BMR & Calories

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fattofit20
fattofit20 Posts: 86
in Motivation and Support
Based on what a friend told me on MFP I have a few questions. My BMR is really low. It is 1147. I am 5 ft, 1 inch and 131 pounds and am sedentary during the day due to my job. (desk job) So I figured out what my calorie intake should be using my BMR. If I wanted to lose 1 pound a week I'd have to only eat 876 calories a day! I figured it out this way:
BMR 1147 x 1.2 = 1,376.4
In order to lose 1 pound a week I have to subtract 500 calories which leaves me at 876.4.
Now I'm not really sure if I did this right but that seems like a very low amount of calories a day to lose one pound a week.
I've been doing at least 35 minutes of cardio, most days and have just begun strength training with 5 pound hand weights.
Does this caloric intake seem way too low?

Replies

  • swagga2trill
    swagga2trill Posts: 10 Member
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    Im not really sure about that but when i joined MFP and gave my info it calculated it for me i used my phone app to do it
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,080 Member
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    I would subtract about 200 from your 1376: so your calories will be more like 1200. Really you need to closely watch your nutrition at any lower than that. You don't really have enough extra weight to shoot for one pound a week. And if you are exercising, eat back those calories earned. If you let the tool here do it for you, at "Lose 1/2 lb a week" and use the activity factor of "Lightly Active" you will be fine. Don't complicate this.

    I am assuming you picked the lowest possible activity factor possible because you do nothing at all - all day, right? Because if you have a job or care for kids at home, you need to raise that activity factor.


  • michaelfurey
    michaelfurey Posts: 51
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    Yes! You should eat at least 1200 calories a day for a woman your size! How did you measure your BMR? Do this. Stop it with the low calorie count. Get a heart rate monitor that measures calories. Make sure you burn 500 calories a day! It's pretty easy just walking a bunch, actually. You'll easily lose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week like this.
  • djkamin60
    djkamin60 Posts: 88
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    When you add your exercise, you should get extra calories added. Most posts say you should eat most of those calories back, but I find that if I do the scale doesn't move much. I guess I would suggest getting at least 1200 calories a day and play around with that until you find what works best with your exercise.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
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    Yeah, being a female and small of stature means low BMR. You should never eat below your BMR, since those are the calories you need for your internal organs to function properly. Your best options are either to go for a lower rate of weight loss, or to increase your activity level through exercise, or some combination of the two.
  • JaySpice
    JaySpice Posts: 326 Member
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    Please don't listen to Micheal.

    You should shoot for losing half a pound a week instead of 1 pound.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Based on what a friend told me on MFP I have a few questions. My BMR is really low. It is 1147. I am 5 ft, 1 inch and 131 pounds and am sedentary during the day due to my job. (desk job) So I figured out what my calorie intake should be using my BMR. If I wanted to lose 1 pound a week I'd have to only eat 876 calories a day! I figured it out this way:
    BMR 1147 x 1.2 = 1,376.4
    In order to lose 1 pound a week I have to subtract 500 calories which leaves me at 876.4.
    Now I'm not really sure if I did this right but that seems like a very low amount of calories a day to lose one pound a week.
    I've been doing at least 35 minutes of cardio, most days and have just begun strength training with 5 pound hand weights.
    Does this caloric intake seem way too low?

    It's probably about right if you remain sedentary. As soon as you start these workouts, you aren't.

    So confirm you feed them to keep your 500 deficit, not a 800-900 deficit.
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
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    If your BMR is truly ~1150 calories, you aren't going to be in the so called starvation mode at 1200 calories. That is set as a general rule, but you are more petite and lighter, and likely have less muscle mass therefore you don't have the same "rock bottom" as someone who is 5'5" 140 with 120 lb of lean body mass.
  • lutkica01
    lutkica01 Posts: 65
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    you should never eat below 1200 net calories a day. If you do for a longer period of time you will get sick, and your metabolism is going to slow down. So because you already don't weigh that much you should not aim to lose more than half pound per week.
  • fattofit20
    fattofit20 Posts: 86
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    I let the tool here do the calculation for me and I'm on a 1200 calorie a day diet. It only sets me up to lose 1/2 pound a week but I'd like to lose 1 pound a week.
    My BMR was calculated here on MFP. I used the tool they had. I do sit most of the day but as soon as I'm off work I'm off and running. I do my cardio workout most days but have decided to alternate days between cardio and strength training. I've been doing only cardio for a month and haven't lost what I feel I should be losing. I've also counted calories and while I don't always eat the right thing I do try to stay at or below 1200. I've come a long way in the eating and exercise department considering I use to eat marshmallow filled donuts every single day and chips, chips, chips!
  • JaySpice
    JaySpice Posts: 326 Member
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    I let the tool here do the calculation for me and I'm on a 1200 calorie a day diet. It only sets me up to lose 1/2 pound a week but I'd like to lose 1 pound a week.
    My BMR was calculated here on MFP. I used the tool they had. I do sit most of the day but as soon as I'm off work I'm off and running. I do my cardio workout most days but have decided to alternate days between cardio and strength training. I've been doing only cardio for a month and haven't lost what I feel I should be losing. I've also counted calories and while I don't always eat the right thing I do try to stay at or below 1200. I've come a long way in the eating and exercise department considering I use to eat marshmallow filled donuts every single day and chips, chips, chips!

