Confused! BMR 1500 so why 1200 cal goal??

mummychaz
mummychaz Posts: 35 Member
edited October 5 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm really confused, my BMR is now 1500 cals & I had been losing about 1-1.5lbs a week on a 1500 cal goal a day (that I usually meet or go slightly over). The past 2 weeks i've lost less than 1lb each week so today I changed my goals to MFP recommended & it says a 1200 cal a day goal, surely that's wrong if my BMR is 1500??
Any help would be much appreciated, really confused :(

Replies

  • jenfactor
    jenfactor Posts: 124
    also interested to hear... thought we weren't supposed to go under BMR?
  • Dexy_
    Dexy_ Posts: 593 Member
    MFP will almost always give you 1200. Eat at or above your BMR :)
  • bprague
    bprague Posts: 564 Member
    You shouldn't go under your BMR. How are you supposed to function efficiently if you aren't even fueling enough for a day of sleeping in bed? Mfp has a tendency to set the calorie goal much too low.
  • ebahde
    ebahde Posts: 89 Member
    I'm just curious if your BMR is 1500 currently or if that is what it was when you started.... I just recently changed my setting because i have dropped 7lbs and needed to adjust my calories accordingly to maintain a 1/2lb lose. This only affected my calorie intake by about 50 cals, so not sure why yours is a 300 calorie difference
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    MFP will almost always give you 1200. Eat at or above your BMR :)
    Are you saying that MFP gives everyone 1200? That's not true at all.
  • mrsbaileybrown
    mrsbaileybrown Posts: 19
    I was not aware of how the BMR played into my diet plan. So, for the three days I've been on my fitness pal I've been going my the recommended 1200cals if my BMR is 1600 will my eating 1200 stop my metabolism from speeding up?
  • Dexy_
    Dexy_ Posts: 593 Member
    MFP will almost always give you 1200. Eat at or above your BMR :)
    Are you saying that MFP gives everyone 1200? That's not true at all.

    No I'm saying that a lot of the time MFP gives people 1200 even if they should be eating 1400+.
  • Dexy_
    Dexy_ Posts: 593 Member
    I was not aware of how the BMR played into my diet plan. So, for the three days I've been on my fitness pal I've been going my the recommended 1200cals if my BMR is 1600 will my eating 1200 stop my metabolism from speeding up?

    Not sure how metabolism comes into play, but your BMR is how many cals your body needs to function IN A COMA! So you should be eating at or above your BMR :)
  • mummychaz
    mummychaz Posts: 35 Member
    I'm just curious if your BMR is 1500 currently or if that is what it was when you started.... I just recently changed my setting because i have dropped 7lbs and needed to adjust my calories accordingly to maintain a 1/2lb lose. This only affected my calorie intake by about 50 cals, so not sure why yours is a 300 calorie difference

    Hello, Today my BMR is 1505 (was about 1600 at beginning) but I have always set my goals manually until today I decided to try the MFP suggested as my weightloss has been stalling & I thought I must be doing something wrong. Just worried that it even suggests eating below people's BMR when all the info says you should never do this :-/
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    MFP will almost always give you 1200. Eat at or above your BMR :)
    Are you saying that MFP gives everyone 1200? That's not true at all.

    No I'm saying that a lot of the time MFP gives people 1200 even if they should be eating 1400+.
    It's a pretty simple formula though. They just figure your daily calorie burn and subtract 500 (per pound that you want to lose). So you think that is wrong?
  • applebobbrush
    applebobbrush Posts: 235 Member
    MFP will almost always give you 1200. Eat at or above your BMR :)
    Are you saying that MFP gives everyone 1200? That's not true at all.

    True I'm at 1490, my BMR is 1690. I have a hard time eating at 1490.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,380 Member
    BMR is what your body burns just staying alive - like if you were to lay in bed all day. TDEE is what your body burns during a day of normal activity - MFP calculates that by taking your BMR and multiplying it by a number that corresponds to the activity level you set in your profile. (for example a few weeks ago my BMR was calculated at I think 1343 and my TDEE for a sedentary lifestyle - excluding specific exercise that I account for in my log - was calculated at 1710). Since I told MFP that I want to lose 1 lb per week, it shaved 500 calories per day off of my calculated TDEE to give me a daily goal of 1210 calories, the thing about MFP is that it does not take your BMR into account when determine your goal except as it relates to calculating your TDEE. It won't give you a goal lower than 1200, but it also won't restrict it to your BMR. Many people feel its important to net your BMR. Others feel its fine to stick with the goal MFP gives if you feel well. Lots of people also think that whichever goal you decide to go with, you should eat your exercise calories to fuel your activity. Lots of different opinions.

