My BMR is 1428--- SERIOUSLY. Know yours?

BMR is the # of calories that you would require if you were in a "Coma" so to speak. No activity what-so-ever, and it is the minimum # of calories to maintain body function.

My BMR is 1650 or something like that, my maintenance calories right now are 2300. i eat about 1700-2000 a day and lose weight.

What has been your average weekly weight loss on your 1700-2000/day plan?

right,

DO NOT USE HARRIS BENEDICT. ITS INACCURATE,

go work out your lean body mass, use the katch mcardle bmr calculator to calculate your bmr

under NO circumstances should you eat below this level.

mine is 1622, my TDEE (Bmr plus activity level multiplication) is 2515.

this takes into account my work outs, as such i set my cals at 1800 per day (1lb loss according to MFP) and eat back almost all exercise cals.

essentially this is approx 500-700 cals defecit per day for me. but im tall and heavy. others will get less defecit, slow and steady is important, and dont eat below your BMR or you will lose muscle mass and also lower your maintenance cals for when you are done losing weight.

If you uses an activity multiplier of 1.55 wouldn't that account for exercise? If is does then you should not eat back the cals burned as they would be included in your initial goal..

Now if you have an active job but ignored exercise when choosing 1.55, then yes eat your cals back but if it was the former, don't or you will be double eating them.

This has been a really interesting read and following the link and working out my BMR (1655) multiplying it by 1.2 as I have a desk job (1986) then deduct 500 cals per day to equate to a 1lb weight loss per week means my calorie goal for the day should be 1486.
Any additional calories I gain over the course of the day due to excercise can be eaten freely.
This has really helped me make sense of it all.
Thank you

I usually shy away from these topics but now I'm confused too lol I have my weightloss set to lose 1 lb/wk. MFP has me at 1250 calories/day. But if my BMR is 1400 then you're saying I'm doing myself an injustice by keeping my net calories below 1400. Why does MFP set people to 1250 if that's harmful? I'm asking because I've hit what I'll call a plateau... I've been playing with the same 3 or 4 lbs for the last month and a half and getting frustrated.... maybe I'm doing something wrong (my NET calories are usually around 1000 after factoring in exercise calories but I'm usually eating 1400 give or take).

Oh, I am a 5'3" female and weigh about 158 lbs, hoping to get around 125 lbs, if that helps.

I usually shy away from these topics but now I'm confused too lol I have my weightloss set to lose 1 lb/wk. MFP has me at 1250 calories/day. But if my BMR is 1400 then you're saying I'm doing myself an injustice by keeping my net calories below 1400. Why does MFP set people to 1250 if that's harmful? I'm asking because I've hit what I'll call a plateau... I've been playing with the same 3 or 4 lbs for the last month and a half and getting frustrated.... maybe I'm doing something wrong (my NET calories are usually around 1000 after factoring in exercise calories but I'm usually eating 1400 give or take).

Oh, I am a 5'3" female and weigh about 158 lbs, hoping to get around 125 lbs, if that helps.

MFP has a minimum intake of 1200 cals as it is difficult to get all the required micro and macro nutrients on a diet lower in cals then that. MFP gives you the freedom to choose your weekly weight loss goal (caloric deficit) most people choose as deficit that is much to aggressive for their stats and goals. Your weekly goal seems reasonable, but I would urge you to eat 1250 Net, not less then that

right,

DO NOT USE HARRIS BENEDICT. ITS INACCURATE,

go work out your lean body mass, use the katch mcardle bmr calculator to calculate your bmr

under NO circumstances should you eat below this level.

mine is 1622, my TDEE (Bmr plus activity level multiplication) is 2515.

this takes into account my work outs, as such i set my cals at 1800 per day (1lb loss according to MFP) and eat back almost all exercise cals.

essentially this is approx 500-700 cals defecit per day for me. but im tall and heavy. others will get less defecit, slow and steady is important, and dont eat below your BMR or you will lose muscle mass and also lower your maintenance cals for when you are done losing weight.

If you uses an activity multiplier of 1.55 wouldn't that account for exercise? If is does then you should not eat back the cals burned as they would be included in your initial goal..

Now if you have an active job but ignored exercise when choosing 1.55, then yes eat your cals back but if it was the former, don't or you will be double eating them.

i eat back up to net BMR.... i assumed this was correct according to helloitsdan who ran my numbers and i double checked them online.

i multiplied by 1.55 as i work out 5-6 times a week for 30 mins (avg cal burn is 300)

That 1.55 includes exercise, so unless you have a day that has higher burns then "normal" then you don't need to eat them back, but I agree eating them so you are at least BMR net, but if you only burn 300 cals an your intake is 1800 you only need to eat back 122 of the 300 to meet your 1622 Net (1800-300+122). If I have done that right.

Another option is lowering your activity level but changing your weekly weight loss goal, such as setting activity level to sedentary (TDEE of 1946) then setting a weekly weight loss goal of 0.5lbs/week, and eat back all the cals burned from exercise. which would give you 1696 and if you burn 300 you would eat all back to 1996 which would be close to netting your BMR as that would have you eat 1922 (1622+300). This is the way MFP is designed, but if your way works keep it up, I just don't want others to get confused that you include exercise in their TDEE and still eat back the cals burned.

Yeah, I'm confused, too. We aren't supposed to multiply our BMR by our activity level AND add our exercise calories, right? The activity level multiplier is supposed to assume our exercise calories?

My BMR is 1158 (I'm under 5 feet tall). If I add exercise calories or use the TDEE calculator for moderate exercise (1.55), I get around 1800 calories as my total daily used calories. Therefore, if wanted to lose weight, my understanding is that I need to eat 1800 less 500 calories a day (roughly) meaning I would eat, on average, 1300 calories a day, right?

The way I do things now, to keep leptin levels in check, is to average this on a weekly basis. I want to lose 1lb per week, that's 3500 calories. If I use 12600 calories a week, I need to eat only 9500. M-F, I eat around 1000 calories a day. That gives me up to 2250 calories a day on the weekends. Let me know if I have something incorrect :-)

MFP ignores your planned exercise when giving your your TDEE, which is why it is important to eat back the cals burned from exercise.

Now if you used the higher activity level it may account for some, but with the amount you have to lose your weekly weight loss goal should be no more than 0.5lbs/week which is a daily deficit of 250 cals. So if your TDEE is 1800 you should eat 1550 everyday to hit your weekly weight loss goal.

Thank you!!!

So, am I understanding this correctly? If you go by the Harris Benedict Formula then you DON'T eat back your exercise calories? So confusing...

only if you factored in your exercise into your activity level multiplier. If you used the lowest level multiplier you should eat them back no matter how you calculated your maintenance intake.

Your BMR is what you need to maintain life, basic functions. Basically in a coma or before you ever roll over or wake up in the bed. Growing hair, nails, etc etc. It is the minimum you should eat daily and does not take into account daily activity, job, chores, etc. much less daily exercise. You need to use your BMR to calculate your Maintenance based on activity level. But you should not eat below your BMR.

Read this again. Do NOT eat below your BMR or you're doing more damage to your body.

I just want to clarify something I am confused about. My BRM is 1428. It's telling me to eat 1200 calories per day on here to lose 1 lb per week. I was 140lbs and wanted to drop down to 130. I generally excercise every day and eat back my exercise calories. SO - I AM eating below my BMR. If I were to increase my net calories to 1428, it wouldn't hinder my weight loss?