BMR/TDEE uh what?

Bumb! I hope someone answers. I would love to know

Check this out

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate is what your body needs the function when it is completely still. Like, in a coma. It is what you need to keep your organs functioning. It is not o.k. to eat below that number ever.

Your TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure. How much energy your body needs to move around.

Most people`s are about 400 or more calories above BMR.

Take your 20% cut from your TDEE.

Okay so once I find this all out, how do i set my MFP to this, because it just keeps giving me 1200 cals a day, and i think i want more. right?

On the home tab, select the goals option and then change goals and you can manually input your calculated calorie goal and change your macros (percentage of carbs, protein and fat).

Check these sites, the first one will figure out BMR and TDEE... for the activity use HOURS per week (not how hard you THINK your working out):

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

this article will tell you why a LOWER cut (about 10-15%) is better:

http://www.oxygenmag.com/Community/Expert-Q-A/How-does-starvation-versus-eating-fewer-calories-affect-fat-loss.aspx

Doesn't MFP do this for you anyway when you enter your details at the start and say you want to lose lb/wk etc.
I just tried the site and the difference between what scoobys and mfp recomends was ~40 calories so I think you can just stick with this site just fine.

Hi Danielle,

So, I'm not a fan of making things too easy for people - but I certainly understand that this can be confusing at the start... You will want to actually read a fair bit about what it is you are doing when you count calories to avoid being consumed by the wealth of misinformation out there....

I grabbed a simple BMR calc on the web and entering your data it says your BMR is 1453.

This essentially means that if you sleep all day, the activity of your beating heart, and working of your muscles (like breathing for example) , cellular activity etc etc etc will consume 1453 calories. you should make sure you give your body this many calories each day to manage your energy level, etc.

Now, depending on how active you are in your daily living, the calories you burn in a typical day will be higher than this. essentially, these calories, plus the calories you burn doing the extra activity.... this is the number that people say take 500 calories off of if you want to lose 1 Lb a week... that is because when your body burns a Lb of fat, it produces 3500 calories... 3500 divided by 7 days in a week is 500 a day. So, eat at a 500 deficit and you will lose 1 Lb a week...

You will need an assessment of how active you are in a day, but if I assume you are "lightly active" your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) based on that site is 1903. If the correct activity level, this would suggest you eat at 1903 - 500 = 1403. Since this is lower than your BMR, I'd suggest you target your BMR of 1453....

Feel free to friend me if you like and I'm happy to answer some questions further...

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Great website!!!!! Do not lower your TDEE more than 10 or 15%.. Do not go to 20%

Check these sites, the first one will figure out BMR and TDEE... for the activity use HOURS per week (not how hard you THINK your working out):

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

this article will tell you why a LOWER cut (about 10-15%) is better:

http://www.oxygenmag.com/Community/Expert-Q-A/How-does-starvation-versus-eating-fewer-calories-affect-fat-loss.aspx

Doesn't MFP do this for you anyway when you enter your details at the start and say you want to lose lb/wk etc.
I just tried the site and the difference between what scoobys and mfp recomends was ~40 calories so I think you can just stick with this site just fine.

Essentially yes. One thing MFP does that seems a bit odd is that it drops your target, but never lets that target go below 1200.... It may be better to target a person's BMR as a minimal number. Just an opinion. Also, given the way MFP "Asks" the question, I find many many people simply tell MFP what they "want" - and that is to lose 2 or more pounds in a week... but depending on the amount overweight someone is, that may not be practical. Those more overweight typically have a capacity to lose much more (sustain a larger caloric deficit) than those closer to their target weight. Ultimately I agree than the tool generally gives reasonable guidance if you give it reasonable data, but many people want to understand "why" it is giving the numbers it is...

Here's an additional question - does that mean you need to NET your BMR at least? Or just make sure to eat your BMR before exercise?

wait one more problem, im so sorry that i dont understand this stuff. be patient with me i changed the goals according to that scooby site and on MFP it says projected weight loss is only 0.2 pounds per week now when it was like 1.3 before when i was at about 1200 cals a day. whaaaaa

Ignore that - MFP tells me I will lose 0.1lb per week.

