BMR vs. MFP settings

mama2evanabby
mama2evanabby Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
I am soooo confused. I need help.I have been reading posts on the message boards here and now they've got me thinking. My BMR is 1580 but MFP says I should net 1200 calories a day. This is to lose 2 pounds a week. I also exercise everyday and eat my exercise calories, most of them anyway. I am losing but I am more concerned for my future I guess. If I eat 1200 a day now will that amount always work for me to lose weight? I know that technically as you lose weight your calories you should consume go down. I am at the bottom limit now. I am not hungry (since I eat my exercise calories) but want to make sure I am not messing myself up for future weight loss. Will 1200 work for the rest of my weight loss days? I have about 50 pounds to go. Thanks for your help.

Replies

  • MrsAmyCraig
    MrsAmyCraig Posts: 7 Member
    I am soooo confused. I need help.I have been reading posts on the message boards here and now they've got me thinking. My BMR is 1580 but MFP says I should net 1200 calories a day. This is to lose 2 pounds a week. I also exercise everyday and eat my exercise calories, most of them anyway. I am losing but I am more concerned for my future I guess. If I eat 1200 a day now will that amount always work for me to lose weight? I know that technically as you lose weight your calories you should consume go down. I am at the bottom limit now. I am not hungry (since I eat my exercise calories) but want to make sure I am not messing myself up for future weight loss. Will 1200 work for the rest of my weight loss days? I have about 50 pounds to go. Thanks for your help.

    I am also confused! I have also been reading posts!My BMR is 1733 but MFP says i should net 1200,to lose 2lbs a week. I am losing every week but like i'm worried as i still have 65lbs to go!

    If anyone can give me answers that would be great! :)
  • dancerman
    dancerman Posts: 46 Member
    I have the same question -
    I have lost 20lbs since Jan 1
    (MFP set up to loose 2lbs per week)

    MFP says to eat 1320 which i do and my exercise as well

    according to this site my BMR is 3183
    MFP says my BMR 1,910

    but based on this post i am concerned that I am harming my self inadvertently...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/471769-an-easier-way-to-setup-goal-calories-eating-for-who-you-wi

    please advise
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    I am soooo confused. I need help.I have been reading posts on the message boards here and now they've got me thinking. My BMR is 1580 but MFP says I should net 1200 calories a day. This is to lose 2 pounds a week. I also exercise everyday and eat my exercise calories, most of them anyway. I am losing but I am more concerned for my future I guess. If I eat 1200 a day now will that amount always work for me to lose weight? I know that technically as you lose weight your calories you should consume go down. I am at the bottom limit now. I am not hungry (since I eat my exercise calories) but want to make sure I am not messing myself up for future weight loss. Will 1200 work for the rest of my weight loss days? I have about 50 pounds to go. Thanks for your help.

    If you click search above for BMR, you will find lot's of threads on the subject, including one started by me as I was in the same position as you a few weeks ago.


    Some people recommend not ever eating below BMR, others will happily eat below it as long as they are still losing.

    I'm in the first camp. I stalled after a few weeks on 1200, and after reading all the advice, I decided to up mine, and the weight has started coming off again.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    There is some confusion between BMR and TDEE. BMR is your metabolic rate. The amount of calories your body burns if you were in a coma. Total Daily Energy Expended (TDEE) is the amount of calories you burn on top of your BMR. So when you walk to your car, go to the bathroom or movement in general, you burn calories. So based on your lifestyle, you have a multiplier to estimate your TDEE (multipliers below). After you know your TDEE, you can create a calorie deficit to induce weight loss.

    Now this is where there are a few trains of thought and really require long term evaluation. There are those who just want to be a certain weight and aim for large weight loss per week (2 lbs) and generally say don't eat exercise calories. Then there are those who want to be fit (have muscle definition, abs, etc... ) where they tend to have smaller deficit and really push stuff like weight training. Both are approaches you can take and will provide different results.



    * Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
    * Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
    * Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
    * Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
    * Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)




    When creating a large deficit, you increase the chances of losing muscle. This is one reason as you get smaller you burn less calories. So this is also why you are asked to reevaluate your weight loss goals as you make progress. Also, the bigger you are, the larger your deficit can be (see guidelines below). Either way, ideally, you want to minimize lean body mass (LBM) loss as it's the major driver of your metabolic rate; ideally, 10% of your weight loss or less should be from LBM. When creating a smaller deficit, there is a chance to maintain LBM and maintain your metabolic rate. This is actually what I was able to accomplished. My BMR has been consistent at 2080 throughout my weight loss (started at 205, went to 189, and now bulked up to 200) and focused on BF% and inches instead. Now, I do understand when you have a lot of weight, it may not be as possible.

    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.


    To answer your question, eating below your BMR will increase the chance of slowing your metabolism since it will adapt to the food. It may be beneficial to set your goal at 1.5 lb per week and eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories to minimize these affects.
  • dancerman
    dancerman Posts: 46 Member
    yikes - .5 a week only?


    hmmmm
  • itsjustdawn
    itsjustdawn Posts: 1,073 Member
    I have the same question -
    I have lost 20lbs since Jan 1
    (MFP set up to loose 2lbs per week)

    MFP says to eat 1320 which i do and my exercise as well

    according to this site my BMR is 3183
    MFP says my BMR 1,910

    but based on this post i am concerned that I am harming my self inadvertently...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/471769-an-easier-way-to-setup-goal-calories-eating-for-who-you-wi

    please advise

    I noticed a huge discrepancy between MFP's BMR results and other sites' BMR results. The other sites were much closer together and all drastically different from the MFP result... Does anyone know why?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    yikes - .5 a week only?


    hmmmm

    Scary isn't it. But as your body decreases body fat, it fights harder and harder to hold onto it as that is the quickest source of energy . So if your body is afraid to lose an energy source, you have to fool it by eating more so it isn't afraid to let go.
  • mama2evanabby
    mama2evanabby Posts: 4
    Thanks for all of your replies. I think I am going to up my calories to my BMR. At first I was doing fine and I am still losing but I am sooooo sluggish this past week. I am sleeping fine, still exercising etc. I just wonder if my body is getting tired because I am not feeding it enough. I might try to use my BMR for a week and see how I feel. I do want to lose but I want to have some energy too.

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