Myth or Fact? Simple Math: 3500 calories = one pound? Eat

Scubasab

Robin, thank you for making the following post. It was beautifully written and a wonderful source of information. The funny thing is..I was just talking to somone about this very thing this morning. We both had heard different things and I was actually going to google this but, now you saved me the time and provided me with all the answers I need!!! Thanks so much!!!! :flowerforyou:

t7mitch

Robin,
Some very enlightening information. One question I have is that I need to lose about 50 lbs. Right now, I am averaging about 1,200 calories a day... I exercise pretty vigorously and I weight train pretty hard. Do I need to up my caloric intake. The funny thing is I don't feel like I'm depriving myself because I'm eating grilled chicken, veggies, etc... What do you think?

freddiesmyfirst

Excellent, informative post. Thank you.

tarapin

Thank you so much for sharing this information.....very interesting!

portlandsundevil

bump to read later

NutritionDivaRD

Thank you so much for this post!

samrockrocks

That's amazing.

How would the information you presented translate for someone who is not far out of weight range but has significantly higher body fat than desired? I'm 5'3, 149 pounds, and roughly 28% body fat. I'm currently running a 500 calorie deficit plus around 300 calories a day of exercise (which I do eat back for the most part) and my MFP calculated BMR is ~1760. I'm following the MFP recommended macronutrient ratios - not sure if that's of much consequence but I thought I'd throw it out there.

What am I looking at, calorie and macronutrient wise, for optimum weight loss? I'm looking to get down to 135, ideally 130 if I can maintain it and somewhere in the low 20's for body fat. I think, I've never been that small so I'm guessing on both fronts but I know I want to lose both weight and fat. Help!

Robin, you rock

I'm in the same boat. I'm at about 31% body fat and would like to get down to the low twenties (20-22%) myself. I'm 5'7 and 135 pounds roughly so I don't have a lot of 'weight' to lose so much as I have to build more muscle and get rid of more fat. I'm really at a point where I'm not 100 percent confident about how to start and proceed.

I've started aiming for a 1/2 pound per week loss, working out five days a week and changed my dietary goals slightly to have more of a balance of protein and carbs. However, I'm really flying blind here and have no idea if I'm doing the right thing or not....

I'm also in a similar situation. I'm 5'7'' and about 150 pounds. I am around 28% body fat, if I remember correctly. I'd really like to lose about 15-20 pounds and get down to at least 20% body fat. I'm also not confident about how to proceed.

I've started aiming for 1.5 pound per week loss. The reason for this is because I originally wanted to try and be as close to my goal as I could by Spring Break in March. I'm going to Florida and I'd really like to feel comfortable in a bikini.

So I'll ask the same question: How should I proceed with caloric intake and exercise??

Thank you so much!

kelika71

Bump & thank you!

Mindful_Trent

Great post! I've always heard that people with less to lose need to be careful about their deficits (and should *not* be aiming for 2 lbs/week loss!) - it makes sense to me but I didn't know much of the technical "why" behind it. This will be a great post to refer people to when this topic comes up.

jen0619

Sorry double post!

jen0619

Best thing I have EVER read on here and thank you so very much!

pgp_protector

Bumping to read again later.
And to figure out my best deficit.
6"4' @ 295 right now Age 42
I know I'm "Obese" but I don't feel it.
Working on getting my muscle tone back, starting to do a morning aerobic workout every other morning.

CombatVet_Armywife

Another terrfic & informative post....thanks so much Robin!

Christiiiine

Very helpful! Thank you for posting this!

MadisonLeavens

I guess I'm kinda dense... eat the exercise calories or not?

dave4d

Great information. Thanks for your posts. I always enjoy the information you give out on this site.

lynn12

Thanks for the info

girlsaint

Bumped so I can get back to this.

90poundsoflard

Wow! This makes a lot of sense! Thanks for posting. I just finished shoveling snow and added 790 cal. to my day - was trying to decide if I should eat them or not.

sliceofsarah

Thanks a lot for this post. I think I will definitely be referring back to it as I work towards my goals!

pgp_protector

Let me see if I got this right.

The closer you are to the Ideal weight, the more important it is to eat your exercise calories right?
So obese, not as critical to eat all your exercise calories, as you're still burning off way more fat than muscle.
But fit people, more critical as you're more likely to burn off muscle than fat.

myofibril

The closer you are to the Ideal weight, the more important it is to eat your exercise calories right?

My opinion is no, there is no real necessity to eat back your exercise calories irrespective of your level. What is important is you ensure your level of calorie restriction is less severe the nearer to lean that you get.

Sounds like the same thing right? The more exercise you do, the greater the level of calorie restriction, therefore you should eat back your exercise calories....

However, it doesn't work that way generally. I think it would be helpful if the creators of MFP could tell us what equation they used to set up the programmme to determinle a person's maintenance level of calories. The most commonly used one is Mifflin - St Joer, although Katch - McCardle and Harris- Benedict are sometimes used.

These equations factor in activity levels including exercise to provide you with your projected maintenance calorie levels. Of course they just estimate the amount you will burn during exercising and each individual is different. That is why it is important to keep a close eye on your own progress. Essentially, these equations calculate your BMR and then multiply by a certain number to calculate your maintenance calories eg 1.200 for sedentary, 1.375 for lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week, approximately 590 calories per day) and so one.

Therefore unless the creators of MFP have come up with a specialised equation of their own (which is highly unlikely) the amount you burn through exercise has already been included. If you add back your exercise calories you will slow your rate of loss as you will consume more calories than has been accounted for in the equation.

You have to ask yourself what is so special about exercise calories as opposed to calories used to power your normal activities of daily life? Should I also eat back the calories I expend walking around at work as they are after all through "exercise"? What about running to catch a train etc? The answer is no.

