question about burning calories..

SunflowerRox

I know the general rule of losing weight. That you have to burn more than you consume. How true is this? for example today iv eaten aroudn 1580 calories. but iv only burned around 200 or so. Does this mean i gotta burn over 1500 calories to lose weight?..because iv noticed on some they dont burn nearly what they eat and still lose weight

castelluzzo99

I think you've gotten confused between burning calories during a workout and burning them all during the day. If you went into a coma, you would still burn calories. Go to Apps and click on BMR. That will tell you approximately how many calories you would burn if you stayed in bed all day. Anything you do like sitting up, walking, eating, driving, cooking, cleaning, folding the clothes, etc, burns more. That's why you are given a goal to eat at, but if you burn extra calories exercising, then you can eat those back too.

Unless you figure out your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and then eat less than that. Both ways are possible. You just have to pick something and stick with it long enough to know if it's working or not.

I'm sure others will have other words of wisdom too.

cmeiron

Your "burn" is not just your exercise calories. It's a combination of your exercise, your basal metabolic rate (what you burn just being alive), your non-exercise activity (doing dishes, walking around the office, sitting at your desk, etc.), and a little bit of burn from digestion. Add those up, you get your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). As long as the amount of calories you take in is below your TDEE, you'll lose fat. Exercise is one way of creating a caloric deficit; consuming fewer calories is another. So, for example, my TDEE is about 2400. I eat about 2000-2150/day, so that creates a daily deficit of about 400-250/day.

ernestbecker

Great responses and spot on! Let us know if that doesn't make sense!

SunflowerRox

Thanks guys, it makes more sense to me now! Im new to all this health and fitness and counting calorie thing so sorry in advance if my questions ever make you stratch your heads..lol.