Calorie deficit confusing? I burn a lot... am I not eating e

flatbellybella

I know this thread has been posted before but I'm trying to figure it out and I'm getting no where...
please don't bite my head off this isn't the bodybuilding.com misc. forums lol

Anyways, I've lost about 50lbs so far.
I work out everyday and 5-days a week I have 2-a-day workouts. I burn anywhere from 1,400 to 2,900 + cals a day.
I do not like taking days off
My workouts consists of high intense cardio kickboxing, running, stairmaster and weights.

I'm confused about the whole calorie deficit 'thing'.
I try to stay around 1,200 - 1,400 cals a day... some days I am super hungry so I may eat more but I have never ate back all my exercise calories. I couldn't imagine doing that then maybe somehow putting on like 5 lbs :sick:

I thought maybe I hit a plateau but maybe I'm not eating enough or maybe I'm eating too much... so confused.

Somebody please help me understand this

earlyxer

First, you need to determine what you daily caloric requirement is - that is, how much you need to ingest to neither gain or lose weight. This is called your BMR (basal metabolic rate). There are a online calculators (the Katch-Mcardle method for example) for this that require you age, sex, height, and the biggie - your "activity level multiplier" which ranges from a 1.2 (couch potato) to 1.725 (maniac workout freak). You have to really be honest and give it your best shot on the multiplier. I do at least an hour a day of intense interval or weight training and I use 1.55 mainly because my job is not physical.

From this number you start adding or subtracting calories. You shouldn't really go below 25%-30% of your BMR so you don't trigger the "starvation response" and begin shedding muscle. It is kind of basic though, you can't have competing priorities. If you want to lose fat (I hate the term "lose weight"), you need a calorie deficit. If you want to gain muscle, you need a calorie surplus. They are mutually exclusive. You cannot (in any appreciable manner) GAIN muscle while LOSING fat and vice versa, so you need to have realistic goals. If you want to lose fat, you will do so while trying to minimize muscle loss. Some loss is inevitable. Also, if you want to bulk your muscle you want to do it while at the same time not gaining fat.

That being said, and not questioning your assumptions, I will tell you that an intense "boot camp" type workout like P90X burns about 650 calories for the hour. Also, regardless of what the Stairmaster display says, a full-sweat, heavy breath climb is good for 9 or 10 calories a minute. Not questioning your assumptions, but a 2,900 calorie workout would be over 4 hours in duration so you may want to crunch the numbers some more.

Good luck!

carrie_eggo

Why do you think you hit a plateau?

snowkid03

if you are burning 1400 calories a day as a minimum and only eating up to about 1400 your body doesn't have enough fuel... your BMR (amount of calories you need to function, even if you laid in bed all day) uses MORE than the calories you eat unless you are REALLY tiny.

heybales

I know this thread has been posted before but I'm trying to figure it out and I'm getting no where...
please don't bite my head off this isn't the bodybuilding.com misc. forums lol

Anyways, I've lost about 50lbs so far.
I work out everyday and 5-days a week I have 2-a-day workouts. I burn anywhere from 1,400 to 2,900 + cals a day.
I do not like taking days off
My workouts consists of high intense cardio kickboxing, running, stairmaster and weights.

I'm confused about the whole calorie deficit 'thing'.
I try to stay around 1,200 - 1,400 cals a day... some days I am super hungry so I may eat more but I have never ate back all my exercise calories. I couldn't imagine doing that then maybe somehow putting on like 5 lbs :sick:

I thought maybe I hit a plateau but maybe I'm not eating enough or maybe I'm eating too much... so confused.

Somebody please help me understand this

I know you don't like to take days off, but please put down the weights for a minute.

Just think about this. If you don't know what BMR is, you should really educate yourself beyond this comment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate
energy in this state is sufficient only for the functioning of the vital organs, the heart, lungs, nervous system, kidneys, liver, intestine, sex organs, muscles, and skin.

So get it, basic life functions NOT doing anything.

If you eat below it, your body will adjust and slow the metabolism down, even if you got muscle.

Now you do work out a lot and love it, and burn a lot of calories. How would you feel if someone stopped you from doing 20-30% of your workouts? Just didn't allow you?

Because your healthy BMR probably would burn that many or more calories, if it was not slowed down.

Got the idea.

You can lose weight with lowered metabolism, just won't be as fast, plus the potential that as it lowers, you'll have to lower your eating or increase exercise to continue to see loss.
Is that the direction you want to go?

Suggest you really try to nail your BMR as accurate as possible, and eat above it. And eat your accurately assessed exercise calories back. Yes, you do need them.
At the level you are at, if your body is not getting enough, it will break down muscle for it's needs, perhaps not what you use all the time, but somewhere.

Use this site with bodyfat % for better accuracy. And then try to nail your activity levels and times.

And net your BMR or slightly above.

You want the deficit calories to come from your maintenance calories, not your daily body life calories.

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

flatbellybella

the scale hasn't really moved in about 2 + weeks.

(this was a reply lol)

taso42

More info here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390145-should-i-eat-my-exercise-calories

and here http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html


and here http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

KatieJane83

First, you need to determine what you daily caloric requirement is - that is, how much you need to ingest to neither gain or lose weight. This is called your BMR (basal metabolic rate). There are a online calculators (the Katch-Mcardle method for example) for this that require you age, sex, height, and the biggie - your "activity level multiplier" which ranges from a 1.2 (couch potato) to 1.725 (maniac workout freak). You have to really be honest and give it your best shot on the multiplier. I do at least an hour a day of intense interval or weight training and I use 1.55 mainly because my job is not physical.

From this number you start adding or subtracting calories. You shouldn't really go below 25%-30% of your BMR so you don't trigger the "starvation response" and begin shedding muscle. It is kind of basic though, you can't have competing priorities. If you want to lose fat (I hate the term "lose weight"), you need a calorie deficit. If you want to gain muscle, you need a calorie surplus. They are mutually exclusive. You cannot (in any appreciable manner) GAIN muscle while LOSING fat and vice versa, so you need to have realistic goals. If you want to lose fat, you will do so while trying to minimize muscle loss. Some loss is inevitable. Also, if you want to bulk your muscle you want to do it while at the same time not gaining fat.

That being said, and not questioning your assumptions, I will tell you that an intense "boot camp" type workout like P90X burns about 650 calories for the hour. Also, regardless of what the Stairmaster display says, a full-sweat, heavy breath climb is good for 9 or 10 calories a minute. Not questioning your assumptions, but a 2,900 calorie workout would be over 4 hours in duration so you may want to crunch the numbers some more.

Good luck!

I just need to correct something here. BMR is the amount of calories you need each day just to exist, as in bed ridden or coma, just so you can do things like breathe, have a heart beat, have functioning organs, etc.

The amount of calories you need to intake in order to live a normal life, including all the things you do on a daily basis like work, talk, move around, eat, etc. is your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). This is what you base your deficit off of. You should never be at a deficit to your BMR, because then you're eating less than your body needs just to have basic life functions.

Sorry, just had to clear that up, a lot of people misuse the terminology.