Chosing the correct activity level setting when you set up your MFP profile is important as if you don't factor in that you work at three time a week you will get a calorie level for weight loss of 1 or 2 lbs a week which is artifically low.

Finally, it is important to eat a certain number of calories a day no matter what to ensure that your food intake is sufficiently nutritious. 1,200 calories for women and 1,500 calories for men is a good rule of thumb.

TrainerRobin

Let me see if I got this right.

The closer you are to the Ideal weight, the more important it is to eat your exercise calories right?
So obese, not as critical to eat all your exercise calories, as you're still burning off way more fat than muscle.
But fit people, more critical as you're more likely to burn off muscle than fat.

Bingo. That's generally right. Add in what msf74 said, and then you've really got it.

TrainerRobin

The closer you are to the Ideal weight, the more important it is to eat your exercise calories right?

My opinion is no, there is no real necessity to eat back your exercise calories irrespective of your level. What is important is you ensure your level of calorie restriction is less severe the nearer to lean that you get.

Sounds like the same thing right? The more exercise you do, the greater the level of calorie restriction, therefore you should eat back your exercise calories....

However, it doesn't work that way generally. I think it would be helpful if the creators of MFP could tell us what equation they used to set up the programmme to determinle a person's maintenance level of calories. The most commonly used one is Mifflin - St Joer, although Katch - McCardle and Harris- Benedict are sometimes used.

These equations factor in activity levels including exercise to provide you with your projected maintenance calorie levels. Of course they just estimate the amount you will burn during exercising and each individual is different. That is why it is important to keep a close eye on your own progress. Essentially, these equations calculate your BMR and then multiply by a certain number to calculate your maintenance calories eg 1.200 for sedentary, 1.375 for lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week, approximately 590 calories per day) and so one.

Therefore unless the creators of MFP have come up with a specialised equation of their own (which is highly unlikely) the amount you burn through exercise has already been included. If you add back your exercise calories you will slow your rate of loss as you will consume more calories than has been accounted for in the equation.

You have to ask yourself what is so special about exercise calories as opposed to calories used to power your normal activities of daily life? Should I also eat back the calories I expend walking around at work as they are after all through "exercise"? What about running to catch a train etc? The answer is no.

Chosing the correct activity level setting when you set up your MFP profile is important as if you don't factor in that you work at three time a week you will get a calorie level for weight loss of 1 or 2 lbs a week which is artifically low.

Finally, it is important to eat a certain number of calories a day no matter what to ensure that your food intake is sufficiently nutritious. 1,200 calories for women and 1,500 calories for men is a good rule of thumb.

Nicely said.

TrainerRobin

That's amazing.

How would the information you presented translate for someone who is not far out of weight range but has significantly higher body fat than desired? I'm 5'3, 149 pounds, and roughly 28% body fat. I'm currently running a 500 calorie deficit plus around 300 calories a day of exercise (which I do eat back for the most part) and my MFP calculated BMR is ~1760. I'm following the MFP recommended macronutrient ratios - not sure if that's of much consequence but I thought I'd throw it out there.

What am I looking at, calorie and macronutrient wise, for optimum weight loss? I'm looking to get down to 135, ideally 130 if I can maintain it and somewhere in the low 20's for body fat. I think, I've never been that small so I'm guessing on both fronts but I know I want to lose both weight and fat. Help!

Robin, you rock

I'm in the same boat. I'm at about 31% body fat and would like to get down to the low twenties (20-22%) myself. I'm 5'7 and 135 pounds roughly so I don't have a lot of 'weight' to lose so much as I have to build more muscle and get rid of more fat. I'm really at a point where I'm not 100 percent confident about how to start and proceed.

I've started aiming for a 1/2 pound per week loss, working out five days a week and changed my dietary goals slightly to have more of a balance of protein and carbs. However, I'm really flying blind here and have no idea if I'm doing the right thing or not....

I'm also in a similar situation. I'm 5'7'' and about 150 pounds. I am around 28% body fat, if I remember correctly. I'd really like to lose about 15-20 pounds and get down to at least 20% body fat. I'm also not confident about how to proceed.

I've started aiming for 1.5 pound per week loss. The reason for this is because I originally wanted to try and be as close to my goal as I could by Spring Break in March. I'm going to Florida and I'd really like to feel comfortable in a bikini.

So I'll ask the same question: How should I proceed with caloric intake and exercise??

Thank you so much!

Wow. Good questions but I have to be completely honest and say that at the point where y'all are, it is harder to generalize. I'd feel much better, if I was able to meet with you all face to face, evaluate your fitness level and body fat composition, review your food diaries and exercise diaries, etc. and then advise you. I hope you aren't totally disappointed when I tell you that the best "generic" advice I can give you is to follow the general advice of MFP's numbers and adjust as you feel like you need to, remembering that it's essential that you don't undereat (meaning you must eat all of your daily calories ... we're not talking exercise calories here).

Keep eating super clean food, that gives you excellent nutrition and satisfying volume (fiber and little processed foods) and stay active, and you'll make progress. If you face specific challenges/questions, feel free to email me and I'll do my best to assist. It's just more challenging for me to give good specific advice to folks who are not too far from their fitness goals, without getting a good first-hand assessment first. Unfortunately, via these boards, that's impossible to do. If you were closer, I'd be happy to lend you a hand of course.

Keep an eye on your body composition (find a way/person to be able to check on your changing body fat levels) and focus less on the scale and you'll likely make good progress.

I sure hope that helps a little!

GiGi76

bump

javamom

Bump!

sbwildman

I love this! Thank you so much for posting!

reneelee

Bump. Read it and want to go back to your post. Thank you for taking the time to educate MFP People!

Madiann

Bump, thank you for this info.