Question about BMR calculator on here...

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LizKurz
LizKurz Posts: 340 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok, so all week I've been so hungry. The last time I lost weight (over 100lbs) I don't remember feeling hungry. I remember saving up 100 cals for four days in a row to have popcorn with real butter once a month. I remember me and my best friend sitting out on the balcony of my army apartment having a great time drinking beers. I remember having 1/2 cup of ice cream Every. Single. Day.

I lost 2lbs a week, every week for like 10 months straight. The two times I hit plateaus were when I accidentally without realizing it was dropping my cals down too low. I did 45-50 minutes of exercise on a gazelle 6 days a week. And the site I was using, which is no longer there, tracked my cals and everything for me, you just picked an activity level based on daily life and workouts.

I also remember maintaining 145 lbs quite easily on 2000 calories a day. So, now, when I see my log and it says Ive netted 1370ish for the day, that seems awfully low to me. I only have it set to lose 1.5 lbs a week, not 2, as. I have about 45 lbs to lose.

So, my target cals per MFP is 1400. And this is actually upped from the original 1270 they gave me to start with. I went in and manually changed it. I just used the BMR calc on here though, and it says my BMR is 1570.

I went to the site touted on here for calculators, http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ibw/, and used the formulas, but now I'm just confused.

One calculator tells me I have 33% fat, and 126 lbs of lean mass, another says 44% fat and 106lbs of lean mass. That's a huge differece. The goal weigh calc tells me 145 (which is what I was before, that I ate 2000 calories to maintain, though I did run a lot, and was a size six and maintained it for five years, without too much trouble) using the other bf% I get 165 lbs, which I think is too heavy for my 5 feet four and one half inch frame.

So now, I cant even use the BMR calc on that site, cause I don't know my estimated bf %!!!

Omg, this is way more trouble than it was before, and I don't want to screw up eating too few cals right out the gate you know?

So, should I just use the BMR calc on this site, and I should be netting my BMR daily, yes?

Replies

  • cmowat13
    cmowat13 Posts: 98 Member
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    bump
  • adamb83
    adamb83 Posts: 719 Member
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    Are you eating back your exercise calories? MFP is designed to give you your minimum goal and then assumes that you'll be eating back whatever you burn.
  • Char_marcus
    Char_marcus Posts: 141 Member
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    personally i prefer the BMR calc on fat2fit as it takes into account your body fat % and my goal weight at 5ft 5in is 134-140lbs which in in the middle of my low - high healthy weight range for my height.

    I try to eat at least 1500 cals and my BMR is 1617, i do try to get as close to this as possible, and i mean net calories (ie after exercise) not total calories

    everyone is different and everyone has an opinion, it's finding what works for you. I wasn't losing weight eating 1200 cals so i upped it and the weight started coming off!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,121 Member
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    Use this one, add back in your exercise and eat those calories, and you'll be around 1500-1700.

    Try it for a month and see how it works.


    Or, just eat a flat 1600 a day and try that for a month. You said you maintain at 2000, so 1600 should give you around one pound a week loss.

    Trial and error, my friend. I think you should be at a base calorie level quite a bit higher than 1200, though.


    Pick one and stick to it for a month. Re-evaluate.
  • LizKurz
    LizKurz Posts: 340 Member
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    Are you eating back your exercise calories? MFP is designed to give you your minimum goal and then assumes that you'll be eating back whatever you burn.

    Absolutely. Today, my goal was 1400, I got 489 from exercise, which totals 1874, but I'm netting 1385.

    It just seemed odd to me, that at 145 I could maintain on 2000 cals per day, and I'm 45 lbs heavier than that now, seems like I should be netting more than 1385.
  • LizKurz
    LizKurz Posts: 340 Member
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    personally i prefer the BMR calc on fat2fit as it takes into account your body fat % and my goal weight at 5ft 5in is 134-140lbs which in in the middle of my low - high healthy weight range for my height.

    I try to eat at least 1500 cals and my BMR is 1617, i do try to get as close to this as possible, and i mean net calories (ie after exercise) not total calories

    everyone is different and everyone has an opinion, it's finding what works for you. I wasn't losing weight eating 1200 cals so i upped it and the weight started coming off!

    Yeah, I would love to use it, but I don't know which bf% I should use. I'm inclined to use the one telling me I have more bf% simply because using that, the goal weight is right at 145' which was healthy for me.

    But even then, shouldn't my cals be netting more than 1385 per day?
  • Char_marcus
    Char_marcus Posts: 141 Member
    Options
    personally i prefer the BMR calc on fat2fit as it takes into account your body fat % and my goal weight at 5ft 5in is 134-140lbs which in in the middle of my low - high healthy weight range for my height.

    I try to eat at least 1500 cals and my BMR is 1617, i do try to get as close to this as possible, and i mean net calories (ie after exercise) not total calories

    everyone is different and everyone has an opinion, it's finding what works for you. I wasn't losing weight eating 1200 cals so i upped it and the weight started coming off!

    Yeah, I would love to use it, but I don't know which bf% I should use. I'm inclined to use the one telling me I have more bf% simply because using that, the goal weight is right at 145' which was healthy for me.

    But even then, shouldn't my cals be netting more than 1385 per day?

    use the military body fat calc, that is what i was told to use and the one that everyone seems to recommend, but it's up to you
    even if you only use it to work out your BMR and net your BMR or close to it daily

    for example my BMR is 1617
    today my MFP target for moderatly active is 1810 calories, I have eaten 1731 calories and have earned 230 exercise calories

    1731-230 = 1501, so i am close to my daily BMR

    most importantly remember that everyone is different and it's about what works for you :smile:

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