Eating under BMR

MolokoKa88
MolokoKa88 Posts: 3 Member
edited December 3 in Health and Weight Loss
What happens if you keep eating under your BMR? I'm a binge eater and at the end of the day I cannot complete my BMR.

Replies

  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    Your BMR is the amount of calories you need just to stay alive.

    Are you confusing this with your TDEE? That is your total daily energy expenditure. The amount you would need to consume to maintain your weight.

    Eating under your BMR is very unhealthy and can lead to big health problems.

    Eating under your TDEE is how you lose weight.
  • MolokoKa88
    MolokoKa88 Posts: 3 Member
    I'm tracking my food very carefully. My TDEE is 1550 and BMR is 1200 but I can only get around 800 at the end of the day.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    If you are eating under your BMR (not your TDEE), the short term consequences are fatigue, headaches, stomach pain, dizziness.

    The long term consequences are hair loss, infections, and organ failure depending on how malnourished you are.
  • RobD520
    RobD520 Posts: 420 Member
    Why are you unable to consume 400 more calories?
  • MolokoKa88
    MolokoKa88 Posts: 3 Member
    Yes I know, I don't want to eat under but I used to be a binge eater. I had only one or two meals a day. Now I switched my meals to healthy food with keeping same amount but now I cannot reach to BMR. I guess I need more meals now.
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    Try smaller, more calorie dense foods such as nuts, avocados, peanut butter, and cheeses. These will help bring your calorie count up without too much volume.
  • zaang3467
    zaang3467 Posts: 3 Member
    Why is it bad to eat under BMR exactly ? You'll just burn the stored fat to compansate which is like the whole idea behind restricting calorie intake to lose weight no ?
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    zaang3467 wrote: »
    Why is it bad to eat under BMR exactly ? You'll just burn the stored fat to compansate which is like the whole idea behind restricting calorie intake to lose weight no ?

    You also put yourself at risk for malnutrition, which is not the whole idea behind losing weight.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    zaang3467 wrote: »
    Why is it bad to eat under BMR exactly ? You'll just burn the stored fat to compansate which is like the whole idea behind restricting calorie intake to lose weight no ?

    To burn fat, you eat under your TDEE, not your BMR. Otherwise, you become malnourished.
  • BiggDaddy58
    BiggDaddy58 Posts: 406 Member
    You can eat under your BMR for some time w/o any real risk..depends on the person..their stats etc.

    Short Term..will be fine. I did 1200-1300 calories a day for 3 months...I would always say ..consult your Dr. first.
  • RobD520
    RobD520 Posts: 420 Member
    BiggDaddy58 wrote: »
    You can eat under your BMR for some time w/o any real risk..depends on the person..their stats etc.

    Short Term..will be fine. I did 1200-1300 calories a day for 3 months...I would always say ..consult your Dr. first.

    Irresponsible. You don't have enough information to recommend or even suggest 800 calories is safe for the OP, even if you were qualified to make such declarations.

    Physicians do sometimes supervise very low calorie diets for people who are dangerously obese. There is no evidence that this is the case here.

    I agree with consulting a physician..
  • jo_nz
    jo_nz Posts: 548 Member
    What are your stats (current weight/height and goals)? Are you currently losing weight quite quickly?
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
    Your body can only metabolize so much fat in one day. As it is, when you restrict your calories, you will lose some of your lean muscle. When you do a vlcd, this problem can be exacerbated. The fact that your heart is a muscle should encourage you to eat a minimum of 1200. Losing weight fast isn't worth it when a good chunk of that weight is going to be muscle.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
    I usually go by the advice of never going below your goal weight BMR [if you can't eat to maintain your goal weight, then it's gonna be difficult to switch to maintenance once you get there]. In that sense, very few people have an ideal weight BMR below 1200 [usually very short, older women] and even fewer [if any] at 800 calories.

    For fun, I checked the BMR of a 60 year old, 5 foot female at the lowest end of her ideal weight [96 pounds]. Her BMR ended up being 1100 calories.
  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
    There's nothing inherently wrong with eating below your BMR. Your bodyfat stores are there to supplement any energy deficiency the body has. However, you still need to get sufficient amounts of proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals in your diet for your health. If your food intake is too low to do that, then you need to increase it.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    If you don't give your body enough to sustain itself, I.e. Your BMR, it will divert the nutrients to maintain vital organ function. It will do this by depriving your hair, nails and skin first, and then move on to your muscle.

