Confused about BMR?!
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Kayleighpaul1985
Posts: 98 Member
I know this topic has probably been posted loads of times but I wanted some advice
My BMR on here is noted as 1644 calories but my target calories per day is 1200 net
I just wondered if it is really healthy for me to be eating 1200 when my BMR is much more?
I am still losing at the moment but planning in advance for if I hit a plateau!!
x
My BMR on here is noted as 1644 calories but my target calories per day is 1200 net
I just wondered if it is really healthy for me to be eating 1200 when my BMR is much more?
I am still losing at the moment but planning in advance for if I hit a plateau!!
x
0
Replies
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Makes perfect sense, actually.
1644 is how much your normally burn doing normal stuff, with ZERO exercise.
If you eat 1200, that gives you a weekly deficit of 2220 calories (1200 eaten - 1644 burned x 7 days).
There are 3500 calories in 1 pound. 2220/3500 = .63 ... you would lose .63bs per week on this plan.
Eat back your exercise calories so your NET is always 1200 calories.0 -
Hi Kayleigh...I have been thinking about this same thing too!..Very confusing as if we should be eating our BMR calories then why does MFP tell us to eat 1200??..
Can anyone help?..and explain in the simplest way possible!!..lol
Thanks xxx0 -
bump0
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BMR is the calories you need to maintain your body when it is at rest, that layed down in a darkened room without noise distraction.
getting up and moving around doing your normal dailey lie burns more, how much more depends on your activity level.
asuming you eat your BMR calories you and don't rest all day you can expect to lose weight as you will have 500-750 calories deficeit depending on activity level and your sex.0 -
Quick and simple!
BMR is the amount of calories the body needs for sufficient nutrients for vital organs while the body is at complete rest...or comatose!
that means as soon as you get up and move youll have to consume more calories.
Eating at or below BMR is true folly because at some point, the bodies defense mechanism will kick in and attempt to slow the body down.
This is achieved by catabolizing active tissue.
Active tissue is lean mass.
Lean mass is both skeletal and internal muscle.
You will initially lose a good amount of weight on a sub BMR diet but keep in mind that 20-50% of this weight can be lean mass.
In essence you are becoming a smaller version of your fat self.
This will also extend your initial diet.
My recommendation is do the math through other websites.
To get your numbers right please visit http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ Do the Military Body Fat Calc first, then the BMR tool. The BMR tool will give exact calories to eat on a daily basis. Add 20% to this number to get your TDEE. For Fat loss plans set up macros at 30% Protein/Fat each.
Set macronutrients to Protein 30% and fat 30%.
A large percentage of overweight people dont actually over eat.
They under eat.
Sub BMR.
Dont be one of these people!0 -
Thank you for that web site Helloitsdan. It's very helpful!!0
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Bumping to read later
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From what I've learned, If you eat your BMR, and don't exercise and have a sedintary lifestyle. You will maintain weight. For SAFE weight loss a calorie deficit of 10 to 20 percent is recommended. It's better to use a percentage because simply eating say a 500 calorie deficit would be different for a person who's BMR is 2400 as compared to a person whos bmr is 1400. 20 % of 1400 is 280 calories leaving 1120. IF the same person ate a 500 calorie deficit for instance, iyou would be eating 900 calories which is greater than a 60% deficit. That is bad. I've always heard it's best to figure your deficit as a percentage of BMR.
Now activity factor. If your exercising, you are burning more so to stay in a 20 percent per se calorie deficit you must eat more than BMR depending on activity level.. It's all about metabolism and body function. The body works best when you feed it an optimal amount of calories according to your lifestyle. It can tolerate a calorie deficit to a certain extent but not too much.
Think of it this way, would you drive your car with 30-40% less oil, transmission fluid, and power steering fluid than is necessary for teh car to function properly? It would run for awhile, but eventually it IS going to break down. Operating teh same car with 10 - 20% less fluids is going give better performance for longer but still not absolutely perfect. All fluids in your car must be filled to proper levels for optimal performance, this is the bodies equivalent of BMR. We can lose weight in a deficit for a period of time sometimes a long time, but we can't diet in a deficit forever, you'll crash eventually one way or another. If you keep your deficit to the 10-20% range, your car will run a good long time like that, LOL
Anyway, that's the best way I can explain it. Hope this helps.0 -
From what I've learned, If you eat your BMR, and don't exercise and have a sedintary lifestyle. You will maintain weight.
That's not right. BMR is what you burn in a comatose like state. A sedentary lifestyle is an activity factor of 1.2.
1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise + desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)
BMR x AF = Maintenance, which is what you burn on a daily basis with all your activities and you should, in theory, maintain your weight on that. You usually need to adjust up or down 100-200 cals.
