Newbie here needing advice on Calories and Exercise

MaleyaB

Hello all! I am hoping that someone can help me a little since I am new to the diet and exercise thing to lose weight. My boyfriend and I decided to go on a 1500 calorie diet where we eat five meals a day with 300 calories in it. However, I have consistently had problems totaling the 1500-- I am always under. I make sure to have a minimum of 1200 calories so that my metabolism won't shut down. My question comes in with exercise. I feel as though I shouldn't exercise if I am at 1200 so my net calories won't go below the 1200. But I have heard that you NEED exercise in order to lose weight. Does this apply if you are being really strict with calorie intake? Advice is appreciated!

GauchoMark

you don't NEED to exercise to lose weight. That is all about eating less calories than you burn. However, when you are at a calorie deficit - especially a big deficit - you are prone to losing lean body mass. You can keep more lean body mass by exercising and eating back your exercise calories.

By keeping your LBM high, you burn more calories and look better at your goal weight (and the exercise makes you healthier in general).

MaleyaB

Thank you! I am somehow finding it difficult to get enough calories in me in the first place, so I have been leary about going to the gym because I didn't want a calorie deficiency. My Fitness Pal yelled at me the first day when I didn't have enough in me, so I know my minimum is 1200. Thanks for the info!

rose313

Exercise is great for you! You don't HAVE to exercise, but you'll lose fat faster if you exercise than if you don't. (at least I do!) Eat eggs, avocados, nuts, peanut butter, and drink milk if you need more calories.

ascotton80

If you care about being healthy you need to exercise.

And your metabolism won't magically "shut down" at 1200 calories. You may burn a bit less per day, but the effect is not that dramatic.

SHBoss1673

Hello all! I am hoping that someone can help me a little since I am new to the diet and exercise thing to lose weight. My boyfriend and I decided to go on a 1500 calorie diet where we eat five meals a day with 300 calories in it. However, I have consistently had problems totaling the 1500-- I am always under. I make sure to have a minimum of 1200 calories so that my metabolism won't shut down. My question comes in with exercise. I feel as though I shouldn't exercise if I am at 1200 so my net calories won't go below the 1200. But I have heard that you NEED exercise in order to lose weight. Does this apply if you are being really strict with calorie intake? Advice is appreciated!

First, I'm curious to know the reasoning behind both of you choosing the same calorie goal. different people should be choosing goals based on their individual needs, not a static number (and specifically, men and women rarely have the same goals). Second, 1200 is not a hard and fast number, the number you should set as a minimum should be based upon your individual statistics. 1200 may be way to low for you, or it could be to high, without knowing your stats we can't even guess.

you should be looking to find your TDEE, then subtract an appropriate deficit based on your situation. For example (for illustration purposes only, this is a very simplistic circumstance) if you need to lose 20 lbs then about 1/2 lb per week would be a good starting point, 40 lbs might be more in line with 1 lb per week...etc. It's really about how much lean mass you have and how much body fat % you need to lose, but those aren't easy to get unless you have access to a facility that does body fat testing.

GauchoMark

I agree with pretty much everything posted by the others above me.

Why not go through the guided goals "wizard" on this site and just let it set you up to lose weight and follow the plan. Otherwise, you probably need to do quite a bit of reading so you understand what you are doing. If you do exactly what this site tells you to do, and be honest about your logging, you will lose weight and be healthy while you do it.

MaleyaB

Thanks for the advice everyone! and thanks GauchoMark for pointing out the guided goals-- I looked and saw what it normally took into account and such.

And SHBoss1673, I originally decided 1500 because I thought it would be possible and easy to split between five meals, then he copied me so we would be on the similar plan. But now that I understand the guided goals better, I can see the why just picking a number randomly is a bad idea. As a side note, 1500 was like 80 calories more than what MFP is telling me to do.

Thanks again!

saraphim41

OK. Will somebody tell me who sets the macros I'm reading about here?

GauchoMark

As a side note, 1500 was like 80 calories more than what MFP is telling me to do.

Your boyfriend is probably way under then.

OK. Will somebody tell me who sets the macros I'm reading about here?

I think MFP gets the protein and fat settings from the minimum recommended by the FDA and fills the rest with carbs.

MaleyaB

Yes, he was almost 200 under.