Do i eat below BMR when sedentary?

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Kinome100
Kinome100 Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
My bmr is 1700 and im completely sedentary, no activity at all.
People say you're not supposed to eat below it but since i pretty much just sit all day then its okay right?

Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    it wont kill you to eat below your BMR for a while...esp if you are sitting alllllllllllllllllllllll day.
  • BoatsnHose
    BoatsnHose Posts: 120 Member
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    You can eat below your BMR, people who say otherwise are FOS.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    It depends entirely on your situation. For those who are obese/morbidly obese, eating slightly below BMR is ok as there are plenty of fat stores (although, it's always best to get doctor's ok before severely restricting calorie intake). And I believe there's a BMI # or BF% for this, don't have it at hand but you could google for more info. For those who are at/close to a healthy weight, eating below BMR isn't such a great idea regardless of activity level.

    BMR is the approximate # of calories your body needs to support basic functions like breathing, cell repair, digestion, even sleeping, as if you were in a coma. Why would you want to eat less than what basic calories you body needs? Even if you're sedentary, you need 20% more calories than your BMR to maintain weight.
  • BoatsnHose
    BoatsnHose Posts: 120 Member
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    BMR is the approximate # of calories your body needs to support basic functions like breathing, cell repair, digestion, even sleeping, as if you were in a coma. Why would you want to eat less than what basic calories you body needs? Even if you're sedentary, you need 20% more calories than your BMR to maintain weight.

    Because you lose weight faster. I ate below my BMR everyday for 3-4 months while I was losing and I had no problem breathing, sleeping. and I am healthy as can be.
  • myfitnesspale3
    myfitnesspale3 Posts: 276 Member
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    Eating below BMR seems stupid.

    Why would I want to reduce my energy intake below the recommended minimum to operate my brain, heart, lungs and immune system. Plus a bunch of other stuff I don't want to micro-manage with paramedics.

    2 pounds a week is plenty.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Why would I want to reduce my energy intake below the recommended minimum to operate my brain, heart, lungs and immune system.

    Because you've got 300,000 calories of fat to use for this purpose, and you want to reduce that stockpile.
  • stephe1987
    stephe1987 Posts: 406 Member
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    Yes, if you eat below your BMR, your body will use the fat stores to do make up for the missing calories. But be careful because you want to keep as much muscle as possible while losing as much fat as possible and there is a good chance you'll start to lose muscle if your intake is too low. Although if your weight is in the "obese" category, I would worry more about losing weight than keeping muscle. That's what exercise is for and you can always focus on building muscle later after you lower your body fat percentage.

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