BMR or MFP goals?

I don't know why, but the BMR/MFP thingy doesn't work for me, if I ate the amount of calories it says I can, I'm sure to gain weight. I stayed under 1600 calories last week and only lost .50, that is about 300 less than what BMR says I can eat. But I have a lot of health problems that effects my metabolism, so I'm guessing that is why. I'm sticking to 1600 this week to see what happens next week on the scale, I really don't want to lower my calories anymore right now. I also swim for exercise and I don't eat my exercise calories. I feel you have to find what works for you, I don't have much faith in charts, we are all different and the charts don't know what we do 24/7. I hope you can find what works for you, its irritating when you work so hard and not lose and even more irritating when you gain.

Sherry

I wasnt sure of your age but I did a calculation for a female of your height and weight at 30 years old and it was 1925 so I guess your figure is correct. I thought it would be higher. I dont know, im curious to see what someone that knows this stuff will have to say.

At 252 pounds I would think your BMR would be more than 1912 but I dont know that for sure. To lose two pounds a week you would need to cut 1000 calories a day and if your BMR is 1912 that means you would only eat 912 calories a day which is way too low. Hopefully someone that knows more than me will post and help you determine what your BMR actually is, if the one you have isnt correct. Your husband is partly correct. HRMs are never 100% acurate, however they can give you a pretty good estimate so you at least have something to go by.

You're confusing BMR with maintenance

Ok, so if you are 27, I came up with a BMR of 1939. If you are sedentary mulitply that by 1.2. Lightly active multiply by 1.375. Moderate active multiply by 1.5. Very active 1.725. extra active 1.9. Doing that will give you your daily calorie needs to maintain your current weight. The you can figure out what you need to do to lose.

Also, since you are basing being lightly active on the fact that you work out 5 times a week, your exercise calories are already acounted for so I would think there is no need to eat back exercise calories. You could just set your goal at 1666 or just round to 1700, and be done with it. That should get you 2 pound a week loss or close to it.

Also, since you are basing being lightly active on the fact that you work out 5 times a week, your exercise calories are already acounted for so I would think there is no need to eat back exercise calories. You could just set your goal at 1666 or just round to 1700, and be done with it. That should get you 2 pound a week loss or close to it.

MFP doesn't calculate in the exercise calories....the exericse calories are what you earn (by working for them). The activity levels MFP sets are based on professions only (ie: a desk job vs a nurse vs a carpenter)

I know, thats why you eat back calories when doing the MFP method. But I didnt use MFP. I Used the website I linked to. Since we set the activity level at lightly active base on working out 5 days a week the exercise calories are already acounted for in the calculation. Does that make sense?

Also, since you are basing being lightly active on the fact that you work out 5 times a week, your exercise calories are already acounted for so I would think there is no need to eat back exercise calories. You could just set your goal at 1666 or just round to 1700, and be done with it. That should get you 2 pound a week loss or close to it.

MFP doesn't calculate in the exercise calories....the exericse calories are what you earn (by working for them). The activity levels MFP sets are based on professions only (ie: a desk job vs a nurse vs a carpenter)

MFP DOES calcuate some ACTIVITY calories in there. BMR is calories needed to stay alive, i.e. someone in a coma. For a person, even sedintary, there are additional activity calories and MFP averages some in for everyone based on what you say when you register. If you log in additional exercise (over and above what MFP projects you use at your activity level) those are the calories that show up and give you more calories to eat.

Yeah...see, I don't understand that BMR either, if I went by BMR, I'd be gaining weight for sure. I wouldn't lower my calories to much more if I were you, but find what works for you, maybe try lowering to 1400 a day plus exercise. Remember though, you want to lose slow 1 - 2 pounds a week, you'll have a better chance of keeping it off that way. I'm no expert either, this is just my opinion. But I'm sure by time I'm down to 250, I'll be cutting my calories to 1300 or 1400 a day to lose weight, plus exercise and I don't eat my exercise calories. On MFP, you can set the amount of calories you want to eat a day, you don't have to use their information, but remember each time to change your weight MFP will change your calories amount, I have to correct it each time I record a new weight. Goodluck in your weight loss journey and don't give up....please don't give up, its hard work, but don't end up being like me....43, more health problems than I care to mention and a lot more to lose. I know a lot of people don't agree with me and say to eat more calories and eat exercise calories, but that doesn't work for me, you have to know your own body and trust yourself with what works for you.

