burning more than you're taking in

ntatbeeq

almost daily, i read the line "one should burn more than he/she is taking in" what exactly does it mean???

Like i am taking 1200Cals per day and burn about 400-500cals a day by exercising, so should i do more exercise to reach till 1200+cals to burn more or what???

I really don't get the meaning of above mentioned sentence.

jmzz1

would like to hear more responses

charlene77

In your burn you need to include the calories that your body burns to survive....breath....walk...ect. It's called a BMR, Basic Metabolic Rate. Say you live a sedentary life, no exercise or activity.....maybe your body burns 1800 calories to function daily......then you workout and burn 400 calories. you have now burned 2200 calories. You now eat 1500 calories. 2200burned - the 1500 consumed = a 700 calories deficit. So you are burning more than you are consuming...thus....losing weight!!!

muayqis

yes, to lose weight you need to burn more than you take in.
BUT:

Remember that 'burning' includes what you burn just 'being'. this is your BMR(Base Metabolic Rate).

so the equations would actually look something like:

Exercise burn + BMR = calories to maintain weight.
so in your example:

400kcals(from exercise) + 1800(random BMR) = 2200kcals.
So to maintain your weight you need to eat 2200kcals., to lose weight you need to eat less than 2200kcals a day.

If you're eating 1200kcals a day, that means you're at a 1000kcal deficit a day, which is pretty harsh imo.

to take a stab at your bmr try:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

muayqis

Or what Charlene said.
I included a link though, so i win ;-)

[edit]
Apparently it's 'Basal' metabolic rate

neandermagnon

your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is how many calories your body needs to keep all your cells alive and functioning correctly. This is how many calories you'd need each day if you were in a coma. It varies from person to person, in that bigger people burn more calories keeping their cells alive, because they have more cells. My BMR is around 1350 cals/day (can't remember the exact number) and I'm 5'1", 130lb, 22% body fat. Yours may be higher or lower than that, depending on whether you're bigger or smaller than me, and what your body fat percentage is (fat cells don't burn as much energy as other kinds of cells, e.g. muscle cells, brain cells)

Your body also burns calories moving around, even just sitting up, walking around, and of course the more you move the more energy (calories) your body uses. These are your activity calories (exercise calories are part of your activity calories, but so are the calories you burn walking around your house, etc)

Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is all your BMR calories, plus your activity calories:

TDEE = BMR + activity calories.

To lose weight at a healthy rate, you should aim to eat around 20% fewer calories than your TDEE.

In your question, you haven't accounted for your BMR calories. If you eat 1200 calories a day and then burn 1200 calories in exercise, you'll be starving your body as unless you're really tiny, your body needs 1200 calories or more just staying alive (usually your BMR is more than 1200 calories)

There's a thread in here called "in place of a road map" - that thread has detailed instructions for how to calculate your TDEE and then you subtract 20% from that, and that's how many calories you should eat each day for healthy fat loss. However if you stick with the numbers that MFP has given you, you need to eat back at least 80% of your exercise calories otherwise you won't get enough energy to sustain your body and your activity levels. (if you calculate your calories using the TDEE - 20% method then you don't eat back exercise calories, as they're already counted in your TDEE)

mjrkearney

Technically, yes, to lose weight you should burn more calories than you eat. For a moment there I was afraid you were aiming for negative net calories for the day.

Burning includes pesky little things like breathing, thinking, living, etc. That would be your BMR. Your TDEE includes an estimate of calories burned during everyday activities, like getting out of bed, taking a shower, talking, etc. Your exercise logs give you additional burn beyond that.

To lose weight, it would be recommended to consume calories between your BMR and your TDEE. Maintaining would require you average around your TDEE. To gain, you simply consume more.

ntatbeeq

well my BMR as per MFP is 1406cals as i am 5'6'' with wt 64KG
so if i add 400cals of my exercise = 1406 + 400 = 1806cals

Now if i eat cals between 1200-1300daily it means i am saving about 500-600cals

So is it right amount of calories intake to keep on losing weight???

neandermagnon

check out the "in place of a road map" thread.... cutting your calories too low can be detrimental. Providing you're eating less than your TDEE, you'll lose weight. Cutting them too low so your body's not fed properly can cause all kinds of issues like lack of energy, hunger, desire to binge, and you'll be more likely to gain the fat back again.

The Harris Benedict formula puts your BMR around 1450 cals/day (I put your data in to see) - I'd strongly recommend not eating less than this number. so I think 1200-1300 cals/day is too low. Aim for 1450 cals/day or more. Don't eat more than 1850 and you'll still lose weight. Take it slow and steady and aim for long term maintenance of your goal weight, rapid fat loss can backfire.

charlene77

well my BMR as per MFP is 1406cals as i am 5'6'' with wt 64KG
so if i add 400cals of my exercise = 1406 + 400 = 1806cals

Now if i eat cals between 1200-1300daily it means i am saving about 500-600cals

So is it right amount of calories intake to keep on losing weight???

Yes! So you are burning more than you are consuming! At that rate you should lose approximately one pound per week. Remember, one pound is 3500 calories.