psychologically. So for me, I'd rather go as low as possible whilst still maintaining as much muscle and nutrition as possible whilst also losing weight at a decent rate. Because weight loss stalls and fluctuates, it can drive you mad to be on a deficit that should make you lose at a rate of 0.5lbs per week and then lose nothing for a couple of weeks. Some people have no problem with long term calorie counting, but for people who have major issues with hunger that increases the urge to binge or a tendency to become obsessive and have a bad relationship with food, long term dieting is far from ideal. 1200 calories is the recommended minimum, but I see no reason why you absolutely must be ABOVE that number unless it is causing you problems.


    Thanks for your thoughts. Very helpful. I make sure to net at least 1300 and I am not hungry most days. In fact, after dinner I am adding something to hit 1300. I am a slower loser, which makes me think I have a lower BMR.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    As long as you are eating at least BMR, often over...is it okay to net less?

    Yes. Your BMR is just a (large) part of your energy expenditure. Beyond that it has no direct relationship to how much you eat, even if you knew what it actually is (as opposed to an estimate).
  • pennyllayne
    pennyllayne Posts: 265
    What are your goals? Fat loss? Just weight loss in general? Do you want to keep as much muscle as you can while you lose weight? How much weight do you have to lose? Do you lift?


    I lift 3 x a week. I also try to add in cardio. On lifting days I box some after and use a HRM to judge calories burned. On non-lift days I try to walk or do some sort of cardio. My BMR is 1565, my TDEE-20% is almost 1800. I never allow myself to eat less than 1300 calories net. I tried upping my calories at one time to BMR plus half of my exercise calories and all weight loss stalled (and I gave it over a month). I do have metabolic and thyroid issues so I even question whether an online calculator can accurately calculate my BMR?

    If I eat at least 1300 calories a day, but net less than my BMR of 1565, am I compromising my metabolism somehow? My goal is to be healthy. I need to lose 40+ pounds.

    Metabolic adaptation will always occur to some degree when you lower your calories, but I believe that if you're within 1,000 calories of maintenance it's only around 10%. This is why weight loss slows after a period of dieting and you have to further lower calories to see the same rate of weight loss.

    You're also right about online BMR calculators being inaccurate. They don't take into account muscle mass or metabolic issues like you have and yes your BMR is likely to be less than what an online calculator says and even less if you have been dieting for a long period of time. I actually have a body composition scale which calculates BMR based on muscle and body fat and whilst it may not be 100% accurate, the BMR it gives me is quite different from the online calculators. Also, be aware that long term calorie restriction affects leptin and thyroid so taking a break occasionally may help keep things moving along if they are slowing down a lot. It's a bit of a catch 22 though as carbs have the biggest effect on these things and if you are carb sensitive you may have difficulty keeping them high for a period of time. Saying that though, I am carb sensitive and losing weight in itself seems to have helped me process them better. Before when I ate over 100g of carbs I'd see a water weight gain of a lb or 2, but now there's none.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    I don't see any reason to focus on BMR as a figure in relation to food intake.
    I'd suggest factors like percentage of TDEE and percentage of current body fat are more important.
    I doubt the body really 'cares' that X calories were burnt by BMR not other activity.

    The best way to workout TDEE at least, I'd suggest is to look at the scales.
    You can then make an educated guess at BMR.
    Or, you could get your metabolism tested specifically, but there will be a cost to that and you have to work out if it's worth it to you.

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