What does this mean "Burn more calories than you eat" to lose weight?

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AamirKhan2016
AamirKhan2016 Posts: 91 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I read this on many websites that you should burn more calories than you eat to lose weight.

Lost= 33lb
Current Weight: 244 lb
BMR: 2101 Calories/Day

Daily I am burning 1800+ calories(Don't dispute this yeah i am burning these calories daily :p ).
Eating maximum 1500 Calories.

So I am burning more calories than I eat?
or this is wrong?
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    The burn refers to total calories burned (your BMR plus your activity calories).
  • MoonLove87
    MoonLove87 Posts: 9 Member
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    According to what you put, yes. You are burning more calories than you eat.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Your BMR is the calories you burn merely existing...beyond that you have your day to day (I assume you do more than exist) and exercise if applicable. I have a BMR of around 1900 calories...that, plus my daily, plus my regular exercise gives me a "burn" of about 2,800 calories..as in, if I eat 2,800 calories or so, I will maintain my weight because I'm consuming as much as I'm burning..I'm break even.

    If I eat 2,300 calories per day, I would lose about 1 Lb per week because I'm consuming 500 calories per day less than I burn...and because I'm consuming less energy than my body is using, body fat is oxidized to make up the difference...your fat stores are just stored energy...it's like a backup generator...when you're not brining in enough fuel, your backup generator kicks on and burns stored fuel to make up the difference.
  • AamirKhan2016
    AamirKhan2016 Posts: 91 Member
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    h3llosw33ti3 wrote: »
    According to what you put, yes. You are burning more calories than you eat.

    So I am doing right to lose weight safely?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Your body uses energy and calories are the fuel source.

    You use energy in 3 ways:
    1. BMR keeps you alive; this is bodily functions like major organ functions, maintaining your body temperature, digesting food, etc.
    2. Activity. As you move thru your day, you use energy to get your body from one place to another.
    3. Exercise. Intentional exercise, especially cardio, burns more since you're moving multiple body parts for an extended period of time.

    Everyone has #1 and #2. Its approximated based on age, height, weight, gender. A bigger person spends more energy than a smaller person; a younger person spends more energy than an older person; a guy spends more energy than a gal: if all else is equal. And if you exercise you burn more.

    The total energy spent between all methods needs to be more than what you eat. In order to lose weight over time.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    AamirKhan2016 wrote: »
    h3llosw33ti3 wrote: »
    According to what you put, yes. You are burning more calories than you eat.

    So I am doing right to lose weight safely?

    Um no...

    Your BMR is 2100. You believe you are burning 1800 calories daily, that's in addition to your BMR is what you are saying? So you claim that your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is actually 3900 calories/day, and you are eating 1500?

    Nope. Not right to lose weight safely. Probably not right in the first place, but regardless, a 244 lb male should be eating more than 1500 calories.

    I'm half your weight and female and I lose weight eating 1800 or more.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    AamirKhan2016 wrote: »
    h3llosw33ti3 wrote: »
    According to what you put, yes. You are burning more calories than you eat.

    So I am doing right to lose weight safely?

    No, your plan doesn't sound safe. If your estimate for activity calories burned is correct, you are undereating.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    If your bmr is 2101 calories then you're burning at least that much. Not sure why you claim you only burn 1800 if your bmr is 300 more than that.

    And if you're eating 1500 and burning 1800 (or 2100...) then uh...yeah...that's less...
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    If your bmr is 2101 calories then you're burning at least that much. Not sure why you claim you only burn 1800 if your bmr is 300 more than that.

    And if you're eating 1500 and burning 1800 (or 2100...) then uh...yeah...that's less...

    I took it as the OP believes he is burning 1800 cals through exercise, in addition to his BMR of 2100... which is highly unlikely as he probably knows and that is why he also asked for no one to dispute that.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    edited February 2016
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    "There seems to be some confusion around TDEE and BMR. BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) is the very-much-theoretical amount of energy you use doing NOTHING. Literally lying around. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) takes your BMR as a baseline with an allowance for how much exercise you do."
    Your TDEE needs to be less than your ingested calories in order to lose weight. If you are losing faster than 2 lbs a week, you are not eating enough. Eat a minimum of 1500 calories. If you are weighing and logging your food correctly you will lose weight eating between 1500 and 2000 calories even without any purposeful exercise.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Safe weight loss is about two pounds a week.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    Ether I"m confused or the OP is. So your BMR is 2100 and you're burning 1800 on top of that, so your total energy burn for the day is 3900? And you're only eating 1500?

    If that statement is true, then no, it is not healthy. Not at all. You'll be dead before too long.

    You should eat 500 calories less than your TOTAL energy burn, which is your base rate (BMR) plus your exercise calories for a 1 pound per week loss. So with your numbers, that would be 3400 calories a day. Go down to 2900 for a 2 pound loss per week. This is assuming that your numbers are correct as you put them in your OP.

    Did you use MFP to calculate all these numbers? I would not use MFP's database or numbers on an exercise machine for calorie burns. I would use half of what they say.

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    RodaRose wrote: »
    Safe weight loss is about two pounds a week.

    That is dependent upon the individual goals. If someone is already close to a healthy weight, losing 2 lbs/week may not be safe or at a minimum, not advisable...
  • AamirKhan2016
    AamirKhan2016 Posts: 91 Member
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    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    If your bmr is 2101 calories then you're burning at least that much. Not sure why you claim you only burn 1800 if your bmr is 300 more than that.

    And if you're eating 1500 and burning 1800 (or 2100...) then uh...yeah...that's less...

    i burn 1800 calories by walking.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    It's confusing enough and people are mixing up BMR and TDEE...

    Either way, I'll sum up by saying that an active man eating 1500 calories is extremely unhealthy.
  • Mavrick_RN
    Mavrick_RN Posts: 439 Member
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    Boy, this sure sounds familiar. Isn't there another thread where people don't believe you walk that much??
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
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    I'll go against the grain and say that it's really not that unhealthy. At 1500 calories -- assuming a varied diet -- pretty much any human can survive and even thrive. People do it all over the world.

    That said, you're unlikely to gain any muscle at all (and could be losing some), and are eating at a suboptimal level. It wouldn't surprise me if you found yourself lethargic, and some people eating that much under their target calories have reported more frequent colds or other minor ailments (this has never been a problem for me when undereating).

    So is it healthy? In the sense that it's not going to kill you or cause permanent damage, yes. But in the sense that your body is performing optimally? Not at all.

    But if it's easy for you and you're not feeling any issues beyond hunger, there's really no reason to change.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    AamirKhan2016 wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    If your bmr is 2101 calories then you're burning at least that much. Not sure why you claim you only burn 1800 if your bmr is 300 more than that.

    And if you're eating 1500 and burning 1800 (or 2100...) then uh...yeah...that's less...

    i burn 1800 calories by walking.

    I don't think walking burns what you think it burns.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    AamirKhan2016 wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    If your bmr is 2101 calories then you're burning at least that much. Not sure why you claim you only burn 1800 if your bmr is 300 more than that.

    And if you're eating 1500 and burning 1800 (or 2100...) then uh...yeah...that's less...

    i burn 1800 calories by walking.

    That must be one hell of a walk.
  • cbeau1991
    cbeau1991 Posts: 19 Member
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    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    AamirKhan2016 wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    If your bmr is 2101 calories then you're burning at least that much. Not sure why you claim you only burn 1800 if your bmr is 300 more than that.

    And if you're eating 1500 and burning 1800 (or 2100...) then uh...yeah...that's less...

    i burn 1800 calories by walking.

    That must be one hell of a walk.

    That's like 6 and a half hours of walking, according to my math.

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