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BMR wrong?

ecreigh2
Posts: 14
Is there a way for my BMR to be much higher than MFP calculates?
Since I started my diet on 1/1/2011, I've lost 17lbs with an average calorie intake of 1700.
This doesn't seem to make sense to me since MFP says that 1700 is about at 0.1lb loss/week for me, while I've averaged > 1lb/week. I listed my activity as sedentary since I have a desk job and I log all walking and workouts. I log all my food and I have a scale so I believe it's pretty accurate.
The reason I ask is that I want to start moving to maintenance soon, but MFP only puts that at 1740, so I am afraid this is too low for my body.
Any thoughts?
Since I started my diet on 1/1/2011, I've lost 17lbs with an average calorie intake of 1700.
This doesn't seem to make sense to me since MFP says that 1700 is about at 0.1lb loss/week for me, while I've averaged > 1lb/week. I listed my activity as sedentary since I have a desk job and I log all walking and workouts. I log all my food and I have a scale so I believe it's pretty accurate.
The reason I ask is that I want to start moving to maintenance soon, but MFP only puts that at 1740, so I am afraid this is too low for my body.
Any thoughts?
0
Replies
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If you have more lean mass than the "average" for a person your height and weight, yes, your BMR will be higher than a calculator that calculates for the "average" person.0
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Coincidentally, a topic like this has just arisen...see here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/209721-maybe-all-this-time-i-ve-had-the-wrong-damn-settings0 -
You may be eating 1700 calories but you might have a NET of around 1200-1400 if you're working out.0
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Google the Harris Benedict formula for BMR, then when you have worked that out you multiply by a number which corresponds to your activity level. You need to burn 3500 weekly to lose 1lb, so 5oo per day deficit.
Mine was a couple of 100 cals different0 -
Well, mine says I should be losing .9 lbs per week at 1200 calories (plus exercise calories), but I was losing a lot more than that at first--I lost 5 pounds per week for the first few weeks!
In other words, you're definitely not the only one asking him/herself that question!
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools0 -
Thanks all for the thoughts.
I guess I should have specified that the 1700 is NET. I just did a BMR calculation at moderate activity (2300) and that seems to match my results, except that I believe the BMR calculators are for total calories/day not NET. From my past, it seems that NET 2300 would maintain my weight?
All this stuff is very interesting.
Thanks again.0 -
I find MFP i totally wrong if I follow the guided settings.
I got all my BMR stuff from www.fat2fitradio.com they use the Harris-Benedict formula. I just calculate my BMR for that then use that amount of calories to custom set my stuff on here (cause I like how this site is set up).
I'm steadily losing so it seems to be working out for me.
I eat about 1900 a day.0
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