how bad is it to actually burn off more calories than your e

lushy20
lushy20 Posts: 215 Member
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
iv been trying different things to lose weight. first week i did the calorie counting along with the exercise and lost 14lbs i know this is a huge weight loss. i didnt eat into my exercise calories.
no idea how it happened because i was only exercising 20 - 40 mins 3 times that week.
this week im only 4 days in and was eating my exercise calories and weighed myself today and gained 2lbs still only exercising 20 - 40 mins a day twice this week so far altho today i have done 60 after the weigh in.
not meaning too today i have burned off more calories than i have eaten. can this be bad for dieting??

Replies

  • AndySharman2610
    AndySharman2610 Posts: 5 Member
    Seems more like water weight you've lost than 14lbs of actual fat. Don't be discouraged next week or the week after when your weightloss is significantly less.

    I'm not quite sure what you meant by you've burned off more calories than you eaten. I'm guessing you mean something like you've burned 1,000 calories, but only consumed 900? and yes this is quite bad.
  • Sonflower
    Sonflower Posts: 50
    It is most likely water weight and you are turning fat into muscle also remember that..
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
    your body will go into starvation mode and you wont lose weight
  • Breenee
    Breenee Posts: 6 Member
    I think I understand what she's talking about. I mean, I have a set amount of calories to eat like say 1,200 calories....I meet that calorie goal, but then when I add my exercise it adds an additional amount of calories to the 1,200 calories and it makes it look like I'm under...is this correct? Should I be going towards the 1200 calories or eat towards the higher amount with exercise thrown in? I have a significant amount to lose, so I don't see how eating more can help...
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
    Not really sure I'm understanding what the question is hun, you actually SHOULD be burning off more calories than you eat, so there is a calorie deficit which will result in fat loss?

    I think losing 14lbs in one week was a misleading reading. And most of it is, without question, water weight. Perhaps you were retaining a lot of water before you started to diet. I dont know. But I know that I can put on 5lbs just from drinking wine over a weekend :blushing: But I dont normally worry about this as it comes off again in a few days.

    Perhaps you need to stick to a regime for a month or two to decide if its working for you? A week or two is not enough time to average out and assess how your body works. Takes patience, I know. But 1 - 2lbs per week is about an average fat loss for someone of your size. It's kind of impossible to shift more fat than that. The rest is water. Our bodies are 70% water, so there are vast fluctuations in what the scale will just show as weight rather than fat or water weight.

    Hope that helps a bit.

    Anna :flowerforyou:
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
    Not really sure I'm understanding what the question is hun, you actually SHOULD be burning off more calories than you eat, so there is a calorie deficit which will result in fat loss?

    I think losing 14lbs in one week was a misleading reading. And most of it is, without question, water weight. Perhaps you were retaining a lot of water before you started to diet. I dont know. But I know that I can put on 5lbs just from drinking wine over a weekend :blushing: But I dont normally worry about this as it comes off again in a few days.

    Perhaps you need to stick to a regime for a month or two to decide if its working for you? A week or two is not enough time to average out and assess how your body works. Takes patience, I know. But 1 - 2lbs per week is about an average fat loss for someone of your size. It's kind of impossible to shift more fat than that. The rest is water. Our bodies are 70% water, so there are vast fluctuations in what the scale will just show as weight rather than fat or water weight.

    Hope that helps a bit.

    Anna :flowerforyou:

    I took her question as eating 1000 cals and burning off 1200 in one day leaving you a net for the day as a negative.
  • oferbarnoy
    oferbarnoy Posts: 3
    I tried to put in info into to my goal profile to manipulate a 3 lb per week loss but the system would not let me. It is limiting my weight loss to 2 lbs a week. I don't know how in heaven you can lose 14 lbs a week. Doesnt sound possible.
  • lushy20
    lushy20 Posts: 215 Member
    yes thats what i mean calorie intake for today was just under 900 (meant to be 1200) i know what u are all going to say its far too less.
    i havent had much of an apetite today.

    i burned off 997 calories through exercise today. meaning i have actually burned off more than i have eaten.

    i do hope that the slight weight gain is water retention and not the mistake of have a few drinks at the weekend anna lol
  • lushy20
    lushy20 Posts: 215 Member
    like some of the other users are saying its most likely water weight when i weighed myself i also dont think its possible to lose 14lbs in 1 week which is why i question it.
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
    Ah! Sorry lushy, I'm being a bit of a div!!! lol

    So you are supposed to eat 1200, PLUS you burned 900, so you should have eaten 2100??

    But you ate 900??

    Yep! that's pretty bad.....lol :laugh:

    I don't know yet how I feel about eating 'exercise calories' as this is first I've ever heard of it on this site, and I've only been here a day!!! So, at the moment, I'm not going to eat them, simply because I've been on a million diets and lost weight and never factored exercise calories into the equation. But that's my personal take at the moment. I have read numerous accounts stating that you should eat your exercise cals, or at least half of them.

    But, if that were my diary, I'd be looking to eat at least the 1200 daily recommended as a minimum. Obviously if you're ill or lost your appetite then you can't force yourself. So, one day wont hurt. But its a false economy to think that the less I eat, the more I will lose. It doesnt work like that. You have to eat to feed your metolism to lose the fat. That's in very simple terms.

    Like I said, I would be consisent for a month and moniter what works for you.

    :flowerforyou:
This discussion has been closed.

Categories