The allowance tool should be shot and buried!

After seeing so many people using the allowance tool number and then complaining about not losing or gaining I cannot stand it anymore!

The tools on this site use a BMR equation to figure out what you burn, the number it actually gives has an activity factor already calculated into it.  This is the first thing that confuses people.  If you want your flat out BMR, calculate it yourself, CC will not give it to you.

The allowance tool (ugh makes me cringe to even think about it)  simply subtracts a deficit somewhere between 500-1000 cals from whatever you burn (depending on goal date)  This is where the mistake comes in.  There is no brain to this tool that tells the calculation to go "no stop, the number you calculated goes below the bmr!" 

Me for example.  I'm 5'5, 133 lbs, 22 years old.  When I started on this site I was 128 lbs.  I was losing weight slowly but healthy and got a little too excited when I fit in a size 4 dress one day (the only size 4 I have ever fit in, normally i'm bigger 6, small 8)  So plugged in my stats to CC and put my burn on sedentary.  I wasn't able to get to the gym very often because of school and I horseback rode 1 time per week.  I figured I would rather underestimate my burn than overestimate.  so the allowance tool told me to eat 1200 cals.  At sedentary I burn 1700 so this gave me a 500 deficit.

BIG MISTAKE!!!!

I started this 1200 cal/day diet in November 06.   By Christmas I was 135.  I had gained 7 lbs and I was not overeating.  By January 07 I was 143/4.  What??? how could I have gained 15 lbs by eating only 1200 cals.  For the next several months I started going to the gym more, but not consistantly and stayed close to the 1200-1300 cal range, I  would lose a few lbs here and there and then would be back up to 144.  At one point I went to 138 and thought I was finally losing, but within weeks I was back at 142 consistantly. 

I had always read about BMR but I never really put two and two together.  So one day while at work I sat down and researched and realized i'm starving my  body... I need to allow myself to eat.

Around Oct 2007 I wasn't counting cals, but since cal counting is pretty much engrained in my head I knew I was eating about 1400-1600/day sometimes more on the weekends.  I was still not excersing regulary.  Dec 2007 I had a schedule that allowed me to go to the gym everyday.  The first day I went, I weighed myself and the scale read....134!  10lbs gone, by eating more.  Turns out my BMR is 1450.  CC Allowance tool told me 1200, it set me up for failure.  I'm not saying to not use this tool, just be more knowledgable than I was and know your BMR first.  If it gives you a number less than your BMR, ignore it and stick to the BMR.

Don't forget that while exercising you are also gaining body muscle, which also has weight tagged to it. A lot of people think that if they gain weight or don't loose any, that their diet and exercise is failing. Body muscle and weight loss go hand in hand. One week you are up 1 pound (muscle gain) next week you lost 2 pounds (not eating fatty, fried foods). Go with the flow, make sure diet and exercise are in correct ratio and you will see the pounds drop. Work it!

Original Post by mgosie:

Original Post by loislain:

My BMR is 1766. I eat 1350 a day, I burn 2100 a day using C-C tools on sed level and I've lost 7lb in a week. No one can tell me the tool don't work on this site and I bet there's loads more people can say the same. I think people are forgetting you have to eat less than you burn to lose weight. If I ate 1766 a day and laid in bed all day I wouldn't lose any weight. I'm on sed level so I'm not very active if I eat 1766 my deficit would be in the 300's and that's not enough.

i'm new here, but i checked out your great weight loss (congrats!) and see that you have alot of weight to loose -- and has been attested to over and over on this website, you are losing alot of water weight right now and some fat.  over time, as you approach your ideal weight (or maybe sooner) your body will see that you keep starving it by not feeding its BMR and your weight loss will come to a screeching halt.

thats the point of everyone posting here and talking about upping calorie intake to their real BMR. (Not the CC number...)

i for one can attest to the fact that i am within 15lbs of my goal weight, and only by eating MORE food, (my BMR) and exercising, is the weight finally coming off.  i was starving my poor little body with 1200 or less calories for so long and the scales didn't budge one damn bit -- for almost a year.  the second i started not caring and eating MORE, the weight fell off.  ad naseum..this seems to be the story around here.

so congrats!  and when you hit your plateau you will see what we are talking about.  :)

 I see what you're saying, when I get closer to my goal weight it will be harder and I will have to exercise and eat more calories or I'll end up eating under 1200cals.

I can attest that if you don't eat enough you will plateau.  I was at a plateau for 9 months and finally have begun losing again by increasing my calories.  My BMR is 1505 and that is my minimum for each day, even though the tools here say I can go as low as 1200.  I usually work out for an hour a day and burn 600+ calories  added into my burn for the day (1750) according to CC puts me at a burn of approximately 2300 cal.  I then subtract a daily deficit of 500 calories which = 1800 calories and that is what I try to eat.  Since I began this routine I have lost 10 # in about 6 weeks.  A good article to read is:  http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8. htm  It may help you understand the eating to lose weight.  Good luck.  

