Bmr

crazy4beadz

crazy4beadz

New member
Just a quick question.. I never counted calories before or i did but then stopped , and was successful in losing 80lbs.. But took a couple years... I dont want to do this another couple of years to lose the remaining 45lbs.. I just read a post by Steve and it really hit me hard.. im starving my body! The reason behind all the plateaus..i thought eating 1000 to 1200 cal a day was the way to go...


I'm 29yrs old 5'6 188lbs.. I found my BMR to be 2559 cal to maintain.. i cut my calories by more than 50%! So back to the question.. how many calories do i cut down? It says my BMR is 1651.. Is that what i should be aiming for? Right now i am doing pilates every other day... I cant do any cardio until my doc says its ok.

Thanks :)
 
Starving yourself works if you define works as losing weight without any attention paid to health and body composition. Just look at an anorexic. They starve themselves and you don't see them hitting the dreaded starvation mode where all food leads to weight gain.

Sure, starving yourself can cause metabolism to fall by more than it ordinarily would with any typical weight loss. But it won't cause a deficit to turn into a surplus.

That said, I like to keep things very simplistic. In very general terms, assuming your moderately active, something like 14 calories per pound can be considered maintenance. Maintenance can be considered the point where calories in = calories out.

Cutting calories by 20-30% off of maintenance is generally the preferred approach.

But you have to remember, the important factor isn't your starting caloric intake. It's your response to feedback you get as you track your progress.
 
I'll add that if you've been "starving yourself" for a while, there's a real chance your metabolism is slower than it should be... meaning what should be maintenance might actually be a surplus. I'm going to shoot you over an article via PM that I think you should read.
 
I think so.. Ive been eating between 800-1200 calories a day for a very very long time.. For the past year, i would go the whole day without eating, and literally pig out at 11pm after work. burgers and fried foods. Because i was so hungry and it was the closest place to get quick food.

I got the links and going to read them now.. Thanks for taking the time in helping! Much appreciated..

Jo
 
Another thing people focus too much on, is being very accurate with the amount of calories they're consuming. It's more important to know roughly how much you're consuming than the exact number and making diet decisions that way.

IE: A sandwich:

2 pieces of bread: 221 calories, 2 slices of lunch meat, 56 calories, mayo, 2 table spoons: 50 calories total consumption: 327

Instead, just kind of look at it like this: sandwich, 2 pieces of bread: 200, meat: 80, dressing: 50 total: 320

My point is to become familiar with general foods, and when you mix and match give it an approximate number. When in doubt: round up. It's much less of a hassle than being overly accurate, when precision is just as good and alot less tedious.
 
Yea, I agree with that. Especially given people's inaccuracy with regards to measuring and recording and caloric estimates known as the
Atwater factors are old and innacurate.
 
crazy4beadz said:
I'm 29yrs old 5'6 188lbs.. I found my BMR to be 2559 cal to maintain.. i cut my calories by more than 50%! So back to the question.. how many calories do i cut down? It says my BMR is 1651.. Is that what i should be aiming for? Right now i am doing pilates every other day... I cant do any cardio until my doc says its ok.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

There are three components to energy expenditure: resting metabolic rate (a.k.a. BMR), activity level, and the thermic effect of feeding. We try to manipulate total energy expenditure (TEE) via diet and activity. Through clinical research it has been estimated that men burn an average of 10-14 kcals/ pound while sedentary and women 9-13 kcals/pound. Thus, the median number for respective genders is used. (I.e. 188 x 11 = 2068kcals or 188 x 12 = 2256 kcals without taking into account genetics, age, height, and muscle mass.) That is one version of finding the BMR.
 
i can't remember the excact words but neat is how much energy you spend like. walking around your home, going to the loo, reading paper.. whatever.. all the small daily things :)
 
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