this is a really confusing topic for most people so let me explain:

okay you know what BMR is, right? Basal metabolic rate is the absolute minimum you need to function—> heart beats, breathing, replenishing cells like blood cells, kidney function, etc.

BMR is typically between 1200-1700 calories depending on size/gender/height/age/etc

BMR does NOT include things such as: waking up in the morning, walking to your car, standing while brushing your teeth, brushing your teeth, sitting on the computer typing. this is considered ‘daily activity’ that isn’t ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO SURVIVE. most people need 500-1000 calories OVER BMR to support ‘daily activity’

okay so that means you need around 2000 calories to not gain any weight nor lose any weight.

okay so if you eat 1200 calories, technically, you should lose nearly 1 lb a week. however, by just dieting, your body isn’t FORCED to use calories, so it will conserve energy by cutting corners/lowering metabolism (here, metabolism means cell functions that use energy, but it still means you’ll burn less calories, read: energy)

thus you need to eat a NET calorie intake of 1200 to cover your BMR (net means what’s left after what you burned) bc your body HAS to use that.

so when you exercise, you FORCE your body to use your stored energy (fat + glycogen) rather than allow your body to cut corners/use less and less energy to support your ‘daily activity’ but you must eat enough to be 1200 net to cover your bmr. otherwise, it’s starvation, and your body will begin converting muscle to fat (bc fat is more energetically efficient and muscle requires energy to exist, thus by converting muscle to fat, you store more usable energy, as well as lowering your BMR and Metabolism… this makes you “skinny fat”)

you don’t want to eat only 1200 calories, and burn 700, because that leaves your body with only 500 calories to try to maintain homeostasis such as your heart beat and your body temperature.

keep in mind, maintenance calories are between 1700-2300 for the average female! so you’ll still lose weight, but stay healthy.

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    do start eating again...gain weight faster. So

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17. glitteryack said: ohmygod, everything makes sense now.
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25. stayachild said: Thank you for this. Thank you so much. I hope more girls read this & become aware of the damage done by starvation.
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39. dreamingofdisappearing said: Thank you for this!
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46. chosencurse said: Excellent post thank you
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