A bit confused

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candycaneps
candycaneps Posts: 340 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone here read SELF? I like to read their articles and they have what is call the "SELF Challenge" which offers lots of tips. However I am confused about something. Here is part of an article:
" Your weekly budget needs to be timmed by 3500 calories to lose a pound. Cut 500 per day or eat 250 less and burn 250 more" If you burn 250 don't you need to eat those calories? Or are they saying not to eat your exercise calories.
Then they go on to say if you want to lose 2 pounds per week eat 1600 calories a day and if you want to lose 2 pounds a week burn 500 calories a day ( 3500 a week) but they just said that 3500 is one pound, So where is the 2 pounds coming from and if you eat 1600 calories a day and burn 500 a day are you really eating 2100 calories a day because you need to eat your exercise calories?

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  • candycaneps
    candycaneps Posts: 340 Member
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    Does anyone here read SELF? I like to read their articles and they have what is call the "SELF Challenge" which offers lots of tips. However I am confused about something. Here is part of an article:
    " Your weekly budget needs to be timmed by 3500 calories to lose a pound. Cut 500 per day or eat 250 less and burn 250 more" If you burn 250 don't you need to eat those calories? Or are they saying not to eat your exercise calories.
    Then they go on to say if you want to lose 2 pounds per week eat 1600 calories a day and if you want to lose 2 pounds a week burn 500 calories a day ( 3500 a week) but they just said that 3500 is one pound, So where is the 2 pounds coming from and if you eat 1600 calories a day and burn 500 a day are you really eating 2100 calories a day because you need to eat your exercise calories?
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    Self Magazine is not MFP...two different guides two diff ways of doing weight loss....MFP is just a guide not all sites or magazines will say the same thing.....most sites and things i have read do not mention the excercise calories theory but I do understand MFPs rationale but its just not for me....to really answer your question in simpler form they are not mentioning excercise calories they are saying stick to a set amount per day and burn a set amount. hope that helps
  • nguill6
    nguill6 Posts: 133
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    As I understand it, here on MFP they already subtract 500 calories from the number you are allotted each day. So here, if you burn calories, you are eating 500 less plus however much you burned off. We eat back exercise calories because subtracting more than 500 calories each day (i.e. losing more than 1 pound a week) is not ideal for your body. Self is having you consciously subtract 500 calories per day instead of just allotting you 500 less to begin with. It adds up to the same thing: lose 1 pound a week.
  • Sapporo
    Sapporo Posts: 693 Member
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    " Your weekly budget needs to be timmed by 3500 calories to lose a pound. Cut 500 per day or eat 250 less and burn 250 more"

    Either eat 500 calories less per day OR eat 250 less and exercise off 250 which equals a 500 calorie deficit as well. Not everyone exercises.
    Burn 500 calories per day 7 days per week is 3500 calories for losing 1 lb and eating only 1600 calories per day is most likely a deficit for most people which would make up the other pound (if your BMR + regular daily exertion calories are 2100+ then it's a 500 cal per day deficit), so there's your 2lbs per week.
    They don't mention exercise calories but the 1st thing about eating 250 less and buriing 250 vs just eating 500 less is definitely the same idea as eating your exercise calories - you only have to cut 250 calories instead of 500 calories if you exercise to burn off 250 calories. Does that help or did I confuse you more? :laugh:

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