Calorie burn

westie750

Thanks for that Ladyraven! I found a TDEE calculator and have discovered that I am about 40 - 50% under my expenditure, so it's all good! : )

40-50% of your expenditure is not all good...anything more than 20% of your TDEE is potentially dangerous and you should be under the close supervision of a physician. Anything more than 20% generally means you are netting well below your BMR unless you are seriously morbidly obese. If you continue down this path, metabolic stall will be the least of your concerns when your organs begin to fail and your body cannibalizes your lean body mass for energy

But I am eating three meals a day and snacks - not going mad in the gym either. My TDEE was 2100, my fitnesspal app said 1200 for daily calorie intake. I am by no means starving myself. I guess it is possible that the calculator (online) was wrong.

vanessarico

I wonder this too. I'm on a 1200 cal diet and I lose about 500 cal a day in working out but still cant seem to lose weight. What am i doing wrong?

1,200 calorie goal already has a deficit built in there as I assume you told MFP you wanted to lose weight when you set up. You need to eat back your exercise calories to net to 1,200 minimum...which is probably still on the low side. 1,200-500=700 net calories per day. I can guarantee you that is way below your BMR...your BMR is the bare minimum of calories your body needs to maintain proper organ function if you were in a coma. Netting below your BMR causes your body to do the exact opposite of what you want...it goes into metabolic stall and instead of burning your fat stores and calories, it puts everything into storage because your body thinks it's starving...which it is.

1,200 calories should be what you are netting, not grossing which means you need to eat back exercise calories to properly fuel your body. Like I said, that's still probably pretty low and you'd be doing yourself a favor by figuring out what your BMR is and maintenance TDEE is and netting your caloric intake somewhere between those two numbers for healthy and safe weight loss.

Yes you are right I told MFP that I want to lose 2 lbs a week. Ive been eating 1200 or less and losing about 500 cal a day without eating anything back. I'm looking through the links provided and see that I have been going about this all wrong. Thank you!

AnvilHead

I wonder this too. I'm on a 1200 cal diet and I lose about 500 cal a day in working out but still cant seem to lose weight. What am i doing wrong?

1,200 calorie goal already has a deficit built in there as I assume you told MFP you wanted to lose weight when you set up. You need to eat back your exercise calories to net to 1,200 minimum...which is probably still on the low side. 1,200-500=700 net calories per day. I can guarantee you that is way below your BMR...your BMR is the bare minimum of calories your body needs to maintain proper organ function if you were in a coma. Netting below your BMR causes your body to do the exact opposite of what you want...it goes into metabolic stall and instead of burning your fat stores and calories, it puts everything into storage because your body thinks it's starving...which it is.

1,200 calories should be what you are netting, not grossing which means you need to eat back exercise calories to properly fuel your body. Like I said, that's still probably pretty low and you'd be doing yourself a favor by figuring out what your BMR is and maintenance TDEE is and netting your caloric intake somewhere between those two numbers for healthy and safe weight loss.

Yes you are right I told MFP that I want to lose 2 lbs a week. Ive been eating 1200 or less and losing about 500 cal a day without eating anything back. I'm looking through the links provided and see that I have been going about this all wrong. Thank you!

Here's a very good read (for both you and the OP) - a very good explanation of why a huge deficit can create problems:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

ladyraven68

Thanks for that Ladyraven! I found a TDEE calculator and have discovered that I am about 40 - 50% under my expenditure, so it's all good! : )

40-50% of your expenditure is not all good...anything more than 20% of your TDEE is potentially dangerous and you should be under the close supervision of a physician. Anything more than 20% generally means you are netting well below your BMR unless you are seriously morbidly obese. If you continue down this path, metabolic stall will be the least of your concerns when your organs begin to fail and your body cannibalizes your lean body mass for energy

But I am eating three meals a day and snacks - not going mad in the gym either. My TDEE was 2100, my fitnesspal app said 1200 for daily calorie intake. I am by no means starving myself. I guess it is possible that the calculator (online) was wrong.

If your TDEE is 2100 you could lose 1lb a week on 1600 calories a day. (2100 - 500).

foleyshirley

If you stay the same weight at 1200 calories a day and burn 400 calories a day you should lose but less than a pound a week because 400 x 7 is 2800 calories and it takes 3500 to lose a pound. So you would need to cut an extra 600 calories from your diet to lose a pound. 1200 is very low though, I bet you burn more than that in a day.

