how does this stuff work...

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cloudj9
cloudj9 Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
people with a calorie limit of 1200
what do you eat?.. i got a 1200 calorie limit too, but im always going over it.
and im like ....ahhh!!

some people even eat less than that...

but if we wanted to lose weight.. we'd have to burn 1200 calories or more right?

i dunno how it works..

but i read somewhere, that in order to lose weight you'd have to burn more calories than you consume..
and thats a lot!

regularly i only burn a bout 200 a day.. that seems like **** all..

can someone explain this to me,, am i doing it right?

Replies

  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    The missing part of your equation is the calories you use doing everyday stuff , not just your exercise calories.

    So, you burn some calories just living, even if you slept all day, then you get up, walk around, go to work etc
    If you look AR your goals in MFP on your home page it will show your estimated daily calorie burn excluding exercise. Then you add your 200 calories of exercise, and that's your total calorie burn for the day.

    If you eat less than that you should lose weight.
  • cloudj9
    cloudj9 Posts: 66 Member
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    ohh ok, didnt know that kind of stuff counted..

    thanks!

    its hard to eat less than that... ahh.. -_-
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Your NET should be 1200. So if you earn 200 calories exercising you can eat 1400 calories.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    people with a calorie limit of 1200
    what do you eat?.. i got a 1200 calorie limit too, but im always going over it.
    and im like ....ahhh!!

    some people even eat less than that...

    but if we wanted to lose weight.. we'd have to burn 1200 calories or more right?

    i dunno how it works..

    but i read somewhere, that in order to lose weight you'd have to burn more calories than you consume..
    and thats a lot!

    regularly i only burn a bout 200 a day.. that seems like **** all..

    can someone explain this to me,, am i doing it right?
    That's very wrong. Eating anywhere below your TDEE and you'll lose weight. Look up Energy Expenditure and Basil Metabolic Rate to understand it. If you pick sedentary then add your exercises in manually and eat them back. That number should have you maintaining weight...anything less then that and you well lose. There's a calculator here that does it for you:
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ It's more accurate to get your RMR tested by a doctor. RMR stands for resting metabolic rate, which in theory is higher then your basil metabolic rate since you're not sleeping when it is tested.
  • ebrown30
    ebrown30 Posts: 31 Member
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    One thing I have learned being on MFP is to know your TDEE. Total Daily Energy Expenditure and your BMR. Your BMR is how many calories your body uses just to be alive. Your TDEE takes into account your activity level. You can google calculators for these.

    You need your Net calories to be the 1200 (Net is calories consumed minus calories burned) so if you burn 200 calories working out you get to eat 200 more calories (I like to eat so I try to bun 600 per work out and on the weekends I do 1000).

    Knowing these numbers and loging my claories every day have really helped to impower my weight loss.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    Yeah, as others have said, most of what you burn throughout the day is not through exercise workouts, but just through your normal daily activities and bodily functions.

    That said, how it worked for me was to eat more than 1200. I did 1200 for a while, with exercise calories on top, and it just wasn't enough for me. Most people will be able to lose while eating more than that.
  • cloudj9
    cloudj9 Posts: 66 Member
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    ohh okay cool! thank you guys so much!
  • kazookayaker
    kazookayaker Posts: 3
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    When I first started MFP I was put on a 1200 calorie limit - lost 1lb a week. it was VERY hard at the beginning. Always hungry. I learned what to eat. Fresh and natural products! No preservatives and NO processed. You could eat 4 apples or one cookie...you do the math. Foods high in fiber as well - they take longer to digest and keep you full longer. Remember to eat foods high in magnesium as well. Spinach, oats, black beans, etc. Keeps your energy level up. Do your research. It's easier than you think.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    This topic helped me find my BMR and TDEE, and to set my calorie goal: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    I tried the prescribed 1200 set my MFP at first - it wasn't enough food for me. My BMR is 1370, and if I can burn that just by laying bed all day, I figured I certainly need at least that and more if I'm up and moving around all day, plus exercising on top of that. :smile:

    My current calorie goal is 1700 (I'm 44, 5'8", and fluctuate between 137-140lbs), and I frequently go over it, especially over the holidays! And I didn't gain any weight at all. I'm near my goal weight, but while my scale hasn't changed much lately, I am still losing fat and inches (and dropped another pants size!) by eating at this level. Food is fuel - eat too little and you get hungry, which sucks, and if you do it for too long, you burn out, lack energy, and could screw up your metabolism in the long run.

    Check out that thread - I only wish I had found it when I first started my fitness journey!
  • rfsatar
    rfsatar Posts: 599 Member
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    When I first started MFP I was put on a 1200 calorie limit - lost 1lb a week. it was VERY hard at the beginning. Always hungry. I learned what to eat. Fresh and natural products! No preservatives and NO processed. You could eat 4 apples or one cookie...you do the math. Foods high in fiber as well - they take longer to digest and keep you full longer. Remember to eat foods high in magnesium as well. Spinach, oats, black beans, etc. Keeps your energy level up. Do your research. It's easier than you think.
    This!!!
    On gym days I have a more proteiny breakfast, almost every work day I have soup at lunch and then cook for scratch most weekdays rotating between rice, noodles,,pasta, veg and between meat, fish, veggie for variety.
    I pre log and come in most week days at 1000-1100 cals - then any exercise cals are eaten back up to a certain point (that's where all this deficit and acronym stuff comes in!!!)

    It took two weeks to get into the logging habit and get over the shock of how many cals were in what.
    It took about a month to get into the habit of pre-logging and changing the order in which I eat things.

    Good luck!
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    This topic helped me find my BMR and TDEE, and to set my calorie goal: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    I tried the prescribed 1200 set my MFP at first - it wasn't enough food for me. My BMR is 1370, and if I can burn that just by laying bed all day, I figured I certainly need at least that and more if I'm up and moving around all day, plus exercising on top of that. :smile:

    My current calorie goal is 1700 (I'm 44, 5'8", and fluctuate between 137-140lbs), and I frequently go over it, especially over the holidays! And I didn't gain any weight at all. I'm near my goal weight, but while my scale hasn't changed much lately, I am still losing fat and inches (and dropped another pants size!) by eating at this level. Food is fuel - eat too little and you get hungry, which sucks, and if you do it for too long, you burn out, lack energy, and could screw up your metabolism in the long run.

    Check out that thread - I only wish I had found it when I first started my fitness journey!

    I started at 1200 to. It made me feel dizzy and very cranky. When I researched my BMR and TDEE I switched to eating 1600 and still lost 1lb+ per week, but felt so much better.

    Personally I want to be able to eat as much as possible whilst losing, so that I don't feel deprived and it is sustainable. I know I wouldn't have lasted much longer at 1200. It was too large a deficit for me.

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