Leslie

Edit.  You may gain a few pounds the first couple of weeks until your metabolism kicks back in, but then you will start to lose.

I was on this site about a year and a half ago (before any mention of BMR) and lost 2 stone.  (I put weight back on again due to ill health, nothing to do with this site) and used the calorie target tool and burn metre.  If you're not ment to use them then what's the point of having them on this site.  I know it's only an estimate but if I eat my BMR i'm eating an extra 400 cals.  I would have to burn that off in exercise every day.  I can't afford to go to a gym or buy exercise equipment.  How can I be starving my body when I'm eating 500-700 under what I burn on sed level.

did you ever stop to think that you are not using the same scale and it varies... by alot.

I hear what's being said so I went to the link....according to their figures I am over weight... yet according to all the others including CC & my local hospital (had an operation and they checked my height,weight & BMI) I am within my ideal range for weight and BMI and I was heavier then?! So now I don't know who to believe.

anndjoe - what link are you refering to that says you are overweight? typically, sites use the BMI, and although some have different cutoff points, they tend to all use the same formula (I think CC puts normal at 20-25, but others say 18-25).

amethystgirl...the link that floggingsully gave on previous page...according to CC my BMI is now at 23.3? I don't think I'll be using anymore links and just stick with CC. I was quite shocked when the other site said I was overweight/obese I've come down from 180's to 153 and at 5"8 I don't think I'm still over to that extent?

yes you have to eat less to lose weight, but there is a point that should stop, it is possible to eat less and gain weight, case in point...me.

When you eat below your BMR your body does not have the energy to go about its normal functions.  It eats away at some of your lean muscle (because it is the most costly to maintain) to lower your metabolism to your new intake. Your BMR is now what you were eating.  Your body is also quite pissed at you and has started releasing "fat storing" enzymes.  These enzymes tell your body to hold onto anything you eat that is above your new BMR.  Regardless if you burn more than you eat at this point, your body has told itself to not let that food go.  It's preparing for you to drop your cals again.  There is only so much muscle your body can take to drop its BMR, it wants to store as much fat as possible in anticipation for that time.

Example: lets say you have a bmr of 1400 and are only eating 1200.  Your body will eventually eat some muscle to lower you bmr to 1200.  This is when you notice a flat line in your weight loss (the previous weight loss was actually muscle not fat)  If one day you eat 1300. those extra 100 cals are going straight to your butt and will not be burned off even if you burn 2400 cals in exercise.  Your body will not give them up

Once you start eating correctly you will initially gain some weight as your body is still releasing enzymes.  Once your body realizes you are not starving it anymore these enzymes will stop.  You will be given it enough food to carry out is duties.  If your bmr is 1400 and you eat at least 1400 when you excercise your body has no problem letting you burn excess fat because it has already been given the energy it needs.  No need to store

As far as eating BMR for your goal weight, yes you can do that, but.... if you have a significant amout of weight to lose eating your goal bmr with the amount you burn at your current weight is going to give you a huge deficit which is bad.  Example:

Lets say a 200 lbs woman has a bmr of 2000 (making numbers up) at sedentary she burns 2300 and with light excercise she burns 2600.  Her goal weight is 130 with a BMR of 1400.  If she ate her goal weight bmr, at sedentary she would already have a deficit of 900 cals which is really pushing, let alone if she excercised.  She could however probably eat 1800 on her sedentary days (below her current bmr) and have a deficit of 500.  This number is below her BMR, but above her goal BMR and gives her a safe deficit.  That is what is meant by eating your goal BMR.  I would not recommend doing this without speaking to a dr. i'm just explaining the theory behind it. 

All in all, figure out your current bmr and what you burn and find a safe deficit that keeps you above your current bmr.  As you lose weight adjust your bmr and intake.

Original Post by anndjoe:

amethystgirl...the link that floggingsully gave on previous page...according to CC my BMI is now at 23.3? I don't think I'll be using anymore links and just stick with CC. I was quite shocked when the other site said I was overweight/obese I've come down from 180's to 153 and at 5"8 I don't think I'm still over to that extent?

 The link that floggingsully gave was to determine your BMR, not your BMI - very different numbers. I did just try that site for BMI (a different page, but still that site), and got that your BMI is 23.26 (so same as CC+ said) and then gives the range for the "normal weight" which is 18.5-24.9.

So that site tells you are healthy. I think you either are looking in the wrong place, or made an error putting in your numbers.

