HELP!

Elizabeth0913
Elizabeth0913 Posts: 61
edited December 17 in Health and Weight Loss
I went to a site that someone had suggested in another post and calculated my Body Fat Percentage at 26%. My BMR (sedentary) is 1648. My BMI is 36.6% and I weigh 199.2 at 5'2 and have type 2 diabetes.

My question is:

1. I realize that the more active I am the higher my BMR goes? Right? So say I exercise 1-3 times a week and my BMR goes up, do I then eat back those exercise cals or stay with the suggested BMR at that specific activity level or does this even make sense? How many calories should I be eating period?

I am clearly confused so all I ask is for advise or correct information. Keep criticizing comments to your self please.

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    You want to create a deficit off of your TDEE. So that's WITH exercise included.

    Eat above your BMR but below your TDEE.
  • Elizabeth0913
    Elizabeth0913 Posts: 61
    Ok so I need to figure out my TDEE, which I don't even remember what that means. LOL Thank you for your help!! :smile:
  • Elizabeth0913
    Elizabeth0913 Posts: 61
    So my TDEE is 1977
  • medaglia_06
    medaglia_06 Posts: 282 Member
    There you go :) eat between 1640 and 1977 net calories. That's what I started doing a month ago when I plateaued and I started losing again :) I try and stick closer to my BMR though.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Your BMR is the number of calories you burn if you do nothing. So no, it doesn't change based on your activity.

    TDEE is total daily energy expenditure. If you figure this based on your activity level NOT counting exercise, then you should eat your exercise calories.

    One pound is equal to about 3500 calories. To lose one pound per week, you would need to eat 500 calories a day under your TDEE. In your case, 1977 - 500 = 1477.

    The general consensus seems to be that you should not eat less than your BMR, however.
  • jdelot
    jdelot Posts: 397 Member
    Don't get bogged down in all the numbers. Let MFP figure that out for you. I exercise 5-6 days/week and still have mine set at sedentary because I'm a software engineer and sit on my butt most of the time I'm at work.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    If you are using MFP's method to lose weight which is where they have you calculate how much you want to lose each week and that amount of calories is subtracted from your BMR (Mine for instance: I set my MFP to lose 1 lb. a week so MFP created a deficit of 500 calories a day off my BMR) so my Daily calorie consumption is set to 2300 calories a day. That is what I need to eat to sustain life and lose a pound a week.. Any exercise that I do (I use a heart rate monitor to figure my calories burned and then only eat back 85-90% of those calories) should be consumed.... I have been using this system throughout my weight loss and it has been working for me....
  • Elizabeth0913
    Elizabeth0913 Posts: 61
    Thanks alot guys, helpful information!! :happy:
  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
    Hey lady, I started a group for people who want to try something different...instead of eat less and workout more.....Eat more to lose Weight. I sent you a link and there is tons of information there that will help you with the science behind eating to fuel your body, instead of cutting cals too drastically, which pushes the body into starvation mode.

    You should try eating at least TDEE -15%. Now most people tend to take the sedentary multiplier, but that is for people who do nothing all day long and most people don't fall into that category, so I always suggest they go with moderate.

    If your BMR is 1640 that means your TDEE is 2542 and 15% from that is a total of 2160. I would strongly suggest you try eating that amount daily and when you workout you only need to eat more if and only if you burn more than 500 calories so you always at least net your BMR.

    Many times the 15% is enough to get weight moving...but you can read about it if interested in the group "Eat More to Weigh Less".

    I wish you all the best!
  • Elizabeth0913
    Elizabeth0913 Posts: 61
    Hey lady, I started a group for people who want to try something different...instead of eat less and workout more.....Eat more to lose Weight. I sent you a link and there is tons of information there that will help you with the science behind eating to fuel your body, instead of cutting cals too drastically, which pushes the body into starvation mode.

    You should try eating at least TDEE -15%. Now most people tend to take the sedentary multiplier, but that is for people who do nothing all day long and most people don't fall into that category, so I always suggest they go with moderate.

    If your BMR is 1640 that means your TDEE is 2542 and 15% from that is a total of 2160. I would strongly suggest you try eating that amount daily and when you workout you only need to eat more if and only if you burn more than 500 calories so you always at least net your BMR.

    Many times the 15% is enough to get weight moving...but you can read about it if interested in the group "Eat More to Weigh Less".

    I wish you all the best!

    I got the invite and THANK YOU THANK YOU!! So glad to get some useful info!!:happy:
  • laurarpa
    laurarpa Posts: 244 Member
    No offense, but you might want to try that body fat calculator (or a different one) again if you are going to use Katch -McArdle formula for BMR and TDEE. I'm 5'5 and 150 and mine is over 30%. For a woman 26% is pretty lean.

    At sedentary, that would give you BMR of 1530, and TDEE of 2175 and your cut would be 1849. If you are really more like 40% body fat, then those numbers (TDEE/15% cut) will be 1848/1571. So be careful. Perhaps you can have it measured at a gym.
  • Elizabeth0913
    Elizabeth0913 Posts: 61
    No offense, but you might want to try that body fat calculator (or a different one) again if you are going to use Katch -McArdle formula for BMR and TDEE. I'm 5'5 and 150 and mine is over 30%. For a woman 26% is pretty lean.

    At sedentary, that would give you BMR of 1530, and TDEE of 2175 and your cut would be 1849. If you are really more like 40% body fat, then those numbers (TDEE/15% cut) will be 1848/1571. So be careful. Perhaps you can have it measured at a gym.

    Thank you and now you can see my confusion!! Ha! Thanks for pointing that out, not offended at all!! Wondered this myself!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    If you are using MFP's method to lose weight which is where they have you calculate how much you want to lose each week and that amount of calories is subtracted from your BMR (Mine for instance: I set my MFP to lose 1 lb. a week so MFP created a deficit of 500 calories a day off my BMR) so my Daily calorie consumption is set to 2300 calories a day. That is what I need to eat to sustain life and lose a pound a week.. Any exercise that I do (I use a heart rate monitor to figure my calories burned and then only eat back 85-90% of those calories) should be consumed.... I have been using this system throughout my weight loss and it has been working for me....

    Ed, I know you've lost a lot of weight, but this site does NOT deduct your weight loss goal from your BMR. It does use the calculation of your activity level.

    You may be able to eat below your BMR for a while. Don't do it as a rule of thumb, though.

    I don't know how your found your BMR. 2300 may be your TDEE minus your weight-loss goal. (500 cals in this case). I don't know. But each case needs to be taken individually.

    To dadgumredclay, you want to eat below your TDEE and above your BMR. Eating below your BMR will work for obese individuals for a while, but it shouldn't become a way of life. And the closer you get to a healthy weight, the less room you have to play around.
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