Why are my calories set so much lower than my bmr thanks

Cabmonk

I just need to figure out about my calorie settings thanks. My Bmr is about 1940 according to cronometer. Other places sometimes had me around 2100. I workout 4-5 days a week for 4-7 hours total for the week. I have my activity set to sedentary so I can add exercise in. I was wondering why if my bmr is around 2000, even if I entered sedentary why is it showing my calories at just over 1300. Even on days I don’t workout shouldn’t my calories be above my bmr. It’s these kinds of things that confuse me and often make me stop tracking. I’ve had plans tell me 2275 calories per day. I’ve had plans tell me 2500-2600 on active days or 2100 on rest days. I’ve already lost 120lbs and just trying to lose my final 20-30lbs. I know it slows down as I get closer to my goal. Just any advice is great thanks.

Susan_RD_101

@Cabmonk

First, congrats on the lifestyle changes you've made that have resulted in such a substantial weight loss! Your BMR change likely reflects the fact that you weigh less. Most people think that losing weight increases our BMR but the opposite is true; the less there is of us, the fewer calories we need.

Your calorie target in Cronometer likely reflects the weight loss goal you set. I'd suggest readjusting it to lose weight at a slower rate (say 0.5 lb per week).

As a rule of thumb in weight loss, I usually suggest that people start by not eating more than their BMR. Based on their rate of weight loss and hunger, we can adjust from there.

Hope this helps!

Cabmonk

ok Thanks I just thought 1300 was low but it was actually showing me just over 900. I’m working on adjusting it. Because that’s definitely not right for a 6’2” guy still 215lbs lol.

MetalPirate

Make sure your height is set right. I had mine tank down once and it was because I fat fingered a measurement once and put in a height value of like 1 foot, and it actually updated my height in my settings and made all my calculations go out of wack.

I have mine set to None as I track everything with my Garmin Venu, and my BMR is 1950 according to Cronometer. That's at 5'9", 220 lbs.

For every lb a week of weight loss, you should be at a 500 calorie deficit, so if I was at a goal of losing two lbs a week, my goal would be 950 calories before any activity is added. That's typically ~300 (chronometer's sedentary estimate being quite close) then any exercise I do.

Cabmonk

Thanks I think I have it set pretty well now. I have it set to sedentary. One day maybe I’ll have a tracking and I’ll set it to none. I have made mistakes in the past on a calorie calculator and it said I needed 14,000 calories. Then I realized I had put a height of 62 feet instead of 6’2” lol.

robartsd

Yes, Cronometer has no sanity check on biometric entries. I entered body fat percentage as weight once, causing my calculated BMR to tank.

Cabmonk

Thanks, definitely just need to to be careful lol.

Jennn

Really helpful! Didn’t realize my selection of moderately active AND having watch connected was counting double. My calorie requirement seemed way high.