    For me, sticking with the 1200-ish net and eating back my exercise calories has been working really well and I feel better than I have in years. I started on the whole 1200-ish net thing before I got into the forums and started reading all the opinions about BMR and such. Sometimes I do net higher than my goal, I don't stress over it. If I find I hit a plateau, I will probably bump up to net my BMR, plus exercise calories. Seems like a lot of people that plateau find that bumping up to BMR really helps. So I'm keeping that in mind for later. For now, I'm sticking with what has worked really well for me so far. Try what makes the most sense for you, and if it doesn't feel right then try something else.
  • mummychaz
    mummychaz Posts: 35 Member
    Thank you all for commenting, hope I haven't caused any panic to others in my situation with the MFP goal calculations, just wanted to be reassured that my understanding is correct. I think I'll just stick to manually setting my goals to at least my BMR & if that means I have to lose really, really slowly then so be it. Really appreciate you all getting back to me so quickly, do love MFP for all this support :)
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    I'm just curious if your BMR is 1500 currently or if that is what it was when you started.... I just recently changed my setting because i have dropped 7lbs and needed to adjust my calories accordingly to maintain a 1/2lb lose. This only affected my calorie intake by about 50 cals, so not sure why yours is a 300 calorie difference

    Hello, Today my BMR is 1505 (was about 1600 at beginning) but I have always set my goals manually until today I decided to try the MFP suggested as my weightloss has been stalling & I thought I must be doing something wrong. Just worried that it even suggests eating below people's BMR when all the info says you should never do this :-/

    What peer reviewed scientific study says you should never eat below your BMR? Interested in seeing it.
  • IvoryParchment
    IvoryParchment Posts: 651 Member
    If your TDEE is less than 500 calories above your BMR (for instance, if your BMR is low due to small size or being older, or if you aren't very active), your goal calories will be below your BMR to lose one pound a week. Yes, it's less than what it takes to be a barnacle, but remember, the fat you are losing isn't magically disappearing. You're burning it as a calorie source. Your real calorie consumption is 500 calories higher than your calorie goal, because the other 500 calories are your own fat.

    1200 comes up a lot because MFP won't allow you to go below it. It is difficult to get enough of all the various nutrients you need if you are eating less than that. Not impossible, but you need to know what you are doing or be under close medical supervision.
  • vulcangrrl
    vulcangrrl Posts: 31
    I'm just curious if your BMR is 1500 currently or if that is what it was when you started.... I just recently changed my setting because i have dropped 7lbs and needed to adjust my calories accordingly to maintain a 1/2lb lose. This only affected my calorie intake by about 50 cals, so not sure why yours is a 300 calorie difference

    Hello, Today my BMR is 1505 (was about 1600 at beginning) but I have always set my goals manually until today I decided to try the MFP suggested as my weightloss has been stalling & I thought I must be doing something wrong. Just worried that it even suggests eating below people's BMR when all the info says you should never do this :-/

    What peer reviewed scientific study says you should never eat below your BMR? Interested in seeing it.

    ^This
  • mummychaz
    mummychaz Posts: 35 Member
    And I was just saying about all the support you get on here...*sigh*
    the info I was referring to comes from numerous sources including health professionals but just because you disagree that doesn't mean you need to be unhelpful & rude!!
    If you have nothing useful to say please don't comment it not nice or encouraging for people like me just looking for helpful opinions & advice!
  • CoraGregoryCPA
    CoraGregoryCPA Posts: 1,087 Member
    I just saw a question being asked. Sorry, maybe the person, like me, wants to learn some additional info too. Why are people so sensitive on here?
    And I was just saying about all the support you get on here...*sigh*
    the info I was referring to comes from numerous sources including health professionals but just because you disagree that doesn't mean you need to be unhelpful & rude!!
    If you have nothing useful to say please don't comment it not nice or encouraging for people like me just looking for helpful opinions & advice!
  • mamamc03
    mamamc03 Posts: 1,067 Member
    And I was just saying about all the support you get on here...*sigh*
    the info I was referring to comes from numerous sources including health professionals but just because you disagree that doesn't mean you need to be unhelpful & rude!!
    If you have nothing useful to say please don't comment it not nice or encouraging for people like me just looking for helpful opinions & advice!

    I totally agree with you!! People think that sitting behind a keyboard allows them to wield power and condescend others. I wish I had an answer for you, but I am still in the learning stage as I assume most others here are as well.

