I am just so terribly confused about how many calories I should be consuming (BMR and TDEE related).

OrganicGeo
OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
edited December 3 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! I am new to dieting, but I have been trying to figure it out for the last 2 months and I am extremely confused.

I am pretty sedentary. I work in an office so I sit pretty much all day.

I am 21, a woman, 5'10 and I weight 190 and I feel like I am not losing weight. I am able to fit in 30 minutes a day of semi intense exercising.

I went on iiyfm and my BMR is 1709 and my TDEE is 2094 and I am confused.

I have read people say to eat 500 calories less than my BMR which doesn't sound accurate to me as it will seem to low for someone as tall as I am. Than I am confused once again because I see people claim to eat 500 less than my TDEE, but than I read it's never safe to eat below your BMR. So if I were to eat 500 less than my TDEE I would be eating over 1500 calories which is 200 calories less than my BMR.

Can anyone help me. I am just confused. I want to lose 1.5 pounds a week, but safely. I have been consuming about 1500 calories a day since last week, but I'm worried it's not safe. I just don't know what do. Thank you so much to those who answer me! Thank you!

Replies

  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    TDEE - 20% is usually a good place to start

    Remember these calculators are estimates and can be up to 500cals +/- your actual TDEE

    Best thing to do is decide on a calorie intake, try it for a week or 2, see how you progress and feel, and adjust up or down depending on results

    Ok thank you!
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
    BMR is what you burn by existing. Your body will use the fat that you have to make up for calories you don't eat to reach that number. TDEE is your BMR + other activity like walking. You have to eat under your TDEE to lose weight, which can be under your BMR. This is safe to do assuming you're not near essential bodyfat levels, which I would assume you are not.

    The calorie levels look right for your height and weight. If it's too drastic, eat at a 250 deficit each day which is .5 lb a week.
  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    LazSommer wrote: »
    BMR is what you burn by existing. Your body will use the fat that you have to make up for calories you don't eat to reach that number. TDEE is your BMR + other activity like walking. You have to eat under your TDEE to lose weight, which can be under your BMR. This is safe to do assuming you're not near essential bodyfat levels, which I would assume you are not.

    The calorie levels look right for your height and weight. If it's too drastic, eat at a 250 deficit each day which is .5 lb a week.

    Ok so I'm ok at eating 1500 calories a day? And exercising 30 minutes a day?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    TDEE - 20% is usually a good place to start

    Remember these calculators are estimates and can be up to 500cals +/- your actual TDEE

    Best thing to do is decide on a calorie intake, try it for a week or 2, see how you progress and feel, and adjust up or down depending on results

    Ok thank you!

    Or just use mfp to give you a calorie goal based on losing 1lb per week at sedentary
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    TDEE - 20% is usually a good place to start

    Remember these calculators are estimates and can be up to 500cals +/- your actual TDEE

    Best thing to do is decide on a calorie intake, try it for a week or 2, see how you progress and feel, and adjust up or down depending on results

    Ok thank you!

    Or just use mfp to give you a calorie goal based on losing 1lb per week at sedentary

    This would probably be less confusing for you.
    MFP uses the NEAT method which only includes your BMR and daily activities (like work and normal stuff you do every day life cooking, cleaning, walking...). You would then log any intentional exercise (like riding, running, lifting weights...) and earn more calories which you can choose to eat back any percentage you're comfortable with for your goals.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
    When I give advice on calorie minimums, I usually recommend never to go below your goal weight's BMR [if you don't eat to maintain the weight you want, how are you gonna keep it once you reach it?].
  • B4Rachael
    B4Rachael Posts: 155 Member
    Here is a good TDEE calculator created by a MFP user. Hopefully it will help you. sailrabbit.com/bmr/
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    TDEE - 20% is usually a good place to start

    Remember these calculators are estimates and can be up to 500cals +/- your actual TDEE

    Best thing to do is decide on a calorie intake, try it for a week or 2, see how you progress and feel, and adjust up or down depending on results

    Ok thank you!

