Calculating my BMR properly help please!

ctm213
ctm213 Posts: 18 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi I am new to MFP (sorry if some of these questions were answered already) I have been exercising for the past week 1-3 times and eating around 1,200 calories I lost 4 pounds but then gained two back I did some research and saw something with calculating your BMR I calculated my BMR and it said 1,457 now this is the part I'm stuck on how many calories should I eat and also burn if I want to lose 1-1.5lb a week if someone can tell
me the amount of calories I should be eating and how much calories I should burn or help me understand what's good for me please help! Once again sorry if this was answered already

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    This is asked frequently, but the guidance in the setup is terrible. Do this: Use the numbers MFP gives you when you enter your stats at setup. How much you can realistically lose, depends on your weight or how much you have to lose.
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15-25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    Please also consider weighing yourself every day (and under same conditions) to pick up your real weigh trend. Fat loss can be masked by daily water weight fluctiuations if you only weigh weekly.
  • ctm213
    ctm213 Posts: 18 Member
    Okay so at first I put in my profile I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week my current weight right now is 152 using the information your provided me I put in 1 pound a week and my calorie intake on MFP went up to 1,500 which is about what my BMR calculated my BMR is 1,457 what do you think I should burn when I go to the gym sorry I'm not really getting this whole concept I wanna make sure I am not going to be gaining weight :)
  • KorvapuustiPossu
    KorvapuustiPossu Posts: 434 Member
    Your BMR is what your body needs for basic functions...what you actually spend is your TDEE. It takes into account other things like activity. to lose 1 lbs a week you need to have a 500 deficit from your TDEE, not your BMR (for example I am sedentary 5'2, 137-139 and my bmr is about 1300, and my TDEE is 1660-meaning TDEE is always higher). Put your info into the guided setup in MFP and just do what it tells you...it is right :)
  • ctm213
    ctm213 Posts: 18 Member
    KorvapuustiPossu wrote: »
    Your BMR is what your body needs for basic functions...what you actually spend is your TDEE. It takes into account other things like activity. to lose 1 lbs a week you need to have a 500 deficit from your TDEE, not your BMR (for example I am sedentary 5'2, 137-139 and my bmr is about 1300, and my TDEE is 1660-meaning TDEE is always higher). Put your info into the guided setup in MFP and just do what it tells you...it is right :)

    Ok so I guess what I have in my set up on MFP is what I should go by I shouldn't do anything else or any other calculators to determine what I should be doing
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    ctm213 wrote: »
    KorvapuustiPossu wrote: »
    Your BMR is what your body needs for basic functions...what you actually spend is your TDEE. It takes into account other things like activity. to lose 1 lbs a week you need to have a 500 deficit from your TDEE, not your BMR (for example I am sedentary 5'2, 137-139 and my bmr is about 1300, and my TDEE is 1660-meaning TDEE is always higher). Put your info into the guided setup in MFP and just do what it tells you...it is right :)

    Ok so I guess what I have in my set up on MFP is what I should go by I shouldn't do anything else or any other calculators to determine what I should be doing

    Right. Enter stats and what you want to lose per week- youll get your total daily calories.
    BUT MFP expects you to log your exercise just like your food, and it gives you more calories to eat based on the logged exercises. However, the majority of MFP users understand that those "burns" are over estimated- therefore only eat back a percentage of those additional exercise calories (eating back only 50%-75% is the general consensus). I would also only log intentional exercises- not like "grocery shopping" or "cleaning" - unless you feel you actually would have burned some calories. :)
  • ctm213
    ctm213 Posts: 18 Member
    MommyMeggo wrote: »
    ctm213 wrote: »
    KorvapuustiPossu wrote: »
    Your BMR is what your body needs for basic functions...what you actually spend is your TDEE. It takes into account other things like activity. to lose 1 lbs a week you need to have a 500 deficit from your TDEE, not your BMR (for example I am sedentary 5'2, 137-139 and my bmr is about 1300, and my TDEE is 1660-meaning TDEE is always higher). Put your info into the guided setup in MFP and just do what it tells you...it is right :)

    Ok so I guess what I have in my set up on MFP is what I should go by I shouldn't do anything else or any other calculators to determine what I should be doing

    Right. Enter stats and what you want to lose per week- youll get your total daily calories.
    BUT MFP expects you to log your exercise just like your food, and it gives you more calories to eat based on the logged exercises. However, the majority of MFP users understand that those "burns" are over estimated- therefore only eat back a percentage of those additional exercise calories (eating back only 50%-75% is the general consensus). I would also only log intentional exercises- not like "grocery shopping" or "cleaning" - unless you feel you actually would have burned some calories. :)

    Okay yes I did notice that I was getting exercise points I will only log in what info at the gym such like that now how do I know I'm not eating more then what it says is available I should just eat what I was originally given which would be the start of the day which was like 1,500? Sorry if that sounds stupid I just want to make sure I am not eating more then my MFP calorie tracker said
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    edited March 2016
    You will know if you eat more than you should because of the food log- it will show you went over- your number will go from green to red.
    What is your activity level set to? (activity level does NOT include your workouts) Just your typical day to day. Desk job, sedentary etc. Make sure this is correct.

    Ok so Your allotted calories are 1500- this is for you to lose the weight you said you wanted to lose- this is without exercise. This number is based on your body stats and your selected activity level.

    Say you walk 3 miles in 1 hr- go log the walking. Say it gives you 250 calories. You will get 250cals added to your daily allowance. Most people would only eat 125-180 of that 250. Doing this will leave uneaten calories at the end of the day.

    If you dont feel like keeping track of what is half or 75% of your logged exercise calories, you can CHANGE the amount of calories that MFP lists for each exercise - you can manually enter whatever you want.

    So you can see what MFP gives you for your walking (250 for this example) and change the number to half of that- and then eat all those calories.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    Also, get a food scale. Weigh and measure your food and liquids, even oils.
    Dont let your efforts and time be waste by inaccurate logging.
  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 666 Member
    I just wanted to add that you should get a digital food scale & weigh out your food portions in grams so that you *do* know what you are actually eating when you log it. Also, double check the entry you select on your food log & make certain it matches the package when you log it. Since the database is user generated, not all the entries are correct.
  • ctm213
    ctm213 Posts: 18 Member
    Thank you everyone for the help I really appreciate it!! I've been a little down I weighed 154 on 14th of March at the end of the week I weighed 150 I got excited but couldn't stay away from the scale and the next few days I was gaining a pound back and once again another pound so it's been frustrating but now I know what I should be doing thank you for all the help!!
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    Welcome!
    Understand that weight - especially for women- will fluctuate- Water, sodium, waste, food, etc.
    To gain 1 lb of fat you need to eat your maintenance calories everyday (the amount which causes no weight gain or loss) PLUS 3500 extra.
    So keep that in mind and try not to get discouraged by it.
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