MFP and Scale BMR

BMR is not going to go down suddenly unless you are literally starving to death, as in laying on the ground motionless with parched lips in the Serengeti while vultures circle overhead, trying to decide if they are interested in eating your carcass because all they can see is a skeleton tightly wrapped in skin. Nothing a normal, everyday person does on a diet is going to have an appreciable short-term impact on BMR, though as you lose weight over time your body will have lower fuel requirements and the BMR will gradually decrease by 4-5 calories per pound lost. The reason is because BMR is already the rock-bottom, minimum rate of fuel-burn your current pile of organs and tissues requires just to remain alive; if you are in a coma, you will burn calories at the BMR, there is nowhere lower for it to go without shutting down critical subsystems. Your body will give you plenty of warning signs as it starts to hit the emergency brakes: you'll be extremely fatigued, listless, and possibly confused and disoriented too. Or put another way, if you feel alright, your BMR has not decreased. You can forget all about this pop theory about BMR and metabolism bouncing around from too little or too much food; it's meaningless.

Go do a google search on 'TDEE Calculator'. Use it and be honest with it about your typical activity level; don't declare yourself active if you're sedentary. Whatever number it spits out, there ya go, that's roughly your break even caloric intake, give or take 100 calories or so. Then you can go back to MFP and futz around with the Goals section and make some decisions about how much to eat. Or you can just use the TDEE from the calculator - eat 750 less than that number, consistently, for two weeks and lose three pounds. No cheating or off-meals, though, or it won't work.

Tester1987 wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

Tester1987 wrote: »

So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?

Okay... I tried https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1

And this is what I am getting... which is still a whole lot more than what the scale I bought indicates...

Right, because tdee and BMR are very different things.

So... the site I linked (which is filled out to the best of my knowledge right now, as not happy as it is) shows my bmr as 2,136cal and the scale I got shows my bmr as 1,830cal. That is a difference of 306cal.

It shows my sedentary rate, which I assume is my 'tdee', at 2,563cal.

Sorry i didnt notice the BMR on your link.
So here's the thing. First, I have no idea how your scale figures BMR. But unless you plan on being in a coma soon, your BMR is a fairly useless number.

Calculators use generalizations and estimates. You can use a TDEE calculator or use MFP plus logged exercise, follow it for 6-8 weeks, look at your results. Tweak your calories if your progress doesn't match what you expected. Understand that if your logging isn't super accurate, it can make it a little harder to get your numbers nailed down.

IMHO smart scales are pretty much a waste. It seems to me they confuse and discourage way more people than they help.

kimny72 wrote: »

Tester1987 wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

Tester1987 wrote: »

So if I am understanding you all correctly... the scale is correct... but so is mfp... because they are measuring different things? Is this right?

Okay... I tried https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1

And this is what I am getting... which is still a whole lot more than what the scale I bought indicates...

Right, because tdee and BMR are very different things.

So... the site I linked (which is filled out to the best of my knowledge right now, as not happy as it is) shows my bmr as 2,136cal and the scale I got shows my bmr as 1,830cal. That is a difference of 306cal.

It shows my sedentary rate, which I assume is my 'tdee', at 2,563cal.

Sorry i didnt notice the BMR on your link.
So here's the thing. First, I have no idea how your scale figures BMR. But unless you plan on being in a coma soon, your BMR is a fairly useless number.

Calculators use generalizations and estimates. You can use a TDEE calculator or use MFP plus logged exercise, follow it for 6-8 weeks, look at your results. Tweak your calories if your progress doesn't match what you expected. Understand that if your logging isn't super accurate, it can make it a little harder to get your numbers nailed down.

IMHO smart scales are pretty much a waste. It seems to me they confuse and discourage way more people than they help.

This and also, as you get out into the obese range as Tester1987 is (stats in the link: https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&age=31&g=male&lbs=295&in=70&act=1.2&bf=38.9&f=1) then the numbers get a little wonky and can be way off.

Tester, do what Kimney72 suggests and run with something between the goalposts. Log for 4-8 weeks and adjust at that time. It's the experiment we all have to run at first.

Your own data trumps all the online and scale calculations.

Good luck :flowerforyou:

Hello there. Disregard pretty much everything everybody said on this thread. This is what you need to know...

The reason the renpho scale was lower is because it calculates your BMR based on your individual data points. These data points are muscle mass, fat mass, water weight, bone, etc. Yes, the renpo BMR is calculated using a formula, but the formula is specific to your body. Two people can weigh the same amount but because they have different muscle mass, there energy requirements will be different. The fitness apps apply a general formula, which is high AF. Just look into the research on the numbers. It was done on athletes. Not regular folks. Is the scale 100% correct? No. You would need to go have a bmr test performed. Is it far more accurate than the general formula's in the app? Yes.

Fat loss is a product of what you eat, not what you do. There are 24 hours in a day, you can spend 2 hours a day working out. There are still 22 other hours you need figure out. Take out 8 for sleep and you have 14 hours of opportunity to eat too much glucose, trigger high *kitten* insulin levels, and tell your body to store fat. You can work out for 2 hours and blow your entire work out with a slice of pizza. What you eat is what really matters.

If you want to drop weight with minimal effort, eat below your bmr. All of your exercise and lifestyle stuff will add to your daily deficit. Think of your body fat as a bank. It is full of deposits, now you just need to access them. No, you wont die from eating below your bmr. Your body will pull from stored fat to make up its energy needs, assuming your insulin levels are low and your body can access the fat!!! Hence, the low glucose consumption. That is the key. You will lose weight without HAVING to exercise. Use the exercise for heart health and strength training. Hack your body and make it work for you.

As you drop weight you bmr will decrease because there isnt so much of you around. The best way to combat this is to build muscle. Muscle has more energy requirements than fat. I watched my bmr stay the same for a month, even though I increased my activity level (cardio galore). My bmr went up 75 cals in the 6 weeks since I started using a vibration plate to do body weight strength training exercises. Squats, planks, and other low impact exercises for about 30 minutes 4-5 days a week. I use the machone every day even if just for 10 minutes. My renpo scales says I've added 3 lbs of muscle, knocked off 3.5% from my body fat percentage, and increased my bmr by 75. All that eating above my bmr. I am now eating 500 below my bmr bc I've committed fully to the process. I was half-assed before.

You are doing things right, your number were just wrong. If you have a hard time eating under bmr, try the following:


intermittent fasting
Keto diet
Paleo