Casper Dan got it right. The only thing I'd change is the macro percentages if you lift any weights at all. 40% Protein, 30% Carbs, 30% Fat. I don't really like setting macros as a percentage and I'd personally figure my macros this way.
.8 - 1g Protein / lbs. bodyweight
.4 - .45g Fat / lbs. bodyweight
Leftover is carbs.0 -
To clarify:by joejvcca71 in this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/510406-tdee-is-everything
1. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): This is the amount of calories you need to consume to maintain your body if you were comatose (base level).
2. NEAT (Non-Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): The calorie of daily activity that is NOT exercise (eg: washing, walking, talking, shopping, working). ie: INCIDENTAL EXERCISE! It is something that everyone has a good amount of control over & it is the MOST important factor in your energy expenditure. It is what helps keep 'constitutionally lean' people LEAN (they fidget)!
3. EAT (Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): The calorie requirements associated with planned exercise. Unless someone is doing a whole heap of exercise (eg: two or more hrs training a day) it usually doesn't add a stack of calories to your requirements (30 minutes of 'elliptical training isn't going to do it')
4. TEF (Thermic effect of feeding): The calorie expenditure associated with eating. REGARDLESS of what myths you have been told - this is NOT dependent on MEAL FREQUENCY. It is a % of TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED (and 15% of 3 x 600 cal meals is the same as 15% of 6 x 300 cal meals). It varies according to MACRONUTRIENT content and FIBER content. For most mixed diets, it is something around 15%. Protein is higher (up to 25%), carbs are variable (between 5-25%), and fats are low (usually less than 5%). So -> More protein and more carbs and more fiber = HIGHER TEF. More FAT = LOWER TEF.
5. TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expedenture): Total calories burned. BMR + NEAT + EAT + TEF = TDEE0 -
To clarify:by joejvcca71 in this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/510406-tdee-is-everything
1. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): This is the amount of calories you need to consume to maintain your body if you were comatose (base level).
2. NEAT (Non-Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): The calorie of daily activity that is NOT exercise (eg: washing, walking, talking, shopping, working). ie: INCIDENTAL EXERCISE! It is something that everyone has a good amount of control over & it is the MOST important factor in your energy expenditure. It is what helps keep 'constitutionally lean' people LEAN (they fidget)!
3. EAT (Exercise Associated Thermogenesis): The calorie requirements associated with planned exercise. Unless someone is doing a whole heap of exercise (eg: two or more hrs training a day) it usually doesn't add a stack of calories to your requirements (30 minutes of 'elliptical training isn't going to do it')
4. TEF (Thermic effect of feeding): The calorie expenditure associated with eating. REGARDLESS of what myths you have been told - this is NOT dependent on MEAL FREQUENCY. It is a % of TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED (and 15% of 3 x 600 cal meals is the same as 15% of 6 x 300 cal meals). It varies according to MACRONUTRIENT content and FIBER content. For most mixed diets, it is something around 15%. Protein is higher (up to 25%), carbs are variable (between 5-25%), and fats are low (usually less than 5%). So -> More protein and more carbs and more fiber = HIGHER TEF. More FAT = LOWER TEF.
5. TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expedenture): Total calories burned. BMR + NEAT + EAT + TEF = TDEE
So with that said, it's my understanding that MFP does NOT calculate BMR. If you factor exercise into its equasion then it calculates TDEE. If not, it calculates TDEE - EAT. When you tell it you want to lose weight, it calculates those numbers then subtracts a number of cals based on your weight loss goals, and that is the number it gives back for your daily calorie goal.0 -
From what I've learned, If you eat your BMR, and don't exercise and have a sedintary lifestyle. You will maintain weight.
That's not right. BMR is what you burn in a comatose like state. A sedentary lifestyle is an activity factor of 1.2.
1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise + desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)
BMR x AF = Maintenance, which is what you burn on a daily basis with all your activities and you should, in theory, maintain your weight on that. You usually need to adjust up or down 100-200 cals.
Casper Dan got it right. The only thing I'd change is the macro percentages if you lift any weights at all. 40% Protein, 30% Carbs, 30% Fat. I don't really like setting macros as a percentage and I'd personally figure my macros this way.
.8 - 1g Protein / lbs. bodyweight
.4 - .45g Fat / lbs. bodyweight
Leftover is carbs.
Thanks for pointing out my oversight, I'm suffering from an early morning brain fade and poor choice of terminology. As far as a percentage, I don't belive in setting macro percentage ratios either, My suggestion of percentages was in reference to caloric surplus and deficit only. Thanks for keeping me in line!0 -
Quick and simple!
