BMR - Should I be eating MORE calories than MFP tells me?

afleming22710
afleming22710 Posts: 56 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
So, according to some info that I read, to get the amount of calories you need to consume daily, you need to know what your BMR is. My BMR is 1995. (The amount of calories I would burn if all I did was lay in bed all day)

I then calculated how many calories I need to consume to MANTAIN my weight and came up with 3092. (1995*1.55 for being moderately active) So to lose 1lb a week, I would subtract 500 calories, and I end up with 2592 calories.

So to lose 1 lb a week, I need to eat no lower than 1995 calories and no higher than 2592 calories, correct?

But MFP says I should consume 1850 calories. According to a website I found, if you eat BELOW the number of calories you should be consuming, your body will go into starvation mode.

So I'm just confused. Exactly how many calories SHOULD I be eating? I don't know if I can eat 1995 calories a day. I have a hard enough time eating 1850!

Replies

  • Helice
    Helice Posts: 1,075 Member
    No. if u want to burn your stored fat you need to do something which is called calorie deficit... or something like that.
    And baisically, if your ment to eat 2,000 calories a day, but you only eat 1,500... because your body is getting plenty of food it wont go into starvation mode. And you will of technically burn't the 500 calories..
    And every time you 'burn' 3,500 calories this way you loose a pound!
    So as long as your eating more than 1,200 calories as your a female, you should be fine!

    Edit: What i forgot to mention is your men't to eat BETWEEN your BMR and the goal MFP gives you. If you can make it between the two you'l loose weight the fastest!
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
    I find that different calculators are different. I had the same problem myself.
    Here is what this website told me: http://www.bmi-calculator.net
    You have a BMR of 1574.65
    Daily caloric needs 1889.58
    Daily caloric needs to lose 1lb a week 1389.58

    Here is what MFP says I need based on the same height, weight etc.
    1500 calories to meet my 500 calorie deficit. Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activity 2000

    I'm guessing the problem lies in the activity level calculations. On the above web reference I used 1.2 as my factor b/c I'm still considered sedentary. I've been following MFP all along and it hasn't stopped me from losing 20 lbs so far so, I'll stick with it since it's working. If I go on maintenance from MFP levels and find I'm gaining, I'll consider changing to what the other site says.
  • scaryfairy81
    scaryfairy81 Posts: 45
    According to MFP, my BMR is 1212...so how could I possibly lose weight if it's telling me to eat at least 1200 a day? This part is what keeps tripping me up. People on here tell me I won't lose weight if I eat less than 1200 a day but my BMR is just barely over that!
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
    No. if u want to burn your stored fat you need to do something which is called calorie deficit... or something like that.
    And baisically, if your ment to eat 2,000 calories a day, but you only eat 1,500... because your body is getting plenty of food it wont go into starvation mode. And you will of technically burn't the 500 calories..
    And every time you 'burn' 3,500 calories this way you loose a pound!
    So as long as your eating more than 1,200 calories as your a female, you should be fine!

    Edit: What i forgot to mention is your men't to eat BETWEEN your BMR and the goal MFP gives you. If you can make it between the two you'l loose weight the fastest!

    This is not the healthy way to lose weight and often results in a really low net caloric intake. You will find yourself feeling hungry, tired, etc. because you're not fueling your body. Stick with what MFP tells you and you'll do fine.
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
    According to MFP, my BMR is 1212...so how could I possibly lose weight if it's telling me to eat at least 1200 a day? This part is what keeps tripping me up. People on here tell me I won't lose weight if I eat less than 1200 a day but my BMR is just barely over that!
    That is an average number for average size people. If you are petite or considerably smaller than the average population, that won't apply to you. MFP calculates based on your height and weight. The 1200 number is a guesstimated average at best.
  • Helice
    Helice Posts: 1,075 Member
    According to MFP, my BMR is 1212...so how could I possibly lose weight if it's telling me to eat at least 1200 a day? This part is what keeps tripping me up. People on here tell me I won't lose weight if I eat less than 1200 a day but my BMR is just barely over that!

    I have a very similar BMR. I know for a fact if i ate up to 1,300 calories a day i would put on weight, and very quickly!
    All you can do is try to stay between the two lol....
    Difficult i know.
    I guess if you want to burn fat faster than that, your going tohave to do some exercise!
  • Helice
    Helice Posts: 1,075 Member
    This is not the healthy way to lose weight and often results in a really low net caloric intake. You will find yourself feeling hungry, tired, etc. because you're not fueling your body. Stick with what MFP tells you and you'll do fine.

