BMR is 1,200. Is a calorie deficit still okay?

tigerjade
tigerjade Posts: 5
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
Hellooo. My BMR is 1,200 and I'm looking to lose a pound or two of fat just for a leaner, toner stomach :). I read a lot of topics about the debate over eating exercise calories back and I'm wondering what I should do since my BMR is so low. Should I eat 1,200 and exercise off 500 calories? Or should I be eating 1,700?

I normally keep to 1,200-1,400 calories, but once in awhile I'll have a day where I go to 1,700-1,800. Those days, I feel extremely full, fatigued, etc., I just don't think I can regularly eat that much!

Also, I count activities like walking since myfitnesspal is set to 1,200. Is what I am doing correct?

I've been keeping track of my calories for the past month and I've lost a smaaaall amount of fat that I gained during stress-eating finals month (I estimate that I ate probably 1,900-2000 calories a day), but now I'm not quite sure what to do to keep progressing.

My food diary is open for perusal, thank you for any help!

Replies

  • loosecannonzs
    loosecannonzs Posts: 6
    I'm not a professional but maybe you should keep eating how you normally would and add some cardio. Exercise will make you feel better everyday vs trying to eat less. If you burn a lot of calories doing exercise, eat a little more to fuel it. I don't think you need to diet if you're only trying to lose a few pounds.
  • Lets_Do_It
    Lets_Do_It Posts: 202
    Well, that's just with you not ddoing anything. If you are not active, multiply it by 1.2, if you are lightly active, 1.3-1.4 Moderate: 1.5-1.6 and extremely: 1.7-1.8. My bmr is 1611 but on average I burn 1933 a day just being around the house (not active) that will determine how many cals you burn on average. So, if you are not active: you burn 1440 cals a day on average. :] I hope I helped.


    So, if you eat 1200 cals a day and burn 1440 w/o exercise, maybe burn 300 cals a day. :] Just for less cals.
  • juliapurpletoes
    juliapurpletoes Posts: 951 Member
    my thoughts are that since you aren't concerned at this time with a big weight loss and your goals is more toning and strengthening, you should be eating at very close to your maintanance calorie limits. I don't think it is ever good to eat below your BMR calories since this is what you burn just laying around resting.

    So figure out what your calorie intake should be for not only your BMR of 1200, but with your daily activities. Even if you were sedentary, I believe MFP gives you around 250 - 300 more. Check your "goals" tab and see what's been figured. If you want to 'lose' weight just eat at about a 15% deficit, as you don't need to overdo your deficit. It would confuse your body.

    Best of Luck!
  • LauraMarie37
    LauraMarie37 Posts: 283 Member
    This is just my opinion based on personal experience and growing up as the daughter of a dietitian - I think you should aim to eat a little more. But are you sure you are logging accurately? Looking through your diary, it looks like you do a great job of logging all of the components of a meal, but with all of the fractional servings you have, I just want to remind you that most people underestimate their serving sizes - and even if you are off by 10%, 10% all day really adds up. If you are weighing/ measuring your food or are confident in your estimating abilities, then I would encourage you to eat a little more. If not, try measuring for a day and see how accurate your guesses are.

    Since you have so little weight left to lose, I would set MFP to lose a half pound per week and then get as close to their recommended number (remember they already build in a deficit) as you can. I think since you tend to be high on protein (which is good!), if you add in some weight training, you will tone really well even if you lose slowly.

    I only log exercise if it makes me sweat, out of breath, or significantly tired - like only log walking if I walk 2 or more miles at one time. That's just what works for me - depending on your fitness level, it might be better to log everything.
  • afmyrick
    afmyrick Posts: 4
    Hi, my calorie count is set for 1200 and I get under a lot of times. You know what I do? I eat every two hours. I say, "I eat more often to eat less". Believe it or not I follow the 17 day diet. I tried it before but found it hard until I started eating every 2 hours. My typical day is like this.

    0800 2 egg omelet and (1/2 cup) fruit
    1000 6oz Greek yogurt
    1200 4oz chicken and some steamed veggies (1 cup or more) and another piece of fruit (1/2 cup)
    1400 either celery and carrots or a small salad
    1600 6oz Greek yogurt
    1800 Some other protein and veggies

    I'm never hungry and I eat slowly and sometimes when I finish the snack/food previous I have an hour before I eat again. Even when I'm not hungry I eat. I may not eat a lot but I eat and by the time dinner comes, sometimes I have half of it. Depending on the veggies and protein I eat I'm almost always under 1200 calories.

    I also drink my 8 oz of water during my meals. I have to spread it out because I don't just sit around and drink water. Its very hard for me so I have to divvy it out. By the time 1600 comes I've finished all my water for the day and any other is extra.

    It's not always to be under calorie count because your body thinks it is starving but if you eat often I don't think it matters because your body is satisfied. Buy the 17 day diet and make one alteration when doing it. Eat every two hours and keep drinking your water. It helps fill your stomach. Oh yeah, what's cool you can eat all the veggies I want so when I do eat I normally double up on them. Don't worry, I think you will be fine.

    :)

    Angela
  • tigerjade
    tigerjade Posts: 5
    Thank you for the replies everyone! I feel like I gained more results the weeks I had a net intake of 700-900 calories, but I don't know if that is actually healthy. What is everyone's opinion on this?
  • LauraMarie37
    LauraMarie37 Posts: 283 Member
    It's not the most healthy for a variety of reasons (read through the links in the page I link to in my signature for some of those reasons, but basically you are depriving your body of the nutrients it needs to repairs itself each day, so you are more likely to get injured or develop a chronic disease). Plus you are actually more likely to keep weight off when you lose it more slowly - the weight that comes off from 700-900 calorie days is more likely to come back easily.
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