Importance of estimating BMR to get a minimum daily calorie intake?

Hi guys.

I've been reading about needing a minimum daily calorie intake. (In particular, on the daily food diary and it coming up in big red text saying I'm not meeting the minimum 1000-1200cal/day for females.)

Since starting keto on 3rd Oct 2019, and recording here on MFP, I have had 2 times that I have made it to 1000cal. I have lost nearly 7kg. I'm 37yr, 163cm tall and at last weigh-in was 93.1kg. My goal is to get to about 55-58kg in the next 2-4 years.

I have seen the terms BMR, RMR, TDEE and other assorted acronyms being thrown around. After doing a little research, I'm still no clearer as to what my calorie intake daily should be for losing weight. I found multiple BMR calculators online, and didn't get a matching number after using 7 different sites. All seemed to range anywhere from 1650 to 1680.

The only calculator I found that included body fat % gave me a BMR of 1667. (I know my body fat % from a recent visit to the gym for a weigh-in, using one of those fancy scales that give % for water fat, bone, muscles, etc).

If I use this number as my BMR, does that mean that's what I'm meant to eat each day? I'm lucky to make half that daily, I feel unwell if I eat too much, or too often. I'm used to only eating once every day or 2, sometimes 3, and it was all carbs. I've been trying to force myself to eat at least 2 meals a day, as recommended by my dietitian. It's been a rough few weeks so far, and the last few days I've been falling back into only eating once a day again.

My body doesn't seem to take dairy overly well as I'm getting older, and generally fats make me feel bloated (I had to stop eating the greasy or fatty foods a couple years ago to reduce the bloating feeling : 3-5 fried chips were enough to make me uncomfortable).

I've had a fairly sedentary lifestyle most of my adult life, but in the last 3 weeks (after getting over the initial feeling of general lethargy when starting keto), I've been going to the gym 2-3 times a week. I've been doing 20-25 minutes cardio, and a variety of weights, upper and lower body (lowish weight, and 12reps/3sets), each visit, as well as in the pool for hydrotherapy once a week.

Any help in finding resources or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bettina

Replies

  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
    BMR is just the amount of calories it takes to run your metabolic bodily functions each day. It has very little to do with how much you should eat to lose weight. On top of that, it is almost certainly a very weak estimate of your actual value and humans are horrible at knowing how active they really are.

    You almost certainly are undereating, based on how much weight you have lost so far. Eat more.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
    It really sounds like you’re working too hard and eating too little.
    You don’t really need to eat super fatty foods especially if you have fat to lose.
    Focus on your protein to make sure you get enough. All that exercise and undereating is going cost you muscle and that’s not a path to health.
    Just eat the meats and non starchy veggies that you like. Keto isn’t about eating butter and bacon. It’s about not eating carbs.
    Eating once a day is fine but only if you can eat a reasonable amount of food in that one meal. If you can’t then try to work in another meal focused on protein.
  • 2t9nty
    2t9nty Posts: 1,572 Member
    We place too much stock in the tables. Mine says 2100 calories a day to maintain. I have found it is more like 1600 with logging and experience. I asked my doctor if this indicated a problem, and he laughed and said the standard deviation for those recommendations is pretty big. 1600 is in the normal range.

    I am with Sunny_Bunny on the fats. I have a strategic fat reserve to supply needs there. I focus on protein and leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
  • ploomka
    ploomka Posts: 308 Member
    @AzarielMoon I also struggle to hit a healthy minimum calorie level. I have found that fats help me to meet my minimum calories.

    Yet, as you said, fats seem to bother you. So, I am wondering if it might be the kinds of fats you are eating. Usually fried food is fried in poor quality oils (canola, soybean, corn, etc). Also, you may have an intolerance to certain fats. Maybe you could try playing around with the kinds of fats you are eating. Perhaps try coconut or avocado oils.

    I too feel ill if I eat greasy or oily foods, but I have found when I add (up to one tbsp of) coconut oil to my morning smoothie, it doesn't bother me at all, and it helps me to meet a healthy daily minimum for my calories (coconut oil is very calorically dense), which is usually hard for me.

    Feel free to add me. My food diary is shared with friends.
  • ploomka
    ploomka Posts: 308 Member
    @AzarielMoon one last thought - if meat fats bother you, and you find avacado or coconut oil tolerable, you could try cooking your lean meat in avocado oil (refined has a very high smoke point, so is perfect for cooking meat in), or try playing around with higher fat sauces made with good oils.
  • CBell223
    CBell223 Posts: 36 Member
    This is my opinion. I will preface by saying that I'm still quite new to this but I have been obsessively studying it for several months. I think total daily calories is very much down the list of things to be concerned about (if even on it at all). I would rank the priorities this way. 1. Keep your carbs very low (below 20 net or below 30 total...however you want to think of it). 2. Eat only if you are hungry but when you are hungry, eat enough to be satisfied until your next meal. To do this, play with how much fat you need to include in your meal so that you will be hungry in 4 hours or so. This takes time to figure out. 3. Every meal should include A) 1-2 servings of veggies B) Protein (spread your daily protein goal out over your daily meals. For example, my daily protein goal is 90g. So I have 30g at each of 3 meals per day) C) Only enough fat to satisfy your hunger and keep you satisfied for the next 3-4 hours. D) Salt. (you need to replenish your salt on keto or you will feel crappy. That's it. If you are getting enough protein, keeping your carbs low (but eating healthy, vitamin and mineral providing carbs like green leafy veggies) and eating per your hunger drives, filling in calories as needed with healthy fats, it doesn't matter how many calories you eat per day. Trust your body. (You should also probably supplement Magnesium.