Do I eat my BMR? Or the number CC recommends...

First of all, stats: female, 18 yrs old, 150.0 pounds, 5'7" or so. Sedentary lifestyle. Trying to lose about 15-20 more pounds.

Alright. So, with my sedentary lifestyle on non work out days, CC says I burn 1800 calories. So, 1800 - 500 = 1300, right? (Which is around where CC says I should aim my calorie intake for my goal date.)

Well my BMR Is 1538 or so... and I've been hearing to not ever eat below your BMR... so, what do I do? I mean, I guess on work out days eatling 1538 would be fine... but I'd like a more than 250 calorie deficit on my non-workout days.

Is it alright to eat the 1300? Or should I jump up to the 1538. I don't want to do this wrong/cause gain/not lose... yeah. Thank you!

Personally, I think you should aim for your BMR. I know that it is frustrating that you won't have as much a deficit on non-gym days, but maybe that's incentive to have more gym days?

Also, you've been on here for 2 months - what's your progress been? If it's been good, you could keep what you are doing, since it seems to work for you (remember, it's all estimates, anyway). But if it hasn't been as successful as the math would suggest, then I'd definitely recommend upping to at least your BMR, and increasing your gym days or time to up your burn.

Thank you for the reply. I've lost 8 pounds in January and February. From 158 to 150 (five pounds in January, 3 in February). I've been at 150 for two and a half weeks, though. And I've tried eating at maintenance for a day or two, hoping it'd get me off the plateau... but it didn't.

I guess I can try doing the BMR thang for like, two weeks. See how it goes. I just... NEED to lose weight for the summer, for myself, and I get worried about 'wasting,' two weeks. 

it isn't wasting 2 weeks, even if you...gasp...gain a couple pounds.  Learning your body is time well spent.  This is a forever thing so knowing how your body works is priceless information.  If you find out that you can eat more, how much better will that be then starving yourself?  Summer is coming, but still months away...you can do it!

Yes... but two weeks that I can't get back/could have stayed the same or lost... dunno. Scares me.

 

I'm not starving myself at all, but I will try this for the two weeks and hopefully it will not be a waste. (: Thank youuu.

You should ALWAYS eat your BMR, if you don't your body will think there is a 'famine' and turn more of your calories into fat to save itself. 

Your BMR should be calculated as follows:

* Adult male: 66 + (6.3 x body weight in lbs.) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

* Adult female: 655 + (4.3 x weight in lbs.) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

 

Being that your 18, what is your diet consisting of?  Maybe changing up the 'types' of food that you eat could help.  Good whole grains and lots of fresh fruits and veggies with lean proteins are the best.  You DO need some fats in your diet also, just make them good fats and not a couple of fries off someone else's plate. 

My diet right now is Instant Oatmeal & a light yogurt for breakfast, for lunch and dinner I have a Lean Cuisine or a large salad with chicken breast meat.  I snack on fruit, veggies and light popcorn.  This has worked for me in the past (too bad I didn't stick too it, I'd still be skinny!)

I hope this helped.  Good luck! 

 

Thank you barkatt. I will jump  up to my 1550 or so that is my BMR and see how it all goes. Maybe this willlll get me to work out more often to get a larger deficit.

 

Thanks! Good luck to you as well. 

That's the same situation as me. my sedentary burn is about 1800 and my bmr is 1525ish. I've only lost about 4lbs since beginning of January (the whole time I've been doing this) due to overeating on a few days and general laziness! good luck to you though :D