Eat 1200 or eat my BMR?

I work out my bmr then times it by 1.2 then deduct 500 a day then I know even if I only eat my cals for the day and dont exercise I will loose 1lb a week :happy:

Then I burn another 3500 cals through exercise and thats another 1lb, even though the scales dont always show due to muscle mass etc...

Hope this makes sense xx

(BMR x 1.2 = ? - 500cals = Daily Calories Needed)

I am confused....should I eat 1200 the eat back my exercise calories which brings me up to my BMR or should I eat reach for my BMR and them eat back my exercise calories on top of that?

BMR is metabolism if you were in coma all day. If not fed/supplied, it has to slow down.
If metabolism slows down, the calories expended on ALL other activity, daily and exercise, is also less.
Slowdown can take from 3 days to 2-4 weeks, depending on how much yo-yo dieting you've done and how fast the body drops it, how big a difference between prior eating level and this level, how big of a drop below your BMR, and if exercise is making it even worse.

You decide if the temporary fast loss while the metabolism is slowing down is worth continuing to progress at a much slower pace when that is done.
Adding calories at that point to try to raise it back up usually adds weight back on anyway, so usually a washout.

Be inspired by those that discovered the smart way of doing it. Eating above BMR and feeding the workout.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/531086-before-and-after-pics-no-starvation

I eat for my goal weight BMR, and only eat extra calories earned through exercise if I'm hungry. Which I usually am, so I end up at at least my BMR. Much more than that I can't lose weight. Then again, I'm hypothyroid, that happens to most of us!

I used one off google but find out your BMR then times it by your activity level x

Find out your TDEE and create a deficit off that. Ignore the 1200 and forget about eating at your BMR. Your deficit should be created off your TDEE.


For example: My BMR is 1338. My TDEE is 2449. I would create my deficit off the 2449 and NOT off the 1338 (and as you can see, eating 1200 calories would be FAR too low for me).

Thank you! I will do this then, do you think the BMR tool on here is fairly accurate or do you use another one?

Interesting trivia to astound and amaze your friends, or make them yawn.

All BMR calc's are based on studies of people AT healthy weight already. They extrapolate outside healthy weight.
They are all inaccurate outside that healthy weight range, or if you are very muscular compared to avg. Usually under-estimated.

So MFP uses a Mifflin BMR calc considered about 5% more accurate than a Harris one you'll find many other places.

If you can get decent bodyfat% figure, than a Katch calc is even more accurate.
www.gymgoal.com/dtool_fat.html
The Covert-Baily estimate would be most accurate.

And then used here would tell you the Katch calc of BMR, just to compare between MFP, the Harris shown on this site if you leave out BF% too.
http://www.gymgoal.com/dtool_bmr.html

Usually selecting a weight loss goal in MFP of 1lb weekly causes the goal to be above your BMR. Unless very close to goal weight. Then select 1/2 lb.

Your actual loss though totally depends on something MFP can't do the math on - what is your real daily activity calorie burn.
So if you increase non-exercise daily activity, the stuff that burns mostly fat, there is no need to feed it like you do exercise, which is for body improvement.
Park farther away, take stairs, walk during lunch, walk at break, walk around house every commercial break, ect. You can easily have 1000 cal of non-exercise daily activity, more than exercise would do even. But notice, not as much as BMR does for free everyday.

Bump

Thank you! I will do this then, do you think the BMR tool on here is fairly accurate or do you use another one?

BMR tools are always estimations. Look up BMR in Wikipedia for an idea about the formulas that show up online:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate#BMR_estimation_formulas

This one: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/health/cron1.html
uses the Mifflin-StJeor equation, which is considered fairly accurate for normal people who don't know their precise body fat percentage.

The best method of determining BMR is to have it measured by a professional. It will cost you around $100 but is totally worth it. I found out that my estimated BMR was 300 calories higher than my actual BMR, and thus I was inadvertently overeating even with a 500 cal deficit.

Be inspired by those that discovered the smart way of doing it. Eating above BMR and feeding the workout.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/531086-before-and-after-pics-no-starvation

Sorry you have completely lost me, I know what the BMR is I just didn't know what was best practice to do while trying to lose weight.

Above comment is the best practice. The link is to be inspired to do it from those that have had great success.

I am confused....should I eat 1200 the eat back my exercise calories which brings me up to my BMR or should I eat reach for my BMR and them eat back my exercise calories on top of that?

BMR is metabolism if you were in coma all day. If not fed/supplied, it has to slow down.
If metabolism slows down, the calories expended on ALL other activity, daily and exercise, is also less.
Slowdown can take from 3 days to 2-4 weeks, depending on how much yo-yo dieting you've done and how fast the body drops it, how big a difference between prior eating level and this level, how big of a drop below your BMR, and if exercise is making it even worse.

You decide if the temporary fast loss while the metabolism is slowing down is worth continuing to progress at a much slower pace when that is done.
Adding calories at that point to try to raise it back up usually adds weight back on anyway, so usually a washout.

Be inspired by those that discovered the smart way of doing it. Eating above BMR and feeding the workout.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/531086-before-and-after-pics-no-starvation

Sorry you have completely lost me, I know what the BMR is I just didn't know what was best practice to do while trying to lose weight.

Layman's terms: eat at least your BMR no matter what every day.....create a bigger deficit for loss by exercising. Even if you eat at BMR, that is still way below the calories you are burning through normal daily activity and you will still lose some weight. Never net below 1200 calories a day. So if your BMR is 1750......eat 1750 every day even if you don't exercise. If you do exercise and net 900 calories after you have eaten your 1750 calories for the day (that means you burned 850 calories in a workout).....then you need to eat at least 300 more calories to get back to a 1200 net. Yes, you can lose weight by eating below your BMR......but you will screw up your metabolism and you will most likely gain it all back plus some. The more muscle you can keep while you are losing, the more likely you will keep the weight off in the long run.