burning 300 calories, is that enough? help.

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Hi,

So i go to the gym 4 times a week, i tend to do 45 mins of cardio which will burn between 300-350 calories, and then i will do some weight training, one session i will concentrate on the top half of my body and the next i will concentrate on the lower half. i spend about 15 mins doing weights so overall an hour in total each time.

I have only been doing this now for about 3 weeks.

I stick to my 1200 calories a day and rarely go over and i don't eat back my exercise calories.

Is the exercise i'm doing enough?? will my body soon start showing changes?

Replies

  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    Why are you eating 1200 and not eating back exercise cals?

    And 'enough' for what? To lose weight, to gain fitness, to build strength?

    What cardio, an what weights?
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    To lose weight you don't need to exercise at all, just maintain a calorific deficit. "Enough" exercise depends on your goals. What you're doing may be plenty to keep your heart and lungs healthy and prevent muscle loss, but it's not enough to, for example, run a marathon.

    However, eating just 1200 calories and not eating back your exercise calories is not sustainable and you may end up not achieving your goals by being too hungry and not having energy to exercise. You only have 16lbs to lose, so use MFP's settings to give you the calories you need to lose 1lb a week, no more. Then eat back a good proportion of your exercise calories.

    Also think about setting yourself some fitness goals.
  • mimtastic
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    It's medically not recommended that you eat any less than 1200 calories, meaning if you work out 300 calories worth, then you should be eating 1500 calories. If you don't eat them back you're essentially starving your body and could make your progress slower.
    I saw something saying it takes 4 weeks for you to notice a difference,
    8 weeks for people close to you to notice a difference, and
    12 for the rest of the world to notice.
    It's usually true.
    Just relax about it, and if you're eating enough, (and not too much) and exercising you will be fine.
  • JosieRawr
    JosieRawr Posts: 788 Member
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    agree w/ eat back the majority of your exercise calories.

    any exercise on top of a deficient will help you begin to shape your body but you don't want too big of a deficient on a regular basis, that tends to be what makes people crash n burn!

    good luck hun n u sound like you're doing fine, take measurements if you haven't already n eat back those calories.
  • ronnio_ron
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    Sounds a lot, but for what effects?

    1200 a day with so workout time, seems little risky, coz after sometime your body will start losing muscle mass, and yes you may see some improvement intitally but this is not the best way to approach body toning , assuming thats what you are trying to do here.

    is there a weight loss program you are using and please try and read more about eating back calories, as it may help change your mind on this topic.

    I wud suggest eating atleast 70% of your excercise calories, so that you have enuff energy to lose wieght normally....