You need to remember that MFP does not include exercise, so when you use MFP method you eat 1200 + exercise cals.

What is teh difference between your TDEE-20% calculation, and the MFP 1200 + Exercise?

ok im still confused? my bmr is 1752 and mfp has me eating only 1370. is this wrong? should i be eating more calories. when i signed up i put in that i wanted to loose 2 pounds a week... im ok loosing less as long as i still loose am i doing something wrong here? i havent seen any real lose since i started at the begining of the month so im wondering if im doing this wrong.. any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

ps. you can add me to!

I think I'm finally understanding this but it still sort of makes me nervous...

According to both the "roadmap" links and the scooby site my BMR is 1760 and my TDEE is 2420. A 20% cut of that would be 1936. That is at lightly active.

MFP has me set up at 1650 calories to lose 1 pound/week or 1200 for 2 pounds a week (set at sedentary since it said not to account for scheduled workouts). I've been aiming to eat somewhere in between those two, but I've been averaging about 1500. That seems to be where I feel satisfied, have thrown some treats in, and have gotten good grains, vegetables, and fruits. I'm still a little low in protein and high in carbs (I have PCOS and have had insulin resistance problems in the past so I'm trying to watch these) but it's not for lack of trying. I'm not eating my excercise calories because I guess I don't feel like I'm doing that much, even though I work hard when I do, I'm just really out of shape still and can't do as much as a lot of you.

Isn't there a big difference between 1936 and 1500 or even 1650?

I've only been at it for a few weeks, but I've averaged about a pound a week, which is better than I've done in a long time with my PCOS. I don't feel like I'm starving myself or anything, but I'd love to be able to eat more and lose better...

Any suggestions on whether I should stay where I am for now since it is working somewhat, or move my calories up? You guys are all so smart, ha ha. Thanks!

Yes there is a difference between 1900, and 1650, but don't forget that MFP doesn't actually give you 1650, it gives you 1650 PLUS exercise calories, whereas your TDEE calculation includes exercise.

I think I'm finally understanding this but it still sort of makes me nervous...

According to both the "roadmap" links and the scooby site my BMR is 1760 and my TDEE is 2420. A 20% cut of that would be 1936. That is at lightly active.

MFP has me set up at 1650 calories to lose 1 pound/week or 1200 for 2 pounds a week (set at sedentary since it said not to account for scheduled workouts). I've been aiming to eat somewhere in between those two, but I've been averaging about 1500. That seems to be where I feel satisfied, have thrown some treats in, and have gotten good grains, vegetables, and fruits. I'm still a little low in protein and high in carbs (I have PCOS and have had insulin resistance problems in the past so I'm trying to watch these) but it's not for lack of trying. I'm not eating my excercise calories because I guess I don't feel like I'm doing that much, even though I work hard when I do, I'm just really out of shape still and can't do as much as a lot of you.

Isn't there a big difference between 1936 and 1500 or even 1650?

I've only been at it for a few weeks, but I've averaged about a pound a week, which is better than I've done in a long time with my PCOS. I don't feel like I'm starving myself or anything, but I'd love to be able to eat more and lose better...

Any suggestions on whether I should stay where I am for now since it is working somewhat, or move my calories up? You guys are all so smart, ha ha. Thanks!

I'd also add that MFP is simply taking off 500 cals a day for a pound a week or 1000 a day for 2 pounds a week.... So MFP thinks that your sedentary TDEE is 2150 and takes 500 off for your daly target to lose 1 lb and would take you down to 1150 to lose 2 lb a week, but MFP will not drop anyone below 1200 calories....

If you are seeing success with the target of 1500 then you may be able to keep that working for you - if your BMR is actually 1760, you may want to be a bit closer to that number, but there are a lot of details needed before anyone can recommend a specific number for you - height weight age and gender at a minimum to get a better understanding of how your BMR number is being generated...

Hope this helps...