Calories in/out... SO CONFUSED

hardyjessicag

Okay, so I read that to lose 1 lb a week, you need to burn 500 calories more than you eat a day.

But then I read that you are supposed to eat all the calories you burn off at the gym, and mfp keeps getting mad at me for coming in lower than 1200 calories.

I am trying to eat healthy, and I want to choose the way that is going to yield the best results, but I am not sure what that is/ how to do it.

I'd LIKE to be able to burn 2 lbs a week, but I know it doesn't always happen like that.

What is the correct way to eat and burn calories for someone who would like to burn 1 to 2 pounds a week? How dangerous is it to come in say around 1000 calories, instead of the 1200 mfp recommends?

(If it helps, I am 4"10, 125 lbs, and I have lived a very sedentary lifestyle until now.)

Thanks a bunch!

Kxgz

Read up on BMR and TDEE. Check sites like fit2fat and fitnessfrog. They will walk you thru to figure out how many calories a day for you to gain, lose or maintain. That should help u quite a bit

hardyjessicag

Thanks, I'll look into it

Railr0aderTony

here is a great synopsis of most things
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

MinnieInMaine

First of all, for someone your size who has less to lose, a goal of 1/2 a pound would actually be more appropriate. If you do look into the TDEE method as suggested above (search for in place of a road map) please go with a 10 or 15% reduction. More than that is for folks who have a lot more to lose. And I know - I'd love to lose weight like I did when I started but the fact is, losing that fast is just plain old not healthy and not sustainable for those of us with less to lose.

Second, I'll give you a quick summary on the BMR/TDEE thing. BMR is your basal metabolic rate. This is the amount of calories (estimated based on gender, height, weight and age and sometimes bodyfat %) that your body needs just to do basic functions, like as if you were in a coma. Even being sedentary burns a bit more calories than that (1.2x) because you're sitting up, walking around a bit, etc. Therefore, it is recommended that you eat at least the same number of calories as your BMR
In your case, BMR is 1366 calories

Therefore, if you only eat 1000 calories a day AND you're active, you're creating far too high of a calorie deficit. You should NET at least 1366 calories per day in order to make sure you get enough calories just to support your body's basic functions. That means if you burn 500 calories (which honestly would take a lot of work for you as you are petite), you can eat another 500 calories in order to fuel that extra activity.

I hope that helps...

WaterBunnie

People tend to over complicate things by directing you to other site calculators because the method given on this site works for many just how it is. Your 1200 goal is already enough of a deficit to cause you to lose weight even without exercise so that is why you are given more to eat when you exercise so that you don't exhaust your body with too much of a deficit.

hardyjessicag

Thanks guys, this helps a lot!

jacksonpt

You're getting confused because you don't understand the method.

You tell MFP about yourself (age, weight, etc etc), part of which is a weight loss goal. Based on that info, MFP calculates a calorie goal that will get you to your weight loss goal. MFP assumes no exercise (only lifestyle) when it does the calculation. That means that even without exercise, if you follow MFP's recommendation you'll lose weight. When you add exercise into the conversation, you change the number of calories your body needs, which is why MFP increases your target calories when you log exercise.


A couple of side notes...
1) I agree that 2lbs per week is probably too aggressive, though ultimately I guess it depends on your goals (simple scale numbers or body composition).

2) 1200 calories is the generally accepted minimum number of cals you need to adequately nourish your body. At that point it's not about weight loss, it's about being healthy.

3) For many people, the "best" results are the fastest results. For most, the fastest is the hardest to sustain, which is why so many people end up failing and/or yo-yo dieting. Pick an approach that you realistically think you can sustain long term. If you average 1lb lost per week, you've got a minimum of 20 weeks ahead of you. Do you think you can sustain 1200 cals or less for 5-6 months?

hardyjessicag

I do think I can stay below 1200 cal a day, the issue I'm having now is getting up to 1200 calories when exercising is involved (obviously it would be no problem if I wasn't burning the calories).

I find If I'm burning 300-400 calories in exercise, it's hard to keep up with calorie intake after that!

jacksonpt

If you have a problem eating more food (bigger portions, more volume), eat higher calorie foods... nuts and beans, full fat dairy, red meat, etc. Such a low intake for such a long time will likely lead to some unhealthy side effects.

hardyjessicag

Okay. So just a (probably stupid) question.

Eating higher calorie foods (like nuts) to up my calorie intake would be good, but say eating fast food would not, because of the grams of fat?

Obviously there are other negative factors to fastfood (grease, saturated fat, ect.) but does all that also add to weight gain, or is it just strictly calories when you talk about weight?

jacksonpt

As far as weight goes, a calorie is a calorie. You'll lose the same from 1500 cals of mcdonalds as you will 1500 cals of "clean, whole" foods.

Like you said, there are other health issues with this, but talking strictly about weight, food sources don't matter.

hardyjessicag

Alright thank you for answering my questions, as you can see I have little nutrional knowledge, which I think has helped slow down my attempts at trimming down in the past.

Many thanks!