BMR is the amount of calories the body needs for sufficient nutrients for vital organs while the body is at complete rest...or comatose!
that means as soon as you get up and move youll have to consume more calories.
Eating at or below BMR is true folly because at some point, the bodies defense mechanism will kick in and attempt to slow the body down.
This is achieved by catabolizing active tissue.
Active tissue is lean mass.
Lean mass is both skeletal and internal muscle.
You will initially lose a good amount of weight on a sub BMR diet but keep in mind that 20-50% of this weight can be lean mass.
In essence you are becoming a smaller version of your fat self.
This will also extend your initial diet.
My recommendation is do the math through other websites.
To get your numbers right please visit http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ Do the Military Body Fat Calc first, then the BMR tool. The BMR tool will give exact calories to eat on a daily basis. Add 20% to this number to get your TDEE. For Fat loss plans set up macros at 30% Protein/Fat each.
Set macronutrients to Protein 30% and fat 30%.
A large percentage of overweight people dont actually over eat.
They under eat.
Sub BMR.
Dont be one of these people!
Good stuff here.
I will say this though about numbers... most website seem to use very similar formulas, and my numbers always come out within 50 or so cals of each other. The important thing is to know what number they are calculating. Is it BMR? TDEE? Something in between?0 -
From what I've learned, If you eat your BMR, and don't exercise and have a sedintary lifestyle. You will maintain weight.
That's not right. BMR is what you burn in a comatose like state. A sedentary lifestyle is an activity factor of 1.2.
1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise + desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)
BMR x AF = Maintenance, which is what you burn on a daily basis with all your activities and you should, in theory, maintain your weight on that. You usually need to adjust up or down 100-200 cals.
Casper Dan got it right. The only thing I'd change is the macro percentages if you lift any weights at all. 40% Protein, 30% Carbs, 30% Fat. I don't really like setting macros as a percentage and I'd personally figure my macros this way.
.8 - 1g Protein / lbs. bodyweight
.4 - .45g Fat / lbs. bodyweight
Leftover is carbs.
Right. His suggestions at the end are minimums and assume you are in relatively good shape. Someone significantly overweight should use lean body mass as a guideline, not total body weight.0 -
just something to note as well - all sites use a formula to come up with BMR (or TDEE or whatever the baseline they use) - the thing is not everyone has the same BMR...hence why 2 people, same height and weight, may have totally different BMR but through calculations its the same...the only way to truely calculate your BMR is to get it medically tested.
So simply use it as a guide...IMO my MFP calculated # is probably higher than what my true BMR is...which is why it takes me longer than a simple week to loose a lb...whereas others can follow the "formula" and loose more than a lb a week - KWIM0 -
My new gym does testing for this. I am getting it done next week and I can't wait!
You read so many different ways of figuring things out but I do believe that testing is the one truly accurate way to find out0 -
just something to note as well - all sites use a formula to come up with BMR (or TDEE or whatever the baseline they use) - the thing is not everyone has the same BMR...hence why 2 people, same height and weight, may have totally different BMR but through calculations its the same...the only way to truely calculate your BMR is to get it medically tested.
So simply use it as a guide...IMO my MFP calculated # is probably higher than what my true BMR is...which is why it takes me longer than a simple week to loose a lb...whereas others can follow the "formula" and loose more than a lb a week - KWIM
Actually, your activity level(s) are probably not identical. If you fidget a lot or move around more than you think, but calculate your goals with a 1.2 activity factor, you may lose more than another person who has the same BMI and presumed activity factor, but who moves around less, climbs no stairs, and sleeps more than you.
The most likely reason, however, is food intake. You both think you are taking in ### calories less than maintenance, but in fact, you are off in your portion sizes. One of you, more so than the other.0 -
I am THAT person.
Sub BMR, and gaining. Not sure how to correct it and get my metab burning again.
Anyone?0 -
I am THAT person.
Sub BMR, and gaining. Not sure how to correct it and get my metab burning again.
Anyone?
Um... eat more? I'm not trying to be rude, but isn't that what this whole thread has been about?0 -
Someone significantly overweight should use lean body mass as a guideline, not total body weight.
Yes, I completely agree.
Everybody is different, which means the formulas used to calculate all this aren't going to be 100% accurate. My advice for anyone is to figure out your maintenance before even worrying about losing weight. Eat what the formulas give you as your maintenance for a week or two, if you don't gain or lose weight, you've found your maintenance. If you lose weight add 100-200 cals, if you gain subtract 100-200 cals. It can be a long process if you don't have the patience for it, but it shouldn't take longer than a month. That's the only way you're going to find your true personal maintenance calories.
MFP tries to simplify all this, but honestly I think they are undercutting on calories with their default system.0
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