How can cal goal be <BMR???

Maybe you put in an un-realistic goal for weight loss....?

Not if you want to lose weight. If your BMR is 1600 and you eat 1600 you will stay same rate (assuming you are bedridden which is what BMR means, just the cals to keep you alive w/ no activity.) If you want to lose weight, you need to eat less than what your body needs, so it turns to your fat supplies for energy but not so little that it slows your metabolism. women no less than 1200/day, men no less than 1600. Hope it sheds some light.

Not if you want to lose weight. If your BMR is 1600 and you eat 1600 you will stay same rate (assuming you are bedridden which is what BMR means, just the cals to keep you alive w/ no activity.) If you want to lose weight, you need to eat less than what your body needs, so it turns to your fat supplies for energy but not so little that it slows your metabolism. women no less than 1200/day, men no less than 1600. Hope it sheds some light.

This is not correct. I get what youre trying to tell the original poster, but its more like this:

Copy and Pasted answer I just wrote on another thread asking almost the exact same question.... for the third time today.



Short answer: Try Searching this topic, as it has been discussed ad nausea here on the site.

Longer (but not nearly long enough) answer:
Your body requires a certain number of calories in order for you to simply exist. In order for you eyes to blink, your heart to keep beating, your hair to keep growing, your organs to keep functioning, you have to feed it a certain number of calories. This number is called your BMR. (Use the tool on this site to check your BMR...) For example, my BMR is about 1490 calories. So say I lay in bed allllll day, motionless. I would require 1490 calories just to keep my body alive in a coma-like state.
The second I get out of bed, walk across the room, open the door to the bathroom, brush my teeth, pee, weigh myself, turn on the hot water,and hop in the shower...I have burned calories. Minimal...but still enough to start cutting into the 1490 my body needs in order to fuel its most basic functions.

So if I eat my BMR of 1490 a day, I am only giving my body enough to do its basic functions.

MFP gave me 1200 calories based on my desire to lose 2 lbs a week. At my height and current weight, losing 2 lbs per week is not reasonable, but I wanted to lose FAST. And the lowest MFP will set someone's calories is 1200 (For many good reasons). 1200 is sort of an arbitrary number at this point but no one should really eat LESS than 1200, and there are likely very few people who could eat 1200 calories for the rest of their lives and maintain weight or stay satisfied. (opinion...sorry) I lost 20+ lbs eating 1200 cals a day. Wahoo! Yeah me!! Right? WRONG. The second I started eating "normal" again, I gained all 20+ lbs back, PLUS MORE. It might "work" in the short term, but for many here, 1200 calories isnt the lifestyle change needed to STAY healthy and thin.

OK, back to the exercise thing. If I eat my 1500 (1490) cals today, my body will already be at a deficit for weight loss since I got out of bed, functioned, walked, lifted my toddler countless times, etc. So if I were to workout and burn 500 calories this afternoon, my body would be at an even greater deficit, and risk pushing my body to panic. Once your body panics and your metabolism worries that you are not feeding it enough, you will start to store fat at a faster rate. Your body and metabolism will try to hang onto any extra store of fat in preparation for an upcoming "famine".

Another way to look at it: If you eat 1200 calories and then exercise 500 calories away, you are only holding onto 700 calories for your body to draw from for energy, organ function, eye blinking, etc etc. Its just not enough for your body to exist on without causing longterm troubles.

It took me a looooong time to "get" this. I still have to consciously remind myself to eat my calories in order to lose weight. It seems counter-intuitive...but it WORKS. When I eat my BMR and at LEAST half my exercise calories, I lose weight. When I only eat 1200 calories, I am miserable, hungry, and i might lose some weight initially...but i gain it alllll back with a few extra for fluffiness.

Bottom line: eat more, keep moving, lose more, keep it off
BMR + exercise calories = longterm success



Hope that helped!

Also, if yuo put your goal as "lose 2 lbs per week" then MFP will set your calorie goal accordingly. That is why it gave you 1200 cals rather than your BMR.