What the BMR calculator tells me

[CRSunrise]

I went to a BMR calculator, and I inputted my age, height - all that

Age - 36

Height - 5'8"

Current weight - 282 lbs

The calculator is telling me that my BMR = 2,018 Calories/day. Now is this my calories in?

[JohnRi]

That is number of calories that your body burns if all you did was stay in bed all day and never moved.  It takes that many calories for your body to pump blood, keep you warm, breathe, etc.

As you lose weight your BMR will drop.  My BMR used to be 2500, it's now 1950.  That's after losing 68 lbs. 

Some say you should not eat lower than your BMR.  I disagree with that when you have a lot to lose.  You should be safe to eat 1300-1400 calories a day minimum.

[emili]

if you are moving at all - meaning you are not sedentary, you should be using the TDEE calculator which takes into account calories burned through movement. from there you determine a comfortable deficit and eat to that. use the scale to determine if your deficit is working or if you need to make adjustments. if you want to lose weight your in has to be less than your out. Your in also has to be made up of food that will keep your body working efficiently - no empty calories. Good luck in your adventure!

[Dominique]

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@CRSunrise wrote:

I went to a BMR calculator 

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Use this one, and you will also get the TDEE mentioned by @emili (just pick up an activity level). The TDEE obtained with the calculator should be close to the calories burned according to your Fitbit. The nice thing about using Fitbit is it tells you your TDEE based on your actual activity everyday (as opposed to the generic number obtained via the calculator). The calculator merely serves as a check, and as a way to isolate what you burn through BMR and through activity.

[CRSunrise]

@Dominique - I do notice throughout the day that my calories allowance does go up as I burn calories.