Losing 2lbs per week puts me under my BMR?? Safe or not..
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At the moment I am eating between 1500-1800 and not eating back my exercise calories...0
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I was just not sure if im under feeding my body but what others seem to say makes sense... if i eat under my BMR, my body will just use up the stored fat thus helping my weight loss..At the moment I am eating between 1500-1800 and not eating back my exercise calories...0 -
At the moment I am eating between 1500-1800 and not eating back my exercise calories...
Sounds reasonable, it looks like you are on the right track. When did you start and have you seen a good constant weight loss?0 -
I think you're making it too complicated for yourself.
Go in to MFP, enter your weight, age, activity level, and set your goal at 2lbs/wk loss, and just manage your calories.
I have a "sedentary" activity level because i work at a desk all day, and at 250lbs I was eating 1450cals/day, now that i'm near 200lbs it's 1280/day which I boost up by running or walking pretty much daily so I can eat more like 1500-1600 daily. It is completely manageable and i've been losing around 2lbs/wk for the last 4 months, for the first 6-7 weeks it was actually resulting in nearly 3lbs/wk loss.
What I DIDN'T do was worry about all the BMR, tdee, etc stuff. Let MFP worry about that for you. Once you are closer to your goal weight and have to slow the weight loss down then you can worry about it more. At this point, the way I looked at it, not much I could do was going to be more unhealthy for my body than being 250lbs!
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I generally just target eating my BMR + half any major (500+ calorie) burns. Since I don't weigh my food, the smaller burns are my buffer against overeating. Seems to work out -- I'm currently losing a bit over a pound a week, and was losing 2+ pounds a week back when I was 50 pounds heavier.
Just pick a reasonable starting point and adjust as you go -- your body will tell you if you're running too big of a deficit (e.g., I was eating well below my BMR for the first couple of weeks, and was obscenely tired all the time -- bumping up to BMR got me to a deficit I could live with for the long haul).
Good luck on your journey!0 -
I was just not sure if im under feeding my body but what others seem to say makes sense... if i eat under my BMR, my body will just use up the stored fat thus helping my weight loss..At the moment I am eating between 1500-1800 and not eating back my exercise calories...
It will, but it will also use up some of your muscle which you need to keep burning calories. That's why it's recommended that you do strength training + eat enough protein so you lose mostly fat and keep the muscle you have.
The iifym calculator tells you how much protein/fat/carbs you should eat to maintain your lean body mass.0 -
I was just not sure if im under feeding my body but what others seem to say makes sense... if i eat under my BMR, my body will just use up the stored fat thus helping my weight loss..At the moment I am eating between 1500-1800 and not eating back my exercise calories...
Problem with eating too far below BMR is your body will also be more aggressive about using muscle to make up the deficit. And you'll likely be too tired to do the exercise needed to help spare the muscle.0 -
I think you're making it too complicated for yourself.
Go in to MFP, enter your weight, age, activity level, and set your goal at 2lbs/wk loss, and just manage your calories.
I have a "sedentary" activity level because i work at a desk all day, and at 250lbs I was eating 1450cals/day, now that i'm near 200lbs it's 1280/day which I boost up by running or walking pretty much daily so I can eat more like 1500-1600 daily. It is completely manageable and i've been losing around 2lbs/wk for the last 4 months, for the first 6-7 weeks it was actually resulting in nearly 3lbs/wk loss.
What I DIDN'T do was worry about all the BMR, tdee, etc stuff. Let MFP worry about that for you. Once you are closer to your goal weight and have to slow the weight loss down then you can worry about it more. At this point, the way I looked at it, not much I could do was going to be more unhealthy for my body than being 250lbs!
only problem is mfp will probably give you 1200 which is probably too low. I have my goal as 1200 but i generally eat at least 1400 - 1600 and am still losing - I probably have similar stats to OP. Think its just a bit of trial and error really.0 -
another way of achieving a net caloric intake that low is to increase the amount of exercise you do...i.e. walk a bit farther for longer.0
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People freak out too much about undereating and BMR. If you're getting adequate vitamins and minerals you could live several months off of your fat stores alone consuming literally 0 calories a day.
This whole notion of starvation is ridiculous. No one here in a 1st world country has any idea what starvation is, there is no such thing as starvation when you're 100 lbs overweight. Guess why your body is 100 lbs overweight? because your body stores excess calories as fat to use in times when you're not eating enough food. You're body is designed to store fat so you CAN UNDEREAT. In fact there are tons of studies that show that people and animals who undereat regularly actually live longer and have way less disease!
You have to pick a starting point for your calories. Whether it's 2000 calories or 1800 calories or 1500 calories or whatever you do. That's not even important where you start off. Every calculation you do out there is an education guess. You have to make adjustments after depending on what happens.
