So confused on a lot of stuff :(

kitcatsheart
kitcatsheart Posts: 32 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay so I'm seeing a lot of terms that I don't really understand and I tried googling them but woah talk about confusing!

What in the world is being in deficit? Is that something I want? How do I get there? Will my GPS find it?

Eating back exercise calories? is that something I should do? Is it okay if I dont?

What is a BMR is it anything like a BMI?

I'm trying so hard to do this the right way but I'm a tad confused. I've just been cutting out crap and watching my calories, is that enough?

Confused,
Cat (the human)

Replies

  • bluecrayonz
    bluecrayonz Posts: 459 Member
    A defiicit is when youre eating less than your bodies burning so ur body ends up using fat to make up for the lower calorie intake resulting in weight loss. Just count your calories and try to make healthy choices :)
  • alondrasilva10
    alondrasilva10 Posts: 63
    Okay so I'm seeing a lot of terms that I don't really understand and I tried googling them but woah talk about confusing!

    What in the world is being in deficit? Is that something I want? How do I get there? Will my GPS find it?

    Eating back exercise calories? is that something I should do? Is it okay if I dont?

    What is a BMR is it anything like a BMI?

    I'm trying so hard to do this the right way but I'm a tad confused. I've just been cutting out crap and watching my calories, is that enough?

    Confused,
    Cat (the human)

    I also got really confused when it came to all this stuff. I tried so hard to understand it and even when others explained what something meant I would be like.. 'okay, now in english please!'. I finally just went back to what I know best. Watching what I eat and exercising 4x a week.
  • TesselCat
    TesselCat Posts: 74
    BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate - the amount of calories you were to burn if you did nothing but lay in bed all day, not even wiggling your toes. Closely related to BMR is your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) which takes your BMR and adds on all the calories you burn during the day by doing things (wiggling your toes, going to work, exercising, etc.)

    Having a calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight. You have to eat fewer calories than you burn throughout the day (eating less than your TDEE.)

    You can definitely lose weight just by controlling your calorie intake, as long as you are burning more than you eat, you will lose. How much you lose depends on how much less you eat. Exercise is not required to lose weight, but it does help make the deficit larger. (If you eat 1500 cal, and burn 150 cal walking, you essentially 'netted' or gained 1200 cal -- which, as long as you are burning more than that (you most definitely probably are.) means you will lose weight. )

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ has a bunch of calculators you can punch in some information into to get an idea of what your BMR/TDEE are and help you figure out where a good starting point is.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    Can your GPS find your deficit??? You are probably a troll, but if not, read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

    It explains everything you need.
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    whether or not you eat back your exercise calories depends on how you set your calorie goal. if you use a TDEE calculator and then subtract 10% or 20% from that number, you do NOT eat your exercise calories back. if you set your calorie goal on MFP, you do eat your exercise calories back, because MFP doesn't account for your exercise level when it calculates your deficit.
  • kitcatsheart
    kitcatsheart Posts: 32 Member
    Can your GPS find your deficit??? You are probably a troll, but if not, read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

    It explains everything you need.

    I'm not really sure what a troll is I'm still new lol but I was just trying to make light by making fun of myself lol. Sorry :/
    Thank you for the information though :)

    Right now I'm following MFP but I'm always worried about eating back exercise calories because I'm still getting use to tracking them. Like I walked 3 miles the other day, I went to track it and it was like walked ___MPH and I was like 0____0 I have no idea how many mph I was going. So what if I over shoot and then eat back to many calories :(
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    If you do nothing other than follow the MFP plan - set your activity level to your daily routine without workouts included; enter all calories consumed; enter all workouts done; set your weight loss goal to a reasonable rate - and you eat the calories MFP tells you to, included the extra from exercise. You should lose weight. It's a great tool!

    Deficit - this means burning off more calories than you consume. Since it's not a location, I don't think a GPS will help.

