Newbie - please help and let me know I am doing this right!!

katieuk
katieuk Posts: 304 Member
edited January 5 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

When I signed up I entered the following info:

I weigh 140lbs, I have a sedentary lifestyle (because I literally sit at a desk all day - drive to and from work and then sit on the sofa in the evening), I entered that I will workout 5-6 times per week for approx. 60 mins. I want to lose 1/2 lb per week.

MFP calculated that my BMR is 1660kcal per day and I needed a deficit of 250kcal per day to reach my 1/2lb per week goal so my daily calorie intake is 1410kcal.

If I stick to that daily goal of 1410kcal per day then hopefully I will be losing 1/2lb per week right?

That goal is based on reducing my food intake, but it hasn't include the calories I will burn doing my exercise has it?

So for example, say I ate 1350kcal on Monday so I was under my goal by 60kcal for that day. I also exercised and burned 300kcal. This would mean that prior to the exercise burned calories I had achieved my goal thus if I continued that that way for the remainder of the week I could lose the 1/2lb as aiming for. With the addition of 300 kcals burned for exercise though this means that if I continued to do that for the remainder of the week e.g 5 workouts at 300kcal 1500kcal - this would aid me in losing even more than the 1/2lb aiming for is that right?

Alternatively, I could use the burned kcal through exercise to have more food in my daily intake - provided I am having an overall deficit of 250kcal per day then I should be losing the 1/2lb per week.

Is that right?

Hope all that makes sense.

Thank you for your help in advance :-)

Replies

  • prokomds
    prokomds Posts: 318 Member
    Sounds like you have things figured out - just about everything I read sounded correct :)

    Whether or not you should eat the calories you burn exercising is probably the single-most debated topic on here. Some people want the "extra" weight loss they think they can get from not eating them back, other people think that not eating the exercise calories creates too large of a deficit for healthy weight loss.

    Since you're already pretty small, you could probably at least eat some of those calories back. Just keep in mind that most ways of estimating how many calories you've burned are inaccurate (supposedly a heart rate monitor is the best way). Basically what it comes down to is that you'll have to try something for a few weeks and then readjust. Even the MFP numbers (1660/1410/etc) are obviously just estimates

    If you're miserable and hungry, don't be afraid to eat a little more (maybe your BMR is higher than you think). Or if a month goes by and you don't lose any weight or inches, maybe you eat a little less. It's a process.

    Just for your info, I started at 150lbs, 5'6" and over the past 4 months I've lost 7-8 pounds. Not speedy, but I'm pretty confident I can keep it off this way. Good luck!
  • katieuk
    katieuk Posts: 304 Member
    Thank you for your reply prokomds - I really appreciate it.

    I just wanted to make sure that the daily goal that MFP provide me with e.g. the 1410kcal for 250kcal deficit per day, doesn't actually include the exercise that I aim to do e.g. 5 x per week.

    I tend to allow myself 1 cheat per week just so that I stay motivated and don't feel like I am depriving myself too much, so I just wanted to make sure that provided I stay within my daily goal every day, then those calories burned through exercise, if say I fancied a piece of garlic bread with my dinner at the end of the week as a bit of a cheat / treat - that I could essentially use the calories burned through exercise to cover it and could still hopefully lose the 1/2 lb per week having kepy to my daily goal - if you know what I mean??!!! :-)

    This week for instance:

    Weekly goal for a 1/2lb loss = 9870kcal
    Calories ate = 11,931kcal
    Calories saved / burned = 2779kcal
    Actual calories ate = 9152kcal (11931 - 2779)

    So looking at the above I am below my actual weekly calories is below the weekly goal to lose what I aim to lose by 718kcal.

    Obviously like you say figures are estimates but generally this is how MFP works right?

    Also the fact I am still well under my weekly goal for 1/2lb even though I managed to have a treat (Chinese takeaway last night) is pretty good - definitely worth all the exercise I do in the week!! :-)
  • realdog2usa
    realdog2usa Posts: 29 Member
    It would be helpful to post what kind of exercise you will be doing. And by all means get a Heart Rate Monitor and log your calories burned from the HRM into to your daily Food/Exercise on MyFitnessPal.

    My goal is 1200 calories a day diet. I do an hour of Zumba 5 - 6 days a week, also do some mountain walking and bicycling on days off from zumba. I have a gym membership but for some reason have a hard time getting myself in there. I do need to work on Strength training too! Your Heart is a muscle that must be exercised to to be healthy! I try to take NO DAYS OFF (although the Thanksgiving Holidays threw me off). I've lost 18 lbs. since last March. I'm 5'5" currently 160 and want to lose 15 to 20 more lbs. I find in the winter months even though I live in a mild climate (Atlanta, GA) it is hard to get outdoors with the time change getting dark at 5:30 p.m. OH, and I am NOW taking dance lessons, Discover Delirio Cardio Salsa & Discover Reggaeton (Beginner classes).

    MyFitnessPal helps me to be accountable and honest with myself... Look for progress, your metabolism should speed up with lots of cardio, you will be burning more calories even when you sleep! Good Luck, feel free to add me as a friend for support!

    My goal to really turn it on during the month of December ... I ask myself all the time... How Bad Do You Want It!!!!
    Cheers!
    realdog2usa

    24731816.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    Hi and welcome.

    I would not recommend eating below your "basal metabolic rate". That is the minimum amount of energy your body needs to sustain life-continuing processes like your heart beat. While you can and will lose weight doing so, you may see counterproductive results to your metabolism and potentially end up in a downward spiral where you are even lower on energy, more tired and lethargic, and thus consume less energy and thus need to eat even less to see the same results.

    Better is to eat a healthy level (at least BMR) of food and get to your deficit by activity above and beyond what you would burn if you were laying in bed all day.
  • prokomds
    prokomds Posts: 318 Member
    Yep yep! Since you set yourself as "sedentary," you need to account for the exercise calories as extra. If you'd set yourself as "lightly active" or "moderately active" or whatever, those exercise calories would be accounted for in your daily total (i.e., it'd be higher than 1410)

    And I do what you're talking about -- if I exercise extra, I'm more likely to give myself a small reward (that fits in the calorie goals). Keeps me sane :)
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