The dreaded BMR

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  • embersfallen
    embersfallen Posts: 534 Member
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    @ sirius

    There are a TON of different approaches...I CAN tell you though, I have personally tried cals anywhere from 1200-1800, once in AWHILE a little over 2000...but I was also BURNING a total of 3500-over 4000 during most of that time...and no matter WHAT I did... WHAT I tried...( I even tried intermediate fasting etc) I was stuck in a the same 5 pounds up and down for over 6 months.
    The hardest I ever worked, and the worst results...

    I am just now onto week 3 of my reset eatting my TDEE ( Total Daily Energy Expenditure) /Maintainance . I used a combination of the online calculators and my daily tally from my Bodybugg to come up with it. So far I HAVE seen a slight gain, which most people doing the reset seem to get. I have read that a lot of times that is water weight etc, and should easily come back off and have your metabolism then be in more normal working order. Most people seem to do a month to 8 weeks of the reset. I have been eating below my BMR, and FAR below my NET BMR for way too long...so it makes sense that I have been stuck. There is a group on here, eat more to weight less that gives detailed info and experiences.

    Whichever way you try, I hope things start working again for you! :)
  • becoming_a_new_me
    becoming_a_new_me Posts: 1,860 Member
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    Another way to do this is to go on the low end and say sedentary

    Yes, It is the sedentary thing that will be an issue. Having paid for a trainer at the gym- you pay per contract weather your there or not. He maybe understanding if there was a set time for the experiment.
    AND lets keep in mind this is the guy who wanted me eating 1250 AND working out

    I'm not sure if you fully read what I wrote?
  • becoming_a_new_me
    becoming_a_new_me Posts: 1,860 Member
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    Yarwell, Yes i did. And you are correct, I'm there right now- so need another plan
    Personally, if I was not losing at 1400 for a prolonged period then I would drop to 1000 calories a day. In fact I did this myself. I would lay off any vigorous exercise too, so you know where you are.

    This will of course trigger the MFP immune system and the compulsive eaters will appear with their mythology of "killing your metabolism" "eating below your BMR" "calories you would be fed in a coma" "1200 is the minimum" and a 25 ft pile of bovine scatology.

    If 1400 is your equilibrium, which is what the prolonged stall suggests, then you have to try something and logic would favour eating less as if you were to eat more your metabolism would have to increase by considerably more than the extra food you ate, and I've seen nothing to suggest that will happen.

    I'm not sure where you get your information from, but you are grossly mistaken.
  • siriusalien
    siriusalien Posts: 207
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    Another way to do this is to go on the low end and say sedentary

    Yes, It is the sedentary thing that will be an issue. Having paid for a trainer at the gym- you pay per contract weather your there or not. He maybe understanding if there was a set time for the experiment.
    AND lets keep in mind this is the guy who wanted me eating 1250 AND working out

    Trainers have pretty much no training in nutrition and some are absolutely terrible at giving out nutrition advice (not all, but some).

    ETA: how long has your weight loss stalled for (sorry - forgot to ask before)

    I dropped from 220 to 204 january/februrary and have gone up and down 5 lbs since. Thought I had it beat, when early this week I was 199. Overnight back to 204 and took 2 days to get to 202
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    Nothing to be confused about OP,

    If your BMR is 1636 and you have a desk job, then a good guess for your TDEE is

    TDEE=BMR x 1.2

    so 1963 for you.

    Wanna lose about a lb a week - knock 500 cals a day off that number = 1463 cals.

    It's important to remember two things:

    1) this is all guesstimate - it's always personal. The only way is to try it, weigh in after a few weeks and see if your weight has gone down. If it has, continue. If it hasn't then drop it by a couple hundred cals and try again for a few more weeks, then test again. Eventually you'll find your personal numbers.

    2) weighing and measuring is vital. There's a great vid on youtube that shows how most people go *just* over the rim when scooping out a cup of something, and how that incorrect measure adds up to completely stalled weight loss (because a true cup is just *under* the rim usually.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    How long do you THINK I'ld have to drop this low and not exert?
    Our body weight fluctuates +/- 2lb so I would say you need to have a likely loss of 4 lbs to be certain of seeing it, and not thinking you just went from a +2 high variation to a -2 low variation. So a 500 cal/day deficit = 1 lb/week would need a month to be sure ?

    You'll have a feel for how stable your weight is which might guide you. A moving average tracker like Libra (phone app) will put a trend through daily weighing and express it as calories per day deficit.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Well, I had been eating 1535 following the calculations provided by another weight loss sight. But, I'm stalled at 204. I started looking afresh when my trainer recomended I was WAY over eating and should be at 1250...


    get a new trainer.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Another way to do this is to go on the low end and say sedentary

    Yes, It is the sedentary thing that will be an issue. Having paid for a trainer at the gym- you pay per contract weather your there or not. He maybe understanding if there was a set time for the experiment.
    AND lets keep in mind this is the guy who wanted me eating 1250 AND working out

    Trainers have pretty much no training in nutrition and some are absolutely terrible at giving out nutrition advice (not all, but some).

