Simplest breakdown of how to lose a lb. a week...ever

This helped me!

A pound of body fat equates to approximately 3500 calories. So if you have a calorie deficit of 500 calories (meaning that you burn 500 calories more than you eat each day) you would lose approximately one pound per week:

500 x 7 = 3,500

It's easy to see that a calorie deficit of 1000 calories would mean that you'd lose approximately two pounds per week. And that's a good number to remember, because two pounds a week is commonly accepted as the maximum rate of weight loss that is healthy.

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_pound.php


That breaks down to 500 calories per day, and the easiest way to do that is to do this combo move: each day, cut out 250 calories from your diet and burn 250 through exercise.

http://www.fitsugar.com/How-Lose-One-Pound-Week-6925344
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Replies

  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    And even easier still... let MFP do the maths for you!

    If you put all your details into MFP, choose "lose 1 pounds per week" and eat the cals that MFP recommends plus the cals you burn through exercise - you should be well on your way.
  • thats what i have been doing but i cant seem to lose. i eat about 1350 calories and burn about 800 a day and the scale hasnt moved in 2 months.
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
    thats what i have been doing but i cant seem to lose. i eat about 1350 calories and burn about 800 a day and the scale hasnt moved in 2 months.

    Then you're not following MFP as you are supposed to be eating back those exercise calories. Sounds counter-intuitive but it works. I broke a 2 month stall by upping my calorie intake. I keep upping my calories and I keep losing.
  • lisa28115
    lisa28115 Posts: 17,271 Member
    thats what i have been doing but i cant seem to lose. i eat about 1350 calories and burn about 800 a day and the scale hasnt moved in 2 months.

    that seems like to few calories eaten and a whole lot of calories burned
    sounds like you need to adjust your goals
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    thats what i have been doing but i cant seem to lose. i eat about 1350 calories and burn about 800 a day and the scale hasnt moved in 2 months.

    I'm not surprised - your poor body is trying to survive on the 550 cals you have given it a day to run all the basic bodily functions like breathing, keeping your heart beating and your blood moving.
    Your body probably needs at least 1300 cals just for these basic survival functions, and that's before you include walking, talking, working etc....
    Rest assured that if you keep this up you will eventually lose weight, but your body will fight you all the way to hang onto the energy it needs to survive, and you certainly won't be healthy.
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
    thats what i have been doing but i cant seem to lose. i eat about 1350 calories and burn about 800 a day and the scale hasnt moved in 2 months.

    I'm not surprised - your poor body is trying to survive on the 550 cals you have given it a day to run all the basic bodily functions like breathing, keeping your heart beating and your blood moving.
    Your body probably needs at least 1300 cals just for these basic survival functions, and that's before you include walking, talking, working etc....
    Rest assured that if you keep this up you will eventually lose weight, but your body will fight you all the way to hang onto the energy it needs to survive, and you certainly won't be healthy.

    And she'll lose valuable muscle class that could help keep her thinner. Losing muscle will make regaining weight much easier. And lead to higher body fat percentages to boot.
  • MommyRobin
    MommyRobin Posts: 584 Member
    And even easier still... let MFP do the maths for you!

    If you put all your details into MFP, choose "lose 1 pounds per week" and eat the cals that MFP recommends plus the cals you burn through exercise - you should be well on your way.

    I know MFP can do all the math for you. But, this is just a simple way to explain the easiest way to cut your calories, for beginners. My mom just started on her journey, and when I explained it to her with the 250/250 breakdown, she totally got it. I know how to do it, I've lost over 70 lbs. since April 2011.
  • fimary
    fimary Posts: 274 Member
    It does not matter if I put in 0.5,1 or 2 lbs to lose MFP gives me same figure?
    And it gives me a BMR of 1290?
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    It does not matter if I put in 0.5,1 or 2 lbs to lose MFP gives me same figure?
    And it gives me a BMR of 1290?

