BMR, TDEE, etc... confused!!

Given your weight and age, you could start with the middle : around 1600 calories, but don't eat them back.

do you plain to train or do you only want to lose weight ?

* The MFP net calories are not BMR. It is what they have calculated for you to eat to loose 2 lb.
Calculation goes like this:
Total Daily Energy Expenditure = BMR + Energy used on daily bases (this is BMR * 1.2 for sedetary, more for active etc.)
To loose 2lbs/week you need to consume 7000 calories less per week than you spend. Averaged on 7 days means 1000 calories less than you spend every day.
This means:
Daily net calories = TDEE - 1000 = 1460
AND EAT BACK EXERCISE CALORIES. that is what MFP recommends, and plenty of posters here who have lost quite allot too.

My advice to you:

#1 You are awesome NOW!

You will feel healthier later, or thinner, or lighter.. but you are always the same awesome you! Be happy with what you see in the mirror. Focus on the good parts. With time you might find new good parts to be happy about, but DO NOT allow yourself to focus on anything you are unhappy with. You CANNOT spot reduce. You CAN tone. So don't worry about where things are going away, just focus on feeling better and happier.

Also the Scale is not the ultimate measurement. TAKE PICTURES NOW! Even if they are just for your eyes only. You will feel times when things are not moving on the scale, then take out those pictures and take new pictures and see the difference. Take measurements as well. The cm will be going in weird places, sometimes less obvious than others, but they will be going.

#2 Start with eating *at least* 1460 calories a day.

Eat back at least some of your exercise calories, depending on how you are measuring them and what type of exercise you are doing. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. If you are getting very tired on the amount of food and exercise you are doing then eat more. If you are just sore, that is fine - that are your muscles saying "thank you" :P

* If you are using MFP to estimate your calories, then don't neccessarily eat them all back. Can start with half.
* If you are using a HRM or some other more personalised and accurate way of estimating the calories, then eat almost all back.
* Basically HRM > the machine you are using counting calories for you > MFP

#3 It all events out in the end!

If you go over one day, THAT IS FINE. If you are under another, IT IS ALSO FINE. The body has lots of balancing mechanisms in place, so one bad day in either dirrection won't ruin you (might feel like **** the day after but in terms of weight it doesn't have a huge impact). As long as you are averaging UNDER your TDEE + Exercise over a long period of time, you will loose. More under = more loss, unless you go waaaay under. Then another balancing mechanism kicks in, the body assumes you will be under nourished for a long time and it will slow your metabolism down. The balancing mechanisms of the body is the reason why humans have lived through famines and hardships.. but it makes it difficult to diet and then expect to go right back to old eating patterns

#4 Pick exercise you like!

Sure, running on a treadmill at huge elevation will burn more than a walk in the park - but unless you are one of those that loves the treadmill, you won't stick with it for ever. Start with something you CAN do and then add to the difficulty (time, length, resistance..) over time. Keep track of your fitness, you will be SO happy when you notice you can climb more stairs without going out of breath, or are able to walk for longer without feeling tired. Food intake is much more important for weight loss than exercise, but exercise is important for health. Pick some goals, maybe one small, one medium and one super hard, and work on them. If you stick to it you will be sooo happy to see where you are at in a month or a year.

Bella, I see so many females wanting to put lifting weights on hold while they focus on diet and cardio. But you're doing yourself a huge disservice by doing that...

If I may make a suggestion to you it is to increase your muscle or lean body mass... While I KNOW that cardio gives an immediate reward by showing BIG calorie burn numbers in a short time, the reality is, it only keeps your metabolism revved up for a few hours after you exercise and then quickly drops off.

