is eating 1900 cal a day and burning 1000 in the gym healthy

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Replies

  • SuggaD
    SuggaD Posts: 1,369 Member
    I recently got a heart rate monitor. What I learned: MFP numbers are not as off for most activity as people say IF you select the appropriate intensity level. The machines at the gym are way off.
  • LLduds
    LLduds Posts: 258 Member
    nv4sgteppckr.png

    With exercise (again burn numbers coming from Fitbit Charge HR), I've been consistently below the MFP recommended net 1200 cal/day. The days that the columns appear blank are the days when I've ended up with a negative net caloric intake. I feel fine and have lost 22 lbs in 56 days; I'm 5'3" and currently 169 lbs. Should I be worried or changing something? Or as long as the majority of days I'm netting a positive, that's OK?
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    LLduds wrote: »
    nv4sgteppckr.png

    With exercise (again burn numbers coming from Fitbit Charge HR), I've been consistently below the MFP recommended net 1200 cal/day. The days that the columns appear blank are the days when I've ended up with a negative net caloric intake. I feel fine and have lost 22 lbs in 56 days; I'm 5'3" and currently 169 lbs. Should I be worried or changing something? Or as long as the majority of days I'm netting a positive, that's OK?

    It will catch up to you, it just takes time. For me, it was like a steamroll effect. I didn't experience anything in the immediate. But 2-3 months later, I noticed my hair falling out more than normal, my nails were breaking left and right, I was getting more tired, etc. It took time, but it did happen.
  • segovm
    segovm Posts: 512 Member
    LLduds wrote: »
    nv4sgteppckr.png

    With exercise (again burn numbers coming from Fitbit Charge HR), I've been consistently below the MFP recommended net 1200 cal/day. The days that the columns appear blank are the days when I've ended up with a negative net caloric intake. I feel fine and have lost 22 lbs in 56 days; I'm 5'3" and currently 169 lbs. Should I be worried or changing something? Or as long as the majority of days I'm netting a positive, that's OK?

    I guess that's the question. I did it. Feel dandy. Doctor loves the lowered weight. Not sure what the problem is except that some folks think "net calories" are relevant while others, myself included, don't.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    LLduds wrote: »
    nv4sgteppckr.png

    With exercise (again burn numbers coming from Fitbit Charge HR), I've been consistently below the MFP recommended net 1200 cal/day. The days that the columns appear blank are the days when I've ended up with a negative net caloric intake. I feel fine and have lost 22 lbs in 56 days; I'm 5'3" and currently 169 lbs. Should I be worried or changing something? Or as long as the majority of days I'm netting a positive, that's OK?

    You're basically putting yourself at a caloric intake normally reserved for those under medical supervision. It's only an issue if you care about taking in enough to meet basic nutritional needs. If you don't .. no issue.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    segovm wrote: »
    LLduds wrote: »
    nv4sgteppckr.png

    With exercise (again burn numbers coming from Fitbit Charge HR), I've been consistently below the MFP recommended net 1200 cal/day. The days that the columns appear blank are the days when I've ended up with a negative net caloric intake. I feel fine and have lost 22 lbs in 56 days; I'm 5'3" and currently 169 lbs. Should I be worried or changing something? Or as long as the majority of days I'm netting a positive, that's OK?

    I guess that's the question. I did it. Feel dandy. Doctor loves the lowered weight. Not sure what the problem is except that some folks think "net calories" are relevant while others, myself included, don't.

    The medical community does think it matters. It leads to lost lean body mass ... damage to organs ... loss of periods in women ... hair loss ... brittle nails ... loss of bone density ...
  • LLduds
    LLduds Posts: 258 Member
    Well *kitten*, that's concerning. I'm not going hungry...I thought I could rely on hunger signals to indicate if my body needs more fuel.
  • segovm
    segovm Posts: 512 Member
    segovm wrote: »
    LLduds wrote: »
    nv4sgteppckr.png

    With exercise (again burn numbers coming from Fitbit Charge HR), I've been consistently below the MFP recommended net 1200 cal/day. The days that the columns appear blank are the days when I've ended up with a negative net caloric intake. I feel fine and have lost 22 lbs in 56 days; I'm 5'3" and currently 169 lbs. Should I be worried or changing something? Or as long as the majority of days I'm netting a positive, that's OK?

    I guess that's the question. I did it. Feel dandy. Doctor loves the lowered weight. Not sure what the problem is except that some folks think "net calories" are relevant while others, myself included, don't.

    The medical community does think it matters. It leads to lost lean body mass ... damage to organs ... loss of periods in women ... hair loss ... brittle nails ... loss of bone density ...

