DAZED AND CONFUSED

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pamsdiet
pamsdiet Posts: 2
in Introduce Yourself
Hello, Im new to this site.

I have a questions about how many calories a day you need to lose weight. I exercise everyday and I burn between 300 to 500 calories so I guess Im confused as to how many calories should I have, please take a look at the example and let me know which one to use for losing weight.

1500 calories burn 500 calories leaves 1000 calories
1500 calories burn 300 calories leaves 1200 calories

or
1700 calories burn 500 calories leaves 1200 calories
1700 calories burn 300 calories leaves 1400 calories

Pam

Replies

  • DanOhh
    DanOhh Posts: 1,806 Member
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    Burning calories w/exercise gives you back calories. So, you are going in the wrong direction. Say you are allowed 1500 cals. for the day and you exercise 500 cals. that will allow you to eat 2000 cals. for the day to consume in food.
  • misspenny762
    misspenny762 Posts: 279 Member
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    You should be eating your exercise calories. For example, if you're supposed to eat 1500 calories a day and you burn 500 calories exercising, you should eat 2000 calories.

    Welcome to MFP! :]
  • xarrium
    xarrium Posts: 432 Member
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    Ideally, your net calories will be above 1200 every day so you can get enough nutrition and energy to meet your body's minimum requirements. I would say to set your daily goal as 1500 and if you burn more than 300 calories on any given day make sure to eat back some of those exercise calories until you hit 1200 (or as many as you want up until your daily goal).

    So, for example:
    Day 1: Goal is 1500 calories, you workout and burn 300, leaving you with a net of 1200 (so, you've eaten a total of 1500 calories, but burned off 300). You could technically eat back those 300 calories (I almost always eat my exercise cals), but if you didn't want to, it's okay because you're at a net of 1200.
    Day 2: Goal is 1500 calories, you burn 500, so you have 1000 calories net. Make sure you eat at least 200 calories extra to bump yourself up to a net intake of 1200. (Same goes for between 300-500, you would just have fewer exercise cals to eat back).

    Of course, if you find that it's really tough to work out with a net of 1200 every day, you could give a daily goal of 1700 (net between 1200-1400 daily) a try. It's all about providing your body what it needs when it needs it.

    Good luck, and welcome!!
  • lessjess1
    lessjess1 Posts: 71 Member
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    What Penny said, EAT your exercise calories. Trust us!
  • andrewajm
    andrewajm Posts: 18 Member
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    you have to eat 1200 calories a day...itrs all based on your weight basically..fitness pal figures all of this in for you when you put in your weight goals under weight goals on your home page...my mom is 5 foot 2 19o and she gets 1200 calories a day ...if you stick to 1200 calories a day you will automatically lose weight and if you exercise a lot you need to eat a bit more put all your information into fitness pal and it will calculate all this for you...change your weigh in numbers on weigh in on your homepage as you lose weight and fitness pal will automatically change everything for you so ya know...hope i havent been to confusing..good luck!!!
  • JessiJean
    JessiJean Posts: 1,207 Member
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    Pam: I have lost 20lbs in one year eating 1700 calories and burning between 300-500. I would never go below 1200. HTH :flowerforyou:
  • RoadDog
    RoadDog Posts: 2,946 Member
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    1 lbs = 3,500 calories.

    Consume 1,500 calories and burn 5,000 calories = 1 lb lost.

    Consume 5,000 calories and burn 1,500 calories = 1 lb gained.
  • duribe56
    duribe56 Posts: 10 Member
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    HI, Dan from AZ here. I found out what my BMR was (Basal Metobolic Rate) The rate at which your body burns calories, excluding exercise and breathing. Once I found that number I subtracted 500 calories and sticking to it.....any calories I burn working out are a bonus but I dont eat them, they go towards the weight lose bucket.

    Hope that helps

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