On the obverse, weight lifting, while it does not give the immediate gratification of the high calorie burn that we like to see when we do cardio, it does give us things that cardio just can not do:

1) as we age, we loose muscle mass, period. This is especially true for females who start out with lower muscle mass to begin with. The loss in muscle mass, especially as a female is one of the reasons it is so hard for us to loose weight as we age. Lower muscle mass = lower BMR, higher muscle mass = higher BMR.
2)muscle makes us stronger, leaner and more shapely- it helps to define us rather than just peel away a layer of fat.. It helps accentuate all the right places and whittle in all the wrong ones! (I'm not incinuating spot reduction here, just more shape)
3)over the course of a day people with higher composition of muscle WILL burn more calories doing everything they do in a day(including sleeping) and in the long run burn more calories in a day, with typical exercise, than a female that only does cardio for 60 minutes without strength training. Given two women who are the same in weight, height and bone structure with the only exception being the amount of muscle mass, meaning one lifts weights and the other does not... The one that lifts will have more muscle, will be able to eat more, and will more than likely weigh more but wear smaller clothes, be stronger, more confident, walk taller, look and BE leaner with a tighter body.
4)while cardio, potentially, burns a lot of calories, did you know it uses whatever the most readily available energy source your body is willing to give up to fuel it, including MUSCLE! So, when you see that 450 calorie burn, remember,some of that IS muscle mass! The body does not typically begin to use fat stores as energy until 20-30 minutes into a work out.
5) muscle helps prevent your body from adjusting to a lower calorie consumption as you will be able to eat more because your metabolism will naturally be at a higher state more consistently. (higher BMR)
If you haven't been able to figure out what I am suggesting...
Please do not delay in adding strength training. After you feel comfortable learning/practicing strength training exercises, don't be afraid to step away from the "girly" size weights and truly dig into picking up some of the bad boy weights. We, as females, will never, unless a feak of nature or using performance enhancing supplements, become big and bulky. Trust me, I lift heavy 3-4 times/week and have yet to mistaken myself in the mirror for Arnold Schwartzenegger, lol.

All the best to you on your journey!

I used the search function to read all the recent threads on BMR, TDEE, etc, and I find I'm still confused on whether or not I'm eating enough. Sorry to beat a dead horse, but can someone tell me if I'm doing the right thing by following MFP? I'm not doing F2F, just following MFP.

I weigh 218, I have my MFP activity set to "lightly active" since I SAHM (sometimes I'm on my feet all day running around, sometimes I'm sitting most of the day).

My BMR is 1,746. My TDEE according to fitnessfrog.com is 2753. My BF is 38%

I have MFP set to lose 2 lbs a week. They have me at a goal of 1360 net, and I do eat back my exercise calories. Am I eating enough? TIA.

Do you feel good, or do you feel tired and hungry all the time. That is really the best measurement :P

But sounds like you are eating ok. You might want to consider upping your calorise to 1700 to meet your BMR (seems allot of people recommend that) and when you get below 200s consider lowering weight loss to 1.5lbs pr month (and again further down to 1.. etc) but really follow what makes *you* feel good.

Bella, I see so many females wanting to put lifting weights on hold while they focus on diet and cardio. But you're doing yourself a huge disservice by doing that...

If I may make a suggestion to you it is to increase your muscle or lean body mass... While I KNOW that cardio gives an immediate reward by showing BIG calorie burn numbers in a short time, the reality is, it only keeps your metabolism revved up for a few hours after you exercise and then quickly drops off.

On the obverse, weight lifting, while it does not give the immediate gratification of the high calorie burn that we like to see when we do cardio, it does give us things that cardio just can not do:

1) as we age, we loose muscle mass, period. This is especially true for females who start out with lower muscle mass to begin with. The loss in muscle mass, especially as a female is one of the reasons it is so hard for us to loose weight as we age. Lower muscle mass = lower BMR, higher muscle mass = higher BMR.
2)muscle makes us stronger, leaner and more shapely- it helps to define us rather than just peel away a layer of fat.. It helps accentuate all the right places and whittle in all the wrong ones! (I'm not incinuating spot reduction here, just more shape)
3)over the course of a day people with higher composition of muscle WILL burn more calories doing everything they do in a day(including sleeping) and in the long run burn more calories in a day, with typical exercise, than a female that only does cardio for 60 minutes without strength training. Given two women who are the same in weight, height and bone structure with the only exception being the amount of muscle mass, meaning one lifts weights and the other does not... The one that lifts will have more muscle, will be able to eat more, and will more than likely weigh more but wear smaller clothes, be stronger, more confident, walk taller, look and BE leaner with a tighter body.
4)while cardio, potentially, burns a lot of calories, did you know it uses whatever the most readily available energy source your body is willing to give up to fuel it, including MUSCLE! So, when you see that 450 calorie burn, remember,some of that IS muscle mass! The body does not typically begin to use fat stores as energy until 20-30 minutes into a work out.
5) muscle helps prevent your body from adjusting to a lower calorie consumption as you will be able to eat more because your metabolism will naturally be at a higher state more consistently. (higher BMR)
If you haven't been able to figure out what I am suggesting...
Please do not delay in adding strength training. After you feel comfortable learning/practicing strength training exercises, don't be afraid to step away from the "girly" size weights and truly dig into picking up some of the bad boy weights. We, as females, will never, unless a feak of nature or using performance enhancing supplements, become big and bulky. Trust me, I lift heavy 3-4 times/week and have yet to mistaken myself in the mirror for Arnold Schwartzenegger, lol.

