Warning to never eat below your BMR?

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  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    It's more a worry of how to maintain whilst knowing I'm really not functioning to my best ability (probably due to deficit) as it is. That's where the confusion of TDEE etc came from

    And that's where the confusion of estimated TDEE comes in too for the vast majority.

    There is not this knowledge that you can actually effect the TDEE by what you take in.

    Meaning you can cause yourself to burn less daily, by eating too little.

    Sadly it doesn't work the other way around constantly. Eat too much, it does increase metabolism and daily burn for short bursts, but in general, constantly take in more than you burn and what you burn only goes up ever so slightly because of the increased fat mass.

    But constantly undereat by too much, and that can vary depending on genetics and how much your body can handle as stress, and your body will adapt by actually burning less.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251
  • TCNutritionhealthworks
    TCNutritionhealthworks Posts: 2 Member
    edited November 2015
    Wow there is a lot of posts on this questions and a lot of good (and bad) responses. Here you go folks-

    There are 4 main areas of weight management:
    Weight Gain- eating more than your TEE (Total Energy Expenditure)
    Weight Maintenance- eating equivalent to your TEE
    Weight Loss- eating ABOVE your RMR/BMR (Resting Metabolic Rate/Basic Metabolic Rate) but BELOW your TEE
    Starvation Mode- Eating BELOW your RMR/BMR

    Consistently eating below your RMR means your body is not getting enough calories to operate organs so it will generally burn MUSCLE calories to make up the difference. In addition, you metabolism will SLOW DOWN to compensate for the lack of calories until the intake matches the output. This generally means your body fat may go down slightly, your weight will go down (your are decreasing muscle weight) and your inches will go down (again, muscle decline). This looks GREAT to someone who doesn't know better, BUT, the end result is a decrease in muscle and a rapid decrease in metabolism= NOT GOOD!

    Advice: Find a comfortable calorie window between your RMR/BMR and your TEE and you will LOSE WEIGHT while MAINTAINING lean body mass (muscle).

    You WILL NOT know what your true RMR/BMR is until you have it tested so go do it!!

    Intermittent fasts are fine, it's the consistent lack of calories over time that's the issue.


    Credentials: Bachelors in Nutrition and minor Human Biology and I've been practicing for 8 years
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    But say if I weighed 220 instead of 120, that would mean that I shouldn't eat below 1800, yet that is the number of calories to keep a sedentary, overweight person at the same weight he/she currently is. Wouldn't it make sense for that person to eat less than that to lose?

    Please re-examine what these things mean - you are confusing yourself.

    BMR - what your body would like to burn sleeping deeply 24 hrs daily. As you weigh less, this goes down slowly.

    TDEE - what your body burns in total, including BMR, food processing, normal daily activity, and specific exercise if done. As you weigh less, this really goes down faster, because not only is BMR lower, but you are moving less mass around and eating less food.

    To lose weight, you merely need to eat below what you burn daily, therefore, eat below TDEE. That's what MFP is trying to do if you use the tool correctly.

    BMR is a line in the sand that many people draw - because obviously there is a lower limit to reasonable and healthy and creating an unhealthy body, and you are only going to lose weight and hopefully just fat with a healthy body. Make it unhealthy, it'll fight you for any loss.
    Now, if you are lucky enough to be measured out the wazoo because you are in a research study, and they know exactly your BMR, your TDEE, you are healthy except for being overweight, no medical issues, and you keep getting testing the whole time - then indeed you may be given an eating goal below your BMR, and you may be fine for negative effects.

    But barring that ability (even under Dr supervision doesn't include those things either), draw a line in the sand, and BMR is an easy one.

    Just get it as accurate as you can - using Katch BMR which needs your bodyfat %.

    And to the point of being in studies being safer with no negative effects. Not true either actually. They are just accepted negative effects.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

    BOOM!
  • itsandreababy
    itsandreababy Posts: 1 Member
    You can eat below your BMR and you'll be fine... I've done so myself when wanting to lose the last few pounds...

    As you lose weight, you need less calories...

    I would calculate my TDEE and subtract 250 to 500 cals from that number... Try that for 3 weeks, if you aren't losing weight make sure you are calculating your calories correctly (weighing all food on a scale)... then, if you're counting calories correctly and still not losing weight, subtract another 250...

    I would also consider, doing cardio (HIIT is my favorite) and adding weight training to increase your TDEE...
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    chadya07 wrote: »
    ...so unless you plan on sleeping your way thin...

    If only I didn't have to work for a living... :disappointed:
  • jennybearlv
    jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
    I forgot about the never eat below BMR fad. I have no idea why someone created an account to give advice on a three year old thread, but nostalgic.
  • Veganvibesss
    Veganvibesss Posts: 123 Member
    My bmr is about 1500 and I eat 1200-1300 A day to lose weight because I can't excersize well enough to burn off calories. (Car accident, fractured spine, major concussion)
    I've lost 60+
    I'd assume if I were to be more active throughout the day I would have to eat more so I didn't feel sick
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