Am I burning the right amount?

mikatehgr8t

I don't understand this whole calorie intake/burn thing. Monday I burnt 1414 calories through exercise alone and today, 1512 calories through exercise alone. I eat around 1200 calories a day (I know anything below is too less). And also, I read that if you want to lose a pound a week, burn 500 more than you eat. So if I eat 1200 calories a day, I'd have to burn 1700 through cardio?

I'm 5'9, 184 (My bones are dense & I'm tall so I look 150), trying to lose 2" off the waist and 4-6" off my midsection (where the obliques are....got a situation of the love handles & tummy there! lol) & 20-30 pounds. So, yes I never understood the whole calorie thing even with myfitnesspal so I need to know, is burning 1400-1500 calories a day good enough?

jordanlell

So you're saying that your "net" calories are in the negative by the end of the day?

kendernau

You are missing the fact that you burn calories just sitting there. If you are burning that many calories a day, and you are eating that little, you can start to have some serious health issues.

I strongly recommend you go through and read the recommended posts (linked to through the sticky posts), as they explain a lot about healthy weight loss, and how MFP calculates how much you need to eat, based on how active you are, you current BMR, your goals, and how much you exercise.

jordanlell

MFP has a built in deficit, you should always be aiming to "net" the amount of calories it has given you for your weight loss. Your calories should never be in the negative by the end of the day! If you're burning 1400-1500 a day, you should probably eat at least 1000 of those back!