However, the point of this thread was to say that you shouldn't eat under your BMR (the calories your body burns in a coma) even if the calorie target on CC+ tells you to eat less than that. If the calorie target tool tells you to eat a number that is higher than your BMR, then the tool is fine.

I don't agree.  I'm just going to stick to what this site tells me to do.  It's worked for me before and 100s of other people, it'll work again.  The proof is in the pudding and I'll just have to wait and see who's right.  For now I think CC is right.

Original Post by loislain:

I don't agree.  I'm just going to stick to what this site tells me to do.  It's worked for me before and 100s of other people, it'll work again.  The proof is in the pudding and I'll just have to wait and see who's right.  For now I think CC is right.

 Loislain - I think Liz's point is not to tell you that you are doing it wrong.  If you have found a calorie target that works for you, by all means, keep to it. However, for the 100s of other people who have stalled in their weight loss, this could very well be the answer. It was for Liz. It was for me. It was for a lot of other people who have been writing posts like "eating more works!" or some such.

If you are losing weight doing what you are doing, who is anyone to tell you to do it different?

But the idea behind BMR is to have a minimum that is better than the cookie cutter "1200" that this site uses - most of us need more than 1200, and eating that little caused us to stall. In my case, even eating more than 1200 caused me to stall - I started losing once I starting eating my BMR (and that was before all of these BMR posts - trial and error led me to it).

So don't change what you are doing. But if you find that you have reached a point where you are not losing, this might become an option for you. If you continue to lose at your current calorie level all the way til you reach your goal, more power to you.

I agree with cellophane_star about getting a professional assessment.

According the this link (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ ), I have a BMR of 1302. I had a professional BMR assessment done and I know my BMR is 1022. Online tools really are an estimate.

MOST people (not me of course) should err on the side of more calories than less. Basically, you want to eat the maximum amount you can and still lose. So start from more and work back to less.

Thank you amethystgirl, I see what you're saying & I think I understand now.  I am at the beginning of my journey, so to speak, I appologise to you all I know you're only trying to help.  I just want to get this right this time.

Original Post by anndjoe:

amethystgirl...the link that floggingsully gave on previous page...according to CC my BMI is now at 23.3? I don't think I'll be using anymore links and just stick with CC. I was quite shocked when the other site said I was overweight/obese I've come down from 180's to 153 and at 5"8 I don't think I'm still over to that extent?

I'm 5'8" and I weigh 160 and that site put me at a BMI of 24.33 which they say is normal weight. Are you sure you entered your numbers correctly?

Sorry that I deviatedfrom the original post I went to the link and got the same BMR as I had but went into things further and must have clicked a different thing than everyone else ended up at a site called sofeminine that's where the BMI figure was a bit of a surprise.

The past few days I've been very confused about this. I was eating about 1400 calories and losing weight so I wasn't concerned. But now I get it! My BMR is 1600. If I go below that my body is going to freak out and think that I am starving it and that it doesn't have enough food to survive. Therefore, I should eat 1600 calories everyday. And to get the 1000 calorie deficit I want, I have to do it with exercise! So my goal is to burn 2600 calories a day. GOT IT! I feel much better now:)

Original Post by floggingsully:

 BMR is the minimum number of calories you should eat in a day, it's essentially the number of calories you would burn if you were in a coma.  Just getting out of bed and sitting at a desk all day will increase your number of calories burned above your BMR.  To get an estimate of the number of calories you would burn if you were sedentary multiply your BMR by 1.2.

Once you know how many calories you would burn if you were sedentary, you can add the calories you burn through exercise to that number to get your total burn.  You should eat less than your total burn (500-1000 calories less is often recommended) but DON'T EAT LESS THAN YOUR BMR!!!, if you don't burn enough calories to get your deficit as high as you want, you can either increase the number of calories you burn (i.e. exercise more) or just accept that you'll have a smaller than desired deficit.

 Wow if that's true I can't believe I'm walking and talking! My BMR is 1407.8 and I eat less than that regularly. You people forget that not EVERYONE has the same metabolism!!

PLEASE HELP! I'm 5'5'' weight 157 and am stuck!! The BMR I looked up said I should consumer 1533 calories a day, but on here it says 2020 calories. I have NO IDEA what I should be eating. I'm new to this CC stuff and I'm completely lost. I rarely get the chance to work out because I work full time and go to school at night and on the weekends I'm either out and about or I want to lay on the couch and do nothing! So does anyone have any idea what I should be eating or how I can find out. I've only been doing this a week but I haven't lost but maintained my weight! So I"m not sure what to do. Please help! Thanks!

Original Post by erinlf:

... You people forget that not EVERYONE has the same metabolism!!

 Exactly, which is why it is important to use a personalized minimum calorie estimate (BMR) rather than a generic number which doens't apply to everyone (1200/1500)