Weight-Loss I'm so confused about BMR.

Weight-Loss
xkaylanicolex

xkaylanicolex

New member
So I googled a BMR calculator, and entered in the stats and it said that mine was 2127.0. I don't know anything about it. Lol.


Explain it to me? Sorry if I'm annoying.
 
BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate. Your BMR calories are the amount of calories you need to maintain basic body function (pump your heart, move your blood, run your brain, fire your nerves, breathe in and out) while maintaining your current weight. If you laid in bed like a slug all day and did nothing else but breathe, eating your BMR calories would keep you at the same weight.

But a lot of people confuse BMR with maintenance calories - and they're not the same.

Maintenance calories is where you build on your BMR. Maintenance is the number of calories you need to not only support your regular body functions, but to support your day to day activities: getting up, taking a shower, going to work, doing the dishes, walking the dog, etc.

You figure your maintenance by adding a percentage of your BMR based on your level of overall activity. For example, using the Harris Benedict Formula (which is the most common version), you would do this:
# f you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
# If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
# If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
# If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
# If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
Click to expand...

So let's take your figure of 2127 and say you are moderately active. That means you multiply your BMR by 1.55 to come up with a figure of 3296. That would be the number of calories you need to eat in order to remain your exact same weight - assuming your level of activity didn't change.

In order to lose weight, you shoudl take your MAINTENANCE (not your BMR) and subtract around 20%-30% from that. So for you, subtracting 30% would give you a figure of 2300.

So you could lose weight at a healthy and sustainable rate by eating 2300 calories a day.

Does that help?
 
They can be very confusing, and in ways they can be a sham!

In my honest opinion (NO ONE SHOOT ME) I don't think it works very well. It never did for me. I think it can if you are willing to go through the trouble. The internet calculators are about as non reliable as the cardio machines calorie count. Unless you are in a very controlled environment there is no way in hell to know how many calories your body expends.

You can Google Tome Venuto. He has a plan called Feed the Muscle which stems around your BMR. However you have to buy his book. He looks great but he also knows what people would like hear and what they would buy!
 
That really does help, Kara. Thats what I thought I've read before but I wanted to make sure. It seems very reasonable.

How much weight would I lose per week by eating 2300 calories a day?

I'm female, 19, 284lbs and 5'11.
 
If you're at a 30% deficit, it should average out to about 1% of your total bodyweight per week, which is what you should be aiming for.

I can give you the math if you want - although I really try not to pare it down to absolute numbers becuase, as Guess Who said above, there are so many variables. The thing is that the number of calories you burn each day is going to vary by as much as 10% ... everything from the temperature to whether or not you got up to go to the bathroom more than once ... whatever. Little things. It all adds up over the course of the day. So I try not to get too focused on exact numbers.

BUT ... if you want the math, here's how it works out.

1 lb = 3500 calories.
If your maintenance is 3296 and you eat 2300 calories per day, then that means you're in a deficit of 996 calories per day.
996 calories per day * 7 days = 6972 calories per week that you didn't eat.

6972 calories per week = 1.99 lbs

Figure you add in a little extra activity and so forth, and it should average 2-3 lbs a week.

NOW ... again ... don't get hooked on those exact numbers. There's more than just fat loss going on there - there's water retention or loss, fluids from exercise, even the barometric pressure can affect weight.

Calories is all about estimating and averaging. There's no way to calculate it down to the number unless you plan to live in laboratory with total control. :)
 
Ok, here you go ... here's the other post I wrote recently on calorie deficits:

The first thing you have to keep in mind is that whatever number you come up with, it's going to be an estimate. The numbers tend to be accurate for most people (barring medical conditions, drug use, years of screwing up a metabolism, or other things of that nature) within a range. Everyone is just a little different. Also the numbers will and do vary from day to day, so really what you come up with, as well as being an estimate is going to be an average amount. The calories that you burn sitting at your computer today could be up to 10% different tomorrow - for any number of different reasons.

I use a simpler formula. I start with a figure of 15 calories per pound of bodyweight for someone who is moderately active. If you're less active, you can drop that a little, if you're more active increase it. But generally 15 calories works. Then you subtract 30% to get to a healthy and sustainable amount to lose weight.

My philosophy is that if you work out 3x a week or more, then the 15 cals per day should work for you. Don't worry about trying to figure out how many calories you burn exercising and how many you burn doing this and that. Just drop your maintenance calories by 30% and consider any additional calories you burn in exercise to be a bonus.

The only time you need to worry (IMO) about exercise calories is when you're doing an extreme amount of training - as for something like a marathon or triathalon or if you're a professional athlete - in which case you need to make sure to eat more to support the exertion you're doing. Otherwise, it's too easy to get bogged down in the numbers and start worrying about 10 calories here and 20 calories there.

Given that, like I said, your BMR and your maintenance could vary by up to 10% a day, figuring things out at that level is just an exercise in futility.
Click to expand...
 
I WISH I lived in a laboratory with total control =P


2 to 3 pounds a week is great :)
I'm pretty for sure that about 3 pounds is water weight though :p

Most of my calories come from soda. eek.
I know, today, I've had 3 Dr. Peppers. So far.
Gonna have to stop that.
 
Yeah, soda and juice is nothing but empty calories. 1 12-oz soda is 120 calories. That's an apple and a half or a serving of rice or a whole chicken breast. :) I would rather not drink my calories.
 
this is very interesting to me.... i dont keep track of my calories exactly... but I have lost 29 lbs since feb. I tend to average approx 1600 cal a day.....


why is it then some weeks i lose NOTHING... nothing at all???? i work out 5 days a week... strange.

hmmmm my bod must be stubborn!
 
I do think it's harder for women to see consistent loss in the same way men do - we are a bit more at the mercy of our hormones than the men.

I know that I personally don't lose weight in one of those long consistent slides. I lose in chunks and fits. One week the scale will drop 4lbs and one week it'll say nothing at all - or even go up. Sometimes that's just a factor of the way my body loses. Sometimes it's all about my time of the month - a week before my period I'll usually start retaining water like crazy. I can always count on no loss or even a gain before my period. Then I'll drop a large chunk of weight just like *that*.

What I've learned, from years of weighing daily, is that it's about the overall trend, rather than the daily numbers. :)
 
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