Is eating under my BMR going to slow down the losing weight

kooshajan
kooshajan Posts: 174 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Upon signing up for the site I selected:

-a light active lifestyle
-2lbs loss a week
-working out 30mins 6 days a week

And the site tells me to eat:
-1200 calories a day
-burn 1200 calories per week (204 per workout)
-a 880 calorie deficit
which will result in a 1.8lb per week loss

Ive been told that I shouldnt eat below my BMR, which from what I see is 1541 if I want to lose weight. Is this accurate?

Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    I personally would suggest reducing your per week goal to 1 pound. As to the whether being below your BMR will put you in starvation mode, it hasn't for me. I have lost consistently since I started and have always been below my BMR. The difficulty is when you get closer to your goal, then you need to ramp up calories in preparation for maintaining your weight loss. Then you want to get close and closer to your BMR. If you eat at your BMR you will still lose weight, but it will be slow.
  • ChrisWag
    ChrisWag Posts: 169
    Eating below your BMR is ok, but don't go less than 1200 NET calories a day, that will put you in starvation :)
  • lil_missfit
    lil_missfit Posts: 565 Member
    Hi dear:)) I am not totally sure how to answer this but you need to follow the food guidelines set for you by MFP. Don't worry...you will lose weight. Hit "search" under the "message board" option and type that question in and see what comes up:)) You should find what you're looking for:)) Sorry I couldn't be more help...but the "search" link should be super:)) Welcome to MFP!!!
  • SassyStef
    SassyStef Posts: 413
    you have to burn 3500 just to loose a pound if that puts any thing into perspective lol I wouldn't do 2lbs a week that maybe great for the beginning but it is not realistic as time goes on.
    I would stick with you recommended calories a day and forget the 1200 thing. It is setting you up for plateau. You will loose weight if you stick to your BMR and use the normal deficit of -500 if that makes sense.
  • melsheep
    melsheep Posts: 12
    Hi I'm having trouble getting my 1200 calories what can I eat to up my calories without junk food? I take several snacks to work such as almonds very dark chocolate special K cracker chips watermelon, then get busy and forget to eat.
    Thanks
    Mel
  • gtm124
    gtm124 Posts: 179
    Hi I'm having trouble getting my 1200 calories what can I eat to up my calories without junk food? I take several snacks to work such as almonds very dark chocolate special K cracker chips watermelon, then get busy and forget to eat.
    Thanks
    Mel

    Eat a big breakfast.
  • Alyosha22
    Alyosha22 Posts: 15
    bad idea. bmr should never be approached much less never reached! please google search bmr and daliy calorie requirement. figure your caloric needs off this caloric requirement (which uses your bmr).

    bad bad idea.
  • kooshajan
    kooshajan Posts: 174 Member
    I realize how silly this may sound but I honestly do not understand the whole calorie deficiency thing. So would I than have to eat less or burn -500 off of my 1541 BMR? Or is it the other way around where I eat 500 more but burn 500 which brings me back to 1541? One site suggests that my daily requirement is 2253 with exercising 6 days a week soIf Im aiming for a 800 deficiency I would than deduct 400 from my daily calorie intake making it 1853 and burn 400 through exercise making it 1453????
  • kooshajan
    kooshajan Posts: 174 Member
    Thanks for the tip!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    The other sites, to the best of my knowledge, include in those calories an estimate of the calories you will burn in your exercise goals in your daily calorie amount. MFP does not do that. That is why you are directed to eat your exercise calories every day. That is where the difference comes from. For example a person who is recommended to eat 1200 calories on a day they don't exercise would eat that amount. If they exercise and burn another 800 calories they would eat 2000 calories that day.

    You may wonder why MFP asked for how much you hope to exercise, that is to set your goals. If you look under the exercise tab it will show your exercise goals for the week, and those are based on that information. The calories recommended are not.

