Do you burn off the same amount you eat??

HayleyK11
HayleyK11 Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

I saw the health assistant at my doctors today for a general chat about losing weight. She said that to lose weight you need to burn off as many calories as you eat. Of course I questioned this, and although I still think she's wrong I did accept it at the time so as not to cause an argument.

Does anyone else agree with what she said? Surely if you burn off the same amount of calories as you eat you would be knackered and probably unwell!

Replies

  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    That's precisely how you maintain your weight: your TDEE matches your calorie intake.

    You were probably misunderstanding each other, though. She probably meant eat as much as your TDEE, NOT "exercise calories." If, for any length of time, I eat 2,000 but burn 2,000 calories at the gym, I'd be in trouble. On the other hand, if my TDEE is 2,000 (this number includes any exercise I might do, as well as my BMR and regular daily activity) and I eat 2,000, I should be maintaining my weight pretty well.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Hi all,

    I saw the health assistant at my doctors today for a general chat about losing weight. She said that to lose weight you need to burn off as many calories as you eat. Of course I questioned this, and although I still think she's wrong I did accept it at the time so as not to cause an argument.

    Does anyone else agree with what she said? Surely if you burn off the same amount of calories as you eat you would be knackered and probably unwell!

    No, you need to burn off more than you eat. But that doesn't mean just through exercise. Our bodies require a certain number of calories per day just to function, then add our daily activity on top of that and then exercise, that is TDEE - total daily energy expenditure. If you eat that amount, you will neither gain or lose weight, since your body is using all those calories. We need to eat less than the TDEE number to lose weight.
  • Querian
    Querian Posts: 419 Member
    Actually you need to eat less than you burn in order to lose weight. That's why is TDEE is the amount you burn in a day, you need to eat TDEE - 20% (or some deficit) in order to lose weight,

    But I also think you were misunderstanding each other - I think you thought she meant you needed to burn in exercise and many calories as you eat in a day and no, that wouldn't be sustainable for long! And I'd have to exercise a lot since I usually eat like 2,000 calories a day! :tongue:
  • HayleyK11
    HayleyK11 Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks, that makes more sense to me.

    But.............. how do I know what my TDEE is?
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Thanks, that makes more sense to me.

    But.............. how do I know what my TDEE is?

    There are a ton of online calculators. Fat2fit radio is a popular one. You can check out this thread too
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

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