Sherry

Yeah...see, I don't understand that BMR either, if I went by BMR, I'd be gaining weight for sure. I wouldn't lower my calories to much more if I were you, but find what works for you, maybe try lowering to 1400 a day plus exercise. Remember though, you want to lose slow 1 - 2 pounds a week, you'll have a better chance of keeping it off that way. I'm no expert either, this is just my opinion. But I'm sure by time I'm down to 250, I'll be cutting my calories to 1300 or 1400 a day to lose weight, plus exercise and I don't eat my exercise calories. On MFP, you can set the amount of calories you want to eat a day, you don't have to use their information, but remember each time to change your weight MFP will change your calories amount, I have to correct it each time I record a new weight. Goodluck in your weight loss journey and don't give up....please don't give up, its hard work, but don't end up being like me....43, more health problems than I care to mention and a lot more to lose. I know a lot of people don't agree with me and say to eat more calories and eat exercise calories, but that doesn't work for me, you have to know your own body and trust yourself with what works for you.



Sherry

That BMR calculation wouldnt have her lowering calories it would actually have her raising calories. She is doing 1530 now and the BMR calculation I used would raise that to roughly 1700


Never mind. I see what youre saying.

MPFs BMR calculator calculates lower than any site I have found. I decided to try eating my BMR calories everyday and not eating my exercise calories. MPF says that I should eat 1230 calories to lose 1 lb a week. My BMR is about 1490. I exercise 3-5 times a week and burn 600-900 calories a week. This is my first week just eating my BMR. There are more posts about eating your BMR. Try it for a week it can't hurt. I tried eating the 1230 and exercise calories and I was losing 1 lb or less.

I used my BMR and the Harris Benedict Equation then subtract my 1000 cals to lose 2ppw. It was within 300 cals of the MFP recommendation, but I feel more confident with knowing how it was done and trust it a bit more. I'm 33yo, 5'10"tall and 243lbs. I'm lightly active because I have 3 small kids that keep me moving and I DON'T count my laundry/dishes/housekeeping as exercise. My BMR is 1889.95. Using the Harris Benedict Equation for activity I multiply that by 1.375 and get 2593. To lose 2 lbs a week, I custom set my goal on MFP to 1590. I burn between 300 and 600 cals working out every day and eat back between 200 and 400 of those because I'm hungry enough to do so, but I don't make it a point to cram in cals if I don't want to. This helps give me a little wiggle room if my estimations for cals burned is too high, or my estimation for cals eaten is a bit low.

The trouble with this method, is that MFP may not automatically adjust your custom set number as you lose weight as with the auto set. I suggest recalculating every 10 lbs or so to make sure you are on target and to possibly avoid a plateau. I also played with the % ages of proteins, carbs and fats to get numbers that work for me. I like being in the green at the end of the day and to feel more satisfied, I need more protein... especially with my exercise! My protein is set at about 120 g. pd. I've only been at this since Jan 9th, but I'm having amazing results. I don't feel deprived and it's something I can do and plan to do forever... well, minus cutting the 1000 cals a day to lose 2 lbs pw.

Here is the site I used to do the quick calculations for the first step: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Your BMR number should pop up in a skinny green bar at the top of the page, and you have to go to the Harris Benedict link to get the breakdown of activity levels to find your number to multiply that by to get your Caloric Need to Maintain. If your goal is 1ppw, subtract 500cals pd from that, 2ppw is -1000. Easy Peasy.

If you have trouble with it, message me and I'll be happy to help you out. Even if you don't choose to use this as your customized goal, it's good to know what it is.