    Losing 4 pounds in a month is awesome. Why do you think you should be losing more?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Based on what a friend told me on MFP I have a few questions. My BMR is really low. It is 1147. I am 5 ft, 1 inch and 131 pounds and am sedentary during the day due to my job. (desk job) So I figured out what my calorie intake should be using my BMR. If I wanted to lose 1 pound a week I'd have to only eat 876 calories a day! I figured it out this way:
    BMR 1147 x 1.2 = 1,376.4
    In order to lose 1 pound a week I have to subtract 500 calories which leaves me at 876.4.
    Now I'm not really sure if I did this right but that seems like a very low amount of calories a day to lose one pound a week.
    I've been doing at least 35 minutes of cardio, most days and have just begun strength training with 5 pound hand weights.
    Does this caloric intake seem way too low?

    So that is estimate based on avg lean body mass to fat ratio of 51 yr old at same height/weight.

    But, if you knew your real LBM, your BMR might be higher actually. It slows down as we age because we usually have less muscle mass to deal with - but that needn't be the case.

    You might try many of the bodyfat% estimates, and then see how BMR looks. And then see how a deficit looks to that.

    You might be prime for using a different method than MFP, because true, you'll be given 1200 flat out, no matter what, unless you select activity level that is higher and perhaps more realistic, and much smaller weight loss goal.
    In fact, you'd have to be Lightly Active level and 1/2 lb loss to get close to 1200, 1298 actually.

    So that may mean besides your workouts, increase walking during the day to be considered Lightly Active, if you aren't already.

    Or use another deficit method. This has bodyfat% site in there.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/spreadsheet-for-tdee-deficit-calcs-mfp-tweaks-hrm-tweaks-270330
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
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    I've also counted calories and while I don't always eat the right thing I do try to stay at or below 1200. I've come a long way in the eating and exercise department considering I use to eat marshmallow filled donuts every single day and chips, chips, chips!

    Do you eat 1200 calories a day, or do you NET 1200 calories a day? In any event, as long as you are eating fewer calories than you use in the day, but more than your BMI, you will lose weight. And if you exercise a lot, and your net calories stays over your BMI, you will lose faster.
  • fattofit20
    fattofit20 Posts: 86
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    I let myself go for the last 2 years. Eating everything and anything. I'm larger now than I've ever been in my life. Maybe it doesn't seem like much weight to some but to me it's a whole lot of weight. I'm use to weighing 115 pounds and being much more fit. I also have arthritis and have found the extra weight to be more of a pain than it's worth. I need to shape up so I feel better! Hence the reason I'd like to lose the weight faster. I use to be able to just think about losing and the weight would come off. Now that I'm older it's much harder.
  • jillica
    jillica Posts: 554 Member
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    Tinabug - Google "Harris Benedict formula". I first saw someone post about this to help find more information about how many calories you should be consuming. It actually lines up pretty close to what MFP says when you average it out over a week.

    Harris Benedict formula Example:
    For a female, 182 lbs, 5’-5.5” = 1585.35 BMR
    Multiply by 1.55 (moderately active 3-5 times a week) =
    2457.29 calories to maintain her current weight
    Subtract 500 calories (because she want to lose 1 lb a week) = 1957.29 calories to lose 1 lb/week.
  • jillica
    jillica Posts: 554 Member
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    Also, your BMR is just what your body needs to run if it were to lie in bed all day - right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but BMR doesn't take in account the calories you burn by just being up. Even at a desk job, you are using more calories than a coma patient:-)
  • JaySpice
    JaySpice Posts: 326 Member
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    I let myself go for the last 2 years. Eating everything and anything. I'm larger now than I've ever been in my life. Maybe it doesn't seem like much weight to some but to me it's a whole lot of weight. I'm use to weighing 115 pounds and being much more fit. I also have arthritis and have found the extra weight to be more of a pain than it's worth. I need to shape up so I feel better! Hence the reason I'd like to lose the weight faster. I use to be able to just think about losing and the weight would come off. Now that I'm older it's much harder.

    Then that means you are looking to lose around 15 pounds? yeah....the closer you get to your goal weight the harder it is to lose. Definitely shoot for a half of pound a week.

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