Calories Out Help

RejsGirl

How many calories do I need to burn every day to lose 2 lbs. per week?
I'm 5'1, 170, no extra physical exercise per day and eating approximately 1200 cal. per day

redfisher1974

if you enter this info into this website it will tell you....Cheers

jamesblood13

The textbooks would have you believe that 1lb of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So a calorie deficit of 7000 a week would equate to about 2lbs. But that's fat. You are likely to lose water weight and muscle mass if you have a deficit so it's probably a bit lower than 7000. A sustainable recommended weight loss is between 1 and 2 lbs a week. If you plug your height and weight measurements into a TDEE calculator, that's how many calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. So just remove between 500-1000 calories a day to find out how many net calories you need. Personally, if I were doing 2lbs a week, I'd eat 1500 a day but exercise 3/4 times a week to burn calories instead of just eating less.

RejsGirl

jamesblood13 wrote: »

The textbooks would have you believe that 1lb of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So a calorie deficit of 7000 a week would equate to about 2lbs. But that's fat. You are likely to lose water weight and muscle mass if you have a deficit so it's probably a bit lower than 7000. A sustainable recommended weight loss is between 1 and 2 lbs a week. If you plug your height and weight measurements into a TDEE calculator, that's how many calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. So just remove between 500-1000 calories a day to find out how many net calories you need. Personally, if I were doing 2lbs a week, I'd eat 1500 a day but exercise 3/4 times a week to burn calories instead of just eating less.

Thank you, that's a bit more helpful, but I'm still a bit lost. When I plug in 1200 net cal consumed, MFP gives me a calorie deficit for the day, is that how many calories I need to burn per day? Because at 1200 cal. consumed, that doesn't add up to a 2 lb. loss per week. It says I burn 1890 per day from normal daily activity. I'm trying to find out how many calories I need to burn per day to lose 2 pounds per week eating 1200 cal. per day. Sorry if I'm making this more confusing.

999tigger

As said above youd need a deficit of 1000 calories a day.
Looking at the calculator it suggests consuming 1022 cals per day to lose 2lb a week. Imo this is way too low and as james said above id be aiming for 1500 cals a day+. There are enough people doing 1200, but I prefer 1500+.

Again id agree with James if I wanted it down that low, then id make up the difference with exercise. That would be c4 x30 min periods of cardio plus walking a bit.

Its not an exact science so just treat it all as estimates. One of the dangers of being too severe is you will find it too hard and either give up or binge.

RejsGirl

999tigger wrote: »

As said above youd need a deficit of 1000 calories a day.

Does that mean I need to burn 1000 calories per day above the 1890 it already says I burn?

malibu927

RejsGirl wrote: »

jamesblood13 wrote: »

The textbooks would have you believe that 1lb of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So a calorie deficit of 7000 a week would equate to about 2lbs. But that's fat. You are likely to lose water weight and muscle mass if you have a deficit so it's probably a bit lower than 7000. A sustainable recommended weight loss is between 1 and 2 lbs a week. If you plug your height and weight measurements into a TDEE calculator, that's how many calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. So just remove between 500-1000 calories a day to find out how many net calories you need. Personally, if I were doing 2lbs a week, I'd eat 1500 a day but exercise 3/4 times a week to burn calories instead of just eating less.

Thank you, that's a bit more helpful, but I'm still a bit lost. When I plug in 1200 net cal consumed, MFP gives me a calorie deficit for the day, is that how many calories I need to burn per day? Because at 1200 cal. consumed, that doesn't add up to a 2 lb. loss per week. It says I burn 1890 per day from normal daily activity. I'm trying to find out how many calories I need to burn per day to lose 2 pounds per week eating 1200 cal. per day. Sorry if I'm making this more confusing.

MFP will not put you below a 1200-calorie intake, so choosing to lose 2 pounds per week is going to be too steep of a goal for you. You'll be better off setting your goal at 1 pound per week.

shadowofender

How much do you have to lose? Because 2lbs a week is super aggressive and usually only reccomended if you have about 75lbs or more to lose. I'm at a 1000 calorie a day deficit and as I'm approaching only 75 more to lose, it's getting really difficult to maintain.

Whatever the number MFP gives you, you want to eat that amount.

jamesblood13

If you consume 1200 a day in food. and you're TDEE is 1890 then your deficit is 690 a day. That equates to 4830 calories a week and about 1.4 lbs. If you want to add another 0.6 pounds then you need to burn off another 2100 calories a week.

RejsGirl

malibu927 wrote: »

MFP will not put you below a 1200-calorie intake, so choosing to lose 2 pounds per week is going to be too steep of a goal for you. You'll be better off setting your goal at 1 pound per week.

I'm not looking to go below a 1200 calorie intake.

MelRC117

No. By eating 1200 calories you are already in a daily deficit of 690 calories per day if your TDEE is 1890. In order to lose 2 pounds per week, you need to decrease your daily calories by another 310 calories to create a daily deficit of 1000 calories. That means netting 890 calories. That wouldn't be a good, sustainable way of losing weight. Your 2 lbs loss weekly seems a bit aggresively.

Your physical activity will get you to a deficit sooner/allow you to eat more, but its the net deficit that is going to get you to weight loss.

allyphoe

jamesblood13 wrote: »

If you consume 1200 a day in food. and you're TDEE is 1890 then your deficit is 690 a day. That equates to 4830 calories a week and about 1.4 lbs. If you want to add another 0.6 pounds then you need to burn off another 2100 calories a week.

What he said.