question

needstobefit15

My doctor put me on a 1200 calorie diet and wants me to burn more then what I eat. I'm lost on what he means. Does he mean my net has to be 1200 or what? Do I burn more then 1200 a day or is it spread throughout the week. I'm so lost. I thought I had it figured out but I guess not. My stats are 27 yrs old,female,5'0" and 173lbs....not really too sure what my activity level is. I do have a lot of down time. My goal is to be 115-120. So should I have it at 1 or 2 pounds to lose.

arditarose

Are you losing for a specific medical reason? I think he just confused you. If you eat 1200 calories you'll be in a deficit, and you'll lose weight. You could probably eat more and still lose 2 pounds per week.

AJ_G

Basically your 1200 calories is your calorie goal, what you burn consists of any exercise you do, any non-exercise related activity, and also your BMR. Your BMR is the calories your body burns basically just existing (breathing, pumping blood, etc.). Even if you don't exercise, it's almost guaranteed that you're going to be burning more than 1200 calories a day, so if you truly stick to that calorie goal every day, you will lose weight.

needstobefit15

No not really. All I have is back pain and knee pain. My blood work shows fine besides my b12 which has always been low and my healthy cholesterol which is low. So he recommend b12 and omega 3.

cafeaulait7

Put it at 1lb and sedentary. That should give you around 1400 instead of 1200, but your BMR looks to be 1575, so 1400 is already enough below your BMR, imho. Your maintenance calories are about 1900 if you are sedentary, btw. If you know you eat more than that without gaining, you probably aren't sedentary.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

The way I described doesn't include exercise you do. So if you don't want to eat back most of your exercise calories (if you exercise), you could lose faster that way. Don't skip so many that your net is below 1200, though.