how much cals should i be burning? PLEASE HELP!

Asbomar
Asbomar Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
i eat around 1200-1300 calories per day. i also try to excersise everyday twice a day. i have been dieting for about a week now and my wieght has been fluctuating. i try to weigh myself every morning and it has gone down from 155.8-153.2 so far. i just want to know how many cals should i be burning a day through excercise to keep this up? And am i eating too few calories

CW:153
GW:130

height:5'3
age: 22
CW:153

Overweight, 27% body fat

Please HELP thanks :)

Replies

  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    You are overexercising for what you eat.. your definitely not eating enough if your going to do cardio twice a day.. aim for 1800 if your doing that twice a day. Read up on BMR, TDEE and all that goodness.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    You technically don't have to burn anything. Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit from eating and/or exercise ..... you choose.

    MFP gives you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. So when you log exercise, you should be eating those calories as well (this is called NET calories). Word of caution ..... MFP and many machines overstate calorie burns ....so some MFP member choose to eat a % of their calories back.

    Part of the reason you are exercising is to maintain muscle mass (resistance training for this) .... when you have a (too) large deficit of calories.... your body will use exisisting muscle mass for fuel. So eat calories back, lose a little slower..... but keep muscle mass (it's tough to get back).

    Measurements are often better than the scale ...... scales can lie ..... high sodium = water weight, TOM = water weight, muscle soreness can = water weight. Weighing everyday would drive me crazy.
  • Asbomar
    Asbomar Posts: 10
    1800? do you think it varies for males and females? i do about an hour a day in total for cadrio, abs, obliques combined. i want to lose weight for right now then focus on strenght and muscle later.
  • jjenks3
    jjenks3 Posts: 45
    I'd also not recommend weighing yourself every day. Your weight fluctuates so much day to day based on the amount you work out, the amount you eat, the amount you drink, etc, that it's not worth tracking day to day.

    I weight myself once a week, on friday mornings at the same time, and even then there are people saying that is too often. Try once a week if you just can't stay off the scale :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    You don't have to burn anything...your weight loss calorie deficit is built into your diet. When you exercise, you're supposed to eat back those calories with MFP, as MFP is a NEAT method calculator and exercise should not be included in your activity level setup. You are currently over-training for the amount you eat.

    Use your diet for weight control; exercise for fitness.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    1800? do you think it varies for males and females? i do about an hour a day in total for cadrio, abs, obliques combined. i want to lose weight for right now then focus on strenght and muscle later.

    My wife is 38 years old and 5'2" tall...with all of the exercise she was doing, she lost between 1 and 2 Lbs per week consistently grossing around 1800 calories. Men gross far more...I gross almost 2400 - 2500 and still cut.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    You need to EAT more, if you are going to do all that exercise!! As some else said figure out your TDEE.
  • Asbomar
    Asbomar Posts: 10
    well i never eat back all of the calories i burn from excercise. i get a little obsessed with the scale and i know i shouldnt lol. ive only been doing this 6 days but i get a little obsessive. i should probably calm down. i just want to know ifim doing it the correct way bc i see so many different answers on calorie intake and excercise. so if i eat 1300 should i burn atleast 500 cals?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    1470 calories a day at rest, add 20% for a sedentary occupation = 1760. Add 300 for extra calories expended in cardio (above the 73 per hour already accounted for) = 2060 calories used per day, give or take 10%.

    A 20% deficit is 400 calories, so eating 1600 a day should give a sustained weight loss approaching 1 lb/week. In the early weeks you can probably eat a bit less and lose a bit faster, as you are now.
  • lbuseth
    lbuseth Posts: 41
    I wouldn't recommend doing abs everyday either. You only need to do those about 3 times a week depending on what you do. You don't want to over do an ab workout and not get the benefits. I workout 2 times a day about 5 days a week if not more. I make sure I am getting 1200 or more cals in a day. I do a cardio session and weights session. Just some helpful suggestions.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    1800? do you think it varies for males and females? i do about an hour a day in total for cadrio, abs, obliques combined. i want to lose weight for right now then focus on strenght and muscle later.

    It's all about the math. Weight loss is about calorie deficit. MFP calculates your calorie deficit for you if you did no exercise at all. If you just ate that amount of calories and went about your daily life without working out, you would lose weight. When you do exercise you need to add extra fuel. You need to eat at lease SOME of your exercise calories (I say some because a lot of people say that MFP estimates for burn are high).
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    1800? do you think it varies for males and females? i do about an hour a day in total for cadrio, abs, obliques combined. i want to lose weight for right now then focus on strenght and muscle later.

    Yes - it absolutely matters. Men (naturally) have more muscle mass than women .....this is why they can eat more..... this is why keeping lean muscle is so important (even for women).

