Calories in VS. Calories out question?

cardioxxbunnyxx

Hi everyone.
So, I know that in order to loose weight, you must consume less then you burn.


I used to weigh 125 lbs, joined the gym, starting cardio and some weight lifting,
Now I'm 115 lb but I just want to loose the last 5 pounds, and get to 110 lb, but it's insanely difficult. (5'3 female, petite frame.)

I do cardio 4 days a week, for 30 minutes, burning around an estimated 280 cals, on the weekends I'll burn a a little more, around 400 calories for a 50 minutes. I would like to loose 1 lb every 2 weeks, (1 pound is just too intense for my caloric intake.) I also know diet plays a huge part in all of this..
What are your thoughts? How many calories should I be eating daily? Should I eat at least half of my burned calories back?

P.S - (I work a sedentary job, office setting.)

I'd appreciate it.

Afura

1lb every two weeks equals out to .5lb/week which is an appropriate goal for losing 5lb.

Eat the calories that MFP tells you to when you configure it to the .5lb/week, eat half your exercise calories back (at least, more if you absolutely know your burn is accurate - machines and websites can only give you an estimate) because you don't want to have a higher deficit, it makes loss at your level more difficult.

Keep with it!

KuchieJr93

Well not sure what you actually burn a day.. do you have an active job? I would really just aim for what you've been doing and maybe run for 45 Mins instead.

Everyone hits a platue it just happens. If you have a weekend where you can wake up early and have a light breakfast (yogurt and maybe half of a whole grain bagel) go and run for 20 minutes then hit some weights and then run for another 15 or 20 minutes. This will put your body into overdrive and you'll love the results. Make sure you're eating well also! Lots of fruit and veggies! Avocados are dense in calories but I promise have one a day!!!

Good luck to you!

Tacklewasher

First, a goal of a 1/2 lb per week is a really good decision. Very nice to see that. 110 is going to be the lower end of the BMI scale, but not to the unhealthy stage so that seems okay as well. To do that you need to eat ~250 calories less than you burn each day, so you should track what you eat. Your NEAT should be around 1600, so maybe eat 1350 plus 75% of your exercise calories. See how that works for a couple of weeks to a month.

Just know that most people will naturally vary 5 lbs through water retention, TOM, too much sodium etc. so you should expect not to "be" 110, but vary around it a bit.