    Probably because your weight is pretty low already (to have a BMR of 1290). It won't put your calories under 1200.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    It would follow then, that knowing one's TDEE is a critical factor for successful predictable weight loss.
  • TheFitnessTutor
    TheFitnessTutor Posts: 356 Member
    Unless you weigh about 50 lbs you're not eating enough, you have metabolic damage. Some people would call this the starvation mode.
  • TheFitnessTutor
    TheFitnessTutor Posts: 356 Member
    thats what i have been doing but i cant seem to lose. i eat about 1350 calories and burn about 800 a day and the scale hasnt moved in 2 months.

    Then you're not following MFP as you are supposed to be eating back those exercise calories. Sounds counter-intuitive but it works. I broke a 2 month stall by upping my calorie intake. I keep upping my calories and I keep losing.

    While this is a great sight with good general methods of attacking a caloric deficit, don't think that those prescribed numbers are always right or optimal. When i tell a client to come here I tell them to ignore what the computer tells them to do and I set up their protocol.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
    It would follow then, that knowing one's TDEE is a critical factor for successful predictable weight loss.

    I still don't know my TDEE I don't know if I should be going with sedentary or lightly active to allow for fidgeting all day. (i get involuntary muscle movement which I think would be about same as fidgeting all day - an extra 300-400cals on top of BMR? )
    Then I exercise as well on top of that another 500-800 cals a day.

    I got recommended 1200 cos I'm sat all day (wheelchair user) but doesn't really reflect the amount of energy it takes me to do things due to my condition? Even eating exercise calories back with a sedentary base of 1200 I'm going to be constantly 300-400cals under NET?
  • davy1974
    davy1974 Posts: 1
    Where do you get a good MFP can you suggest a good website to look at?
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    And even easier still... let MFP do the maths for you!

    If you put all your details into MFP, choose "lose 1 pounds per week" and eat the cals that MFP recommends plus the cals you burn through exercise - you should be well on your way.

    I know MFP can do all the math for you. But, this is just a simple way to explain the easiest way to cut your calories, for beginners. My mom just started on her journey, and when I explained it to her with the 250/250 breakdown, she totally got it. I know how to do it, I've lost over 70 lbs. since April 2011.

    Agreed, you explained it really well. I think a lot of people struggle with the concept of the calorie deficit, hopefully this will help them work it out.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    And even easier still... let MFP do the maths for you!

    If you put all your details into MFP, choose "lose 1 pounds per week" and eat the cals that MFP recommends plus the cals you burn through exercise - you should be well on your way.

    I know MFP can do all the math for you. But, this is just a simple way to explain the easiest way to cut your calories, for beginners. My mom just started on her journey, and when I explained it to her with the 250/250 breakdown, she totally got it. I know how to do it, I've lost over 70 lbs. since April 2011.

    Agreed, you explained it really well. I think a lot of people struggle with the concept of the calorie deficit, hopefully this will help them work it out.

    But, as someone mentioned, a missing piece here is TDEE. If someone comes in and sets up their account to lose 1 pound a week, is given their calorie deficit, and then subtracts *another* 500 calories (which some people seem to do), that can be too large a deficit to be healthy, and they may actually not lose weight at all. If they figure out their TDEE, then they can create their own 500 calorie deficit.
  • CindyCountingCalories
    CindyCountingCalories Posts: 321 Member
    Bump to read later...
  • creative1981
    creative1981 Posts: 182 Member
    Okay I know I'm going to sound thick but what's TDEE?
  • fimary
    fimary Posts: 274 Member
    It does not matter if I put in 0.5,1 or 2 lbs to lose MFP gives me same figure?
    And it gives me a BMR of 1290?

    Probably because your weight is pretty low already (to have a BMR of 1290). It won't put your calories under 1200.

    no i am 162lbs with 42lbs still to go to get me just on the bmi 24.9.
  • thats what i have been doing but i cant seem to lose. i eat about 1350 calories and burn about 800 a day and the scale hasnt moved in 2 months.

    I'm the same, I'm really struggling.