calculating my daily calorie allowance

[Domane]

Just remember that BMR and TDEE are AVERAGES so you may lose quicker or slower. The only way to know if it will work is to try it and see how you get on. And I would give it at least a month before assessing as the initial weight loss will just be your glycogen stores and will give you a false impression.

And yes, any exercise you do is better than none at all! Let us know how you get on.

ETA: I'm curious to know why you "can't" eat less than your BMR??? According to the internet, my current BMR (ie, at my new, lower weight) is 1332, yet I have lost weight healthily on just 8400 calories a week since May. Within those calories I have four horses for whom I poo-pick daily and ride plus I run anything upward of 5K at least twice a week, or workout at the gym. I feel brilliant and certainly not zapped of energy.

 

[TracyGWill]

Just remember that BMR and TDEE are AVERAGES so you may lose quicker or slower. The only way to know if it will work is to try it and see how you get on. And I would give it at least a month before assessing as the initial weight loss will just be your glycogen stores and will give you a false impression.

And yes, any exercise you do is better than none at all! Let us know how you get on.

ETA: I'm curious to know why you "can't" eat less than your BMR??? According to the internet, my current BMR (ie, at my new, lower weight) is 1332, yet I have lost weight healthily on just 8400 calories a week since May. Within those calories I have four horses for whom I poo-pick daily and ride plus I run anything upward of 5K at least twice a week, or workout at the gym. I feel brilliant and certainly not zapped of energy.

The general rule of thumb is to not eat below your BMR, but not everyone follows that as gospel. As long as you don't go below a net of 1,200 you should be ok, but I'd never personally go that low. xx

 

[TracyGWill]

I'd been told by various sources that you shouldn't go below your BMR, as it's the amount of energy your body needs daily to function. However, I'm not sure why your body can use the energy from stored fat to complete daily tasks and exercise (i.e. the amount more than your BMR which forms your TDEE), but not use that stored fat for your daily BMR needs. Maybe someone could shed some light on this?

Thanks.

There's a lot of conflicting advice on this, to be honest. If you Google it, there's a lot of debate around whether it's ok to eat below BMR or not. At the end of the day, you just need to find what works for you. I do eat probably a little below my BMR, but would never go lower than around 1,400 a day. Certainly you shouldn't have a net intake of less than 1,200, that's definitely what most people agree on. xx

 

[Domane]

I think you have to have common sense and work out your own personal plan. What might work for someone else, won't necessarily work for you. I have probably broken no end of "rules" with the personalised plan that finally shifted my weight but I certainly don't feel I have starved or sacrificed anything in the process.

When I started losing weight back in May, I weighed 13:2. My BMR was 1471 and my TDEE was 2023. I also started the Couch to 5K programme, having never run a step in my life. I figured that running would burn extra calories off! Back then I was following SW so I dilligently did my "green days" as I was a total carbo-holic... and over the course of 2 months, I did lose a stone. But then it started slowing down and a chance remark on here made me review my eating habits. In a nutshell, I gave up all "white carbs", switched to 5:2 fasting and calorie counted on my 5 normal eating days. I decided to allow myself the dreaded 1200 calories a day... BUT spread out over a week... like so.... 1200 x 7 = 8400, less the 2 x 500 calories I was allowed on my fasting days = 7400. Divide this by the remaining 5 days and it left me with 1480 cals per day. By this time, having lost a stone, my BMR was 1399 and my TDEE was 1923. Sticking to this plan, with running 3 times a week, I averaged 2lbs a week weight loss. BUT at no time did I feel tired, under par or depleted. In fact, I have consistently felt wonderful, fantastic and bounce off the walls with energy. I'm sure that this is largely in part to the reduction in simple carbs. I eat complex carbs in the form of oats and lentils now so I'm not deficient.

Having lost 46lbs now, my current BMR is 1263 and TDEE is 1736. I have just started maintenance, which is a very scary area for me as I've previously never been able to keep the weight off (classic yo-yo!!!) BUT then I've never been a runner before OR given up my precious carbs, so those two things convince me that this time I DO mean business. I'd set my target as 9:13 (I'm a woman, who wouldn't want to be 9 something rather than ten stone exactly ) but I'm now thinking that I'd like to get down to 9:10 so that I can have my usual body fluctuations and still remain within the nines.

I do weigh myself daily... but I'm sensible enough to know that my weight naturally fluctuates and I like lists and analysing. As well as recording my weight daily, I also note whether it has been a fasting day, a gym day, a running day or a bacon roll day!!! It is VERY interesting to note that if I do relent and eat white carbs, I will retain a lot more fluid for 24 hours, so my weight can go up by a whole two pounds, when I didn't eat that amount of carbs in the process!!

My journey to my ideal weight has also opened my eyes to the science of nutrition and I'm really fascinated by it all now. As well as being a heck of a lot more interested in trying out new recipes. You can't keep me out of the kitchen these days!!!

As I said at the beginning, everyone is different so you have to trial and error a plan that works for you.... possibly pinching a bit from one diet plan and a bit from another. We are all individuals, so it makes sense that losing weight is an individually-tailored thing too.

Good luck Stay determined and motivated!!!