BMR!!! Eating To your BMR... No Matter What!

[lene]

I know just what you mean. My BMR is lower than some of you, and I still find it a challenge to eat when I just don't feel like eating. And geesh, I hate having to weigh and measure every thing to enter into fitday. So I wish ya lots of luck, because I do think this is a solid approach to eating properly for our health *and* for weight loss, but it's WORK. Hang in there, and keep doin' your best -- every day you can work it, is one step closer to your goal.

[LoraJR72]

Originally Posted by Sybilizedliving

I had to share here FIRST....before my blog or anything.....

Two weeks into eating no less than my BMR and actually eating MORE calories, AND twelve weeks into a plateau.....this morning I stepped on the scale and I have had a substantial LOSS! Bring out the marching band and pompom girls! I'm down 3 kilos/6.5 pounds. How bloody cool is that?

Not sure if it was giving up nuts, drinking more water, pumping up the exercise, eating no less than BMR, just my time to break the plateau or what but I am just going to stick with what worked this last week.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and support. It will be great to see where we all are in another month of doing this. Can't wait to hear of your successes this week.

Should I update you on my chart?

[Zer]

401.2 today - with a brief glimpse of 399# as numbers flashed and I teetered on my talking scale - wooHOO! I'm here to say that eating to my BMR:2423cals, no matter what! works better than cutting back on calories to fuel my metabolism and to nurture my cellular function. Yay, BMR!!!

[color=fuchsia]Feb -5#[/color] 432.4(2/8) ... [color=aqua]March -13# [/color] ... [color=purple]April -5.8#[/color] ... [color=blue]May -6#[/color] ... [color=red]June:[/color] 402.8(6/1) 401.2(6/2)
-----
Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/401.2/199
WOE: Atkins+ALG; BMR:2423cals; 182gProtein; 128ozWater
432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8) 402.4(5/8) __?__(6/8)
-----

[slimdiva08]

Thanks Kisha and Lene I am def. going to give it a try... I should see some change possibly within a week ?

[Cyard]

Ok ladies, I'm seriously struggling. This whole 6lb gain from vacation is killing me. I really tried to make good choices! I had one free meal, which was planned, but didn't expect a gain. I'm working really hard at not letting this get me down, but I'm feeling those familiar..."what's the point?" feelings. The whole vacation I watched as my family ate all kinds of goodies and didn't partake and I gained 6lb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone help....

[lene]

w00t, Zer! WTG!

Diva, I wish I knew. It really seems to be the key for some of us, but I've also read that if your metabolism is really messed up from previous diets, it can cause you to gain briefly. You do eventually get your metabolism straight, though, and then eating this way really works (combined with lowcarb, of course) to allow your body to lose fat. You may be one of the lucky ones, since there seem to be plenty of us here, who do lose right away.

Bear in mind, though, that even slow loss is better than no darn loss at all, and eating for your health is the best thing of all. Good luck, and feel free to drop me a PM if you ever feel the need to celebrate or to grumble -- I know I sure have times like that, myself. <g>

Lene'

[lene]

Courtney, I know just how you feel. I gained a while back, about 5 pounds, and I still am not sure what I did to get that gain. And it stuck for what seemed like forever. It's especially galling to you because you worked so hard to stay on plan and you felt like you deprived yourself while people around you were indulging, and that is so darned hard.

How long ago was this vacation? I know that the times in the past when I've had a planned off-plan treat, it can stick with me for a couple weeks. And I'm finding that if it involves wheat or grain foods, it can stay even longer. It does eventually go away, though, so if you stick to the lowcarb plan and try to eat the right range of calories according to your BMR, you'll see progress int time, I'm sure. It's just that it's so difficult to not fall into the blues whn the weight seems stuck...

Maybe once this drops off again, you can take note of what food you chose for your off-plan treat, and plan to not have that particular thing in the future. It may be that the food you had is just one that really screws you up with your weight loss, and having had a different off-plan treat wouldn't cause quite such a struggle once you got right back on plan?

Good luck, girl!

[slimdiva08]

Thanks so much Lene you are already a great support system. I see that I have to do alot of planning to add more food into my day. I am really gonna try this I am hoping it works just as good for me azs it did you!!!!!!!!! Wow I didnt even see you were in ONEDERland congrats !!!!!!!!!!

[lene]

Thanks! It's seemed like I've been sticking here by the skin of my teeth, though. LOL

I agree, planning seems to be a key tool in doing this. An annoying tool, but a key one. <g> I hate having to *think* about what I'm going to eat or have eaten *every single day*. But then, I'm incredibly lazy... Guess it's a good thing I want to lose weight and be healthy more than I want to indulge my laziness, or else I'd really be hurtin'. LOL

[lene]

BTW, your avatar is gorgeous. If I had your eyes, I could die a happy woman. My own are a nice enough shade of blue, although not sparkling sapphire or anything cool like that, but they're kinda small. Little piggy eyes, I always think. <g>

[Zer]

I agree, her eyes are stunning! One of the things I notice in before/after shots is that peoples' eyes seem to get larger as their faces adjust with loss of weight - as if the eyes (window to the soul) are truly opened as we wise up to how UNimportant food is in our life. That's how I see the bigger eyes. Hope to see my own eyes opening up as I wise up and drop weight as a result of smarter LC eating. Can you imagine yourself with eyes that mesmerize, as SlimDiva's do?

[piedrafina]

hi all! this whole eating the right amount of calories thing is something i've been trying to figure out for awhile. real life got too busy for me and i was away from lcf for awhile. i come back and here you guys are talking about the things i'm thinking about! :-)

i'm hoping someone can help me shed some light on this. according to the bmr calculator, my bmr is 1844. so, then, according to the harris benedict equation, i would need 2212 (not working out currently so i used the sedentary category) to maintain. to lose, i would deduct 500 from that, which puts me at 1712. but i'm not supposed to go below 1844, right? so do i have to deduct less than 500? i kmow once i get back to working out (next week) i will have a different number to shoot for, but am i getting it right so far?

a big part of my confusion with something that should be so simple is that i've been keeping my calorie intake right at 2000ish for AWHILE now and i've been on a plateau for 4 months. i thought my bmr was higher when i set that 2000 calorie a day goal. i see now that i need 2200 to maintain, and 2000 is only a 200 calorie deficit. however, wouldn't that still be enough to see SOME movement, even if it was slow?

[Ilpirata]

401.2 today - with a brief glimpse of 399# as numbers flashed and I teetered on my talking scale - wooHOO! I'm here to say that eating to my BMR:2423cals, no matter what! works better than cutting back on calories to fuel my metabolism and to nurture my cellular function. Yay, BMR!!!

YAY BMR!!! YAY ZER!!!!
I LOVE seeing that new low number *flash by* on the scale.
Even when it doesn't stick it practically guarantees that my body is headed right to that number and I almost always *get it for real* in the next week or so!
You'll be there SO SOON.

[Ilpirata]

Courtney,
Try so so hard not to let this get you down. Like Lene said sometimes even one off meal can stick with us. It screws up our glucose and also causes water retention and all other sorts of nasties. Just go right back onto your plan where you left off. And maybe give yourself a week before you step back on the scale? This will give you time to get back into ketosis if you have gotten knocked out.
Hang in there sister!

[Ilpirata]

Hi Stacey,
Welcome to the BMR (no matter what) board.

I did a quick calculation for you and got a goal of 1912 cals per day but never below 1712. That said, I weigh 213 right now and have been losing on 2100 calories a day. I'm glad to hear that you will be adding in the exercise (not something I personally manage to do lol). Because of the metabolic advantage of low carb I would say that definately, YES you should be losing on 2000 cals a day of on plan low carb eating. This leads me to suspect your stall may have a different cause than just the number of calories a day you are using.

Are you tracking in fitday?
Which plan are you following?
What are your macros like (your ratios of fat/protein/carbs)?
Can you post a couple of days sample menus?

I'm hoping we can give you some good suggestions.
It seems like 2000 cals a day is right on track for your BMR so there must be some other culprit!

[Ilpirata]

Thanks Kisha and Lene I am def. going to give it a try... I should see some change possibly within a week ?

first let me concur with everyone on those georgous eyes!

Second, I saw a 2 lb loss my first week, another 2 lb loss the second, and the scale is moving down this week again as well.

