BMR Calculator - differnce between CC and the gym scale

OK I went to the gym the other day and they have one of those handy dandy scales that does an individual health assesment-  give weight, BMR, BMI, total weight of fat, water etc...   well on here I have my settings on lowest possible...I have a desk job -- 10 hrs a day... Im 5'9 245 lbs 29 years old -  anyway it says my BMR is 2300 on CC... and the scale thing at the gym says BMR is 1912- thats a difference of 388 calories...  I have been eating between 1800- 2000 calories-- I went to the gym and did atleast 30-40 min of exercise a day for 18 days out of the month of August.. I have lost 2lbs... I expected that it should be closer to 5lbs..   Im just wondering if I should lower my calorie intake??  or is it muscle that I have gained...UGGHHH--    And could it be the 388 calorie difference??  Or should I just keep doind what I am doing?-- I think Im gonna keep doing what I am doing - but quit doing the weights for this month.. I was only doing 20-30 lbs on machines- to try to keep tone-(get tone) lol... but the guy at the gym said he recommends not to do any weight s for the first 3 weeks... so any opinions would be great.. thanks

CC does not give you your BMR. The lowest calorie burn number CC gives you is your Resting Metabolic Rate, not your Base Metabolic Rate. There is, actually, a difference. Your base metabolic rate is the amount of calories you'd burn while in a coma. What CC gives you is your daily burn that factors in what level of activity you are aiming for.

What CC gives you is the amount of calories you burn being sedentary. I would stick to that number and see what happens. =)

Can you explain what you just said....???  I have my settings on sedentary..wich is resting rate...sit on butt all day and do nothing .... I then log in any exercise after that..

Definition of-----Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy expended while at rest in a neutrally temperate environment.----   what is the differnce between what you are talking about and BMR..??

-Ok- now I am really confused...???  SOMEONE HELP ME!!

 

Original Post by clmcclelland:

Can you explain what you just said....???  I have my settings on sedentary..wich is resting rate...sit on butt all day and do nothing .... I then log in any exercise after that..

Definition of-----Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy expended while at rest in a neutrally temperate environment.----   what is the differnce between what you are talking about and BMR..??

-Ok- now I am really confused...???  SOMEONE HELP ME!!

 

"At rest in a neutrally temperate enivornment" means that you aren't doing ANY movement whatsoever. When your body is completely at rest, you aren't sitting, you aren't standing, you aren't getting up to go to the bathroom.

CC does not calculate your BMR for you. Your sedentary burn rate that CC does calculate for you is your BMR multiplied by an activity factor (I believe 1.2 or something similar). Even though you aren't exercising throughout the day while sedentary, you are getting out of bed, going to the bathroom, taking a shower, getting dressed, lifting things from time to time (food/plates/books). When you're in a coma, you're not doing anything. You're just laying there. The only activity going on within your body are the processes required to keep you alive: brain activity, organs functioning, breathing. Your BMR is the amount of calories your body uses just to complete its most basic functions: breathing, thinking, pumping blood, maintaining body temperature. Your BMR does not factor in ANY level of activity other than just living.

That's the difference between BMR and RMR.

Here is the simpliest way to explain it. Your bmr is the number of calories that your body burns just being alive (pumping blood, breathing, digesting food, you get the picture). This is your recommended calorie intake as eating lower than this could result in starvation mode (you can google bmr calculators to figure this out, but the bmr given by your gym sounds right. note: it will lower as you lose weight, so keep recalculating).

The number CC gives you is your bmr x1.2 and it estimates how much you would burn doing daily activities (showering, going to work, etc). On sedentary it does not take into account vigourous exercise of any kind, so you need to add that to your activity log to make sure you dont have more than a 1000 calorie deficirt.

So basically I would suggest eating 1900 calories a day (approx your bmr number) and continue with the exercise. If you still dont see results, maybe up your cardio.

GOOD LUCK!

Sex: ?MF Age: Height: ft incm Weight: lbkgst Calculator Status:Calculator: BMR & RMR Next: Make another calculation or click on Calculators. BMR & RMR Results:The results of your calculations are: BMR 1,911 RMR 1,906 (calories) For an explanation of BMR and RMR and important notes on the accuracy of these calculations, see Calculating BMR and RMR. We also explain why RMR is likely to be more appropriate for your needs. As BMR and RMR only represent resting energy expenditure or calories burned during a day of rest, an adjustment must be made to reflect activity level. This can be done by multiplying by an activity factor: Factor Category Definition BMR RMR 1.2 Sedentary Little or no exercise and desk 2,293 2,287 job 1.375 Lightly Active Light exercise or sports 1-3 2,628 2,621 days a week 1.55 Moderately Active Moderate exercise or sports 2,962 2,954 3-5 days a week 1.725 Very Active Hard exercise or sports 6-7 3,296 3,288 days a week 1.9 Extremely Active Hard daily exercise or sports 3,631 3,621 and physical job

Sorry - I click the last one on accident..lol  anyways---- there is only like 7-10 calorie difference.... between RMR and BMR...  so I guess,, I need to take the lesser of my usall 1800-2000 calories a day..lol   1800 it is..!!

Thanks for your help!!

This is from Caloriesperhour.com

          Sex: ?MF       Age:  Height:  ft  incm       Weight: lbkgst                     

 

 

 Calculator Status:

  Calculator:  BMR & RMR
Next:  Make another calculation or click on Calculators.

