BMR vs goal determined by MFP

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watergirl626
watergirl626 Posts: 249 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am pretty new here, and have been reading all the sticky threads in this board. I have some confusion though. They say to eat at least the calories determined by your BMR, but then they often say things like "MFP factors this into your weight loss plan." When I use the BMR tool on here, it come out at 1703, but my MFP plan is 1630 calories daily, using a slow pace weight loss of 1lb/week. So this leaves me confused. Should I be eating 1700 calories even though my goal says 1630? And I have two weight loss buddies (also obese) who picked a faster weight loss, whose MFP put their daily goal at 1200...

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  • LifeChanged1209
    LifeChanged1209 Posts: 88
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    If you eat the calories caluclated by BMR, my understanding is that you'll only maintain you weight, not lose weight.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    If you eat the calories caluclated by BMR, my understanding is that you'll only maintain you weight, not lose weight.

    WRONG WRONG WRONG, BMR is the amount of calories you would need to maintain your weight if you were in a coma, the moment you move you burn more than BMR. If you are Sedentary you will burn about 1.2 times your BMR. Maintenance caloires are calculated using BMR as a base but BMR is not maintenance calories.

    Eating your BMR cals is a great suggestion if you don't have a lot to lose (15-40 lbs ish), if you have more to lose you can afford to eat less as your body will tap into more of your fat stores.
  • soccermom004
    soccermom004 Posts: 444 Member
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    BMR is to maintain. The deficit is what you need to lose a pound a week. Then if you exercise you need to add most of those back in since you are already at a deficit.
  • kiwicakes
    kiwicakes Posts: 65 Member
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    like mdmohrenne said, BMR is what you need to maintain your weight... you need a calorie deficiency to lose weight, however if you have a active enough life style, or work out a lot, you don't have to cut back too much from your BMR, which I suspect is your case. :)
  • helloburger
    helloburger Posts: 243 Member
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    your BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); the number of calories you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day... so yes you need to go below this as you dont want to maintain you want to lose
  • watergirl626
    watergirl626 Posts: 249 Member
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    So since I have more to lose (60lbs), it is fine to eat at the lower calorie goal that MFP has set for me?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    BMR is to maintain. The deficit is what you need to lose a pound a week. Then if you exercise you need to add most of those back in since you are already at a deficit.

    No, BMR is not maintenance calories.
  • watergirl626
    watergirl626 Posts: 249 Member
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    Thanks all.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    So since I have more to lose (60lbs), it is fine to eat at the lower calorie goal that MFP has set for me?

    No, not lower than MFP's goal (if you chose 2 lbs/week, you should not eat less than the goal) It is okay to go under BMR if you have a lot to lose, but you should not go under MFP's suggested intake.
  • watergirl626
    watergirl626 Posts: 249 Member
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    So since I have more to lose (60lbs), it is fine to eat at the lower calorie goal that MFP has set for me?

    No, not lower than MFP's goal (if you chose 2 lbs/week, you should not eat less than the goal) It is okay to go under BMR if you have a lot to lose, but you should not go under MFP's suggested intake.

    I said at the lower goal, not lower than the goal. I only chose the 1lb/week option. The 2lb/week option is only 1200/day recommended, so i figure as long as I don't go over a 400* calories deficit (and typically I only have a 100 calorie deficit), I should still be okay, right?

    ETA - *400 calorie deficit from the 1630 recommended for the slower weight loss, because the faster weight loss is 430 calories less as a goal.
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
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    BMR is to maintain. The deficit is what you need to lose a pound a week. Then if you exercise you need to add most of those back in since you are already at a deficit.

    No, BMR is not maintenance calories.

    What he said.

    BMR is the amount of energy (calories) you need to power your basic functions (brain, respiratory, circulatory systems etc) Yo then add on top the amount of calories needed to process your food intake, do your day to day activities and any additional exercise to determine your maintenance level of calories (TDEE)

    You create your deficit by deducting from your maintenance level of calories NOT BMR. Using BMR as a baseline to deduct from can be dangerous.
  • babs23
    babs23 Posts: 86
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    to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. To lose 1 pound a week, you need a 500 calorie deficit each day. You need to achieve your deficit via exercise. As important as it is to count your calories in, you also need to count your calories out.
  • dazaliah
    dazaliah Posts: 37 Member
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    MFP calculates the amount of calories that you should eat by incorporating all of the information you put in, including how much per week you'd like to lose. I am also at 1pd. per week. Even if I do no excersize that week, I'm still at a calorie deficit. So, if I exercise, I enter my exercise in to see how much more of a deficit I have. Then, I eat most of my exercise calories back (it adjusts this for you in the food section).

    It is important to get as close as possible (100 calories is not going to make too much difference) or else your body will think it is not getting enough food and hold onto your fat!

    1 lb. a week is the recommended weight loss because it is less likely for your body to think it is starving and there is a lot of research that slow weight loss= more success keeping it off. The weight didn't come on in four months so it's not gonna come off in 4 mths!! ;)

    Hope this helped! Feel free to add me. I started off with 50 to go and have 41 more to lose!! :)
  • watergirl626
    watergirl626 Posts: 249 Member
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    The weight didn't come on in four months so it's not gonna come off in 4 mths!! ;)

    Not completely true. I went from 160 to 180 in 8 months, slowly inched up to 200 over a few years, then went through IVF which put 10 lbs on me over the course of a week, after pg got down to 190, stayed there for 11 months, then suddenly gained 15 lbs in less than a month. Stayed at 205 for a year, then suddenly gained 15 more lbs in 2 weeks (and yes, I actually know this because I have doctor appts more often than some people weigh themselves!).

    Of course I don't expect it to come off like that. And I do want this to be a lifestyle change, not just a diet, so I'm okay with slower weight loss. :-)

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