why is my daily net goal less than my bmr?

kls1628
kls1628 Posts: 23 Member
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hi-
I'm new here and was wondering why my net daily calorie goal is less than my bmr by about 200 calories? Shouldn't I need to eat at least that much simply because I'm moving around during the day? Thanks!

Replies

  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    Your BMR is the number to mainain your current weight, you need the calorie deficit to lose weight.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    because that is the goal weight loss you chose when setting up your profile.
  • RDTaylor13
    RDTaylor13 Posts: 160
    it calculates it that way, so you have a deficet, to help you with losing weight. if you eat your BMR calories, you wouldn't lose any weight, and might hover where you are, or gain.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Your BMR is the number to mainain your current weight, you need the calorie deficit to lose weight.

    Not quite, maintenance calories are BMR plus an activity amount depending on your activity level sedentary to very active. BMR is the amount of calories your body uses for life sustaining functions such as breathing, and is the amount you would burn in a coma.
  • kls1628
    kls1628 Posts: 23 Member
    Thanks!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    it calculates it that way, so you have a deficet, to help you with losing weight. if you eat your BMR calories, you wouldn't lose any weight, and might hover where you are, or gain.

    This is wrong, you would lose weight eating BMR because you don't sleep 24/7. if your BMR is 1500 and you are sedentary your maintenance calories would be around 1900 and if you eat less than 1900 and more than your BMR of 1500, you would lose weight.

    Seeing that you have very little weight to lose you should set your goal at 1/2 pound per week so that you are not eating below BMR. Eating below BMR is only recommended when you have a lot of weight to lose otherwise you should eat between BMR and maintenance.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    Go to the Message Boards and click on General Diet and Weight Loss Help. There is a post for Newbies to read. It tells you what you need to know about metabolism, starvation mode, and eating your exercise calories.

    It has a red stick pin next to it
  • kls1628
    kls1628 Posts: 23 Member
    it calculates it that way, so you have a deficet, to help you with losing weight. if you eat your BMR calories, you wouldn't lose any weight, and might hover where you are, or gain.

    This is wrong, you would lose weight eating BMR because you don't sleep 24/7. if your BMR is 1500 and you are sedentary your maintenance calories would be around 1900 and if you eat less than 1900 and more than your BMR of 1500, you would lose weight.

    Seeing that you have very little weight to lose you should set your goal at 1/2 pound per week so that you are not eating below BMR. Eating below BMR is only recommended when you have a lot of weight to lose otherwise you should eat between BMR and maintenance.

    This makes more sense to me- My main goal is gaining muscle and tone, so eating around 1200 calories daily while my BMR was 1400 seemed weird (I was eating 1600-1800 per day without gaining weight or working out consistently, so it seemed to me if I ate the same and added in an exercise program I would lose a few pounds of fat and gain some muscle). I guess I need to rework my calorie goals! Thanks for the help.
  • Jennplus2
    Jennplus2 Posts: 984 Member
    This is wrong, you would lose weight eating BMR because you don't sleep 24/7. if your BMR is 1500 and you are sedentary your maintenance calories would be around 1900 and if you eat less than 1900 and more than your BMR of 1500, you would lose weight.

    Seeing that you have very little weight to lose you should set your goal at 1/2 pound per week so that you are not eating below BMR. Eating below BMR is only recommended when you have a lot of weight to lose otherwise you should eat between BMR and maintenance.

    How do I find out what my maintenance calories would be?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    This is wrong, you would lose weight eating BMR because you don't sleep 24/7. if your BMR is 1500 and you are sedentary your maintenance calories would be around 1900 and if you eat less than 1900 and more than your BMR of 1500, you would lose weight.

    Seeing that you have very little weight to lose you should set your goal at 1/2 pound per week so that you are not eating below BMR. Eating below BMR is only recommended when you have a lot of weight to lose otherwise you should eat between BMR and maintenance.

    How do I find out what my maintenance calories would be?

    2 ways:
    1. Change your goal on MFP to maintenance, it will show you your maintenance calories. Once you have that number change back to your goal.
    2. I would just take you calories MFP gives you and add back your daily goal deficit. i.e. if you are set up to lose 1 pound per week your daily caloric deficit would be 500/day. So to get maintenance take you goal on MFP and add 500. if your goal is 2 lbs add back 1000 to get maintenance.
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