Calorie Deficit?? Confused!

LoveInNumbers

I know with simple math and researching I found out that it's burning more calories then you digest but I am a 20 year old female, about 5'2, and 146 pounds and I was told to burn over 1K calories, which also through researching I found out is dangerous to burn in one day? I don't get it...I looked at examples and someone explained that if someone eats 2500 calories a day and burns 3000, the calorie deficit is 500...I barely know how to burn 1K...how the heck can someone burn 3K? I'm sorry if my question is confusing! I have no idea where to start with any of this

ShinjiruGhetto

I don't even know where to start..
Ignore the person who just told you to burn 3000 calories and don't listen to him/her about nutrition ever again.
Calorie deficit means eating below your TDEE
Calculate your TDEE here
http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
If your TDEE is 2500 you substract 500 and eat at 2000 to lose weight, if you want to gain weight you eat 3000.
You don't need to move a single feet to lose calories if you follow that regiement.

mirki002

If I understand your question correctly, I think that your confusion comes from being told that you need to burn more calories than you eat by doing exercise. You burn calories by being alive, even if you are sitting and doing nothing on the couch, or even sleeping. So you don't need to literally burn every calorie that you eat. For females they say the minimum number of calories you should consume is 1200 per day. Even if you are doing no exercise, you will lose weight if you consume that much. I'm 5 ft 7 180 lbs and I have my MFP set to lose 1 lb per week. I can eat just over 1500 cals per day if I don't exercise and still achieve that. If I workout I can eat back however many I earned for exercise, so if I run 3 miles I can eat 1800 calories that day and still lose 1 lb per week. I hope that helps clear it up a little.

juggernaut1974

Slow down...deep breath.

Your body burns calories all day long just in order to function - keep your heart beating, digest food, brain activity etc. This is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)

There are many calculators available on the internet that can estimate how many calories that is. I used the one at iifym.com and using your age, height and weight came up with 1387 calories. So even if you were lying in a coma all day long, you would burn 1387 calories (approximately).

You add to that the calories you burn from every day activities - standing up, working, studying, doing dishes, cleaning, etc.

Finally, you add to that calories you burn from exercising (if any). Again, there are many ways to estimate this with varying degrees of accuracy - either use estimated standards which can be found all over the internet, use the estimates off any cardio machines you may be using, or use a heart rate monitor to estimate your burn.

Add all these together, and you get your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).

In order to lose weight, you need to consume less calories than this number.

diannethegeek

When people talk about burning more calories than you eat, you need to take into account all of the calories your body burns just being alive (your BMR) as well as the calories you burn through every day activity (your NEAT).

Use the link above or any of the many TDEE calculators online. That will give you an idea of how many calories your body burns every day with and without planned exercise. That's the number of calories you need to eat below, not just the calories you burn through exercise.

psuLemon

You don' t need to burn a certain amount of calories to lose weight or create a deficit. Depending how much you exercise now, we can help determine a calorie goal for you. If you want to eat more calories, more exercise helps. Even if you don't exercise, you can probably lose weight at 1400 calories.

LoveInNumbers

Slow down...deep breath.

Your body burns calories all day long just in order to function - keep your heart beating, digest food, brain activity etc. This is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)

There are many calculators available on the internet that can estimate how many calories that is. I used the one at iifym.com and using your age, height and weight came up with 1387 calories. So even if you were lying in a coma all day long, you would burn 1387 calories (approximately).

You add to that the calories you burn from every day activities - standing up, working, studying, doing dishes, cleaning, etc.

Finally, you add to that calories you burn from exercising (if any). Again, there are many ways to estimate this with varying degrees of accuracy - either use estimated standards which can be found all over the internet, use the estimates off any cardio machines you may be using, or use a heart rate monitor to estimate your burn.

Add all these together, and you get your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).

In order to lose weight, you need to consume less calories than this number.

Thank you so much for such a simplistic way of explaining everything. I think I understand it now and can properly start my weight loss journey

LoveInNumbers

Thanks to all those who replied! Very much appreciated. :flowerforyou: