Innacurate caloric requirement calculation

[Unna]

Hi everyone,

Like many of you, I am trying to loose a few pounds. But I find that the caloric requirement calculation to reach x goal is off. If I am not mistaken, even if you are trying to loose a little weight, a female should not go below 1,200 cal, and a male should not eat less than 1,500 cal per day. But when the system calculates what I am supposed to eat, based on my activity level and my goal, it consistently gives me a calculation below that limit. I think it could me a dangerous guideline, if you are not aware of this parameters...

[BarbaraForcebit]

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[SunsetRunner]

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@BarbaraForcebit wrote:

This came from Shape Fitness Magazine

By Dr. Mike Rousell

Q: How many calories should I eat per day to lose weight?

A: Calculating the number of calories you need to lose weight is a relatively simple, three-step process. The Harris-Benedict equation is the most widely used method of calculating your calorie needs (and thus your calorie needs for weight loss). Here is the Harris-Benedict equation for women:
BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
You just need to plug in your age, height, and weight. The number you get is the total number of calories you need each day to exist (also known as your basal metabolic rate, BMR). For example, a 50-year-woman who is 5' 7" and weighs 160 lbs has a basal metabolic rate of 1441 calories.

I hope this helps you.  I believe this to be a credible source!

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The weight calculation for aerobically athletic women is: 3.5 time height (in inches) less 108

So, if you're 5 ft. 10 in. then it's ((70 times 3.5) less 108) equals 137 lbs. Use this for your athletic

weight, and add 10% (or so) if you're not that athletic. This would be your weight goal.

[BarbaraForcebit]

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[Unna]

Hi Barbara,
Several of my friends, are also dietitians.  Going below the caloric requirement mentioned, is unhealthy; as your body will go into starvation mode, and it will burn your muscles as well, not only the fat.  Mabel Rivera Padilla, MD 

[SunsetRunner]

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@BarbaraForcebit wrote:

Where did you get this from?  What source?

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Learned this when studying physiology, and that was many years ago.

The Male Aerobic Athlete, Weight in Lbs. = 4.0 times Height (in inches) less 128

Female Aerobic Athlete, Weight in Lbs. = 3.5 times Height (in inches) less 108

Please note this is supplementary (not contradictory) to info. you provided.

[BarbaraForcebit]

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[BarbaraForcebit]

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[Heybales]

Why estimate daily burn and therefore eating levels using a few rough levels - when we are on a site for a tool specifically designed to give best estimate of daily burn for infinite levels, remove a deficit, and give an eating goal based on it?

Just use the tool as designed.

And BTW, Harris BMR formula from the 1919 study has been improved many times over the years, most recently by the consired 5% more accurate, and especially as fat mass increased for overweight, Mifflin-St Jeor BMR formula.

Harris can have some accuracy at healthy goal weight, if you haven't lost too much muscle mass on the diet journey.

But then again - BMR doesn't tell you what level you should eat at - that's an estimate of what you burned if you slept all day. So if in hospital bed in coma, sure it's useful to Dr then as to how much to feed you.

I'd suggest never start at bare bones bottom like BMR, start at potential TDEE Fitbit is going to tell you (if manually corrected for some items), and subtract a reasonable amount.

And for short females and males - they could have BMR's well below 1200 and 1500, and therefore a diet eating goal at reasonable level could also be below those figures.

It just means for nutrition they have to work harder to get everything in. Or up their daily activity, so when deficit is removed, eating level is higher and easier to adhere to.