    BMR - Basal metabolic rate - the rate at which your body burns calories for basal functions (breathing, pumping blood throughout your body, etc.). Not the same BMI.

    Eating back exercise calories - yes, you should do this. If you are not sure of how much you are burning, you could get by with eating a little under in case of over estimation, but you need to fuel your exercise.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    Can your GPS find your deficit??? You are probably a troll, but if not, read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

    It explains everything you need.

    I'm not really sure what a troll is I'm still new lol but I was just trying to make light by making fun of myself lol. Sorry :/
    Thank you for the information though :)

    Right now I'm following MFP but I'm always worried about eating back exercise calories because I'm still getting use to tracking them. Like I walked 3 miles the other day, I went to track it and it was like walked ___MPH and I was like 0____0 I have no idea how many mph I was going. So what if I over shoot and then eat back to many calories :(

    A troll is someone who puts out a post, usually inflammatory or crazy, just to see the responses and see who takes them seriously. We have a lot of those.

    Do you have a smart phone? There are lots of aps that will tell you how far you walked and what your average speed was. Otherwise, if you can get access to a treadmill for a bit, walk at each of the speeds so that you have an idea. If you power walk, you are going approx this speed, leisurely is about this speed, etc. If you use the MFP tool, then yes, you eat your cals back. The roadmap will be more exact but will take a couple hours of your time.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    That's the old version, here is the cheat sheet i wrote to summarize the new version
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm

    I added spreadsheets and edited version 2 and now we have version 3, it's better.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

    Thanks! I just did a quick search, since I don't have it bookmarked on this computer, and clicked the wrong one.
  • juliekins64
    juliekins64 Posts: 125 Member
    Can your GPS find your deficit??? You are probably a troll, but if not, read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

    It explains everything you need.

    This
  • kitcatsheart
    kitcatsheart Posts: 32 Member
    Can your GPS find your deficit??? You are probably a troll, but if not, read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

    It explains everything you need.

    I'm not really sure what a troll is I'm still new lol but I was just trying to make light by making fun of myself lol. Sorry :/
    Thank you for the information though :)

    Right now I'm following MFP but I'm always worried about eating back exercise calories because I'm still getting use to tracking them. Like I walked 3 miles the other day, I went to track it and it was like walked ___MPH and I was like 0____0 I have no idea how many mph I was going. So what if I over shoot and then eat back to many calories :(

    A troll is someone who puts out a post, usually inflammatory or crazy, just to see the responses and see who takes them seriously. We have a lot of those.

    Do you have a smart phone? There are lots of aps that will tell you how far you walked and what your average speed was. Otherwise, if you can get access to a treadmill for a bit, walk at each of the speeds so that you have an idea. If you power walk, you are going approx this speed, leisurely is about this speed, etc. If you use the MFP tool, then yes, you eat your cals back. The roadmap will be more exact but will take a couple hours of your time.


    I do have a smart phone, I tried a couple of apps to track my steps kind of like a pedometer but I didnt find it to be very accurate. Do you have any suggestions for apps?
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    I've just been cutting out crap and watching my calories, is that enough?

    Yes! And if you add in regular exercise, watching your calories will be even easier :)

    ETA: And eat back those exercise calories. You'll feel much better and will keep your metabolism functioning in an optimal way for weight loss!
  • junkie_99
    junkie_99 Posts: 26
    Can your GPS find your deficit??? You are probably a troll, but if not, read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

    It explains everything you need.

    I'm not really sure what a troll is I'm still new lol but I was just trying to make light by making fun of myself lol. Sorry :/
    Thank you for the information though :)

    Right now I'm following MFP but I'm always worried about eating back exercise calories because I'm still getting use to tracking them. Like I walked 3 miles the other day, I went to track it and it was like walked ___MPH and I was like 0____0 I have no idea how many mph I was going. So what if I over shoot and then eat back to many calories :(

    15 minutes per mile is 4 miles per hour, 20 minutes per mile is 3 miles per hour.

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