confused on calories

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OKAY. I am confused and need some help. Everywhere I read it says, don't eat more then you are burning. So, if I am burning 250 calories a day, that would mean I need to EAT 250 calories or less??? That is not right. On the flip side, I hear that when you work out, you need to up your calorie intake. Which does make sense. So why does everyone say, don't intake more then your working off. Can someone please explain? :)

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  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    It means burning in a day. You burn calories all day by just existing. That's called your BMR (Google it) and you need to eat more than that.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    It means burning in a day. You burn calories all day by just existing. That's called your BMR (Google it) and you need to eat more than that.

    This.

    It doesn't mean what you burn through exercise, it means what your body burns doing everything you ask it to do... pump blood, digest food, breathe, run errands, do house work, go to work, hang out with friends, exercise, clean, mow the lawn, etc etc.
  • ahutchison19
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    You should be eating no less than 1200 calories a day.
  • aaronsparrow7
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    basal metabolic rate= calories burnt while resting, remember resting includes heart beat, breathing, thinking ect ect which all burn calories.. but not activity's! so if you use 2000kcal resting and you eat 2500kcal but then execise to burn 1000kcals worth you will be in a 500kcal deficit i.e -500kcals and will fingers crossed be on way to controlled and healthy weight loss :) or for someone unable to burn 1000kcal through exercise which is bloody hard could go based on 2000kcal bmr.. eat 2000kcal to be meeting your bmr requirment, then exercise 500kcals off to be in defecit by 500kcal..
  • aaronsparrow7
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    p.s you can wat as many kvcals as you like provided you can burn them off :) and no i dont mean junk. you can taylor ypour diet for the day if you with feeling like you got 200 calories burning worth of energy in you eat a little less work a lil less and vice versa
  • ElGatoBB
    ElGatoBB Posts: 20
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    p.s you can wat as many kvcals as you like provided you can burn them off :) and no i dont mean junk. you can taylor ypour diet for the day if you with feeling like you got 200 calories burning worth of energy in you eat a little less work a lil less and vice versa

    Actually, this is false information. You can't outexercise a bad diet. Not even a diet of only whole, healthy foods. Been there, done that - I gained over 15 lbs by doing that, and in a very short period of time, and I was running fast for long stretches of time, lifting weights... Good luck with that.

    Calorie restriction is fundamental if you need to lose weight. I am speaking as an ex athlete, who still trains pretty intensely 2 hours per day 6 day a week. Exercise is super important, but for different reasons - bones, muscle, mood, socializing, you name it. But no exercise regime can outrun a non-restrictive diet if you need to lose weight.
    It may actually be counterproductive.

    I am sorry, but selling the whole "burn it off later" is a sure pathway to fostering EDs, and that's just misleading and irresponsible.