    1200 is not a "magic" number for weight loss .... it's just the lowest number MFP will give you. Tall women get 1200, short women get 1200, big boned women get 1200.... it's not a one size fits all.

    Definitely consider eating more .... look up your BMR at least ... these are your calories at rest (zero activity) .... your heart, lungs, kidneys, etc. use these calories everyday. The lowest you should go is BMR + exercise.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    well i never eat back all of the calories i burn from excercise. i get a little obsessed with the scale and i know i shouldnt lol. ive only been doing this 6 days but i get a little obsessive. i should probably calm down. i just want to know ifim doing it the correct way bc i see so many different answers on calorie intake and excercise. so if i eat 1300 should i burn atleast 500 cals?

    NO!!!!!!!

    1300 LESS 500 = 800

    800 calories is below your BMR (basal metabolic rate) .....You heart, lungs, kidneys, (and more) use more calories than that everyday. Your body while catobolize existing muscle mass (for fuel) because your heart, your lung function is important for survival.
  • Asbomar
    Asbomar Posts: 10
    my TDEE days 2402 cal/day

    BMF says 1513.25

    what does this mean?
  • Asbomar
    Asbomar Posts: 10
    my TDEE days 2402 cal/day

    BMF says 1513.25

    what does this mean?
  • Asbomar
    Asbomar Posts: 10
    okay thanks that good to know!!:)
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It's the number of calories your body burns in a day, and also the number of calories you'd need to eat to maintain your current weight.

    BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate. It's roughly the number of calories your body would burn in a coma keeping all of your organs alive.

    A good rule of thumb is to eat more than your BMR and less than your TDEE. About 20% less than TDEE is what's usually recommended.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Basal metabolic rate - BMR 1513 = resting fasted energy expenditure lying down

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure - TDEE = 2402 = above plus other energy used in daily life


    My estimates were slightly different.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    my TDEE days 2402 cal/day

    BMF says 1513.25

    what does this mean?

    If you calculated your TDEE correctly (would include your exercise) then that is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure...this is the total energy (calories) that your body burns in a day.

    BMF I am assuming is actually BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate. This is what your body burns calorie wise just breathing, pumping your heart, etc. This is the number of calories your body burn just being alive, even if you were in a coma and did nothing else.

    I'm not going to go into the whole starvation mode **** because it's been beaten to death and is widely misunderstood...but really, what this means is that you can net a whole lot more than the 800 calories you're netting now and still lose weight in a safe and healthy manner.

    Essentially, you could gross around 1,900 calories and lose about 1 Lb per week. Gross around 1,650 calories and lose 1.5 Lbs per week. If this is accurate, it wouldn't appear that you should go any faster than that to avoid going below your BMR. Eating below your BMR really isn't healthy and is completely unnecessary.
  • Asbomar
    Asbomar Posts: 10
    Basal metabolic rate - BMR 1513 = resting fasted energy expenditure lying down

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure - TDEE = 2402 = above plus other energy used in daily life


    My estimates were slightly different.

    i just did it from a website.
    whay did you come up with?

    if this is right i should ne eating about 1500 day then?
  • Asbomar
    Asbomar Posts: 10
    my TDEE days 2402 cal/day

    BMF says 1513.25

    what does this mean?

    If you calculated your TDEE correctly (would include your exercise) then that is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure...this is the total energy (calories) that your body burns in a day.

    BMF I am assuming is actually BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate. This is what your body burns calorie wise just breathing, pumping your heart, etc. This is the number of calories your body burn just being alive, even if you were in a coma and did nothing else.

    I'm not going to go into the whole starvation mode **** because it's been beaten to death and is widely misunderstood...but really, what this means is that you can net a whole lot more than the 800 calories you're netting now and still lose weight in a safe and healthy manner.

    Essentially, you could gross around 1,900 calories and lose about 1 Lb per week. Gross around 1,650 calories and lose 1.5 Lbs per week. If this is accurate, it wouldn't appear that you should go any faster than that to avoid going below your BMR. Eating below your BMR really isn't healthy and is completely unnecessary.

    wow 1650? i barely know what to eat for 1200-1300 lol
    but worth a try. thanks so much for you help! Everyones help really :):)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member

    whay did you come up with?

    if this is right i should ne eating about 1500 day then?

    I got 2000-ish for your TDEE, from which a 20% deficit is 400 calories, so eating 1600 a day should give a sustained weight loss approaching 1 lb/week. In the early weeks you can probably eat a bit less and lose a bit faster, as you are now.
  • Asbomar
    Asbomar Posts: 10

    whay did you come up with?

    if this is right i should ne eating about 1500 day then?

    I got 2000-ish for your TDEE, from which a 20% deficit is 400 calories, so eating 1600 a day should give a sustained weight loss approaching 1 lb/week. In the early weeks you can probably eat a bit less and lose a bit faster, as you are now.

    okay thank you so much!

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