 

 

 BMR & RMR Results:

  The results of your calculations are:  BMR 1,911   RMR 1,906 (calories) For an explanation of BMR and RMR and important notes on the accuracy of these calculations, see Calculating BMR and RMR. We also explain why RMR is likely to be more appropriate for your needs. As BMR and RMR only represent resting energy expenditure or calories burned during a day of rest, an adjustment must be made to reflect activity level. This can be done by multiplying by an activity factor: Factor    Category                Definition                               BMR      RMR   1.2 Sedentary Little or no exercise and desk 2,293 2,287   job     1.375 Lightly Active Light exercise or sports 1-3 2,628 2,621   days a week     1.55 Moderately Active Moderate exercise or sports 2,962 2,954   3-5 days a week     1.725 Very Active Hard exercise or sports 6-7 3,296 3,288   days a week     1.9 Extremely Active Hard daily exercise or sports 3,631 3,621   and physical job  

well my copy and paste -  doesnt work  on here..lol -   I am so sorry...

 

Go to caloriesperhour.com---  there is only like 7-10 calories different between the two...

CC only calculates your burn at various activity levels (sedentary, light activity, moderate activity, and very active).

If you have your settings to the lowest level (sedentary), then that is not your RMR.  It is your RMR x 1.2. 

Caloriesperhour.com suggests that your calories burned at Sedentary is 2287 calories (based on your info above). CC suggests you burn 2300 calories at sedentary.  That is only a difference of 13 calories (again, based on your info that you copy and pasted).

Once you add in any exercise, your calories burned will increase.  The Burn Meter on the home page will display the estimated calories burned for the day (top number).  Subtract the deficit you are aiming for and consume that number of calories for weight loss.   

There are a number of calculations for determining RMR (and thus BMR, as the above posters have explained). There is no one that is definitive, to the best of my knowledge.

Some of the calculations take into account factors such as body fat %. It is possible that the gym scale is doing so, though probably based off of it's calculation of body fat, which is subject to some margin of error.

That so, I'd find the scale more trustworthy, as it is taking more data into account and, frequently, the body fat percentage can change these things to no small degree. Honestly, I wish that CC let us choose which calculation to use, as opposed to picked one.

Also, guy at the gym? It depends on why he said that, but I'm guessing that his reasons are bunk. Likewise, the "only doing 20-30 lbs on machines" is equally bunk. First off, there's no real such thing as tone, nor a realistic worry you'll bulk up too much, and CC forum dogma suggests that machines are evil.

Don't stop doing strength training.

I made that mistake and now i am "Skinny Fat". I was doing all cardio and it ate up what little muscle tone i had - so now i have to start over.

You will find that if you do a free weight workout, you can burn just as many calories as if you were jogging on the treadmill for the same amount of time - at least i do.

I found that the most accurate calorie calculator is at www.phord.com/cc

Put in your info (skip the body fat% unless you  have had it measured by a doctor) and follow the advice on there.

 

 

Your Estimated BMR (calculated at http://phord.com/cc):
BMR=1904 :: RMR=2285

Your customized recommendation:
EAT 1904 calories :: BURN 2285 calories :: LOSE 0.76 lb per week

Reasoning:

Deficits: Your deficit is the difference between how many calories you eat and how many calories you burn. Your recommended deficit is 381 calories. This is the least of your Activity Deficit (381 calories), your Safety Deficit (1225 calories), and your Maximum Fat Calorie Expenditure (which cannot be calculated without knowing your body fat percentage).

Activity Deficit (381 calories): This is the number of calories you burn in your daily activities (such as being awake, driving to work, exercising, doing homework, etc.). This is an estimate based on the amount of exercise you indicated you do each week in the form above, averaged out for daily deficit numbers. For sedentary individuals this is 20% of your BMR.

Safety Deficit (1225 calories): Nutritionists say that you can safely lose no more than 1% of your body weight per week. For the weight you gave (245 lb), you can safely lose about 2.45 lb per week. Because each pound of body fat contains 3500 calories of energy, your safe deficit is 2.45 lb * 3500 calories per pound per week = 8575 calories per week, which comes to 8575 / 7 = 1225 calories per day.

Maximum Fat Calorie Expenditure (unknown without body fat percentage): One study found that body fat in humans can be converted to energy at a maximum rate of 31 calories per pound of actual body fat per day. Any energy you expend beyond this rate comes from your intake of nutrients and the breakdown (catabolysis) of your muscles. Weight loss in most people consists of about 75% FAT and 25% MUSCLE. Since we can calculate the actual amount of body fat in your body using your Body Fat Percentage (if given), we can determine the optimal calorie deficit to focus on FAT BURN instead of MUSCLE LOSS. To optimize your FAT BURN instead of MUSCLE LOSS, you should choose a deficit that does not exceed this value. (Persons wishing to lose muscle as well as fat can ignore this deficit limit.)

Edited to add:

BMR and RMR are used pretty interchangably even though they are really not the same thing.

BMR is what your body needs for basic functions just to keep you alive. As someone already stated, this is what you would burn if you were in a coma.

RMR is your BMR times an activity multiplier. In the case of sedentary, it is 1.2. In other words, if you are sedentary you burn about 20% more calories than your BMR.

Thanks for you help!!

I am not going to address the BMR vs RMR as I think people have explained it well.  Bottom line is that you need to eat enough calories to keep you going while still losing weight.  This is an eating plan that you will have to sustain over a long perior of time (probably at least a year) to lose the weight you want.  3lbs in one month is very good.  I think your instinct to just keep doing what you are doing is the right one.  This is a lifestyle change.  Something you have to live with for a long time.  Cutting calories lower might cause you to lose weight quicker but it can cause you to start yoyoing because it is difficult to sustain.  

Regarding exercise.  Since you lose weight by eating fewer calories than you normally burn, adding any kind of activity that burns calories is good.  Also, exercise that uses the arms and legs burns the most.  The reason weight lifting is good is because it adds muscle.  More muscle the more calories you burn.  Adding muscle can also cause a negligable weight gain.  Not bad because it is muscle.  As you lose weight and feel more like exercising, do make sure that you add exercise to your day.