That said, It is true that it depends on the damage you have previously done. Not to speak for her but poor Laura (JerseyGirl) had been on a heinous vlc diet for quite some time and did see an initial gain when she first started eating to BMR. She hung in there and the scale again started moving down for her at the higher calorie eating levels.

Chances are you won't see any gain but will lose instead - stay off the scale for a week... I bet you'll see some success after the first seven days.

[dointhis4me]

Calories Eaten Today
Total: 1721
Fat: 138 1240 73%
Carbs: 15 53 3%
Fiber: 2 0 0%
Protein: 101 404 24%


Sorry! I'm really back this time I haven't been too good about tracking and I'm sick so I've been forcing myself to eat. Thankfully I used Fitday today otherwise I would have been way below my numbers. I just had to force myself to eat two deviled eggs just to get to my BMR. Hope everyone is doing well I am very behind on reading too

Have a good night, I am off to take some more medicine and get some rest.

[Ilpirata]

take care of yourself Holly!

[Zer]

So tempted to jump on the scales to see if today is the day I get a solid 399# for working my LC program and eating more food than I want to eat as I work to eat up to my BMR:2423cals, no matter what! - but I'm going to give it one more day. I'll wait for Wednesday's midweek sneak peek to weigh myself.

Got a feeling that today will be a productive day, a day when I get up and OUT to pick up mail and tote trash to the dumpster and maybe do a few things that are piling up to be handled when I can manage to do more than hang around in bed to rest up a hinky hip (close to 2yrs now of resting up in lieu of medical care that my HMO is not inclined to give). The hip? I think it's getting better, but it still is able to scare me by hurting so bad that it fails me as I walk, so I am clutching a cane and grabbing furniture to get around. That sort of stuff is likely to give ANYONE a scare, so that's part of my fear about going out to do things that put me in public places where people notice how infirm I am.

Got a feeling that I can do today what needs to be done. Hope I'm right.

I never know. Not until I'm driving the car out the gate. Not until I get out of the car and walk the short distance to pick up my mail. Then I know that I've done it - once again - and that I am proud of my stamina and courage. Then I kind of hold my breath until I'm back home again, safe in my bed!

It's a bizarre life. I can see that. As the weight goes, I'm hopeful that I shall have more energy, more mobility, and be able to reclaim an active lifestyle.

Meanwhile, I'm working my LC plan. Thanks for the solid targets that I now have, that I've lacked in my earlier LC effort. Having solid targets is great. Having a scale to track data is great. Lots of LC tools at my disposale!!!

[JerseyGirl1969]

Kisha, ya spoke for me well.

I was 320lbs (5'6, female) on 900 calories for 6 months (Medifast), 1800 calories for six months prior to that (Jenny Craig). I was believing "eat less and move more". I was depressed as anything to be that fat, hungry, and hurting because of it. (See my before pic on my blog).

It took weeks of having the training staff at my gym talk to me about eating. They would tell me to eat post workout (heavens no!) and they'd sit with me as I struggled to eat a salad with chicken until the plate was clean. They taught me initially about the BMR rule.

Ultimately, and yes, I am being redundant for those new here, it's about fueling functioning. You don't expect a fire to stay lit without tending to it, feeding it logs as needed. And notice how when the fire starts to lose fuel, it goes down, but then shortly with the proper fuel it bursts bright and full? Your metabolism is the same! If you eat to BMR you are giving your body the fuel it needs to just stick around and do nothing. This is your "don't go below number" (which you adjust for every 10lbs lost). Then of course you use the Harris Benedict equation to figure out how much calories your body requires to sustain your level of activity. You then subtract 500 calories and voila, you will lose an average of 1lb a week, more possibly. So there you have your high and low numbers and know where you need to be.

This group is proof positive that it works. (I'm so happy for all you Losers! : ) ) And yes, as Kisha said, I initially gained (4lbs). It actually took my body 4-6 weeks before the scale moved at all. But now I'm 50 plus pounds down.

Your body knows. It's just your head that's getting in the way.

[Ilpirata]

It's a bizarre life. I can see that. As the weight goes, I'm hopeful that I shall have more energy, more mobility, and be able to reclaim an active lifestyle.