All the best to you on your journey!

^^^^ amazing post.
Start lifting ASAP, this will help prevent muscle loss and increase the amount of calories you burn even at rest, you will lose more inches and generally look and feel better.
By doing cardio only, you are effectively burning off some of your muscle mass so you burn less cals and eventually the loss will slow down and you end up 'skinnyfat'.

Bella, I see so many females wanting to put lifting weights on hold while they focus on diet and cardio. But you're doing yourself a huge disservice by doing that...

If I may make a suggestion to you it is to increase your muscle or lean body mass... While I KNOW that cardio gives an immediate reward by showing BIG calorie burn numbers in a short time, the reality is, it only keeps your metabolism revved up for a few hours after you exercise and then quickly drops off.

On the obverse, weight lifting, while it does not give the immediate gratification of the high calorie burn that we like to see when we do cardio, it does give us things that cardio just can not do:

1) as we age, we loose muscle mass, period. This is especially true for females who start out with lower muscle mass to begin with. The loss in muscle mass, especially as a female is one of the reasons it is so hard for us to loose weight as we age. Lower muscle mass = lower BMR, higher muscle mass = higher BMR.
2)muscle makes us stronger, leaner and more shapely- it helps to define us rather than just peel away a layer of fat.. It helps accentuate all the right places and whittle in all the wrong ones! (I'm not incinuating spot reduction here, just more shape)
3)over the course of a day people with higher composition of muscle WILL burn more calories doing everything they do in a day(including sleeping) and in the long run burn more calories in a day, with typical exercise, than a female that only does cardio for 60 minutes without strength training. Given two women who are the same in weight, height and bone structure with the only exception being the amount of muscle mass, meaning one lifts weights and the other does not... The one that lifts will have more muscle, will be able to eat more, and will more than likely weigh more but wear smaller clothes, be stronger, more confident, walk taller, look and BE leaner with a tighter body.
4)while cardio, potentially, burns a lot of calories, did you know it uses whatever the most readily available energy source your body is willing to give up to fuel it, including MUSCLE! So, when you see that 450 calorie burn, remember,some of that IS muscle mass! The body does not typically begin to use fat stores as energy until 20-30 minutes into a work out.
5) muscle helps prevent your body from adjusting to a lower calorie consumption as you will be able to eat more because your metabolism will naturally be at a higher state more consistently. (higher BMR)
If you haven't been able to figure out what I am suggesting...
Please do not delay in adding strength training. After you feel comfortable learning/practicing strength training exercises, don't be afraid to step away from the "girly" size weights and truly dig into picking up some of the bad boy weights. We, as females, will never, unless a feak of nature or using performance enhancing supplements, become big and bulky. Trust me, I lift heavy 3-4 times/week and have yet to mistaken myself in the mirror for Arnold Schwartzenegger, lol.

All the best to you on your journey!

^^^^ amazing post.
Start lifting ASAP, this will help prevent muscle loss and increase the amount of calories you burn even at rest, you will lose more inches and generally look and feel better.
By doing cardio only, you are effectively burning off some of your muscle mass so you burn less cals and eventually the loss will slow down and you end up 'skinnyfat'.

^^^^love these posts, thanks so much guys!