This is going to be my week!

jenifer4

For the past few weeks I have not lost much at all, despite my daily workouts and calorie counting.
Turns out I was not even making 1200 calories after my exercise more like 800 a day... I didnt realize the total net calories had to be 1200 (I know!!) - this should explain why I was not losing right???????

I work out every day and burn approx 400 calories per day... If you were me and wanted to see sucessful loses each week (would love to see 2lbs) how many calories would you eat? 1200, 1300, 1400?

I am 5'2 and currently 164.4

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office job M-F

thanks!

teracallaway1

1300 if you are getting at least 400 calories in. i to am having to the same problem. not netting enough calories. i also have to increase my water.

punkrawkcutie

k, I am in the EXACT same boat my dear and we need to be eating at least 1200 AFTER taking our work out into account. So if you're buring 400 cals from working out, you need to eat 1200 + 400=1600. Make sense?

jenifer4

the issue i'm having is I work out at night, between 8-9pm so during the day and by the time I eat my supper I am at 1200 calories in food... But then I add my exercise usually after 9pm and I come to the problem where I am back at around 800 calories and do not want to eat the extra 400 calories that late to bring my net intake back to 1200.
I have to get in the mind set to eat my extra 400 calories during the day, and despite my number going into the red, I know it will even out after I add my exercise later in the night....

ahbach2005

2lbs a week is tough

Looking at it by the week is good

3500 calories equates to 1 pound

so you need to take in your 1200 and then have a 500 calorie per day deficit......you should also consume some of your calories burned in food

so if you take in say 1200 caloires and burn 1700 your net calories are -500 this leaves you no cushion but it would get you to your caloric goal of 1 pound per week

Use the BMR calculator on the tools tab to see what you burn in a normal day for your activity level......try to use the sedentary option it will give you what your minimum daily intake is for your age an weight

BMR is base metabolic rate which is calories your body needs to function for your daily routine.

Hope this helps

Remember that as we get "more experienced in life" our metabolism slows...especially with desk jobs I have noticed this myself

morganadk2_deleted

Maybe this will help


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits


"Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode) "

luv2ash

I was under the impression that this program shows you how many calories you need to have to maintain your current weight. When you enter your food diary and it shows you cam under it then tells you how much weight you would lose if you did it that way every day or something like that. Anyhow, you have to have a deficit in order to lose, unless, of course, you truly do want to maintain your current weight.

Nailrep

I'm 5'2" also!!

Here's my opinion based on my weight issues...

Because we are so short, we require less calories to start out with. So, at out height, without working out, our bodies might only require 1400 calories a day. I think the general rule of thumb is to diet off half and exercise off the other half of the calorie deficit you are trying to achieve. So, if you took in 1200 calories daily and exercise off 300 calories a day, you would probably be on track to lose 1 to 1.5 pounds a week. I didn't look at your profile, so I'm not sure how old you are. If you are younger, you might require more that 1400 per day. And muscle mass counts too - so make sure weight training is in play a couple times week. I have chose to wait on the weigght training for te first 10 pounds so I can use my exercise time to amp up on the cardio.

Good luck!

Nailrep

2lbs a week is tough

Looking at it by the week is good

3500 calories equates to 1 pound

so you need to take in your 1200 and then have a 500 calorie per day deficit......you should also consume some of your calories burned in food

so if you take in say 1200 caloires and burn 1700 your net calories are -500 this leaves you no cushion but it would get you to your caloric goal of 1 pound per week

Use the BMR calculator on the tools tab to see what you burn in a normal day for your activity level......try to use the sedentary option it will give you what your minimum daily intake is for your age an weight

BMR is base metabolic rate which is calories your body needs to function for your daily routine.

Hope this helps

Remember that as we get "more experienced in life" our metabolism slows...especially with desk jobs I have noticed this myself

I agree 100%.