Question...so I hear a lot of people say eat less calories than you burn to lose!

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green_eyes_99
green_eyes_99 Posts: 149 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know its calories in/ calories out, right? If I burned 400 calories in the gym, then I should eat less than that to lose? Please help, any advise is greatly appreciated, thanks!!!

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  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
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    You burn calories all day, even when you're not in the gym. You need to consume fewer calories than you burn all day, not fewer calories than you burn in the gym.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    No. When they say to eat less calories than you burn, the burning comes from your entire day, not just your gym calories.

    Basically you take your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Through out the day you are always burning calories. So say John Smith jas a TDEE of 2500 calories. He would have to eat less than that 2500 if he wanted to lose weight.


    I feel like my message is garbled lol. Let me know if that confuses you.
  • evildeadedd
    evildeadedd Posts: 108 Member
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    They are talking overall burn throughout the whole day not just what you do in the gym.MFP should have given you a calorie goal based on your goals. Mine is 1930 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. If I went to the gym and burned 400 calories, I would eat around 2200 that day because exorcise calories are just an estimate.
  • green_eyes_99
    green_eyes_99 Posts: 149 Member
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    evildeadedd wrote: »
    They are talking overall burn throughout the whole day not just what you do in the gym.MFP should have given you a calorie goal based on your goals. Mine is 1930 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. If I went to the gym and burned 400 calories, I would eat around 2200 that day because exorcise calories are just an estimate.


    They gave me 1200 calories and Ive been on MFP a little over 2 weeks lost 2 pounds and gained it back already, so frustrating!!!!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
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    green_eyes_99 wrote: »
    evildeadedd wrote: »
    They are talking overall burn throughout the whole day not just what you do in the gym.MFP should have given you a calorie goal based on your goals. Mine is 1930 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. If I went to the gym and burned 400 calories, I would eat around 2200 that day because exorcise calories are just an estimate.


    They gave me 1200 calories and Ive been on MFP a little over 2 weeks lost 2 pounds and gained it back already, so frustrating!!!!

    You do know that many if not most women retain water (water = weight) during certain weeks of their monthly cycle, and lose it at other times in the cycle. It can make it difficult to figure out what's happening with your weight loss from eating at a deficit. You need to give it a couple more weeks.

    In the meantime, how are you determining that you're actually eating 1200 calories? Are you weighing all or most of your solid food on a food scale? Using volume (measuring cups and tablespoons) is notoriously inaccurate for determining your food intake.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Calories are the unit of measurement for the energy your body uses.

    Breathing = calories burned
    Heart beating = calories burned
    Digesting food = calories burned

    The largest part of most peoples calorie burn comes not from exercise, but from your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). BMR is the calories your body uses to keep you alive at complete rest. Daily activity and exercise add onto your BMR. All of which are things that make up your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). Your TDEE is what you have to eat under to lose weight.

    I only burn about 200-300(if I'm lucky) in the gym. I lose weight eating around 1800 because my TDEE is around 2300. I wouldn't have the energy to function and would probably be in the hospital for malnutrition if I tried to eat less than what I burn in the gym for any length of time.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    green_eyes_99 wrote: »
    evildeadedd wrote: »
    They are talking overall burn throughout the whole day not just what you do in the gym.MFP should have given you a calorie goal based on your goals. Mine is 1930 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. If I went to the gym and burned 400 calories, I would eat around 2200 that day because exorcise calories are just an estimate.


    They gave me 1200 calories and Ive been on MFP a little over 2 weeks lost 2 pounds and gained it back already, so frustrating!!!!

    Weight won't always be linear. Some weeks you may gain and then the next week have a huge loss etc.

    Also, you should go get a digital food scale and weight everything to determine serving size. Measuring cups and spoons are not all that accurate, especially if you pack it down lol.
  • Marilyn0924
    Marilyn0924 Posts: 797 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside/p1
    Great source of info when starting out.
  • green_eyes_99
    green_eyes_99 Posts: 149 Member
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    Thanks everyone! YEs, Im guilty....I do not weight every little thing!!! :neutral:
  • evildeadedd
    evildeadedd Posts: 108 Member
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    1200 is the absolute min MFP will give a woman. How much do you have to lose? What's you weekly loss goal? If you have less than 25 pounds to lose a goal of .5 to 1 pound a week is going to be realistic. Weight loss does not happen in a straight line. Two weeks isn't long enough to give good data. Do you weigh every solid you eat on a digital kitchen scale? If not then you need one.
  • green_eyes_99
    green_eyes_99 Posts: 149 Member
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    I want to lose 50 pounds and goal is to lose 2 pounds a week. Like I said, no Im guilty of not weighing everything I eat!
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    Got to give it time, look at your weight over weeks or months, your weight fluxuates normally.

    It is probably a good habit to get into in the beginning, weighing your food, you might be shocked to find that serving of peanut butter is actually 3 servings and blew a quarter of your daily calories.

    Once you get a better understanding of food you might find you can weigh less often, like only weighing calorie dense foods instead of every vegetable.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    green_eyes_99 wrote: »
    I want to lose 50 pounds and goal is to lose 2 pounds a week. Like I said, no Im guilty of not weighing everything I eat!

    2 pounds a week is very aggressive. As you get closer to your weight goal, you'll find that your weight loss will slow, and often those last 20 pounds come off a half or quarter pound a time.
    It's often better to start slightly lower goal-wise, and do what's sustainable long-term for your body. The weight didn't show up in a day, and it won't leave in a day.
  • KDar1988
    KDar1988 Posts: 650 Member
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    I have to ask regarding TDEE...is there any information that would support that your TDEE calculation could be off if you have an underactive thyroid? I've always understood that a person that is hypothyroid doesn't have the metabolism as a normal person, which, to me would make the daily burn less. Just wondering.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited April 2016
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    KDar1988 wrote: »
    I have to ask regarding TDEE...is there any information that would support that your TDEE calculation could be off if you have an underactive thyroid? I've always understood that a person that is hypothyroid doesn't have the metabolism as a normal person, which, to me would make the daily burn less. Just wondering.

    You are correct. There is a difference, but it's not as big as people imagine. I have borderline low thyroid levels and the calculators often over-estimate the amount I burn. You could either calculate your own TDEE by meticulously tracking for a while then calculating the difference, or you could just keep it simple, go by what calculators state, but accept that your loss will be slightly slower. If I went by calculators alone, my average weight loss would be about 0.1-0.2 lb a week less than predicted, which isn't that big of a deal for now.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    green_eyes_99 wrote: »
    I want to lose 50 pounds and goal is to lose 2 pounds a week. Like I said, no Im guilty of not weighing everything I eat!

    that's aggressive for sure

    When I came here with 50lbs to lose I chose 1lb a week and got to eat 1600 calories a day (including exercise calories)

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