File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Hey /fit/ I am new so please be gentle.
What I have learned from lurking is that if I consume 500 calories below my BMR (2000) and continue my beginner-ish level exercise I'll lose fat.
Am I on the right track?

Pic not related.
>> Anonymous
1st off: good for you for lurking

2nd: there's 3500 calories in a pound of fat. Consuming 500 calories under your BMR will make you lose 1lb of fat a week, which is a very good pace indeed. Make sure you're using your Harris Benedict-adjusted BMR, though, or just manually add in the work you do (which can be tricky).
>> Anonymous
>>262416
Hey thanks for the info - looked that up and my Harris Benedict BMR comes out to 3,100 (I classified my exercise level as moderate).
So I should be looking to consume 2,500-2,600 calories a day?
Excuse my ignorance, I can't really ask google specific questions.
>> Anonymous
>>262431
Looks good.
>> Anonymous
>>262431


Yup. If you can, try to stick to a ratio like 60%carbs/20%protein/20%fat (you can do the calculations yourself: 1g fat = 9 calories, 1g protein or carbs = 4 calories) but macronutrient ratios honestly aren't nearly as important as overall calorie intake. Just eat smart, stick to those numbers, and the pounds should fall off in a healthy, controlled way.
>> Anonymous
BMR is just what your body needs to survive. BMR is how many calories that you burn just sitting around all day (it's slightly more complex than that, but that's the gist.) Since everyone burns calories at different rates (a 300 pound man will burn more running 6mph for 15 minutes than a 200 pound man) Harris Benedict is a reasonably accurate alternative to account for the exact calorie figures you burn during work. What BMR + Harris Benedict is is the total amount of calories you burn in a day, including physical activity. A lot of people are surprised that it turns out high, but it turns out the 2000-calorie-a-day diet that the FDA shoved down our throats in the 80s and 90s is only really accurate for people of a certain "normal" body type doing a certain "normal" amount of work. In reality, only a very few of us are that body type doing that type of work. We're mostly either really overweight (which drives up our BMR) or we're really buff (which drives up our BMR and our Harris Benedict modifier).