    ETA: how long has your weight loss stalled for (sorry - forgot to ask before)

    I dropped from 220 to 204 january/februrary and have gone up and down 5 lbs since. Thought I had it beat, when early this week I was 199. Overnight back to 204 and took 2 days to get to 202

    I would definately recommend a 'diet break' - see my comments above, and when you get back to a deficit you could try either of the methods noted by @iddreams to create that deficit.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    lets keep in mind this is the guy who wanted me eating 1250 AND working out
    I could live with 250 calories of work out as a compromise ;-)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I'm not sure where you get your information from, but you are grossly mistaken.
    In what way ? You believe that eating x more will result in an increase in calorie expenditure that increases by more than x ? Or some other aspect.
  • caramia311
    caramia311 Posts: 49 Member
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    Sirius -- Have you been the doctor? Any possibility this is a thyroid issue?
  • caramia311
    caramia311 Posts: 49 Member
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    Also, if you open your diary, perhaps we can provide a better reply.
  • firedragon064
    firedragon064 Posts: 1,090 Member
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    When you work with a trainer, they get you to build muscle so you will lose fat and keep/gain the muscle mass at the same time.
    The scale won't be move as fast as your measurment. You probably will lose pant size faster than lose weight.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Wanna lose about a lb a week - knock 500 cals a day off that number = 1463 cals.
    Thing is she's there already, and it isn't working. So we need to rub the lamp and get the genie to pop out.
  • caramia311
    caramia311 Posts: 49 Member
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    Sorry, for the multiple posts, but I keep thinking of new stuff! How confident are you that the calories you are putting in are accurate? I find that when I first started out I was slightly underestimating what I was eating and thus underestimating my cals. Do you measure or weigh food?
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    Wanna lose about a lb a week - knock 500 cals a day off that number = 1463 cals.
    Thing is she's there already, and it isn't working. So we need to rub the lamp and get the genie to pop out.

    No. If she's there already and it didn't work she drops it by 200, tries it for 3 weeks and weighs again. No genie needed.
  • siriusalien
    siriusalien Posts: 207
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    Hello,

    I would like to tank everyone for their contributions. I'ld like to answer a couple of questions to fellow members in one post:
    - Yes Have seen the Doc for FULL check up. ALL is fine. Damn near perfect
    - I, unfortunately, eat out alot. Portion size is an issue. I'm pretty confident that I am educated enough about portion size to exercise control
    - Exercise? According to my HRM I burn 350-450 calories per hour with trainer. trainer has me doing weights and cardio
    - I'm going to drop to 1380 calories see what happens
    - HOW do I open my diary?
  • jhgreer
    jhgreer Posts: 145
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    Well, I had been eating 1535 following the calculations provided by another weight loss sight. But, I'm stalled at 204. I started looking afresh when my trainer recomended I was WAY over eating and should be at 1250...


    get a new trainer.

    ^^my thoughts exactly.
  • caramia311
    caramia311 Posts: 49 Member
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    Hello,

    I would like to tank everyone for their contributions. I'ld like to answer a couple of questions to fellow members in one post:
    - Yes Have seen the Doc for FULL check up. ALL is fine. Damn near perfect
    - I, unfortunately, eat out alot. Portion size is an issue. I'm pretty confident that I am educated enough about portion size to exercise control
    - Exercise? According to my HRM I burn 350-450 calories per hour with trainer. trainer has me doing weights and cardio
    - I'm going to drop to 1380 calories see what happens
    - HOW do I open my diary?

    To open your diary go to settings, then diary, and you should see an option to open your diary to friends or to the public.

    Re: eating out. Unless you go to places that report their calories (and even sometimes there I think they may underestimate) you lose an element of control over what are eating. I think there are some types of dishes/cuisines where that could really add up. Can you minimize eating out or switch to healthier restaurant options?
  • siriusalien
    siriusalien Posts: 207
    Options
    Hello,

    I would like to tank everyone for their contributions. I'ld like to answer a couple of questions to fellow members in one post:
    - Yes Have seen the Doc for FULL check up. ALL is fine. Damn near perfect
    - I, unfortunately, eat out alot. Portion size is an issue. I'm pretty confident that I am educated enough about portion size to exercise control
    - Exercise? According to my HRM I burn 350-450 calories per hour with trainer. trainer has me doing weights and cardio
    - I'm going to drop to 1380 calories see what happens
    - HOW do I open my diary?


    OK, Diary open.. I begin work at 7:30am and go to 5-6pm Eating out is an issue,I try to stick with protein and no sauces

    To open your diary go to settings, then diary, and you should see an option to open your diary to friends or to the public.

    Re: eating out. Unless you go to places that report their calories (and even sometimes there I think they may underestimate) you lose an element of control over what are eating. I think there are some types of dishes/cuisines where that could really add up. Can you minimize eating out or switch to healthier restaurant options?

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