NM

NM

i guess they're just different?
one time in some nutrition books (one American and one Canadian) i saw that a braeburn apple had 2 less carbs and ten more cals in the American book than the Canadian book (or it was something like that).
So I guess in Canada apples are less calories! Apple lovers, bring your apples over the border and save 10 calories! lol.
Not everything you find will calculate the same, that is all I'm trying to say. lol

NM

Every time I read threads like this I end up second guessing how many calories I'm eating... I eat 1500 on my non-gym days giving me a deficit of about 600, 1700 on my gym days giving me a deficit of 1000.   According to the link you posted my BMR is 1824.  I've been losing 1-2 pounds per week and feel like increasing it to 1800 calories would slow down the weight loss.

It seems to me like there is a lot of contradictory information out there and you just have to use your best judgment and go with what works for your body *shrug* 

I believe she meant that you can get different information about anything from different sources.

NM

Original Post by razcal2267:

Original Post by karefreeman:

I believe she meant that you can get different information about anything from different sources.

That might be but it in NOWAY related to BMR.

 Haven't you heard the phrase "we're talking about apples and oranges" when nothing makes sense?

I don't know if I am totally off base here or not, but I tried your link. My BMR was 1842 - but if I read the information right, (which i might not have!) I still had to take that number times 1.2 (for sedentary) and that number ends up being around 2200 which is what CC tells me is what my body burns as sendentary - AND then I have to minus 500 to make my calorie goals 1700 to lose weight. So when I used your link, essentially I got exactly the same calorie needs from BOTH CC and the link. 

I also tried this with your information - I took 1450 times 1.2 (sedentary), that equals around 1700, and CC is probably telling you to eat 1200, which is their standard deficit to lose weight. (but not necessarily the right calories for you. I think you still have to use your best judgment.)

Again, I could be totally wrong here and be missing something. But its just my two cents!

Jessidoran - you are totally correct, but what you are missing is that many people have found that they stall/plateau when they eat below their BMR (which is not a number that CC+ tells you directly).

So, were you to find out that you are stalling at 1700, you could up your intake to 1850 (so now you'd be eating at your BMR level), and increase your activity so that you burn an extra 150 calories --> result - you are still eating at a 500 deficit, but now your body is getting enough to have its "basic" existance, and isn't trying to hold onto fat stores.

And, before the barage of messages - this isn't necessarily true for very overweight people, who for some reason seem to be able to eat below BMR. But for people within the slightly overweight-normal range, I believe the rule of "dont' eat below your BMR" holds true, typically.

To answer Raz's question - CC+ was set up with certain rules for how it calculates it calorie target. It takes your daily burn (based on activity level) and subtracts either 500, 750, or 1000, based on your current weight, and gives you a calorie target, not to go below 1200 if female, 1500 if male.

The 1200 and 1500 come from sources that say those are the minimums for women and men. Those numbers are based on studies done, not on an average woman, but a small, young woman (19 yr, 100 lb, 5'2", i believe). The result of the study was that 1200 was her BMR. So, instead of saying that's the min. for everyone, we can say that BMR is the min for everyone (with exceptions for very overweight/obese people), and people are less likely to stall. However, you do have to accept that you might have to increase your activity to get to a 500 deficit, or accept a slower rate of weight loss.

NM

NM

Then your vent is duly noted, and I agree - it is annoying and confusing.

NM

Here is a link to a previous discussion

http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/761 04.html

BMR is not the figure to work with, but rather, only a measure of how many calories, ROUGHLY, your body would burn should you remain entirely still all day. 

 

I'm sorry, this is a little off topic but i am totally confused. I am trying to lose weight and don't understand the lingo here and how to go about doing that. Can someone please pm me to help me understand BMR, and all that. I really just don't get it

NM

NM

The only way to get an accurate bmr is to go to a doctor.   To loose weight (according to my trainer) you eat 250 under your bmr and work out 250 worth of calories.  This will equal one pound loss a week.

well, that's not right, since even without a workout, you are burning more than just your bmr. BMR does not equal sedentary burn.

Original Post by razcal2267:

Original Post by fairydust125:

I'm sorry, this is a little off topic but i am totally confused. I am trying to lose weight and don't understand the lingo here and how to go about doing that. Can someone please pm me to help me understand BMR, and all that. I really just don't get it

I wish I could farydust but as you see there are conflicting views on how to go about it and I do not want to confuse you anymore. You might get some help if you add in your stats though.

Thanks! Well my weight is about 137 lbs, im 5'4, 21 yrs old. I want to lose about 30 lbs. And i workout atleast 5 days a week, jog for an hr which burns 500 cal. plus the extra activities thru out the day, walking, etc. So far i have been eating about 1200-1400 calories a day because im not exactly sure how many im supposed to be eating...and at what time should be my last meal or snack. Any help or advise would be great, even if i do get confused lol

Here is some easy info about BMR and Daily Caloric Needs:

This isn't too hard to calculate using a BMR calculator.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

OK, so now you have a number.

That number roughly estimates how many calories your body will burn if you lay in bed all day.

Now, we just multiply that number X the number that matches our activity.

We use this chart to find that number that we multiply times the first number we got from the calculator.

Harris Benedict Formula

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

No big thing, just BMR X the number that matches our activity.

Now you have the number we actually work with: Daily Caloric Needs. 

This is, roughly, the amount of calories our body will burn on one day.

In order to lose weight, one must create a deficit. 

You can accomplish this by:

Consuming less calories,

or, exercising, which will burn calories.

If I find my final number, (Daily Caloric Need) to be 1,800 calories, that will mean that if I eat 1,200 calories, I will have created a deficit of 500 calories.

A deficit means my body will be short the calories it needs to function, and thus will utilize the body's stores to function, hopefully made up of more fat then other things. 

If I do that for 7 days....I multiply 7 times 500, right?

That number equals 3,500 calories.

3,500 calories equals one pound, so theoretically, I will lose one pound of weight from my body.

I could do the same thing by burning 500 calories a day, right?

It is very important to understand that these numbers, calculated in this way, must be inaccurate, as they do not take in to consideration your personal muscle mass, accurate activity level, whether you are sick, or well. There are many variables to consider.

However, it seems to be a respected guideline to utilize for the purpose of creating a plan of action, as long as we pay attention to what is occuring, and realize we may need to adjust depending on how our body is reacting.

BMR is thrown around a lot, but it is not a useful number for us, and is NOT the number we should be working with.

BMR times the appropriate figure in the above chart is what will give us our daily caloric needs, or, the amount of calories we roughly burn in one day. 

THAT is the number from which we should create the deficit.

Best,

Jen