Ah, Zer, SO SORRY to hear more about your poor poor hip. I truly do believe that losing this weight once and for all is your ticket to freedom. Darn that stupid HMO and its disinclination towards treatment - YOU however are taking the proverbial bull by the horns and doing everything in your own power to improve your situation. Kudos to yoU!

[slimdiva08]

Originally Posted by lene

BTW, your avatar is gorgeous. If I had your eyes, I could die a happy woman. My own are a nice enough shade of blue, although not sparkling sapphire or anything cool like that, but they're kinda small. Little piggy eyes, I always think. <g>

Zer "I agree, her eyes are stunning! One of the things I notice in before/after shots is that peoples' eyes seem to get larger as their faces adjust with loss of weight - as if the eyes (window to the soul) are truly opened as we wise up to how UNimportant food is in our life. That's how I see the bigger eyes. Hope to see my own eyes opening up as I wise up and drop weight as a result of smarter LC eating. Can you imagine yourself with eyes that mesmerize, as SlimDiva's do?"

hahah yOU TOO ARE TOO mUCH !!!!!!!!!!! hahaha THANKS SO MuCH FOR The compliments !!!!!!!!! It really made my day !!!!!!! hug you two!!!


Ok I didnt make it to the my cals yesterday but I am trying again today, planning everything out!!!!!

Kisha I got some coc. oil too, like you it was expensive ! Its so funny that if you want chips or fast food its always way cheaper than something healthier for you. anywhoo Imma try to reach for it today.

[JerseyGirl1969]

Today is gonna be a tough day getting enough calories in.

3HB eggs
coffee w/heavy cream
2c broccoli
10 lg shrimp
soy sauce

NOT HUNGRY YET, still have
1HB egg
hamburger pie in my bag and I'm not yet at a 1000 cals

Think I need to stop at the store and pickup a porterhouse. That might get me to 1900c

[Ilpirata]

Think I need to stop at the store and pickup a porterhouse. That might get me to 1900c

mmmmmm... Porterhouse with BLUE CHEESE!

[piedrafina]

ilpirata: thanks for your response! i got a different number for my bmr because i used the weight my scale has been saying since february (240), not the one on my stats. i refuse to change my stats. what happened in february is what has happened to me so many times on this journey. i'll have a whoosh, then *boom* the scale goes back up. no cheats, no explanation, just UP a few pounds and it will stay there for a bit. this is the longest it has stayed, however.

i did the calorie requirement calculation awhile back and came up with 2400 for my weight (don't know how since i weighed 240 then too). i'm doing atkins (owl) so i had been shooting for somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 to 2100 calories and no higher than 40 carbs. however, i took a look at my fit day looking for menus to post and my numbers seemed to be more all over the board (calorie-wise) than i thought. here are two samples i found:

sample 1:
B: spongebob's flax bread w/peanut butter
S: coffee
L: Cheesy turkey and veggies
D: steak and veggie stir fry
S: LC cheesecake

Total: 1798
Fat: 131 1176 67%
Sat: 27 245 14%
Poly: 1 13 1%
Mono: 7 63 4%
Carbs: 68 170 10%
Fiber: 26 0 0%
Protein: 100 400 23%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%



sample 2:
B: spongebob's flax bread w/peanut butter
S: coffee
L: tuna patties
D: spanish style ground beef w/ veggies
S: LC cheesecake

Total: 2125
Fat: 155 1395 67%
Sat: 49 440 21%
Poly: 18 161 8%
Mono: 40 359 17%
Carbs: 59 166 8%
Fiber: 18 0 0%
Protein: 131 524 25%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%


and now for yesterday:
B: One minute muffin
S: coffee
L: tuna salad w/pork rinds
S: lc yogurt
D: parmesan chicken w/veggies
S: breadless pudding

Total: 1836
Fat: 122 1098 61%
Sat: 34 310 17%
Poly: 35 311 17%
Mono: 43 385 21%
Carbs: 40 109 6%
Fiber: 13 0 0%
Protein: 150 600 33%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%



looking at those samples, it is a possibility that the problem is the 2100 calorie days. like i said, i had done the calculator thing and gotten a calorie requirement (to maintain) of 2400, so 2000ish sounded good to me. the calculation i did yesterday says less.

i really hope someone can see something i don't because i've been over it and over it until i'm blue in the face. i've tried eliminating things (peanut butter, lc cheesecake, whipping cream, etc), i've lowered calories, raised calories, lowered carbs, raised carbs... nothing ever makes a difference. it seems like once my body decides to sit at a certain weight, there is nothing i can do. i get soooo frustrated with the whole thing.