    The short answer is, you'll lose lean body mass. Much more than you would if you were eating at a reasonable deficit to lose weight. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen. Just do a forum search for "hair loss" and read the panic people have caused themselves.

    Don't go from binge eating to binge weight-loss. That's just trading one problem for another. Please take care of yourself!
  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
    samanthaluangphixay wrote: »
    Your BMR is the amount of calories you need just to stay alive.


    Eating under your TDEE is how you lose weight.

    This isn't entirely accurate. The BMR is the amount of calories your body would need to maintain your current weight if you were completely inactive e.g lying in a coma. Many people close to their goal weight have a TDEE and BMR very close together, so may find that they do have to cut a little below to see results. Having said that, 800 calories a day for a sustained period of time will cause damage in the long term, and it is recommended that people adhere to the MFP minimum (1200 for women/1500 for men) unless under the supervision of a doctor.
  • subakwa
    subakwa Posts: 347 Member
    The body has no idea what BMR or TDEE is. It looks at what energy is immediately available to it from food to feed its needs, either metabolic or activity driven, and what it will have to harvest.

    Hence all this dire talk about the effects of the magic number makes no sense. It is just a number. That, however, doesn't mean it is okay to ignore your nutritional needs - vitamins, minerals and macros. Don't worry about BMR, worry about eating enough.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    There's nothing inherently wrong with eating below your BMR. Your bodyfat stores are there to supplement any energy deficiency the body has. However, you still need to get sufficient amounts of proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals in your diet for your health. If your food intake is too low to do that, then you need to increase it.

    This.

    In this case, BMR isn't the issue, 800 being far too low is. I don't understand how it's too hard to eat more than 800--try adding the extra meal or meals and if that doesn't work go to the doctor and get checked out and ask for a consult to a dietitian.
  • biggsterjackster
    biggsterjackster Posts: 419 Member
    BiggDaddy58 wrote: »
    You can eat under your BMR for some time w/o any real risk..depends on the person..their stats etc.

    Short Term..will be fine. I did 1200-1300 calories a day for 3 months...I would always say ..consult your Dr. first.

    I did 1300 cal (under BMR) for about 3 month too Lost 20 lbs and feel great. Maintaining at 2000 cal right now. No problems!
  • BiggDaddy58
    BiggDaddy58 Posts: 406 Member
    RobD520 wrote: »
    BiggDaddy58 wrote: »
    You can eat under your BMR for some time w/o any real risk..depends on the person..their stats etc.

    Short Term..will be fine. I did 1200-1300 calories a day for 3 months...I would always say ..consult your Dr. first.

    Irresponsible. You don't have enough information to recommend or even suggest 800 calories is safe for the OP, even if you were qualified to make such declarations.

    Physicians do sometimes supervise very low calorie diets for people who are dangerously obese. There is no evidence that this is the case here.

    I agree with consulting a physician..

    I didn't say anything about 800 calories a day..I said ..you can eat under BMR for a short period of time DEPENDS ON THE PERSON AND THEIR STATS..

    Try and comprehend next time..ok? I also said consult your Dr. I also did not elaborate on what Physicians recommend, oversee or anything of the sort.

    I used myself as an example. My Dr..didn't set up my program..I did

    I swear..people on this site need to be taught how to read and comprehend what they are reading.

  • kmsnyg
    kmsnyg Posts: 100 Member
    lemonlionheart wrote: »
    samanthaluangphixay wrote: »
    Your BMR is the amount of calories you need just to stay alive.


    Eating under your TDEE is how you lose weight.

    This isn't entirely accurate. The BMR is the amount of calories your body would need to maintain your current weight if you were completely inactive e.g lying in a coma. Many people close to their goal weight have a TDEE and BMR very close together, so may find that they do have to cut a little below to see results. Having said that, 800 calories a day for a sustained period of time will cause damage in the long term, and it is recommended that people adhere to the MFP minimum (1200 for women/1500 for men) unless under the supervision of a doctor.

    Exactly. And if you are not very active (aka sedentary) you may need to eat under your BMR to get a deficit. I consistently eat under my BMR, and I have a lot of weight to lose (but I am still pretty sedentary). I still eat plenty of calories and take multivitamins. After 60 lbs lost, I am NOT losing my hair or nails.
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