p.may

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to FitDay and weight loss in general. I know my BMR is 1275.55 and I have been exercising regularly for the past 2 weeks, and eating healthy. I am currently averaging 900 calories a day, according to FitDay Calorie Balance I should be eating 977calories, do you think this would slow down my metabolisim? I'm worried because I've read elsewhere that if you don't eat enough your body will go into starvation mode.

Any help would be appreciated

TIA

Vienney

I do not think it is very healhty to eat only 977 daily.
I personaly would keep it at around 1200 cals.

Try to do more exercise in order to burn calories.

I keep myself below 1800 and manage to keep weight off, slowly but surely

God be with you

p.may

Thanks for your response. Yeah, I thought it was low too. I do at least 40 minutes of cardio a day. So I'll try keeping it betwen 1000-1200 calories a day.

Thanks again

vsabino

I don't think anyone can has a definite response to this. A lot of people talk about this "starvation mode" but I'm not so sure it actually happens.
I am supposed to eat around 1900 cal; I try to eat 1000 and I do lose some weight but very slowly, as usual (which would give strength to the "starvation" argument). My boyfriend though is supposed to eat 2700 cal, and eats the same 1000 that I eat and he loses a lot of weight. And we eat the same types of foods and do the same level of exercise (very little).
So I'm not entirely sure. (The muscle loss etc. is another point of discussion, we ar here only discussion if the body does go into a starvation mode which prevents you from losing weight).

But for sure exercising helps to speed up the metabolism.

I'm still trying to find out bottom line.
I simply don't think that, with the same level of exercise, if you eat 1200 cal you will lose more weight than if you ate 1200 cal.

Good luck!

rpmcduff

Everyones body reacts differently to calorie deficits. Some can handle high deficits (1000 - 1500) and some can only handle 500 before their metabolism slows. Most can handle deficits in the 700-800 range for extended periods.

I am slightly confused after looking at your posts a second time. You stated your BMR is 1275 but in another post you stated that you do 40 minutes of cardio daily. You need to add the activity calories to your BMR then subtract your food calories to see your actual deficit. (BMR + Activity - Food = Caloric Deficit).

Hope this helps.

vsabino

I think she is referring just to the basal caloric need at 1275 (not even the lifestyle caloric need). She should do (lifestyle +activity - food)= deficit.
Am I right?

rpmcduff

Yes, BMR(including lifestyle calories) + Activities - Food = Caloric deficit.

jeffvivb

Hi Tia: Since your eating only about 300 calories less than your BMR, you won't have any trouble as long as your getting your necessary vitamins and minerals. I'm surprised that you have a low BMR as it is, since I'm used to hearing the minimum around 1800. As long as you have energy, not starving yourself, & don't feel like you have to cheat, you'll be okay. Read a book called "Body Fuel" to get additional insight on your food needs and requirements. Also check out mypyramid.gov. Jeff

cjohnson728

I'd be surprised if you can get all you need nutritionally on 900 calories a day. You may want to opt to put in a healthy dose of exercise so you can eat more, or put up with a slower weight loss.

I'm not surrpised her BMR is that low; it depends on how big you are, how old you are, etc. Mine is 1210, according to all the calculators I have found to plug it into. I'm just a small person, so I don't burn anywhere near what others do. It makes losing slower because you don't create as much of a deficit, but it can be done, just stick with it. I really tried to avoid going too low on the calories because I didn't want my metabolism to get any slower than it already was. It took a while but it was worth it, and I think that adding in weight training and building some muscle helped stoke my metabolism as well...good luck to you

p.may

I re-calulated my BMR and it's actually 1288.6 so I add 2030 of activity to this

1288.6 + 2030 - calorie deficit?

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm new at this and horrible with math

Thanks again for everyones respose. It feels great to have all the help and support