Burn more than consumed ???

amandavictoria80

I keep hearing and reading that in order to loose weight, a person needs to burn more calories than they consume.

I am so confused when I hear this! This concept means I would either have to burn more than 1300 calories (my intake) per day or practically starve myself.

Can someone please clarify this for me! Thanks!

ajbeans

I keep hearing and reading that in order to loose weight, a person needs to burn more calories than they consume.

I am so confused when I hear this! This concept means I would either have to burn more than 1300 calories (my intake) per day or practically starve myself.

Can someone please clarify this for me! Thanks!

You already burn calories just by living. That's your BMR (you can find it in the "tools" tab if you're curious what yours is). So to lose weight, you need to consume less than you burn between your BMR and your daily activity and exercise. Does that make sense?

aneumany

haha, yes u have to burn more than u consume, but by eating only 1300 calories u are already in a deficit bc MFP calculates that in for u. To maintain ur current weight ud have to eat about 500 more calories than u are right now.. but to loose u decrease ur calories and you exercise.. in this deficit u dont have to exercise, u will still loose the weight to a certain point, the idea of incorporating exercise is to help tone ur body, fitness, health and it helps speed the process!.. so! u dont ever want to eat less than about 1200 calories or so bc the average person burns 1200 calories a day doing basically nothing.. thats wat ur body needs in order to run. i hope this helped! let me know if u need more of an explanation

jenkamac

Depending on your size, you burn a certain amount of calories just walking around, living, breathing ect. With my size the estimate is around 1600 calories burned each day by just existing. If I only eat 1200 calories per day that is already a deficit of 400 per day which means I would lose weight. I can enhance that by working out more and therefore burning more calories increasing my deficit. So yes, you need to burn more calories than you consume but life already does a lot of that for you - you just need to figure out what that number is to get started and keep track! Good luck - hope that makes sense...

kimmerroze

Its your BMR plus your daily activity including your work out.

No worries you don't have to burn 1300 calories during exercise.

Xaspar

Actually, your BMR is the number of calories your body would burn if you did nothing but exist (ie, bedridden or lay in a coma) ... If you look on the goals page, at the top right section of the main page, it shows you "Calories burned through daily activity" This is the number of calories you would burn each day given the activity level that you provided to MFP when you set up your program. For instance: at 5'6" and 168 pounds, with a sedentary lifestyle, I would burn 1800 calories per day, just going about my daily life. If I eat 1200 calories per day, then I am burning 600 calories more each day than I am eating.
If I work out and burn an additional 600 calories, and EAT those same 600 calories back (total 1800 calories eaten) I have STILL burned 600 calories more that day because I was ALREADY burning 1800. (1800+600=2400) for an average weight loss of 1 pound each week.

MFP does all these calculations for you so you don't have to worry about it so much, just follow what their food diary gives you and you should be fine!

AND the 1200 calorie recommendation has nothing to do with BMR or Calories burned in a day. This is based on studies that suggest that in order for the average human being to gain all the nutrients required (vitamins, mineral, etc.) to keep organ functions healthy and fueled, they would have to ingest a variety of foods that provide these. A 1200 calorie diet (for women) helps keep the metabolism operating efficiently without operating TOO efficiently and stalling weight loss while allowing for the opportunity to reach these nutrient levels.

dobiemomof3

A woman needs at least 1200 calories just to live, a man needs at least 1500 just to live. Yes you need to burn more than you eat, but you need to make sure you are eating the right amount for you. If you exercise that day you will burn more and need more. Make sure you eat ALL your meals also. Really 6 small meals are better than 3 large ones, to keep you metabolisim up and running.

kimmerroze

Actually, your BMR is the number of calories your body would burn if you did nothing but exist (ie, bedridden or lay in a coma) ... If you look on the goals page, at the top right section of the main page, it shows you "Calories burned through daily activity" This is the number of calories you would burn each day given the activity level that you provided to MFP when you set up your program. For instance: at 5'6" and 168 pounds, with a sedentary lifestyle, I would burn 1800 calories per day, just going about my daily life. If I eat 1200 calories per day, then I am burning 600 calories more each day than I am eating.
If I work out and burn an additional 600 calories, and EAT those same 600 calories back (total 1800 calories eaten) I have STILL burned 600 calories more that day because I was ALREADY burning 1800. (1800+600=2400) for an average weight loss of 1 pound each week.

Correct so its your BMR (your calories burned doing nothing) plus your daily activity (calories burned doing things above just laying in bed doing nothing)

same thing.

nicolerah

haha, yes u have to burn more than u consume, but by eating only 1300 calories u are already in a deficit bc MFP calculates that in for u. To maintain ur current weight ud have to eat about 500 more calories than u are right now.. but to loose u decrease ur calories and you exercise.. in this deficit u dont have to exercise, u will still loose the weight to a certain point, the idea of incorporating exercise is to help tone ur body, fitness, health and it helps speed the process!.. so! u dont ever want to eat less than about 1200 calories or so bc the average person burns 1200 calories a day doing basically nothing.. thats wat ur body needs in order to run. i hope this helped! let me know if u need more of an explanation

This explanation helps me a lot. Had some questions about it too!!

brph26

just bumping to read later....