I would ignore the first couple weeks as your body will adjust to lower carb intake and youll shed water and probably lose 5-10 lbs in those first 2 weeks
After the first couple weeks adjust your calories intake as needed. If you start off at 1800(which is probably a good starting point) and you find you are only losing 1 lb a week and you want to lose 2 lbs then either add in 3500 calories worth of exercise a week or subtraction 3500 calories from your diet for the week(500 calories per day) or a combination of both.0 -
I can't assume this will work for you but I know exactly what works for me. I wanted to be aggressive and lose my weight fast too, I chose 2 lbs a week and followed MFP a closely as possible. I went over my calories a few times but was always under my net calories.
My philosophy was to eat the suggested # of calories or close to it while exercising (walking at first, then a mix of walking/jogging/running) and now I am running more than ever. I NEVER eat anywhere near my NET CALORIES. Never. There were days I went under 1200 calories when I was supposed to be eating 1500 and I lost less weight when I did that. Believe it or not eating 1500 calories or a little more when I had 1560 calories to eat helped me lose more weight than when I ate only 1200.
I have been at it for almost 4 months and have lost 64 lbs so far. I continue to lose. I exercise everyday (unless I am injured, blisters, achilles, etc). Believe me, exercise is the best thing, it keeps me away from food and feels great especially when I push myself more than before.
So my bottom line suggestion would be -> don't worry about BMR but stay within 10% of your allotted calories and don't eat the NET CALORIES you bank from exercising. You will lose weight faster and healthier this way.
On a side note you will look better and certainly feel better.
Hope this helps, good luck!
Mark
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From what ive read and understand you wont even get into the so-called starvation mode until your BF hits below 10 percent also it depends on how much you weight and your goals. If you are 500 lbs and looking to loose it and put yourself on a 2000 calorie a day intake you could possible loose 5lbs a week with excercise. If your 180 looking to loose 20lbs and put yourself on a 2000 calorie a day intake with moderate excersise you could probably loose 1 to 2 lbs a week depending on what you do. I say if you feel good and are eating healthy do what is right for you and dont buy into the starvation mode. You will learn more as you go along and come to your own conclusions and do what is right for you. If something is not working for you change it. Also as you loose your BMR will decrease. Eating below your BMR will not put you in starvation mode you will loose muscle with fat just as you gain fat with muscle. Weight training helps maintain the muscle while your eating at a deficit.
Myself I droped to about 1600-2000 a day excercised regulary and I probably lost 2-3 lbs a week and I lost about 100 or so actually pretty quick. Im far from starving or unhealthy.0 -
To lose 25 lbs., set your goal to .5 lb. per week and be patient. 2 lbs. per week is way too aggressive a goal at your size.
Please, read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants
Look more closely... she has more than 25 pounds to lose before her goal weight. She does not need to lose at 0.5 lbs per week, which would take her 3-4 years just to hit her goal weight.
Agreed. It's been a while since I've read that link but I think I suggested about .5-1% change in weight/week. While certainly not perfect, I think that range will spit out a reasonable rate of weight loss for most people. That and I totally stole it from Eric Helms so it's probably even more legit. Obese people could probably go slightly faster provided they're mindful of adherence/etc.0 -
I think you're making it too complicated for yourself.
Go in to MFP, enter your weight, age, activity level, and set your goal at 2lbs/wk loss, and just manage your calories.
I have a "sedentary" activity level because i work at a desk all day, and at 250lbs I was eating 1450cals/day, now that i'm near 200lbs it's 1280/day which I boost up by running or walking pretty much daily so I can eat more like 1500-1600 daily. It is completely manageable and i've been losing around 2lbs/wk for the last 4 months, for the first 6-7 weeks it was actually resulting in nearly 3lbs/wk loss.
What I DIDN'T do was worry about all the BMR, tdee, etc stuff. Let MFP worry about that for you. Once you are closer to your goal weight and have to slow the weight loss down then you can worry about it more. At this point, the way I looked at it, not much I could do was going to be more unhealthy for my body than being 250lbs!0 -
I think you're making it too complicated for yourself.
Go in to MFP, enter your weight, age, activity level, and set your goal at 2lbs/wk loss, and just manage your calories.
I have a "sedentary" activity level because i work at a desk all day, and at 250lbs I was eating 1450cals/day, now that i'm near 200lbs it's 1280/day which I boost up by running or walking pretty much daily so I can eat more like 1500-1600 daily. It is completely manageable and i've been losing around 2lbs/wk for the last 4 months, for the first 6-7 weeks it was actually resulting in nearly 3lbs/wk loss.
What I DIDN'T do was worry about all the BMR, tdee, etc stuff. Let MFP worry about that for you. Once you are closer to your goal weight and have to slow the weight loss down then you can worry about it more. At this point, the way I looked at it, not much I could do was going to be more unhealthy for my body than being 250lbs!
Thank you for your advice!0
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