This is completely and utterly wrong. 1200 is not maintenance, and is way too low for most people. If you eat 1200, you are expected to eat back your exercise calories. Please read this link and learn about BMR and TDEE.

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

Foleyshirley,
I follow the app pretty strictly - I filled out what I wanted to lose and what my exercise goals were. So usually at the end of the day, food and exercise submitted, I am back at 0 or somewhere around there. If I have a long workout with extra burn, then I will have a an extra snack. I think I am doing it right at this point - I understand the app better now with the realization that it is auto-tailored to one's specifications.
I don't think 1200 is extremely low, it has really made me think about what I am eating and I don't eat as much rubbish like chips and cakes etc.

If you are eating 1200 calories and not eating back exercise calories, you are not doing it right. MFP is set up to eat back exercise calories, so you are not following the app. You are creating too large a deficit, and it will backfire eventually.

1200 is not what your body needs everyday; 1200 is already a deficit. You are not expected to create a larger deficit with exercise. And it isn't even wise to do so, no matter how much you want to lose. You risk losing lean body mass, as well as lowering your metabolic rate. And you don't have to eat rubbish to go over 1200.

westie750

1200 is what I am netting. I can go up to 1600 gross sometimes or thereabouts. I do eat back if I have calories to 'spare'.

cwolfman13

1200 is what I am netting. I can go up to 1600 gross sometimes or thereabouts. I do eat back if I have calories to 'spare'.

If you are netting 1,200 you are probably ok for now, but you'll want to keep an eye on it and make adjustments when MFP tells you to. My guess is that it is still below your BMR which is a very important number. Eating below that number for a long time will eventually cause you issues and you will eventually go into metabolic stall...just look at the countless posts here on MFP for people who lost at 1,200 and then stalled for weeks and months until they figured out they needed to eat more.

If 2,100 is your maintenance TDEE, I will extrapolate and presume that your BMR is in the 1,600-1,700 range...while you may initially lose the weight faster at 1,200 calories, netting to your BMR will result in safer and healthier weight loss and should be around 1 Lb per week. Generally speaking, those who shed the weight slower also tend to keep it off in the long run as well.

Remember that this is a marathon not a sprint. You didn't put weight on overnight and it's not going to come off overnight. Patience is key here.

Good luck to you.

westie750

Thanks for the information. I'll take a lot of the advice here and up my calorie intake (which I have no problem with!). My BMR is lower than that so not sure how one applies to the other. (Should the net calorie goal be the same as BMR?)
In any case, I'll reset my app to 1300 or 1400. Thanks all!

vanessarico

I apologize if I sound repetitive but MFP says I should eat 1200 cal a day and I'll lose 1.7 lbs a week if I work out 7 days a week for 60 mins and lose 2,270 cal. Is this accurate. After all the reading I'm still a bit confused.

westie750

I think there may be some issue with the MFP app. I have put in several variations and it still tells me to put 1200 as my net calorie goal. I have put it up to 1400 as a result of the advice in this thread.

ladyraven68

I think there may be some issue with the MFP app. I have put in several variations and it still tells me to put 1200 as my net calorie goal. I have put it up to 1400 as a result of the advice in this thread.

What did you put as your weight loss goal per week?

vanessarico

I'm confused as to how to read the the diary. For example yesterday my cal coal was 1200, I ate 1095 and burned 462 cal, net was 633 and the remaining was 567. Should I have ate 567 cal more?

cwolfman13

Thanks for the information. I'll take a lot of the advice here and up my calorie intake (which I have no problem with!). My BMR is lower than that so not sure how one applies to the other. (Should the net calorie goal be the same as BMR?)
In any case, I'll reset my app to 1300 or 1400. Thanks all!

minimally you should net to BMR for healthy weight loss. it is the minimum your body needs for proper organ function if you were in a coma. In other words, if you were in a hospital in a coma, they would feed you your BMR through a tube to make sure you were getting the minimum nutrition your body needs to just run your internal organs.

westie750

I think there may be some issue with the MFP app. I have put in several variations and it still tells me to put 1200 as my net calorie goal. I have put it up to 1400 as a result of the advice in this thread.