    So honestly, can you find a SINGLE peer reviewed study that suggests any of that will happen when eating 2000 healthy calories a day?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    edited May 2015
    segovm wrote: »
    segovm wrote: »
    LLduds wrote: »
    nv4sgteppckr.png

    With exercise (again burn numbers coming from Fitbit Charge HR), I've been consistently below the MFP recommended net 1200 cal/day. The days that the columns appear blank are the days when I've ended up with a negative net caloric intake. I feel fine and have lost 22 lbs in 56 days; I'm 5'3" and currently 169 lbs. Should I be worried or changing something? Or as long as the majority of days I'm netting a positive, that's OK?

    I guess that's the question. I did it. Feel dandy. Doctor loves the lowered weight. Not sure what the problem is except that some folks think "net calories" are relevant while others, myself included, don't.

    The medical community does think it matters. It leads to lost lean body mass ... damage to organs ... loss of periods in women ... hair loss ... brittle nails ... loss of bone density ...

    So honestly, can you find a SINGLE peer reviewed study that suggests any of that will happen when eating 2000 healthy calories a day?

    NET matters ... gross is secondary at best ... which is why the recommendation from every major western health organization is for net, not gross, calories. But, go ahead and do whatever the hell you want to your body as long as you don't recommend unhealthy actions for others.

    I know you can't find a single study stating negative net caloric intake is healthy.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I recently got a heart rate monitor. What I learned: MFP numbers are not as off for most activity as people say IF you select the appropriate intensity level. The machines at the gym are way off.

    Do you know the reading from every machine or do you use a particular one?
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    LLduds wrote: »
    Well *kitten*, that's concerning. I'm not going hungry...I thought I could rely on hunger signals to indicate if my body needs more fuel.

    Relying on your body's cues is very important. But when it comes to losing weight healthfully, and making long-term changes, you need to eat enough per day. You may not feel hungry in the beginning (new changes, motivated to lose weight, ect), but it will catch up to you. It's also very hard to hit your macro goals with a lower calorie goal.

    Think of it this way. You want to make a 100 mile drive for a trip, but you only put in half the gas needed to get there. You're going to be fine in the beginning, but as you get closer to the middle of your trip, your car is going to start to sputter. It's going to slow down, and suddenly it's going to stop and leave you stranded on the side of the road.

    Our bodies need fuel to function. They will feel fine, and may even tell you that you don't need more, but we still need that base number of calories per day to fuel our bodies. We still burn calories breathing, pumping blood, and just sitting behind our desks at work, alongside what we burn in our workouts. It's important to hit the goal that MFP tells you to hit every day; that is your daily goal WITH your deficit already built into it.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I recently got a heart rate monitor. What I learned: MFP numbers are not as off for most activity as people say IF you select the appropriate intensity level. The machines at the gym are way off.

    I vaguely remember some posts a few months back where we were bouncing around the possibility that MFP adjusted their calories. We thought it was a gross vs. net burn thing from what I recall...
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    segovm wrote: »
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    Wilbo1234 wrote: »
    Is eating 1900 cal a day and burning 1000 in the gym healthy

    If those were your actual numbers, your body would crash, hard, and soon.

    If you're doing this and not crashing - your numbers are wrong.

    Not really sure that's true. I did it for ~7 months and was fine except I lost a bunch of weight.

    Don't mess up people's soapboxes with facts.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    edited May 2015
    Azdak wrote: »
    segovm wrote: »
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    Wilbo1234 wrote: »
    Is eating 1900 cal a day and burning 1000 in the gym healthy

    If those were your actual numbers, your body would crash, hard, and soon.

    If you're doing this and not crashing - your numbers are wrong.

    Not really sure that's true. I did it for ~7 months and was fine except I lost a bunch of weight.

    Don't mess up people's soapboxes with facts.

    Since when is 1,000 negative net calories per day considered safe? Or are we now advocating 2,000 calorie deficits?
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,303 Member
    edited May 2015
    segovm wrote: »
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    Wilbo1234 wrote: »
    Is eating 1900 cal a day and burning 1000 in the gym healthy
    If those were your actual numbers, your body would crash, hard, and soon.
    If you're doing this and not crashing - your numbers are wrong.
    Not really sure that's true. I did it for ~7 months and was fine except I lost a bunch of weight.

    segovm: Your situation is not exactly the same as that of a person with much less fat to lose. VLCD are sometimes recommended to and followed by Obese III people. Obese III, and II people are also able to tolerate a faster (both absolute and as a percentage of body weight) rate of loss than say people with just an extra 10lbs of fat available to lose.

    Not sure how the fact that one person in a million has managed to do something without the world blowing up makes it a good idea for everyone else to try and do.

    Chances are that the OP is doing something unhealthy.

    Having said that, I am a bit perplexed as to why everyone finds it far fetched that a 200lb male in his 30's would have THAT much trouble burning through 1000Cal worth of exercise in a day.