[slimdiva08]

1288 cals so far and 1235 to go I am really tryin to get there !

[Ilpirata]

i really hope someone can see something i don't because i've been over it and over it until i'm blue in the face. i've tried eliminating things (peanut butter, lc cheesecake, whipping cream, etc), i've lowered calories, raised calories, lowered carbs, raised carbs... nothing ever makes a difference. it seems like once my body decides to sit at a certain weight, there is nothing i can do. i get soooo frustrated with the whole thing.

i took a look at my fit day looking for menus to post and my numbers seemed to be more all over the board (calorie-wise) than i thought. here are two samples i found:

Looking at those menus and the macros for those days there are two where you have undereaten. Have you ever consistently eaten 2000 calories per day every day no matter what for a week or more? 1700 is undereating for you. Would you be willing to try eating 2000 calories a day for a comitted length of time?

The other thing that jumps out at me is the flax. i know it technically counts as fiber but I have also heard of this being a staller in some people. Have you used it during your whole weight loss journey? I wonder what would happen if you cut it out for a week...

And finally, how long have you been eating the 40g of carbs? Have you lost weight eating this many? I personally have never ventured above 30 per day. I know some lose well on up to 100, but we're all different. This is another area you could tweak to try to stimulate results.

I guess I would say just try one or two things at a time. Definately try to comit to eating to your BMR every day for two weeks, and maybe also cut out the flax for a week. Sometimes this is the only way to discover our own body's individual quarks. If cutting it out gets your weight loss going again you can always look forward to re-adding it as you get closer to goal and maintenence.

[Ilpirata]

1288 cals so far and 1235 to go I am really tryin to get there !

Its hard at first isn't it! I've gotten alot better at it and you will too. For me its important to eat pretty much every few hours, even when I haven't gotten that belated hunger signal from my body. Also make sure to get your fats in there! Butter! Coconut Oil! Mayo! Full Fat Ranch! Aaaah, our LC Friends.

[piedrafina]

Originally Posted by Ilpirata

Looking at those menus and the macros for those days there are two where you have undereaten. Have you ever consistently eaten 2000 calories per day every day no matter what for a week or more? 1700 is undereating for you. Would you be willing to try eating 2000 calories a day for a comitted length of time?

funny enough, i actually thought i had tried to eat 2000 a day, but i see (after looking at those menus) that i was going under one day and over another. i am definitely willing to try 2000 calories for a few weeks and see if it helps.

Originally Posted by Ilpirata

The other thing that jumps out at me is the flax. i know it technically counts as fiber but I have also heard of this being a staller in some people. Have you used it during your whole weight loss journey? I wonder what would happen if you cut it out for a week...

i haven't been eating them since i started, but i have definitely not eaten any flax for weeks at a time with no results. as a matter of fact, this stall started before i ever tried the first flax muffin.

Originally Posted by Ilpirata

And finally, how long have you been eating the 40g of carbs? Have you lost weight eating this many? I personally have never ventured above 30 per day. I know some lose well on up to 100, but we're all different. This is another area you could tweak to try to stimulate results.

i looked back at periods where i was losing fine and i had gotten as high as 50 carbs with no problem. that was why i settled on 40 as my target. i figured it gave me a little more wiggle room and wouldn't slow me down. i'm not opposed to lowering it either.

[Ilpirata]

Stacey,

(I just LOVE that you have fitday to refer back to!)


Sounds like its not the carb count or the flax. Which puts the suspicion right back on the daily calories. Definately give 2000 calories a day every day no matter what a shot... give it two weeks, stick with it and track.

How long have you been stalled? My hideous plateau was close to three months. Ugh. I just had to keep asking myself - do I want to weigh more in a year, or less in a year. That thought really helped me not give up. Perseverence and patience are just needed for some of us on this journey. Hang in there! And good job sticking with it and continuing to look for answers! You CAN do it.