    Best wishes!
    AMc
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    And I was just saying about all the support you get on here...*sigh*
    the info I was referring to comes from numerous sources including health professionals but just because you disagree that doesn't mean you need to be unhelpful & rude!!
    If you have nothing useful to say please don't comment it not nice or encouraging for people like me just looking for helpful opinions & advice!

    I wasn't being rude, I was asking a question. You stated a fact, and since I haven't seen that stated in any reliable sources in the past I thought maybe I was missing out on something. I want to know whether I should take that advice seriously (to not eat below BMR) but if this is not supported by research then I'll have to disregard it. Please don't be so sensitive. Take care.
  • sarahhie
    sarahhie Posts: 16 Member
    One of the problems that A LOT of dietary recommendations leave out is that it doesn't take your body's stores of fat into consideration. All that fat we're trying to lose was the body's way of saving it for when you need it. It's totally fine to eat less than your BMR if you have the fat stores (which I assume we all do here) as that is precisely what they are there for. The danger isn't your metabolism, but ensuring that you get enough micro nutrients to sustain good health. In fact, as you lose weight, you might even need a vitamin boost to offset some of the fat-soluable toxins in the body (or at least some believe). I personally find that if I follow a very fruits and vegetable rich diet, I have difficult reaching 1400 calories (about a 100 calories below my RMR/BMR) and have started throwing in a piece of whole-wheat toast and a boiled egg to bring up my daily calories. I just don't feel hungry, so why eat? That's the body adjusting to what it needs. Stay active, respond appropriately to hunger with healthy food and don't worry too much about hitting the mark. However, if you find you're really, really hungry at 1200, then do what makes sense for you. 1500 is a perfectly reasonable amount for a moderately active woman. You will definitely lose weight at this rate, unless you're really, really small already. Good luck!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I'm really confused, my BMR is now 1500 cals & I had been losing about 1-1.5lbs a week on a 1500 cal goal a day (that I usually meet or go slightly over). The past 2 weeks i've lost less than 1lb each week so today I changed my goals to MFP recommended & it says a 1200 cal a day goal, surely that's wrong if my BMR is 1500??
    Any help would be much appreciated, really confused :(
    When you say you changed your goals to "MFP recommended", did you manually set the 1500 before, or did you change your settings (such as weekly loss goal to 2lbs a week) on MFP that caused them to drop to 1200?

    MFP does calculate BMR and that sort of thing, but also goes off of the info you put in - so if you tell it you want to lose 2lbs a week, more than likely you'll end up with a 1200 daily goal no matter what your stats are. Its' a good system, but overall it is just going off of what we enter, so it's not always accurate if our goals aren't realistic. And of course, MFP is designed that we are to eat back exercise cals to avoid too large a deficit.

    Anyway - if your BMR is accurate, then either change the settings here to bring your goal up, or enter it manually. BMR is basically coma calories, and since I'm not in a coma, I like to eat more than that on a daily basis. :tongue: I've had great success with eating in between my BMR and TDEE for the past year - finally hot goal weight and the fat is still coming off. Great info in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0
  • bgheald2010
    bgheald2010 Posts: 9 Member
    I'm not necessarily new to the losing weight scene, however, the whole point of losing weight is to get rid of the fat stores that your body has stashed away, keeping our skinny jeans tight and our tummies pooching out ever so slightly. Now, we have to do that in a healthy way by eating nutrient dense foods and listening to our bodies. It's okay to be a little hungry, especially if you're (taking from my own past experiences) used to consuming 1900 and even 2500 calories a day! Now, I personally don't have an issue with only eating 1200 calories but I've learned to listen to my body and drink tons of water and eat nutrient dense food if my body is feeling weak or sluggish. If it's feeling faint, eat! Now, if you find yourself eating more then your own personal goal, whether it be 1200 or 1500, then you do need to work the extra calories off with sensible exercise. For example, the app on your phone calculates how much you work off cleaning the house, or even cooking! What I did this morning was set a stop watch on my phone and recorded how long I was cleaning. Then, I plugged the time into myfitnesspal and it showed me how many calories I burned! Now, I'm sure a lot of you have seen this but I'm just so excited about it, I had to share! Make sure you keep a close eye on what your body is telling you, chew gum if you get the bored munchies, and drink lots of water! All too often, we misinterpret thirsty signals with hungry signals and eat when our body is actually thirsty. With that, make sure you don't drink too much water and actually make yourself sick. Now, this is a super useful tool, however, it doesn't replace your primary care physician so make sure that you keep in contact with your doctor and follow what they have to say over what the machine says. May God bless you all on your weight loss endeavors!
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