    At 200lbs, 132 minutes of MET 6 activities would NET 1000 Cal. MET 6 is the very beginning of vigorous exercise. Jog/walking with the jogging component being about 10 minutes per hour is MET 6.

    If the OP is actually doing 12 minute miles? You are looking at MET 8. And it would take about 95 minutes, or 7.5miles for the OP to NET 1000 Cal.

    I have decided that the OP is 200lbs because they are male and have a goal of losing 50lbs. The possible flaws of that reasoning are numerous... but no more than this general disbelief that a person can possibly burn 1000 Cal a day through exercise--even lowly exercise like walking!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    None of us know exactly what the OP is doing for sure. Hopefully they'll come back and clarify...
  • barryplumber
    barryplumber Posts: 401 Member
    Anything is possible i burn 535 on the treadmill that's the treadmill reading then i spend 1 1/2 hours doing weights i do a lot of volume to failure. If the gym is full i only spend 1 hour with weights I'll burn about 200 or more on the stair climber. I only record the tread mill reading. I don't want to eat back calories it's just extra weight lost to me. I feel great and am losing about 3 lbs a week the only thing i take is protein and do my best to get it from food.
  • pollypocket1021
    pollypocket1021 Posts: 533 Member
    Azdak wrote: »
    If the calorie burn charts are anywhere close to right (presumably, they are or researchers would be trying to correct them) burning 1000 calories isn't that difficult. However, whatever a person burns, they should try to keep their calorie deficit between 500 to 1000.

    You have a most optimistic view of the "researchers" (and the "calorie burn charts").

    Short of me hooking myself up to an expensive machine, I'm kind of stuck with what other researchers have found. Since scientists are using these numbers to make predictions and to determine how much to feed participants in their studies, that have a greater need for accuracy than even those of us who feel the need to weigh food before logging it. If the numbers are very far off, it causes errors in their research. If my numbers are off, I gain a little extra weight. If their numbers are off, their life's work is put in question.

    1. Every time a study is done, the results are known in advance. The study is designed to produce the desired results.
    2. Have you seen those Jillian Michaels commercials for her special treadmill that "burns twice as many calories"? If one machine tells you you are burning more, it is human nature to prefer that one.

    Even if it is well known that the average calorie burn on a machine should be half what it displays, a company would be shooting itself in the foot to correct it. Marketing suicide.
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  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Azdak wrote: »
    If the calorie burn charts are anywhere close to right (presumably, they are or researchers would be trying to correct them) burning 1000 calories isn't that difficult. However, whatever a person burns, they should try to keep their calorie deficit between 500 to 1000.

    You have a most optimistic view of the "researchers" (and the "calorie burn charts").

    Short of me hooking myself up to an expensive machine, I'm kind of stuck with what other researchers have found. Since scientists are using these numbers to make predictions and to determine how much to feed participants in their studies, that have a greater need for accuracy than even those of us who feel the need to weigh food before logging it. If the numbers are very far off, it causes errors in their research. If my numbers are off, I gain a little extra weight. If their numbers are off, their life's work is put in question.

    1. Every time a study is done, the results are known in advance. The study is designed to produce the desired results.
    2. Have you seen those Jillian Michaels commercials for her special treadmill that "burns twice as many calories"? If one machine tells you you are burning more, it is human nature to prefer that one.

    Even if it is well known that the average calorie burn on a machine should be half what it displays, a company would be shooting itself in the foot to correct it. Marketing suicide.

    You care to give some evidence for your claim?
  • ExRelaySprinter
    ExRelaySprinter Posts: 874 Member
    edited May 2015
    None of us know exactly what the OP is doing for sure. Hopefully they'll come back and clarify...

    Yes, i agree with this ^^.
  • Becky_charles29
    Becky_charles29 Posts: 125 Member
    I can burn 1,000 calories in just under 2 hours of running - but I don't do that every day! My "epic days" of a 45 min run, PT session and 20 mins on the stepper normally come in at 800.

    I'm 5'4" and 145lbs so it takes a lot to burn calories! I get these from my HRM rather than any online system. These still are not 100% accurate but close enough for me
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited May 2015
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I recently got a heart rate monitor. What I learned: MFP numbers are not as off for most activity as people say IF you select the appropriate intensity level. The machines at the gym are way off.

    That's why I think they tend to be more off for something like elliptical (or circuit training classes), where the numbers assume high intensity, but a huge range is possible--and especially when you first start it can feel like high intensity when it's not. Running tends to be easier to judge real intensity, IME (except right when you first start running), and when I've used the HRM (sadly, I hate the feeling of the chest strap oh so much) it's lined up with the Runkeeper estimate pretty well.
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
    debrag12 wrote: »
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Why 1000 calories burn in gym seems so strange to all of you?
    I burn 1000-1500 calories per day in cycling according my polar rc3

    It's not strange. It just takes a long time to achieve it. Most people don't have that kind of time to spend working out.

