BMR

jaydensmommy2010
jaydensmommy2010 Posts: 129 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
After reading tons of posts online I am now finding out that you should be eating what your BMR is? Mine is about 1683at a normal resting stage. Does that mean I should be eating at least that number? If I add exercise to this the number will go up? If I am understanding this correctly, then I should be eating a lot more than I have been?!!

Replies

  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    I eat at my bmr of 1480 and it has helped me lose weight... and I eat 1480 NET which I think is what you are asking about working out...

    my daily is 1480 if I work out and burn 300 calories then I would actually have only really eaten 1180 so I add those 300 back in and it brings my NET total back up to 1480....


    your 1600 amount is still below your maintenece.... so you will still lose weight... give it a try. it took me a week to see if it worked for me.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
    Most likely you probably should be eating more than you have been but eating to your BMR becomes more important when you get closer to your goal. Stick around 1400(NET) and you should be OK.
  • abra526
    abra526 Posts: 213 Member
    My understanding is that you should eat LESS than your BMR. For instance, my is 1576, but they have set my calorie goal at 1200 + what ever I get from exercise. I find myself eating between 1200 and 1500 calories a day, depending on how much I work out that particular day. Hope this helps a little. I'm new to all this myself, so I am still learning too. Good luck!
  • efreeland
    efreeland Posts: 6
    BMR stands for Base Metabolic Rate. This is not altered by exercise. Yes, it is important to eat at least your BMR. If you are aiming to loose weight and you lead a sedentary lifestyle your maintenance calories would be BMR x 1.2 and you would (if losing 1 pound a week) want to subtract 500 calories a day to meet that goal. You should always exercise and always eat back at least some of those exercise calories. If, in doing this, you do not eat at least your BMR then you should set lower goals for weight loss a week or exercise and eat more so that you can at least eat your BMR in calories.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
    My understanding is that you should eat LESS than your BMR. For instance, my is 1576, but they have set my calorie goal at 1200 + what ever I get from exercise. I find myself eating between 1200 and 1500 calories a day, depending on how much I work out that particular day. Hope this helps a little. I'm new to all this myself, so I am still learning too. Good luck!

    Nope- You CAN eat less than your BMR if you are more than 30lbs overweight, your body can handle this because your BMR is quite high.

    Your BMR is the amount of calories that it takes to keep your body running, if you were in a coma- so it takes care of lung function and blood pumping and such. As you get closer to your goal, losing weight puts more stress on your body, so you should be eating at least your BMR (again, NET calories) as you get lower to ensure your body has enough calories to support basic functions.
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    My understanding is that you should eat LESS than your BMR. For instance, my is 1576, but they have set my calorie goal at 1200 + what ever I get from exercise. I find myself eating between 1200 and 1500 calories a day, depending on how much I work out that particular day. Hope this helps a little. I'm new to all this myself, so I am still learning too. Good luck!

    you are thinking of your Maintainence calories... which is higher.. your BMR is what you need to survive if you were to sleep all day or were in a coma...with no physical activity like walking, eating, sitting laughing etc....

    as long as you are below your Maintainence calories... you will lose weight.... what a previous poster says is true... the closer you are to your goal the more you can eat... but if you have a LOT of weight left to lose you can stay at 1200 for the time being.
  • jaydensmommy2010
    jaydensmommy2010 Posts: 129 Member
    Ok. So my net is 917 right now. I already added in all my calories for the day because I know whats for dinner etc... So I should be eating a lot more than this?
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
    Yup. Try to keep your Net calories every day between 1200 and your Goal.

    So the equation:

    GOAL FOOD -(minus) EXERCISE =(equals) NET

    You want that NET number to be as close to your GOAL number as possible.
  • jane77
    jane77 Posts: 489
    bump
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    So first, let's understand what BMR truly is.

    BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate is the amount of energy your body consumes for certain body functions only. Namely the major organs, nervous system, muscle, skin, and a few various other minor processes. this means that while it's commonly described as what you need to survive if you were in a coma, that's not specifically true, it's actually less than that.

    For most people BMR is between 60 and 75% of the energy needed to perform daily life activity. This precludes exercise over and above normal daily activity.

    That said, when someone has a high percentage of body fat, they can sometimes create a deficit well in excess of 25% and still maintain good health for relatively long stretches. This means essentially that it really depends on your situation. If you have a high body fat percentage then you could probably afford to create a deficit that brings you below your BMR, but for someone with less body fat, it might be dangerous. In general, any deficit that is created will result in weight loss (theoretically), but this requires you knowing your TRUE maintenance calories, which is harder than it sounds. Websites run based on estimates, not actual calorie counts, as do BMR numbers, the only way to find these out for real are to go to a lab and have yourself tested, which is a relatively expensive, time consuming and ultimately boring process.

    So to answer your question, we can't answer your question, not without knowing what your body fat (or at a minimum your BMI) is. And even if we did know, it would be a guess, probably a pretty good guess assuming you don't have any medical conditions, but a guess still.
  • jaydensmommy2010
    jaydensmommy2010 Posts: 129 Member
    I am very muscular and weigh a lot more than I look. I know that isn't a bad thing, but my actual scale weight really bothers me. I'm 196 lbs 5'5. Haven't taken any measurements but wear a size 12 jeans. The thinnest I have ever been was about 165 and wearing a size 6.
  • rebeccaS85
    rebeccaS85 Posts: 141
    BMR stands for Base Metabolic Rate. This is not altered by exercise. Yes, it is important to eat at least your BMR. If you are aiming to loose weight and you lead a sedentary lifestyle your maintenance calories would be BMR x 1.2 and you would (if losing 1 pound a week) want to subtract 500 calories a day to meet that goal. You should always exercise and always eat back at least some of those exercise calories. If, in doing this, you do not eat at least your BMR then you should set lower goals for weight loss a week or exercise and eat more so that you can at least eat your BMR in calories.

    LOL...I was just going to ask what BMR stands for. Thanks!:happy:
  • Kat120285
    Kat120285 Posts: 1,599 Member
    My BMR at least according to this site and a few others, is 1244. I always have calories left at the end of the day so I've been coming in at only about 1100 or 1200. I set my goal at 1300 so after exercise and eating and with the left over calories, my net will be right around my BMR number. I only started using this last week, I weighed in last week at 120-121. I weighed in this morning at 118 and then after my bike ride I lost some water weight and weighed in at 116.4. After putting in the numbers for both my work outs today, my goal is 1920 but since I always have calories left at the end of the day, I'll probably end at around 1870.
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