    Or just use mfp to give you a calorie goal based on losing 1lb per week at sedentary

    This. Just plug your stats in, and eat the calories mfp gives you, simples :smiley:
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,292 Member
    edited August 2016
    Simples gets complicated only because of the appropriateness of goals chosen.

    The truth of the matter is that based on the op's description an appropriate goal is to try to create a deficit that is somewhere between 250 and 500 calories a day, and not much more than that.

    Op may also want to invest in a trending weight application so that she can tell whether her weight is generally trending down or not.

    With small deficits a small change in water weight can easily confuse a person into thinking that what they're doing is not working even if it is.

    Suggest trendweight.com or if manual entry weightgrapher.com (tell the app your goal is to maintain even if your goal is to lose). Happy scale for iPhone, Libra for Android
  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    TDEE - 20% is usually a good place to start

    Remember these calculators are estimates and can be up to 500cals +/- your actual TDEE

    Best thing to do is decide on a calorie intake, try it for a week or 2, see how you progress and feel, and adjust up or down depending on results

    Ok thank you!

    Or just use mfp to give you a calorie goal based on losing 1lb per week at sedentary

    This. Just plug your stats in, and eat the calories mfp gives you, simples :smiley:

    According to my fitness pal I am suppose to net/consume 1,380 calories a day is that accurate? Should I follow that or eat more? Also thank you for your response!
  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    capaul42 wrote: »
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    TDEE - 20% is usually a good place to start

    Remember these calculators are estimates and can be up to 500cals +/- your actual TDEE

    Best thing to do is decide on a calorie intake, try it for a week or 2, see how you progress and feel, and adjust up or down depending on results

    Ok thank you!

    Or just use mfp to give you a calorie goal based on losing 1lb per week at sedentary

    This would probably be less confusing for you.
    MFP uses the NEAT method which only includes your BMR and daily activities (like work and normal stuff you do every day life cooking, cleaning, walking...). You would then log any intentional exercise (like riding, running, lifting weights...) and earn more calories which you can choose to eat back any percentage you're comfortable with for your goals.

    Thank you! So basically according to My fitness pal I am to net/consume 1,380 calories in order to lose 1.5 pounds a week.
  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    Wait... so I think I am to consume 1,682 calories burn 300 and than net 1,380, I think. And I think on my off days I consume my net/consume only 1,380 calories.
  • ouryve
    ouryve Posts: 572 Member
    The best thing you can do is try it, for a few weeks, see if it works for you, tweak it if needed.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    Wait... so I think I am to consume 1,682 calories burn 300 and than net 1,380, I think. And I think on my off days I consume my net/consume only 1,380 calories.

    Yes, that is exactly how MFP works
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    Wait... so I think I am to consume 1,682 calories burn 300 and than net 1,380, I think. And I think on my off days I consume my net/consume only 1,380 calories.

    Yep. Though personally I would aim for 1lb per week, as you don't have loads to lose.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Tell MFP you are sedentary.
    Aim for 1 pound a week.
    If you tell MFP about your exercise, it will give you more calories. Because you are sedentary and only moving around for 30 minutes a day? Don't eat them all, just eat some (some people say half).


  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    savithny wrote: »
    Tell MFP you are sedentary.
    Aim for 1 pound a week.
    If you tell MFP about your exercise, it will give you more calories. Because you are sedentary and only moving around for 30 minutes a day? Don't eat them all, just eat some (some people say half).


    Ok thank you!
  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    Wait... so I think I am to consume 1,682 calories burn 300 and than net 1,380, I think. And I think on my off days I consume my net/consume only 1,380 calories.

    Yep. Though personally I would aim for 1lb per week, as you don't have loads to lose.

    Thank you so much!
  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    capaul42 wrote: »
    OrganicGeo wrote: »
    Wait... so I think I am to consume 1,682 calories burn 300 and than net 1,380, I think. And I think on my off days I consume my net/consume only 1,380 calories.

    Yes, that is exactly how MFP works

    Thank you alot!
  • OrganicGeo
    OrganicGeo Posts: 12 Member
    ouryve wrote: »
    The best thing you can do is try it, for a few weeks, see if it works for you, tweak it if needed.

    Alright thank you alot!
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