BMR Question

The only way to know which number is correct would be to be tested somehow (usually med schools do this not practicing physicians) or buy an HRM, where it while sleeping and take however many calories divided by how many hours you sleep then multiply by 24. (Example 600 cals (divded by) 8 hours of sleep= 75 cals per hour. 75 (times) 24 = 1800) That means if you did NOTHING all day you would need 1800 calories to maintain your weight. therefore you would create a deficit of 400 calories per day eating 1200 cals per day without excercising.

the 2000 calorie a day diet is truly out dated (as many medical professionals are learning) and totally inaccurate for smaller people, either by height or weight. Which could be part of the obesity issue.....

bump

If your BMR is 1783, then eating 2000 calories per day with no exercise would make you gain weight at a rate of 1 pound every 16-ish days.

This isn't exactly correct.

BMR is basal metabolic rate, what you burn just for basic function, as if in a coma (as Crystal said). You have to add daily activity level (sedentary, active, etc) to that to get maintenance calories (and then add purposeful exercise on top of that).

You want your deficit to come from maintenance calories, not BMR.

If your BMR is 1783, then eating 2000 calories per day with no exercise would make you gain weight at a rate of 1 pound every 16-ish days.

This isn't exactly correct.

BMR is basal metabolic rate, what you burn just for basic function, as if in a coma (as Crystal said). You have to add daily activity level (sedentary, active, etc) to that to get maintenance calories (and then add purposeful exercise on top of that).

You want your deficit to come from maintenance calories, not BMR.

This!

Once you get out of bed and start moving around - you're burning more calories.

The only way to know which number is correct would be to be tested somehow (usually med schools do this not practicing physicians) or buy an HRM, where it while sleeping and take however many calories divided by how many hours you sleep then multiply by 24. (Example 600 cals (divded by) 8 hours of sleep= 75 cals per hour. 75 (times) 24 = 1800) That means if you did NOTHING all day you would need 1800 calories to maintain your weight. therefore you would create a deficit of 400 calories per day eating 1200 cals per day without excercising.

the 2000 calorie a day diet is truly out dated (as many medical professionals are learning) and totally inaccurate for smaller people, either by height or weight. Which could be part of the obesity issue.....

I'm a "smaller" person (5'4" tall and 143-145lbs) and I eat more than 2000 calories a day. It depends more on your activity level than your size. I've slowly increased my calories as I've gotten smaller and I'm happily maintaining this weight.

So, it really depends on the person and how active they are ... not so much based on their height or current weight.

Correct. Because YOU excercise. She asked about basal metabolic rate. "as if in a coma" as you quoted earlier. I am not saying there is no need for 2000 calories a day IF you workout. But 2000 calories for EVERYONE is an outdated concept. Someone who is naturally petite and isnt active wouldnt need 2000 calories. Sorry I wasnt clear enough.

Obviously I need to just stop participating in the message boards

What I think means, which was my question in the first place, but by reading some of the postings I think I just got my answer is that for example I am supposed to eat about 1200 a day. Now I do workout every day and burn about 500 calories. You get to add more calories that you can eat by burning calories that you workout.

For example, when I log what I eat and the workouts I do it calculates and increases the amount of calories that I have remaining for the day. My original question was that. Am I supposed to eat that total amount of calories that I have remaining after working out? Or do I need to stick to just the 1200 calories that I'm supposed to be eating to loose weight. I rarely make it to the amount of calories I need to eat since it add calories to eat from working out. I'm not exactly loosing weight. I just stay the same. Confusing!

Am I correct? Anybody maybe can explain it to me!! lol

About exercise cals:

This has to do with how MFP is designed. It is different than most other counters/plans. Most plans use your exercise to create your deficit for weight loss, keeping your daily cal goal static.

MFP was designed with the idea that many people can't exercise regularly, or at all, due to physical limitations or time or whatever reason. They also recognized that most people set up an exercise plan with good intentions, but as we all know, that's not necessarily what actually happens every day. So they built the site to allow for weight loss with or without exercise.

MFP creates a built in calorie deficit based on your loss per week goal, regardless of exercise. So when you log exercise, cals are added back in to keep that deficit stable, which keeps your weight loss (relatively) stable. If you don't replace those cals, you've made your deficit larger than you (presumably) intended. A larger deficit does not necessarily mean faster/more weight loss; it is usually unhealthy and unsustainable and most often backfires, leading to feelings of deprivation, binges, irregular blood sugar levels, lack of energy, slower metabolism, loss of muscle mass, quitting, and weight regain. Also, when your intake is inadequate (and especially if you don't have a lot of fat stores), your workouts will suffer; even if you don't "feel" a lack of energy, you won't be able to put your all into them, and you won't get the best results from them. It is important to fuel the body properly.

So, yes you are intended to eat those additional calories to maintain a moderate deficit.

As for having trouble getting to cal goals....

Chronic lack of appetite can be a signal of severely decreased metabolism. A couple of threads that may help:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works

As for how to increase cals in a healthy way:

Planning is key. Focus on balanced macros (protein/fat/carbs) in each meal/snack. Start with making sure to eat at least 3 meals a day. Breakfast is important when you're trying to overcome a habit of irregular eating or underfeeding. Once you've adjusted to that, add in snacks. Then, gradually increase the amount of cals in each meal/snack. Just 50 cals more for each meal/snack adds up. If you know you'll be working out, increase cals throughout the day.

If you're not feeling hungry, a good way to increase cals without much volume is healthy fats from natural oils (olive/canola), nuts and nut butters (almonds, pistachios, walnuts), and avocados. Also, I would stay away from "low cal" or "low fat" options. Partly because you want to increase cals, and partly because those foods are usually processed and not nutrient dense, and the cals or fat they take out is replaced by sugar (real or substitute) and sodium - not a good trade off. A fruit smoothie, protein shake or chocolate milk are good cal boosters, because drinking cals can be easier than eating when you aren't feeling hungry.

Typically, it may be hard for a few days or a week, but your body will adjust to the increased intake and you'll find it isn't an issue for long. Eating more will truly help your metabolism, and your appetite will increase with it.

Yes, thank you. That is what I thought. I'm having a hard time getting to my amount of calories every day. Specially if I'm trying to eat healthy food like more veggies and fruits. Some veggies don't have that many calories. So it becomes harder to get to my calories.

It's a problem a lot of people have when they start changing habits. You really do have to "eat more" when you're eating healthy food. Junk food packs a lot of cals into a small amount, so you can eat a LOT of healthy food for the same cals. But you don't have to increase volume a ton...just choose nutrient dense foods. Usually it doesn't take long to adjust and get used to the increased amount.

I don't even remember where I got it from. I think it was from this website or it was from the Beachbody.com one. Not sure. Do you have a suggestion for me. Which would be the best place to find the best calculation? Thanks