    This is what MFP does tell you...
    Your BMR is what you need to stay the same weight...
    And your goal to reach is so that you dont go into starvation mode.
    Why would you not want to eat between the two??
  • scaryfairy81
    scaryfairy81 Posts: 45
    According to MFP, my BMR is 1212...so how could I possibly lose weight if it's telling me to eat at least 1200 a day? This part is what keeps tripping me up. People on here tell me I won't lose weight if I eat less than 1200 a day but my BMR is just barely over that!
    That is an average number for average size people. If you are petite or considerably smaller than the average population, that won't apply to you. MFP calculates based on your height and weight. The 1200 number is a guesstimated average at best.

    This is what I've tried to tell people on here who keep pushing me to keep eating more than 1200! I am pretty short and don't really need that many. But I tried it for a week to appease them and I gained. Going back down now haha. I struggled to eat more than 1200 and on the days I was closer to 1500 I felt sluggish and my stomach hurt. It's just too much food apparently. I can stay around 1000-1100 and not feel like I'm depriving myself, that's actually where I am most comfortable. I think people should use what MFP as a starting point and tweak it depending on what their body is telling them.
  • ajax03
    ajax03 Posts: 96
    I say it may be a little trial and error. I initially started at 238lbs. and kept at 1240 calories (per MFP recommendations) for about a month. Then, I started to notice my appetite increasing - A LOT! So, I played around w/ some settings and set my goal to 1.5lbs./week and it gave me about 1350 calories. Did THAT for a about a month then started to notice I was growing even hungrier. Played around once more w/ my settings; had initially calculated my activity level as sedentary (when I realize now, clearly I am NOT) so I changed that. Now I'm at 1820 calories and I exercise about 2-3 times per week and I'm feeling GREAT! I've been 1820 calories or so for about a month now. For me, I think that's what I needed. I also know that every"body" is different so once you find out what works for you - go for it.

    So, either I was seriously underestimating my physical activity or something else metabolically was taking place and called for an increase in my intake.
  • elg1982
    elg1982 Posts: 167 Member
    This is not the healthy way to lose weight and often results in a really low net caloric intake. You will find yourself feeling hungry, tired, etc. because you're not fueling your body. Stick with what MFP tells you and you'll do fine.

    This is what MFP does tell you...
    Your BMR is what you need to stay the same weight...
    And your goal to reach is so that you dont go into starvation mode.
    Why would you not want to eat between the two??

    No, your BMR is what you burn if you didn't do anything all day.
    If you want to stay the same, MFP will give you a number of calories for maintenance, which is higher than the BMR.
  • Zsangel
    Zsangel Posts: 202
    What you guys aren't realising is, that yes, we all have a different BMR (the number of calories burned if you stay in bed all day) BUT your maintenance level of calories (the number of calories your body needs to maintain it's current weight) is going to be higher than your BMR and is not the same thing..
    now, to lose weight, MFP will take the deficit from your maintenance calories NOT your BMR!!!
  • Zsangel
    Zsangel Posts: 202
    This is not the healthy way to lose weight and often results in a really low net caloric intake. You will find yourself feeling hungry, tired, etc. because you're not fueling your body. Stick with what MFP tells you and you'll do fine.

    This is what MFP does tell you...
    Your BMR is what you need to stay the same weight...
    And your goal to reach is so that you dont go into starvation mode.
    Why would you not want to eat between the two??

    No, your BMR is what you burn if you didn't do anything all day.
    If you want to stay the same, MFP will give you a number of calories for maintenance, which is higher than the BMR.

    Sorry.. I didn't see this before I posted :tongue:
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    Different calculators use different formulas (there are several formulas for estimating BMR, all of which have benefits and drawbacks.) However, most of them will give numbers that are within 100-200. It just depends on which formula is used. MFP's calculator uses a pretty good formula and most people do well using it to start their plan. Some people (especially those who are outside the curve, ie very small or tall) will need to tweak the numbers a bit, but for most it's a pretty good estimate.

    Since you have a large amount to lose, and are going for a moderate deficit, I wouldn't stress over 100-200 cals at this point. When you have a lot of fat stores, you have much more leeway with your deficit than someone who is leaner. Again, all the numbers (from any calculator) are estimates.

    I typically recommend going with MFP's numbers to start out and give it time to work. It may help to read these threads that discuss how MFP works and how to determine healthy, realistic deficits.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics
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