BMR and MFP confusion

maryzcontrary · August 2011

Ok, help me understand. If my BMR is 1,410, should I be on 1,200/day? I changed my goal to lose only one lb/wk, because that is what I was doing anyway, when I should have been losing 1-1/2 according to MFP. Now I am confused to see that number, because 1400 is what MFP gave me to lose 1 per week, yet that is my BMR...

. My diary is public if you have input....I meal plan, and try to eat well with the exception last week of a bit too much evening indulgence at restaurants...I get discouraged to read some folks' posts where they are complaining because they only lost 8 lbs/month, because I have lost only 4! I had hoped for 6 -8. Any suggestions or input welcome.....I am seriously trying to get used to losing this slowly, because I want to lose it well. It's hard not to see more results when I am reading about others getting great results in half the time!!!!!!

tigersword · August 2011

BMR is the amount of calories you burn staying in bed all day, and doesn't take into account your activity level. You will always lose weight eating your BMR.

alexwalper · August 2011

I was in the same boat! I was set to 1.5lbs/wk and eating 1,400, but I found out my BMR was actually 1,600. I set it to 1lb/wk, and now I eat around 1,600. The slower loss is kind of depressing, but I feel a heck of a lot better.
After a month of slow loss, I tried to go back down to a quicker loss, and after one day, I felt light headed and crazy dizzy, so that didn't last long. To add some shaking up to my body, I usually eat all my exercise calories, but on the days I burn 500+, I've been leaving 100 or so and making sure I zig zag my calories on occasion. I haven't felt sick or underfed at all, but I'm still losing at a steady, though slightly higher, rate (1.2-1.5lbs/wk).

maryzcontrary · August 2011

well, thanks for replying! that makes a little sense to me....I need the encouragement from time to time. I guess since this is really my "last 10" that I need to lose, that it's going to be a lot slower than I had hoped....when I was much more overweight and younger, and dieted, the pounds fell off.....

maryzcontrary · August 2011

alright, I am bumping my own conversation to see if I can get some additional input....someone look at my diary, go back, like 2 weeks, look at my exercise

tomorrow is my weigh-in day, and as of today, it appears I have lost NOTHING this week. I no longer have periods, so it isn't PMS! I remembered last night that my doctor did the breath test thing that measures BMR a while back, and I found my papers. My "custom" BMR is 1482..... I am currently eating at about 1400/day .....please please tell me what y'all think I need to be doing to "jump start" some weight loss again -- if I only lose 1/2 week, so be it, but I'd like to at least do that!! I can honestly say that I am looking much better, it actually looks like I have lost more than 4 lbs. but damn, I hate seeing that non-loss on the scale, when I am measuring, planning, cooking, thinking, contemplating nothing else but eating less and moving more!!!! I am not an obsessive exerciser, either, but have far exceeded my planned workout goal of 30 min 3X/wk. I zig, I zag. I am discouraged! I don't WANT to go back to the Atkins mentality - it has seemed to be a mere quick fix for me, and I don't like feeling unbalanced anymore. I love having fruits, vegetables, grains and meats. I eat more than I have ever eaten! Is it my metabolism readjusting? Am I wanting to give up 5 minutes before the miracle?

mamaDaisyJ · August 2011

I read somewhere on these forums that the closer you are to goal the higher your calorie intake should be. So maybe instead of looking at BMR look at what you need to maintain at this weight and adjust from there?
I'm nowhere close to goal, but I just upped mine from the 1200 to 1480 a day, and I lose alot better at this level.
And dont forget, there's more to it than the number on the scale, especially when you are so close :drinker:

maryzcontrary · August 2011

self-bump

Rae6503 · August 2011

You can change to half a pound a week (this is why I've had good results but I didn't really try anything else), but at this point you really can't be expecting loss every week. My scale probably only goes down once ever 2 weeks.

ninerbuff · August 2011

alright, I am bumping my own conversation to see if I can get some additional input....someone look at my diary, go back, like 2 weeks, look at my exercise
tomorrow is my weigh-in day, and as of today, it appears I have lost NOTHING this week. I no longer have periods, so it isn't PMS! I remembered last night that my doctor did the breath test thing that measures BMR a while back, and I found my papers. My "custom" BMR is 1482..... I am currently eating at about 1400/day .....please please tell me what y'all think I need to be doing to "jump start" some weight loss again -- if I only lose 1/2 week, so be it, but I'd like to at least do that!! I can honestly say that I am looking much better, it actually looks like I have lost more than 4 lbs. but damn, I hate seeing that non-loss on the scale, when I am measuring, planning, cooking, thinking, contemplating nothing else but eating less and moving more!!!! I am not an obsessive exerciser, either, but have far exceeded my planned workout goal of 30 min 3X/wk. I zig, I zag. I am discouraged! I don't WANT to go back to the Atkins mentality - it has seemed to be a mere quick fix for me, and I don't like feeling unbalanced anymore. I love having fruits, vegetables, grains and meats. I eat more than I have ever eaten! Is it my metabolism readjusting? Am I wanting to give up 5 minutes before the miracle?

