Burn more than what you put in..?Huh?

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ckay220
ckay220 Posts: 271 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just was reading another post and I saw to lose weight, you're supposed to burn more than what you put in...I don't know if I'm missing something....but I just got really confused. Sooo.....if yall are saying burn more than what you put in...if I eat 1200 calories a day, I should burn 1300? Wouldn't that be bad as a net calorie of -100? Maybe I'm just not comprehending... Help?

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  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    My husband subscribes to that theory, though he uses the machine calorie counts which are notoriously high.

    You are correct that it's as bad as a net calorie count of -100 and I wouldn't recommend it.
  • blackcoffeeandcherrypie
    blackcoffeeandcherrypie Posts: 486 Member
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    You'll already be burning approx 2000 calories a day just living. So if you're only eating 1200, then you're burning more than you're putting in.

    You'd only need* to do additional exercise if, say, you were easting 2100 calories a day, causing you to go 100 calories over.

    El :-)

    * Though of course, there are many other benefits and enjoyments to exercise beyond simply burning calories.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Your body is constantly burning calories. Even if you stayed in bed 24 hours a day, your body is burning more than 1200 calories.

    Go to your "goals" page, and on the right hand side, you'll see "calories burned from normal daily activity." That number, PLUS the exercise you log, is an estimated of what your body burns in a day. Eat less than that total sum, and you'll lose. Eat more than that, and you'll gain.
  • jonilynn70
    jonilynn70 Posts: 145 Member
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    You can find several calculators on google that will tell you with your current weight, height, gender, and age and what type of lifestyle you have (sedentary, lightly active, etc. for your work) and it will tell you what you normally burn through the course of a day exclusive of exercise. Then exercise is extra. You have to either cut 500 calories from that in eating or burn 500 calories in exercise per day, 7 days a week, to lose 1 lb. a week. Or a combination of both. If you find out you burn 1800 calories naturally, you can eat 1200 and have your deficit covered. Check out calendars on google.
  • ckay220
    ckay220 Posts: 271 Member
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    Ohhhh, so they're taking into account the entire TDEE, not just the calories eaten that day! I was thinking that I was doing something wrong!
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    Your total daily burn (TDEE - total daily energy expenditure) includes the calories you burn just living/keeping your organs functioning(called your BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate) as well as any movement and exercise.

    For example, my TDEE is about 2800. My BMR is about 1650. So, if I eat 2100-2300 calories a day, I have a 500-700 deficit. Repeated over a week long period, I will have a deficit of 3500-4900. This means I will lose 1-1.25lbs a week.

    Just remember - TDEE changes every day based on the amount of activity you do, so it's best to work with an average for the week. And almost no one is actually sedentary (even if you do a desk job).

    Read this for further clarification:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

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