Calories in and calories out

Belfordo
Belfordo Posts: 3 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
If my daily calories are 1300, there is no way I can burn up that many calories to put them into deficit. From what I read you can only lose weight by burning up more calories than what you put in your mouth.

In an average day my active calories are around 450.

How does this calorie in and calorie out work?

Replies

  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    Your body burns calories just functioning. If you keep track of everything that you eat/drink, and eat less calories than your body burns, through normal body functioning and any exercise, you lose weight. Many people eat only part of the calories burned through added exercise. It isn’t necessary to exercise for weight loss, but exercise is important for overall health. Eating less calories than your body burns is what drives weight loss.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,024 Member
    read this.....it will help you understand http://fit101.org/the-step-by-step-guide-to-losing-weight-with-myfitnesspal/
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    You burn thousands of calories a day just by existing. The calories that MFP gives you already includes your deficit. So if it tells you to eat 1300, then that means that you eat 1300 and you are already in a deficit (by however much you told MFP you want to lose weight). There is no need to do anything else. Simple, right?

    If you exercise, you are supposed to eat more calories. Because the calories you burn by excerise increases the calories your body burns a day. Let's say that 1300 is the goal MFP gives you to lose a pound a week. That means the calories you burn throughout your normal daily existence is 1800 (you need a deficit of 500 calories to burn a pound). Let's say you burn 300 calories from exercise. You then have burned 2100 calories for the day total. So to keep your 1 pound rate of loss, you would eat 1600 calories.
  • gboybama
    gboybama Posts: 53 Member
    Belfordo wrote: »
    @MikePTY thank you and very well explained!!! Now I get it. This is a huge help. It's good to know I'm doing it right; if anything I probably need to up my food intake.

    Quite right. Just make sure you're accurate when logging and measure everything until you get an innate sense of what foods "cost." It's easy to get out of whack if you wing it.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,117 Member
    MikePTY wrote: »
    You burn thousands of calories a day just by existing. The calories that MFP gives you already includes your deficit. So if it tells you to eat 1300, then that means that you eat 1300 and you are already in a deficit (by however much you told MFP you want to lose weight). There is no need to do anything else. Simple, right?

    If you exercise, you are supposed to eat more calories. Because the calories you burn by excerise increases the calories your body burns a day. Let's say that 1300 is the goal MFP gives you to lose a pound a week. That means the calories you burn throughout your normal daily existence is 1800 (you need a deficit of 500 calories to burn a pound). Let's say you burn 300 calories from exercise. You then have burned 2100 calories for the day total. So to keep your 1 pound rate of loss, you would eat 1600 calories.

    Yes, although to be a stickler, most people do not burn "thousands" (plural, hence at least 2000 cals) a day just existing. Except for very large or very small people, BMRs are generally between 1000 and 2000 cals. Even adding in non-exercise activity burns won't push a lot of sedentary or lightly active women of average size or below over 2000.

    But yes to your general point.
  • stuarta99
    stuarta99 Posts: 93 Member
    edited February 2020
    Just tagging onto this, good to know that the figure it shows already includes the deficit. For me it's showing 1500 so I need to eat 1500? I have just played around with it and I see that if I alter my goal or activity or adjusts which is nice. When I was using the fitbit app it showed I burned 1568/day and on average I've been eating around 1400. Therefore I should bump up my intake slightly?
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    stuarta99 wrote: »
    Just tagging onto this, good to know that the figure it shows already includes the deficit. For me it's showing 1500 so I need to eat 1500? I have just played around with it and I see that if I alter my goal or activity or adjusts which is nice. When I was using the fitbit app it showed I burned 1568/day and on average I've been eating around 1400. Therefore I should bump up my intake slightly?

    It's always better to start your own thread. Be sure to include your age, height, weight and gender so you can get more accurate information :)
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    stuarta99 wrote: »
    Just tagging onto this, good to know that the figure it shows already includes the deficit. For me it's showing 1500 so I need to eat 1500? I have just played around with it and I see that if I alter my goal or activity or adjusts which is nice. When I was using the fitbit app it showed I burned 1568/day and on average I've been eating around 1400. Therefore I should bump up my intake slightly?

    Yes and yes.
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