Good rule of thumb I use with clients it take their current BMR and eat about 400 calories over if they exercise that day. If not, cut it to 250 calories over.

monchand · August 2011

I highly recommend people getting the bodygem done. It gives you your most accurate RMR. "A Metabolic Fingerprint, or resting metabolism, is the unique number of calories an individual burns each day without
exercise or activity, and accounts for up to 75% of their
total calorie needs." some doctors clinics do them or fitness place. My doctors office did them so it only cost me $20 copay to get mine done. Change the picture for me and finally dropping the weight again. Found out my RMR was low so I had to make some changes.

ladyhawk00 · August 2011

When you have less than 15 lbs to lose, it will be SLOW. And it will rarely be linear - meaning you won't lose every week. It will fluctuate a lot. You need to be consistent and give it time. The less fat stores you have, the harder it is for the body to access them. And, especially for women, the body prefers a pretty good cushion of fat, so you need to coax it to burn the last bits.

Stick with what you're doing now for AT LEAST a month. See what the overall trend is. Then look at tweaking if necessary. Jumping all over the place (and expecting quick, dramatic results) will just backfire at this point.

ETA: And yes, your loss per week goal should be about 1/2 lb per week - about 250-300 cal deficit.

elizabethblake · August 2011

alright, I am bumping my own conversation to see if I can get some additional input....someone look at my diary, go back, like 2 weeks, look at my exercise
tomorrow is my weigh-in day, and as of today, it appears I have lost NOTHING this week. I no longer have periods, so it isn't PMS! I remembered last night that my doctor did the breath test thing that measures BMR a while back, and I found my papers. My "custom" BMR is 1482..... I am currently eating at about 1400/day .....please please tell me what y'all think I need to be doing to "jump start" some weight loss again -- if I only lose 1/2 week, so be it, but I'd like to at least do that!! I can honestly say that I am looking much better, it actually looks like I have lost more than 4 lbs. but damn, I hate seeing that non-loss on the scale, when I am measuring, planning, cooking, thinking, contemplating nothing else but eating less and moving more!!!! I am not an obsessive exerciser, either, but have far exceeded my planned workout goal of 30 min 3X/wk. I zig, I zag. I am discouraged! I don't WANT to go back to the Atkins mentality - it has seemed to be a mere quick fix for me, and I don't like feeling unbalanced anymore. I love having fruits, vegetables, grains and meats. I eat more than I have ever eaten! Is it my metabolism readjusting? Am I wanting to give up 5 minutes before the miracle?

I don't think you're eating enough. When you have 1475 calories for the day (consumed, not net), and 400 of those calories are tequila, you're not giving your body the nutrients it needs.

ninerbuff · August 2011

When you have less than 15 lbs to lose, it will be SLOW. And it will rarely be linear - meaning you won't lose every week. It will fluctuate a lot. You need to be consistent and give it time. The less fat stores you have, the harder it is for the body to access them. And, especially for women, the body prefers a pretty good cushion of fat, so you need to coax it to burn the last bits.

Stick with what you're doing now for AT LEAST a month. See what the overall trend is. Then look at tweaking if necessary. Jumping all over the place (and expecting quick, dramatic results) will just backfire at this point.

ETA: And yes, your loss per week goal should be about 1/2 lb per week - about 250-300 cal deficit.

Well said. I'd like to add that the body instinctively does NOT like to give up fat. It's physiology hasn't really changed much since we've been on Earth and it's VERY efficient at storing fat. So be CONSISTENT and diligent.

brandiuntz · August 2011

When you have less than 15 lbs to lose, it will be SLOW. And it will rarely be linear - meaning you won't lose every week. It will fluctuate a lot. You need to be consistent and give it time. The less fat stores you have, the harder it is for the body to access them. And, especially for women, the body prefers a pretty good cushion of fat, so you need to coax it to burn the last bits.

Stick with what you're doing now for AT LEAST a month. See what the overall trend is. Then look at tweaking if necessary. Jumping all over the place (and expecting quick, dramatic results) will just backfire at this point.

ETA: And yes, your loss per week goal should be about 1/2 lb per week - about 250-300 cal deficit.

This^^^^^^^^^. You definitely need to change your goal to 1/2 lb per week.

maryzcontrary · August 2011

thanks everyone! My nutrition friend said that I should also add in some type of carb at lunch, like a whole wheat pasta dish or something, or a little olive oil on the salad...to think of ways to get more calories without more bulky food - I feel like a pig!!! ..I will shoot for 1/2 a week, then, but dang! that's a lot of food to eat....it's true that tequila is not literally nutricious, but it sure is psychologically at the end of a hard day!!! :happy:

I will stick with this. If nothing else, I honestly look like I have lost more than 4 --- which is good....

Rae6503 · August 2011

thanks everyone! My nutrition friend said that I should also add in some type of carb at lunch, like a whole wheat pasta dish or something, or a little olive oil on the salad...to think of ways to get more calories without more bulky food - I feel like a pig!!! ..I will shoot for 1/2 a week, then, but dang! that's a lot of food to eat....it's true that tequila is not literally nutricious, but it sure is psychologically at the end of a hard day!!! :happy:

I will stick with this. If nothing else, I honestly look like I have lost more than 4 --- which is good....

It sometimes is hard to eat enough. You have to plan all day. Like today I didn't eat enough early and now it's 7:30 and I'm trying to figure out what else to eat.

BMR and MFP confusion

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