Is It Harmful to Eat Below Your BMR to Lose Weight?

Generally, most people desire to lose weight as fast as possible. If you want to attain extreme weight loss, then it’s important for you to take more extreme measures when it comes to calorie restriction. For example, people who desire fast weight loss, should take very low calorie diets. According to the studies, they often eat only 1,000 to 1,500 calories in a whole day. This method causes rapid weight loss, however some people say it may also harm your health. According to them, the health problems start when you eat less food rather than your basal metabolic rate (BMR).

 

The term “BMR” is used to determine how many total calories your body burns in a whole day to maintain your body organs alive. Therefore, we can say that it is a calculation of the absolute minimum number of calories that needs to keep up basic vital functions to your body. It includes your heartbeat, respiration, hormone production, and so forth. Some people say that eating little than your BMR (basal metabolic rate) will force your body to starvation mode, and then cause failing your metabolism, skyrocketing your hunger, and holding up your ability to lose weight.

Here we discuss some important points that indicate what occurs to the body when you eat less calories than your body needs. 

That’s why it is necessary to eat below your BMR. It is simple and straightforward. Generally, BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the minimum amount of calories that your body requires to support a healthy life. It doesn’t matter if you get these calories from the food. For example, let’s suppose Royan has a BMR of 1,600 calories (quite normal for an individual with an average body composition). In his daily routine, he burns an additional 800 calories to take regular exercise, digesting the food he eats, and activities he does throughout each day. These are known as non-exercise activities such as walking to the office, typing on his computer, and drumming his fingers on his desk. These workouts indicate the Royan’s total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is 2,400 calories in a whole day. 

 

One day, Royan decides to lose weight rapidly, therefore he decides to cut his calorie intake to 1,400 calories per day and 200 calories below his BMR. According to the research, it happens when physiological claxons in the body begin to be destroyed and his body starts to enter starvation mode because of a lack of energy. Now you must think that what happens is that Royan's body breaks down more body fat to deliver enough calories to support his BMR. On the other hand, this is the same way to break down body fat to provide the calories that he burns due to regular exercise, NEAT, and so forth. However, Royan’s body doesn’t monitor BMR as similar to biological Rubicon that never crosses.