Is it bad to eat below your BMR?

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kimberlyhurt
kimberlyhurt Posts: 128 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been tweaking my calorie goal off and on for a while now. It was 1600 for a while 1450 after that and now it's 1200. But my weight loss isn't keeping up the way I thought it would. I actually GAINED a little weight. My workouts have been more or less the same. And I wonder, as crazy as it sounds, am I not eating ENOUGH? My bmr (calculated by scooby's workshop) is 1705. (tdee is 1982). I feel like if I eat that much I'll gain ten lbs faster than you can say yeah, I'll have some more grilled chicken.

Thoughts? Should I eat more? Or keep on trucking? I honestly don't understand the science behind eating more to lose...

Replies

  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Are you weighing your solid foods and measuring your liquids?
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    The whole eating more to lose camp means eating more than the bare minimum (aka 1200 cals), but still being in a calorie deficit.

    Personally, I don't ever eat below my BMR, I rarely NET below my BMR - I like food, and I like being well fueled, and I have reached goal weight & maintained it eating around 400 calories over my BMR for the past 3+ years.

    Your posted numbers seem like they might be off a bit - only around 250 cal difference between BMR and TDEE? Do you exercise? There may be an error in calculations that throwing things off for you, but hard to say without more info.
  • kimberlyhurt
    kimberlyhurt Posts: 128 Member
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    you're right, I posted the wrong tdee. It's 2638.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    brianpperkins wrote: »
    Are you weighing your solid foods and measuring your liquids?

    This.

    Can you open your diary?
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,265 Member
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    kimberlyhurt wrote: »
    you're right, I posted the wrong tdee. It's 2638.

    what are your stats? TDEE of 2638 sounds high to me but I guess it depends on your stats and the activity level you are choosing. My TDEE is around 1800 at sedentary.

  • kimberlyhurt
    kimberlyhurt Posts: 128 Member
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    I'm 5'10", 242 lbs and 29 years old. and 2638 sounds like a lot to me too... but I guess there is a lot of me lol
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Two posts have asked about the intake side of things and you have not answered either.

    Your calorie goal is useless unless you are accurate on the tracking side.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    There's nothing magic about BMR. Some lighter, less active people will need to eat below it in order to create a deficit. It's not bad in and of itself.

    But... most people who are even a little bit active should be able to create a reasonable deficit without needing to eat below BMR. If you're exercising at all, you probably don't need to eat below BMR to lose weight.

    Agree with the above posters: The probable culprit here is food logging. Tighten up the logging, weigh everything, see how much you're really eating. Then rejig the numbers if need be. You're probably eating more than you think.
  • kimberlyhurt
    kimberlyhurt Posts: 128 Member
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    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    Two posts have asked about the intake side of things and you have not answered either.

    Your calorie goal is useless unless you are accurate on the tracking side.

    I answered right above your post. I am tracking. I weigh and measure almost literally everything I eat (the occasional meal out is more of a rough estimate, but I always try to overestimate the intake when I eat out)
  • kimberlyhurt
    kimberlyhurt Posts: 128 Member
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    also, I posted in two different places because i wasn't sure where to put it. sorry
  • gmax69
    gmax69 Posts: 18 Member
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    Never eat below your bmr because you need that to keep your body functioning normally. Your body will burn an additional 10 - 15% just processing the food you eat, keeping your body warm...etc.

    My bmr was tested and came out as 1622 and i eat about 2000 - 2100 calories to lose weight. You need energy to be and stay active so make sure your body has the fuel it needs.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    gmax69 wrote: »
    Never eat below your bmr because you need that to keep your body functioning normally. Your body will burn an additional 10 - 15% just processing the food you eat, keeping your body warm...etc.

    None of this is actually true, sorry.

    You do burn more calories than your BMR every day, sure. But that's just because you're not in a coma. Even relatively sedentary people burn calories doing their everyday activities, walking around at home, going to the bathroom, getting dressed, sitting at a desk typing, preparing meals, watching TV, whatever.

    That's why the number MFP gives you for "calories burned from normal daily activity" if you enter "sedentary" is higher than your BMR.

    However, since you're trying to create a deficit from that in order to lose weight, it is possible that once you subtract 250 or 500 or however many calories from that sedentary NEAT number, you'll end up with a calorie goal that's below your BMR. That's not uncommon, especially among smaller, older, less active people.

    But if you add some exercise to your day, you'll eat back exercise calories on top of the calorie goal, and typically that will take you above your BMR.

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