What does my bmr have to do with losing fat?

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ennovy_14
ennovy_14 Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all!

So i've been trying to lose belly fat for the longest time without much success! Then someone mentioned I should work out my bmr and go from there which only left me more confused!

I currently eat around 1340 calories a day and i worked out my BMR which is around 1471. I've taken a break from the gym for the last few weeks and i'm planning on going back this week where I normally burn around 300-400 calories & go 2-3 days a week. I do cardio and some strength training.

What am i doing wrong? Do i need to reduce my calorie intake or what?

Replies

  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
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    Your BMR is the amount of calories your body burns to stay alive. It would be your output if you're in a coma - even blinking makes your daily burn higher than BMR.

    General opinion is that one would need to eat at least BMR and should actually calculate their total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). The TDEE would be the amount your body needs to maintain - eat more than that and gain, less and lose.

    One cannot target fat loss, though. What you can do is target muscle groups to tone but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll lose inches of fat in a specific spot. Cruel design, I know ;)
  • goldmay
    goldmay Posts: 258 Member
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    You shouldn't eat below your BMR, but even if you did you should still be losing weight. If you don't weigh your food, you might be overestimating your calories.
  • ennovy_14
    ennovy_14 Posts: 3
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    Thank you both for your replies :)

    How come I shouldn't eat below my bmr? Taking a wild guess but does doing so slow down my metabolism or something?
    I weigh my food as much as I can but sometimes I'm forced to make rough estimations with meals i haven't prepared myself, maybe that's why.

    Ok so I just calculated my TDEE (which I've never even heard of before!) which said my bmr is 1474 and my TDEE is 2022 on light exercise. Hoping if I burn at least 500 cals of the tdee I'll see a difference... (2022 calories seems so much though!)

    Did not realise losing weight involved so many calculations!
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    It doesn't. People here overcomplicate it. You can ignore your BMR. It's just a stepping stone to arrive at an estimate of TDEE, which is just used to pick an eating level below it. If you burn around 2000 and eat around 1340 you should lose a pound or a little more a week IF your estimates are decent. Most of us underestimate our intake.
  • laza999
    laza999 Posts: 2
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    Michikad is spot on!

    a. You can target a muscle group but not fat
    b. Too little strength work will diminish your muscle mass which is contradictory to weight loss. Cardio is great but Strength work (particularly squats and lots of them) is king

    The BMR is a good guide line as too what your targets should be but not to be solely relied upon.

    Remember lots of water, 2 litres a day for me easily without any excess toilet breaks.

    Cheers Larry (31Kg down and another 9Kg to go)
  • stephe1987
    stephe1987 Posts: 406 Member
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    The number you need to worry about is your TDEE. If you eat that number of calories, you'll maintain your weight. Eat more and you'll gain. If you want to lose weight, you need to eat below your TDEE.

    In order to lose one pound per week you need to have a deficit of 500 calories per day for a total of 3,500 in a week.
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb/week is ideal
    If you have 15-25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lb/week is ideal
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lb/week is ideal

    So find your TDEE, how much weight you want/need to lose, and then have a daily deficit of 250 calories (0.5 lb/week), 500 calories (1 lb per week), 750 calories (1.5 lb/week) or 1000 calories (2 lb/week). You can eat back some of your exercise calories, but be very careful because a lot of people overestimate their exercise burn and underestimate calories eaten which means they could end up eating too much. Also, do not go below 1200 calories or MFP will get mad at you. There will be red writing warning you that you're not eating enough. And of course, eating too little is a bad idea because it's not sustainable. You need good habits that you'll continue even after reaching your goal.

    Body fat is going to come off in whatever order it wants to. You cannot spot reduce, you can only lower your overall body fat percentage and then you can exercise to build muscle after you get to a low enough body fat percentage where muscles become visible.
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    Also, a TDEE of around 2000 calories is normal for a woman. Individual TDEE varies depending on weight, age, exercise, genetics etc.
  • ennovy_14
    ennovy_14 Posts: 3
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    Oh! That all makes sense now!

    So basically eat say 500 less calories than my TDEE & keep on working out.

    Thank you all for breaking it down for me!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Oh! That all makes sense now!

    So basically eat say 500 less calories than my TDEE & keep on working out.

    Thank you all for breaking it down for me!

    yeah....except your workout calories should be figured into your TDEE.

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