    I still suggest making your goal 1 pound per week or many 1.5 at most. If you are extremely obese according to your BMI 2 pounds is a reasonable goal, but if you are close to or at the overweight BMI category 1 pound is far better, and when you get close to or into the top end of normal .5 pound per week is even better.
  • kthume03
    kthume03 Posts: 15 Member
    Protein supplement shakes if you can find one that you can tolerate you really need to research them out. There is a large variety out there and unfortunately a lot of them taste bad. There are some good ones though and the nutrients is there and they are very healthy for you. If you would like more infor feel free to e-mail me at kellythume@gmail.com
  • kthume03
    kthume03 Posts: 15 Member
    I see a nutritionalist because I had a gastric sleeve done I am 5 foot 7 inches tall and weigh 223 lbs now I have lost a total of 94 lbs. I was on a very similar site before but I was paying for it, and it was telling me to eat 1200 calories and then what ever else I burned off through exercise. At the time I was burning up to 900 calories a day doing P90X plus additional biking dancing or walking. The site was telling me to eat 2000 cals per day. The nutritionalist said noway. 1100 calories should be my standard and eat back my calories up to 1600, but not to exceed that because then I would gain weight even though it was all healthy food I was trying to shove down and not succeeding I think the most I got was like 1800 and that was with like 3-4 protein shakes. I hope this helps
  • kooshajan
    kooshajan Posts: 174 Member
    The other sites, to the best of my knowledge, include in those calories an estimate of the calories you will burn in your exercise goals in your daily calorie amount. MFP does not do that. That is why you are directed to eat your exercise calories every day. That is where the difference comes from. For example a person who is recommended to eat 1200 calories on a day they don't exercise would eat that amount. If they exercise and burn another 800 calories they would eat 2000 calories that day.

    You may wonder why MFP asked for how much you hope to exercise, that is to set your goals. If you look under the exercise tab it will show your exercise goals for the week, and those are based on that information. The calories recommended are not.

    I still suggest making your goal 1 pound per week or many 1.5 at most. If you are extremely obese according to your BMI 2 pounds is a reasonable goal, but if you are close to or at the overweight BMI category 1 pound is far better, and when you get close to or into the top end of normal .5 pound per week is even better.


    So than what would you recommend me eating per day? 1500? And 1800 on the days I exercise? To lose 1.5lbs a week?
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    Use this sites goal calculator. To do that click on the MY HOME tab. Then in the sub tabs select GOALS. Chose CHANGE GOALS and select GUIDED. Then set things there.
  • kooshajan
    kooshajan Posts: 174 Member
    It is now saying 1330 cals at a 1.5lb loss per week, which is still lower than my BMR.
  • kooshajan
    kooshajan Posts: 174 Member
    I am not sure if this is a correct calculation but if I were to eat 1400 calories a day and burn 300 and my daily calorie expenditure is 2100:

    1400-300=1100-2100= 1000x7=7000/3500= -2 resulting in 2lbs per week loss? And eating 1500 would than lower it to a 1.5lb per week loss. Is this correct?
  • Losingitin2011
    Losingitin2011 Posts: 572 Member
    I am under my BMR for calories also. I think that the built in deficit is intentionally setting you below your BMR that way even if you don't do anything, you should lose weight. That is why it is important to eat back at least some of your exercise calories so that your body has the fuel it needs to function.
  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
    Some people confuse BMR with daily calorie needs (I don't think you do). BMR as calculated by MFP and other sites is what your body needs if you are pretty much comatose. ie. what your organs need to consume caloriewise to survive. Your daily calorie needs (TDEE) is your BMR multiplied by your activity level. For the fairly sedentary this is BMR x 1.2

    To lose weight you need to create a deficit from your daily calorie needs (which can be described as maintenance). For me, MFP has my BMR at 1252, my maintenance is therefore 1502 cals. I can give myself a deficit of 250 calories a day and still remain healthy (ie. 250 cals below maintenance)

    For those who are heavily overweight, they can afford to eat below their BMR so the body will use the fat reserves to create the calorie needs they require. ie. the fat reserves act as a calorie store. (please jump on me if I am wrong here). Staying above 1200 calories is sensible as you are more likely to get all your nutrients that way. If you are not heavily overweight, then you do not have the fat reserves to provide the calories, and it is likely your body will try and get calories from other areas such as muscle.

    This is why the closer you get to your goal the slower the weight loss becomes because you are creating less of a deficit. Don't forget, the deficit needs to be calculated from your MAINTENANCE not your BMR.

    For me, with about 20lbs to lose, I am aiming to eat around my BMR. This gives me a predicted slow loss, but should ultimately be easier to maintain.
  • kooshajan
    kooshajan Posts: 174 Member
    So if my daily calorie needs are 2387. My BMR is 1540. I would multiply my BMR by 1.375 (lightly active or would it be 1.55 if I bike 60 mins 6 days a week?) which is 2117.5 and take a 400 deficiency from eating making it 1717.5 and than deduct 300 from exercise making it 1417.5 a total deficiency of 800 resulting in a 1.6lb loss per week. Would this be sufficient?
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