Confused.

So, it sounds similar to something that I asked earlier this week. I posted here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/507821-bmr-bmi-my-goal-i-don-t-get-any-of-it

In the end it depends on how much you want to lose/week. "Chuckles217" explains this really well in response to my question. You have to burn enough calories to lose X pounds/week. One pound = 3500 calories. 3500 calories/7 days a week= 500 calories to burn /day. You need to subtract that from the BMR for your goal, but you can get back more calories (which you can eat) by working out. I have had the problem some days with not having enough calories (<1200). You need to eat.

I'm glad you're working on your eating disorder! One day at a time.

So, it sounds similar to something that I asked earlier this week. I posted here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/507821-bmr-bmi-my-goal-i-don-t-get-any-of-it

In the end it depends on how much you want to lose/week. "Chuckles217" explains this really well in response to my question. You have to burn enough calories to lose X pounds/week. One pound = 3500 calories. 3500 calories/7 days a week= 500 calories to burn /day. You need to subtract that from the BMR for your goal, but you can get back more calories (which you can eat) by working out. I have had the problem some days with not having enough calories (<1200). You need to eat.

I'm glad you're working on your eating disorder! One day at a time.

So My BMR is 1500 (just figured it out with the tools) -500 is 1000. So i need to eat 1000 a day? If i burn 400 and my net is 600 I can eat 400 more?

yes!

Your BMR isn't the only number in your energy expenditure. BMR is just the amount of energy your body uses to stay alive - keep your heart beating, cells repairing, lungs pumping etc.

On top of that you've got to add on extra numbers to account for how active you usually are. This will get you your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).

TDEE is usually calculated as BMR x 1.2 if you're sedentary (or have a sit-down job), BMR x 1.375 if you're lightly active (eg. stand-up and move around all day sort of job), and even higher if you have a very heavy physical job or if you're an athlete in training.

So if your BMR is 1450 and you have a sit down job you would calculate TDEE as:

1450 x 1.2 = 1740 calories burned per day.

Following so far?

Now let's say you want to lose 1 lb per week. 1 lb is about 3500 calories, so you would need to maintain a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day (500 x 7 days = 3500 calories = 1 lb)

1740 - 500 = you should eat 1240 per day.

This is if you don't work out.

If you DO work out. You might figure out that 500 calorie deficit like this:

Eat 250 cals less per day and burn 250 more cals with a 30-45 minute walk. (250 not eaten + 250 burned = 500 calories deficit)

So now your day looks like this:

Eat (1740-250) = 1490 calories.
Work out until you burn 250 calories.

Make sense?

Here's the tricky part, the formulas for calculating BMR, TDEE, and exercise calories burned are all only best guesses. Everyone is different and the body is unfathomably complex so no one equation fits all. So what you have to do is pick a starting point, follow it for a few weeks and see what happens. If you lose then great. If you don't lose then you might need to recalculate the numbers downwards a smidge and try again. If you lose way too fast (and you're sure it's not just water weight) then you might nudge the numbers up.

Here's the even trickier part. As you lose weight you get smaller you require less calories each day. Smaller bodies take less energy to move around, so not only will you burn gradually less calories for the same workouts, but also less food will be needed to keep you going. So as you lose weight you also have to continually recalculate your numbers to compensate for this too. This is why it's easier to lose weight if you're really heavy than if you're just 20lbs over normal.

Hope that helps.

So, it sounds similar to something that I asked earlier this week. I posted here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/507821-bmr-bmi-my-goal-i-don-t-get-any-of-it

In the end it depends on how much you want to lose/week. "Chuckles217" explains this really well in response to my question. You have to burn enough calories to lose X pounds/week. One pound = 3500 calories. 3500 calories/7 days a week= 500 calories to burn /day. You need to subtract that from the BMR for your goal, but you can get back more calories (which you can eat) by working out. I have had the problem some days with not having enough calories (<1200). You need to eat.

I'm glad you're working on your eating disorder! One day at a time.

No you should not subtract 500 from your BMR, you should subtract it from your TDEE.

Subtracting 500 from your BMR, especially if you are a small person with a low BMR in the first place might put you into very low calorie intakes that could be harmful in the long term.

bumping coz i get confused by this also.

So My BMR is 1500 (just figured it out with the tools) -500 is 1000. So i need to eat 1000 a day? If i burn 400 and my net is 600 I can eat 400 more?

yes!

NO! Your BMR should be the minimum number of calories you take in as a net amount. You want to create your calorie deficit off the amount your body burns with daily activity - BMR is the amount it needs for basic functions.

If you are struggling with the math, just set MFP to lose 1lb/week, work out, and eat back your exercise calories. It will do the math for you and you'll be fine, and you'll more than likely lose more than 1lb/week on average.

Try to net no less than 1200 a day.
Your BMR is just what it takes to keep you alive, you burn more than that once you wake up and start moving.
Net 1200 to 1400 a day and you will still lose weight.