calories vs exercise

jenniferhiggins

Lets says that you eat 2000 a day and want to lose 1 pound a week. Then should you burn off 500 calories a day on the treadmill. If you burn off 500 then that equals 1500 calories.

or

eat 1500 calories and burn off 500 on the treadmill to lose 1 pound a week.

I have gained some weight by eating 2000 calories a day and burning off 500. So I am wondering if I should only be eating 1500 and burn off 500.

JulsDiane

1 pound is approximately 3500 calories not 1500....

merrick7871

1 pound is approximately 3500 calories not 1500....

This is true, if you want to lose 1 pound per week, you need to burn 3500 per week.

Pandorian

Which is what the 500 calories a day of exercise works out to.
(500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories burned for the theoretical pound lost)
That said with your height, weight, age and sex entered into MFP with your goal to lose 1lb a week what does it give you for a calorie goal? Where's your 1500 calories a day coming from for the goal?

I would caution against only eating 1500 calories and then burning 500 as that nets you less than 1200 calories for the day.

rowtard

Yeah I would say eat 1500 and burn 500 and see how you go from there

Heatherdfowler

2000 calories is way too many....you should probably be eating between 1200 and 1500. It depends on your weight and activity level. 500 cals burned everyday should help you lose 1lb per week but since you should give your body at least 1-2 days of rest then you would need to burn more than 500 on the days you workout.

Pandorian

where 2000 calories falls depends on the person, their starting weight, their height... age.. sex.. activity level.

I eat 2000 calories a day and have lost thus far. It's obviously a reduction from what I was eating before I started here as I've been losing. It's not "too many" for everyone, and 1200 is "not enough" for every lady, nor 1500 for every man.

Heatherdfowler

@ Pandorian, are you eating 2000 calories even on your resting days or do you work out 7 days a week?

veganbaum

Where are you getting these numbers? Have you put your information into MFP?

dad106

2000 calories is way too many....you should probably be eating between 1200 and 1500. It depends on your weight and activity level. 500 cals burned everyday should help you lose 1lb per week but since you should give your body at least 1-2 days of rest then you would need to burn more than 500 on the days you workout.

2000 calories is not too many.

I eat close to 1800 on my rest days and close to 2500 on my exercise days.

It depends on her body.. I personally can't eat less without feeling like I want to eat the whole house.

To OP:
Eat 2000 then burn off 500.. The other way around would leave you with too few calories.

Pandorian

2000 calories is my daily goal before any exercise, when I exercise I eat more to keep my deficit where it's meant to be.

Heatherdfowler

I eat well over 2000 cals when I go hard in the gym, especially since I am doing an hr of strength training. I try to stay around 1300-1500 on my day of rest. It truly does depend on your weight and activity level. If your eating 2000 cals everyday and seeing results then stick w/ it!

Pandorian

Well, lets see, I am male, and I weigh around 300 lbs as my ticker indicates. From your profile your around 150lbs so "need" a lot less than me on a regular basis. I'll do what works for me indeed, I tried 1500 calories and it just wasn't enough I was feeling wiped all the time and the scale wasn't moving, worked up to 2000 to see scale movement again.

Heatherdfowler

I had to up my calories from what MFP set for me. I tried it their way for a couple days and felt as though I was going to starve to death. Its all about figuring out what works best for you and your lifestyle.

jenniferhiggins

veganbaum: its says i am suppose to eat 1590 a day to lose 1 pound a week. then i put my exercise calories in which equals to 2090 if I burn off 500 for my workout~HRM. I eat all my exercise calories back. Maybe that is my problem. I do not want to go into starvation mode. I love food with a passion. I use to run cross country and track from middle school all the way through college and I could eat anything. I am 29 years old and I seem to have to watch what I eat now. My husband can eat anything and it will not stick to him at all. I weight 140.3 and I would like to weight 132-135. I am 5'10. I workout out 7 days a week on the treadmill then do some the ball for my abs and machine for my abs and back.

Armygirl67

I eat well over 2000 cals when I go hard in the gym, especially since I am doing an hr of strength training. I try to stay around 1300-1500 on my day of rest. It truly does depend on your weight and activity level. If your eating 2000 cals everyday and seeing results then stick w/ it!

veganbaum

veganbaum: its says i am suppose to eat 1590 a day to lose 1 pound a week. then i put my exercise calories in which equals to 2090 if I burn off 500 for my workout~HRM. I eat all my exercise calories back. Maybe that is my problem. I do not want to go into starvation mode. I love food with a passion. I use to run cross country and track from middle school all the way through college and I could eat anything. I am 29 years old and I seem to have to watch what I eat now. My husband can eat anything and it will not stick to him at all. I weight 140.3 and I would like to weight 132-135. I am 5'10. I workout out 7 days a week on the treadmill then do some the ball for my abs and machine for my abs and back.

Okay, it just wasn't clear to me if you were using MFP's numbers. If you have been gaining weight - maybe your estimate of food calories and exercise calories are not accurate? Maybe you should try eating just 1/2 your exercise calories and see if that helps. If you are eating 1/2 of your exercise cals, that should leave room for inaccuracies and still give you your set deficit to lose weight.

jenniferhiggins

veganbaum; I think I might just try to eat only half of my exercise calories.

Thanks everyone:)

deucesarewild1

2000 calories is way too many....you should probably be eating between 1200 and 1500. It depends on your weight and activity level. 500 cals burned everyday should help you lose 1lb per week but since you should give your body at least 1-2 days of rest then you would need to burn more than 500 on the days you workout.

Such a generalization...Eating 3000-3500/day and losing, haha.