    For example, I'm 5'2 and 20 lbs over weight. It takes me over 3 hours of low grade hiking to hit 900 calories burned, and that's on a good day.

    The average person doesn't have 3 hours to dedicate to exercise... every single day.

    I can burn 1000 calories a day with the amount of walking around i have to do, to and from work and generally around. In fact, i burn that five days a week! It's not impossible :)

    that would be your everyday burn not 1000 from exercise.

    Nope, that is from exercise I can assure you-I wear a fitbit and it is pretty accurate. I really do do A LOT of walking around!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited May 2015
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I recently got a heart rate monitor. What I learned: MFP numbers are not as off for most activity as people say IF you select the appropriate intensity level. The machines at the gym are way off.

    I vaguely remember some posts a few months back where we were bouncing around the possibility that MFP adjusted their calories. We thought it was a gross vs. net burn thing from what I recall...

    I don't recall that specific discussion, but that's interesting. I do think part of the perceived inaccuracy is that most of the burns (HRM and MFP) are gross, not net, which means that they tend to be reasonably accurate for shorter sessions and likely overestimate more the more your activity is long and lower intensity.

    This is why I tend to accept the burn from a 6 mile or shorter run as a decent estimate (I round down a bit, or did when I was logging exercise), but would cut a 12 mile run more (especially for a long slow training run), and cut my 3-4 hour "riding around to see the sights" type bike rides even more.

    Biking in particular is hard to measure also, as so many things matter--my HRM actually indicated that my bike commuting burns were typically understated, which I think is due to wind resistance plus me riding a huge heavy bike. (I noticed this as when I was riding hills on a different bike I didn't feel as much additional exertion as one would think.) I'm not sure I trust a HRM for biking anyway, however.

    I think the main takeaway is exercise totals are really hard to judge and the only way to really know is control calories and see what your losses are.
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  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Did OP ever say what the 1000 calories burn exercise is?
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Why 1000 calories burn in gym seems so strange to all of you?
    I burn 1000-1500 calories per day in cycling according my polar rc3

    Sure you are.
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    debrag12 wrote: »
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Why 1000 calories burn in gym seems so strange to all of you?
    I burn 1000-1500 calories per day in cycling according my polar rc3

    It's not strange. It just takes a long time to achieve it. Most people don't have that kind of time to spend working out.

    For example, I'm 5'2 and 20 lbs over weight. It takes me over 3 hours of low grade hiking to hit 900 calories burned, and that's on a good day.

    The average person doesn't have 3 hours to dedicate to exercise... every single day.

    I can burn 1000 calories a day with the amount of walking around i have to do, to and from work and generally around. In fact, i burn that five days a week! It's not impossible :)

    that would be your everyday burn not 1000 from exercise.

    Nope, that is from exercise I can assure you-I wear a fitbit and it is pretty accurate. I really do do A LOT of walking around!

    That is your lifestyle. That's your day to day living which factors in as NEAT in your TDEE equation. It will increase your TDEEA because your NEAT is higher than normal but it is not exercise. A carpenter or landscaper will burn more calories daily than a data entry clerk but neither one logs that time as exercise.

    But I don't HAVE to walk everywhere. I could get a bus, or lifts from colleagues, but I choose not to because I tell myself I want the exercise. So, I still count it as exercise, because those days that I do accept a lift back from a meeting or home from work, it does make a noticeable difference to the amount of calories I burn.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    debrag12 wrote: »
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Why 1000 calories burn in gym seems so strange to all of you?
    I burn 1000-1500 calories per day in cycling according my polar rc3

    It's not strange. It just takes a long time to achieve it. Most people don't have that kind of time to spend working out.

    For example, I'm 5'2 and 20 lbs over weight. It takes me over 3 hours of low grade hiking to hit 900 calories burned, and that's on a good day.

    The average person doesn't have 3 hours to dedicate to exercise... every single day.

    I can burn 1000 calories a day with the amount of walking around i have to do, to and from work and generally around. In fact, i burn that five days a week! It's not impossible :)

    that would be your everyday burn not 1000 from exercise.

    Nope, that is from exercise I can assure you-I wear a fitbit and it is pretty accurate. I really do do A LOT of walking around!

    That is your lifestyle. That's your day to day living which factors in as NEAT in your TDEE equation. It will increase your TDEEA because your NEAT is higher than normal but it is not exercise. A carpenter or landscaper will burn more calories daily than a data entry clerk but neither one logs that time as exercise.

    But I don't HAVE to walk everywhere. I could get a bus, or lifts from colleagues, but I choose not to because I tell myself I want the exercise. So, I still count it as exercise, because those days that I do accept a lift back from a meeting or home from work, it does make a noticeable difference to the amount of calories I burn.

    I park in the back of a parking lot to walk more to store. Should I log that as exercise?
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