What did you put as your weight loss goal per week?

2lb a week, but I acutually just changed that to 1lb. I also read on another forum that a good way to calculate your calorie goal is to multiply your BMR by .2 then subtracting that from your BMR. Any advice on that?

westie750

Thanks for the information. I'll take a lot of the advice here and up my calorie intake (which I have no problem with!). My BMR is lower than that so not sure how one applies to the other. (Should the net calorie goal be the same as BMR?)
In any case, I'll reset my app to 1300 or 1400. Thanks all!

minimally you should net to BMR for healthy weight loss. it is the minimum your body needs for proper organ function if you were in a coma. In other words, if you were in a hospital in a coma, they would feed you your BMR through a tube to make sure you were getting the minimum nutrition your body needs to just run your internal organs.

Thanks, I will adjust accordingly. I don't understand why MFP suggested I stick to 1200...

ladyraven68

I think there may be some issue with the MFP app. I have put in several variations and it still tells me to put 1200 as my net calorie goal. I have put it up to 1400 as a result of the advice in this thread.

What did you put as your weight loss goal per week?

2lb a week, but I acutually just changed that to 1lb. I also read on another forum that a good way to calculate your calorie goal is to multiply your BMR by .2 then subtracting that from your BMR. Any advice on that?

That's applies to your TDEE, not your BMR.

What you have described is deducting 20%, but that is from your maintenance calories, not your BMR. That's also the method linked to in the Roadmap thread linked earlier.

Good luck.

cwolfman13

I'm confused as to how to read the the diary. For example yesterday my cal coal was 1200, I ate 1095 and burned 462 cal, net was 633 and the remaining was 567. Should I have ate 567 cal more?

Here's how it works:

you set your goals to lose 2 Lbs per week and MFP gave you a goal of 1,200 calories. MFP will never give you a lower net goal than that as netting below that number is extremely unhealthy.

Your caloric deficit is already built into that number. In other words...and I'm assuming you set up as sedentary...you could eat 1,200 calories and lose weight with no exercise at all. MFP does not include exercise in it's TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculation so any exercise you do is outside of the parameters of your profile set up. Therefore, you would eat back those exercise calories.

You will notice that MFP will give you 1,200 calories...but when you log exercise, that goal goes up...MFP expects you to eat them back because not doing so creates an excessive and unhealthy deficit.

So...1,200-567=633 net calories THIS IS VERY BAD AND VERY DANGEROUS! You would eat back those calories or at least a good portion of them (calorie burn estimates can be off). This is why when you log your exercise you will see your goal go from 1,200 to 1,767...1,767 is your gross but your net is still 1,200. (1,767-567=1,200net)

vanessarico

I'm confused as to how to read the the diary. For example yesterday my cal coal was 1200, I ate 1095 and burned 462 cal, net was 633 and the remaining was 567. Should I have ate 567 cal more?

Here's how it works:

you set your goals to lose 2 Lbs per week and MFP gave you a goal of 1,200 calories. MFP will never give you a lower net goal than that as netting below that number is extremely unhealthy.

Your caloric deficit is already built into that number. In other words...and I'm assuming you set up as sedentary...you could eat 1,200 calories and lose weight with no exercise at all. MFP does not include exercise in it's TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculation so any exercise you do is outside of the parameters of your profile set up. Therefore, you would eat back those exercise calories.

You will notice that MFP will give you 1,200 calories...but when you log exercise, that goal goes up...MFP expects you to eat them back because not doing so creates an excessive and unhealthy deficit.

So...1,200-567=633 net calories THIS IS VERY BAD AND VERY DANGEROUS! You would eat back those calories or at least a good portion of them (calorie burn estimates can be off). This is why when you log your exercise you will see your goal go from 1,200 to 1,767...1,767 is your gross but your net is still 1,200. (1,767-567=1,200net)

Thank you cwolfman13 i had put that I'm moderately active, I spend eight hours on my feet and exercise when i get home. I should aim for the "remaining" to be at around zero for healthy weight loss.

carolyn000000

If you would have read my earlier post you would see that this comment was based on what SHE said she was already eating. I agree it is too low. It is rude to contradict people and incorrect to take things out of context. The fact is that it takes 3500 calories less than you burn to lose a pound.