I thought I knew but now I'm confused.... Help?!

So I thought you take your BMR (calories your body burns in a day) and minuse 500 to lose a pound a week and you aren't starving until you're below 1200 cal  (female).  

Now I'm being told by a different health profressional that I should always eat my BMR, no less and focus on activity because going below MY BMR would cause starvation mode. My BMR is 1989 calories. Is this true? I'm also told that a healthy range for a women is 1200? - 1800. So, does this mean I want to lower my metabolism? I thought a high one is good? btw - I'm overweight by like 50 lbs but I have a lot of muscle and I'm 5'8".

wouldn't go as low as 1200. eating your bmr sounds right, eating less than that i dont think is right? i believe it's what u burn in a day for me 2100 THEN take off 500....ask a doctor,evryone is different and looses diferently

Original Post by catsy22:

So I thought you take your BMR (calories your body burns in a day) and minuse 500 to lose a pound a week and you aren't starving until you're below 1200 cal  (female).  

Your BMR is your BASAL metabolic rate, not what you burn in a day. Your BMR is the basic requirement your body NEEDS to function each day. You add your 'burn/exercise' calories to this to get your total for the day. Then you take 500cals from THAT total to lose 1lb a week. 

okay, but what if you don't exercise regularly, if you eat your BMR say 1700 calories (acc. to CC) and dont burn any extra, is that not maintenance? also confused.

Your BMR is what your body needs if you lay around in bed all day or were in a coma-like state. If you get up, move around, go to work, sit at a desk, do housework- thats all 'extra', and goes on top. Thats your maintenence.

Original Post by irishmum:

Your BMR is what your body needs if you lay around in bed all day or were in a coma-like state. If you get up, move around, go to work, sit at a desk, do housework- thats all 'extra', and goes on top. Thats your maintenence.

 Agreed. Your sedentary burn, or what you burn with no exercise, is your BMR times 1.2

Original Post by carolally:

okay, but what if you don't exercise regularly, if you eat your BMR say 1700 calories (acc. to CC) and dont burn any extra, is that not maintenance? also confused.

 CC does not calculate your BMR. The number they give you is the estimated burn totals for the day (your BMR x 1.2). You should not eat below your BMR (which as irishmum explained is the number of calories your body would burn if you were in bed all day). To figure out your BMR, google a BMR calculator and put in your stats.

Ah ha.. now I see thats okay I was thinking my sedentary burn rate was my BMR so thats cool, all is well. thanks guys

My nutritionist recommended eating BMR and working out to burn calories/lose weight instead of dieting because it's healthier, and I was already pretty close to eating no more than my BMR.

My BMR is 1489, so I eat from 1200-1500 cals a day, and then work out to burn about 300 calories. By walking around all day and doing every day things I burn about 2000 calories total (like 500 more than my BMR). So I burn 2300 calories total, and eat 1500 calories, so I have an 800 calorie deficit.

Basically, eat like 1900 calories/day, and exercise to burn 200-400 calories, and you will create close to a 1000 calorie deficit, which will help you lose weight.