Confused on how to actually "lose weight"

befitforlife99

Stats
Age:23
Height: 5ft 4 inches
Weight: 148.0

On average I eat about 1200 calories a day. I just began to want to lose weight. How many calories do I need to burn to lose 1.5lbs per week?

I have Monday-Friday for working out.

Suggestions?

hearthwood

A pound is 3500 calories so 1.5 pounds would be 5250 calories per week. To burn than much thru exercise you would have to burn 750 calories every day of the week. Depending on your fitness level you could be talking 1-1/2 to 2 hours of aerobics daily to achieve that. That may not be realistic for you to do.

Weight loss is simply calories in versus calories out. Simply meaning eat less move more. Most achieve their goal weight by a combination of staying within their MFP calorie goal and working out 3 to 5 times per week, however you don't need to workout to lose weight, staying within your MFP calorie goal will achieve weight loss alone. Exercise is to burn calories but more importantly to get you in shape.

MKEgal

Height: 5ft 4 inches
Weight: 148.0

Going by BMI, you should be 110 - 140. So you don't have much to lose.
http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf

On average I eat about 1200 calories a day. I just began to want to lose weight.
How many calories do I need to burn to lose 1.5lbs per week?

Since you don't have much to lose, it's not reasonable to aim for that much weight loss per week.
If you do 0.5 lb it's a victory.

Eating 1200 calories will eventually bring you to 120 lb. That's in a healthy weight range, but maybe you should start with a bit higher goal & see how you feel?
And if you do strength training, even just body weight workouts, you may find you're happy at a slightly higher weight than you might expect, but you'll be trim & look great.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

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

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read


"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html


"To lose weight, you must use up more calories than you take in. Since one pound equals 3,500 calories, you need to reduce your caloric intake by 500-1000 calories per day to lose about 1-2 pounds per week."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html

befitforlife99

Ok, makes a little more sense. My goal weight is 135. When I get down into the 120's I tend to look a bit sickly. Over all though I just want to be and look healthy and fit. I know I am cutting it close as far as BMI is concerned.

Liftng4Lis

caloric deficit = weight loss.

Freevy

I'm happy because I lost 5 kilos in my first week.
It's my 10th day and I have included salad with some protein
(eg. egg/ lean chicken) as suggested.
After 4 years of trying, the fat is finally coming off.
It is truly like magic.
I used "The 3 Week Diet". That helped me.
I bought it after I saw this review http://www.ybody.co.vu/
Thanks a lot !

psuLemon

Ok, makes a little more sense. My goal weight is 135. When I get down into the 120's I tend to look a bit sickly. Over all though I just want to be and look healthy and fit. I know I am cutting it close as far as BMI is concerned.

Since you are a fairly good weight, i would recommend focusing on some resistance training and then adding in cardio (3 days RT, 2 cardio). Also, increasing proteins and fats will improve satiety, which will make losing weight a bit easier and protein will aid in the process of maintaining lean body mass.

If you want to follow the TDEE method (takes into consideration activity and exercise to calculate estimated caloric needs), then I would recommend 1600-1850 calories (depending on how long you workout; 1600 for 3-4 hours, 1850 for 5-6). And i would set macros at 40% carbs, 30% protein 30% fats. With this method, you do not eat back exercise calories. Additionally, I would buy a food scale and aim to log daily. It's the only way to be accurate. And accuracy and consistency is the key to knowing how many calories you eat, where you maintain and where you lose.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals

terbusha

What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

Allan