Do I have to burn 3500 every week?

kezara1229

Okay, so just eating 1200 cals a day would have me maybe lose a pound a week. But what about if I exercise AND eat those calories back? Would I lose a little bit more or the same?

Aaron_K123

It wouldn't be me that's overestimating, it would be my treadmill who tells me how many I burned lol. And to The Virgoddess, I said it was one mile at 5mph, not 5 miles.

Yup...it would be the treadmill overestimating. The result is the same though. Wasn't trying to place blame, was trying to point out that if you burned 190 calories in 12 minutes that means you were burning close to 1000 calories an hour which is just not going to happen for a 5'1'' woman.

When I, as a 6' tall man, ran a 6.2 mile race in 53 minutes I considered that to be about a 900 calorie burn.

Aaron_K123

Okay, so just eating 1200 cals a day would have me maybe lose a pound a week. But what about if I exercise AND eat those calories back? Would I lose a little bit more or the same?

If you estimate the burn correctly eating your exercise calories back would mean your deficit would remain the same and you would lose the same amount of weight as if you had not exercised at all.

The point of exercise is to get fit, not to lose more weight. If you treat exercise as a way to lose more weight that is a quick road to some destructive behavior.

stephe1987

The deficit is built in to your calorie goal. Click on the "Goals" tab and it will tell you your projected weight loss. If you burn calories then it wants you to eat them back. But because of underestimations in calories eaten and overestimation in calories burned I don't recommend eating back more than half your calories burned.

Belovedrooster

None of this is as simple as a math equation of calories in and out, which is why it doesn't make much sense! Insulin and hormones are huge players as well. I'd focus more on the amount of carbs/fiber/protein instead and not worry so much if calories are off a bit.

kezara1229

Oh I know you weren't trying to place blame, I was just saying that's where I got it from.

kezara1229

Okay, I will try to aim for 1-1.5 pounds instead and eat back my calories from exercise. Good thing you guys told me, I thought you weren't supposed to eat them back lol.

_Terrapin_

Approximately, 3500 calories equal 1 pound of fat. MFP will generate 1200 for those who do not exercise at all. You should select your activity level based on your lifestyle without exercise and set your weekly weight loss goal to something reasonable and eat back some of your exercise calories:

As a rule of thumb, the following weekly targets would give a balance between minimizing negative side effects and seeing a reasonable weekly weight loss:
More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

MFP does not set 1200 calories for people who do not exercise. Ignore this. OP 1,200 calories is the minimum MFP allows period. You decided to get more aggressive with your weight loss goal(going from 1 pound to 2pounds weight loss per week). Without getting into BMR and TDEE and what would make sense long term for your goal if you eat 1200 calories a day and exercise you will lose weight. Some muscle, some fat, and mostly water. And you'll feel miserable doing it. If this is what you want then it is your goal. If you want to go slower and learn more about what your body needs consider at least going to www.fat2fitradio.com and working through a BMR calculator. It takes 30 seconds to enter the information and less then 10 minutes to read the various methods and estimates for your caloric needs based on what input you provided. Hope this helps.

kezara1229

I've actually felt completely fine eating 1200 a day. No grumpiness or fatigue. I've been happy.

kezara1229

Okay MFP says to eat 1200 but the fat2fitradio website said I should be eating 1667. Why are the two different if I put in the same weight, goal weight, height, and age?

TheVirgoddess

Okay MFP says to eat 1200 but the fat2fitradio website said I should be eating 1667. Why are the two different?

I'm not familiar with that site, but I think it's because with the number that site gives you, you don't eat any calories back from exercise.

It's math. I'll break it down for you.

You have your BMR - basal metabolic rate. This is what you burn if you were laying in bed all day, not moving. Let's say yours is 1500.

Next, we add your activity level. Let's say you're sedentary, and generally burn about 300 calories a day with your standard walking and talking.

That means you need 1800 calories a day just to meet your body's needs.

Now, you are trying to lose weight, so you're going to be eating a deficit (less than your body needs). So we'll say you eat 1300 calories a day. You have a deficit of 500 calories a day. In a week, you'll lose about a pound (3500 calories burned).

If you workout and say you burn 200 calories a day. If you don't eat them back, your deficit is now 700 calories a day. If you do eat them back, your deficit doesn't change. It's a wash because you burned them and then ate them.

This is all, of course, assuming you're a healthy person with no underlying medical issues.

If you go to your home, and click on goals - what numbers does it give you under Calories Burned "from normal daily activity"?

kezara1229

Okay MFP says to eat 1200 but the fat2fitradio website said I should be eating 1667. Why are the two different?

I'm not familiar with that site, but I think it's because with the number that site gives you, you don't eat any calories back from exercise.

It's math. I'll break it down for you.

You have your BMR - basal metabolic rate. This is what you burn if you were laying in bed all day, not moving. Let's say yours is 1500.

Next, we add your activity level. Let's say you're sedentary, and generally burn about 300 calories a day with your standard walking and talking.

That means you need 1800 calories a day just to meet your body's needs.

Now, you are trying to lose weight, so you're going to be eating a deficit (less than your body needs). So we'll say you eat 1300 calories a day. You have a deficit of 500 calories a day. In a week, you'll lose about a pound (3500 calories burned).

If you workout and say you burn 200 calories a day. If you don't eat them back, your deficit is now 700 calories a day. If you do eat them back, your deficit doesn't change. It's a wash because you burned them and then ate them.

This is all, of course, assuming you're a healthy person with no underlying medical issues.

If you go to your home, and click on goals - what numbers does it give you under Calories Burned "from normal daily activity"?

1740 cals are my cals burned from normal daily activity according to MFP. And it says to eat 1200, so I have a deficit of 540 cals. It says my projected weight loss will be 1.1 lbs per week. Is there any way I can make that 1.5? I've already been told countless times on MFP that it'd be pretty much impossible for me to lose 2 lbs per week, but some have said 1.5 might be doable. But I can't think of any way to do that except to lower my cals even more, which I would think would not give me enough cals to healthily function.

TheVirgoddess

Okay MFP says to eat 1200 but the fat2fitradio website said I should be eating 1667. Why are the two different?

I'm not familiar with that site, but I think it's because with the number that site gives you, you don't eat any calories back from exercise.

It's math. I'll break it down for you.

You have your BMR - basal metabolic rate. This is what you burn if you were laying in bed all day, not moving. Let's say yours is 1500.

Next, we add your activity level. Let's say you're sedentary, and generally burn about 300 calories a day with your standard walking and talking.

That means you need 1800 calories a day just to meet your body's needs.

Now, you are trying to lose weight, so you're going to be eating a deficit (less than your body needs). So we'll say you eat 1300 calories a day. You have a deficit of 500 calories a day. In a week, you'll lose about a pound (3500 calories burned).

If you workout and say you burn 200 calories a day. If you don't eat them back, your deficit is now 700 calories a day. If you do eat them back, your deficit doesn't change. It's a wash because you burned them and then ate them.

This is all, of course, assuming you're a healthy person with no underlying medical issues.

If you go to your home, and click on goals - what numbers does it give you under Calories Burned "from normal daily activity"?

1740 cals are my cals burned from normal daily activity according to MFP. And it says to eat 1200, so I have a deficit of 540 cals. It says my projected weight loss will be 1.1 lbs per week. Is there any way I can make that 1.5? I've already been told countless times on MFP that it'd be pretty much impossible for me to lose 2 lbs per week, but some have said 1.5 might be doable. But I can't think of any way to do that except to lower my cals even more, which I would think would not give me enough cals to healthily function.

It's not at all impossible for you to lose 2 pounds a week - it's just not necessarily a healthy way to lose.

In order to lose 1.5 pounds, your deficit needs to be 5250 - 750 a day and that's cutting about 200 more calories for you a day. That puts in you in 1000 net a week, which I would advise against. I'm no expert, just another girl trying to lose some weight.

My advice is to stick with 1 pound a week. And take care of your body. I'm sure you'll look fabulous for your event!

Brownsbacker4evr

From my experience, you don't have to personally burn 3500 calories to see weight loss. If your TDEE is in line with your total calories consumed to create a big enough deficit, you'll still reach that 3500 or more in a week. You just have to go about calculating those numbers for yourself.

_Terrapin_

OP--if MFP is at 1667 and you enter 'lose a pound a week' you are below 1200. Remember, MFP has a minimum of 1,200. I think you understand this(1667-500=1167). Good luck with your goal and read and learn as you go. Do your math, and use other sites to compare and contrast your numbers so you have a better understanding of this site and the tools.

Muffie22

i'm 5'2 and usually eat between 1400 and 2000 per day (and exercise for about an hour a day) and am not very active apart from my exercise, and i usually end up losing at least 1lb a week... 1200 is likely to be below your BMR (the number of calories you'd need to survive if you were literally in a coma and not moving at all) and will probably end up doing more harm than good as your body isn't getting the right amount of nutrients at that level.

Yes I set it as 2 lbs per week because I have an event in three months that I really want to be slimmed down at least halfway for. I'm 150 and my long term weight loss goal (not the goal for the event) is 120. I'm 19 years old and 5'1", which may be why I don't need to many calories.

evileen99

I'm going to ditto what a pp said--if you want the body in your avatar picture, you need to hit the heavy weights, not the treadmill. Even if you don't lose the amount of weight you want, things will "tighten up" from weight lifting and you'll look smaller.