I've been doing it all WRONG for years...

nicolemarie1978

Some one please correct me if I'm wrong - but if my goal calories is 1200/day, and I burn 400 by exercise, I should eat back all 400 calories?! All this time I was thinking the bigger the deficit the better! I didn't realize that I was supposed to be at 1200 even with working out.

Greenrun99

You should probably be higher than 1200 (depending on your TDEE and BMR , you can search for those for some calculators), but yes the bigger the deficit is not the best thing, you really only want a deficit of 100-500 depending how much you have to lose, and you should of been eating those 400 back. There is always tomorrow.

semperfit1823

No you haven't been doing it wrong the more you burn a day vs what you consume is better. However there is a difference between having the proper amount of macronutrient ratio for the calories that you are consuming vs what you burn(Protein/Carbs/Fat) For example a body builder to gain mass would be consuming bodyweight times 1.5g of protein I.E.(180lbsx1.5g= 270g of protein). Put a link at the bottom for more specific info on calories check out the CALCULATIONS part. Hope this helps

http://www.livestrong.com/article/453069-equation-calories-consumed-vs-calories-burned/

nicolemarie1978

Thanks guys, I'll look into these!

I have about 15-20 lbs that I'd like to lose. I'm working out 6x per week so I want to make sure I'm doing this right!

nicolemarie1978

holy cow - I just calculated my TDEE and it gave me 2329 based on working out 6-7/days per week.

geekyjock76

If you have 15 lbs to lose, your weight loss goal should be between 0.5 lbs to 1 lb per week, max. The less body fat you have, the less actual fat you'll lose. By creating too large of a deficit, you're increasing the decline of your Resting Metabolic Rate which reduces the amount of calories you burn from fat thus slows down the process. It will also make if much more difficult to return to maintenance because you'll have to eat much more food (what you used to eat), plus, you'll experience greater fat redeposition during weight recovery.

Furthermore, your goal calories is the net after deducting exercise. If the goal says 1500 and you burn 300 from exercise, you need to eat 300 more to make sure the calories consumed equals the goal calories.

nicolemarie1978

Thank you so much! That's exactly where I was confused. I wasn't accounting for the calories that I burned off - I was simply making sure I ate the 1200 and never ate back the workout calories.

Looking forward to doing it the right way and seeing if the pounds drop quicker!