Opinions please

If you're working out 3 times a week, I would go with Lightly Active instead of Sedentary.

I know you don't want to over eat. But you also don't want to starve yourself.

Yes you should eat back whatever calories you burn through working out so your net calories is 1520

1200 calories is really low for many of the people who are massively overweight. I also think 1200 calories tends to work better for younger people whose bodies are more resilient.

Figure out your BMR. That's the amount of calories you burn in a day doing nothing. That's a good calorie goal to shoot for IMO.

Cardio (burning calories) will obviously allow you to eat more. But don't overlook the benefits to having a healthy ticker. Especially if heart issues run in your family.

Calorie Deficit is how you'll reduce fat.

Weights are how you're going to sculpt your body into whatever you deem is the perfect shape.

1661 to 1690 sound really good for your stats.

Now find an online TDEE calculator to estimate how many calories you actually burn in a day and you'll have a rough estimate of how fast you could potentially lose weight.

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

hint: 3500 calories=1 pound of fat.

so in a typical day, you burn about 2275 calories.

for the sake of easy numbers, let's assume you net about 1700 calories a day through eating and exercise.

2275-1700=575 calories

575 x 7 day = 4025 per week

So that's over a pound of fat you could be losing every week.

Myfitnesspal has given me 1520 calories a day. Therefore if I burn 200 calories, I should eat 1720 that day, correct?

Does 1520 calories a day sound correct to you? I get a little confused because some of you eat more than this and are still losing weight, on the other side I have people who are telling me I should only eat 1200 calories to lose weight even though I have read a lot of your posts saying that you only lost weight once you upped your calories.

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You stated that your goal is to lose weight so my train of thought is to have an intake between 1500 - 1600 or to have a sort of HEALTHY deficit going. (1000 calories is NOT healthy at all! :noway: ) The deficit will help (or should help) you reduce fat.

After reading all your opinions on exercise, I have decided that I will concentrate more on weights rather than cardio. I plan to exercise 3 times a week, 30 min weights, 10 - 20 min cardio.
Is it correct that I should really only see the cardio aspect as a way to allow myself more food on that day (and of course the health benefits and becoming more fit) but that it is actually the weight training that will really help me mould my body and loose the fat whilst gaining muscle?

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Weight training will help you build muscle, this is the way I did my intial training though I wouldn't disregard a little cardio training either. See it as an aid to weight loss.

I basically just need some reassurance that I am on the right track. There is a lot of info and it all becomes a little overwhelming.
----It does become overwhelming but this support group online DOES help alot :drinker: Remember to just keep at it even when you hit plateaus!

Thanks so much.

It can be all very confusing. You got some very good advice. Good luck with it :flowerforyou:

not really required. If you're wanting to gain muscle mass quickly (i.e. bodybuilding) there can be some benefits to taking a proper protein/glutamine shake post workout, but only if you've really pushed it hard in the gym that day. As with all things on the MFP boards, there are some who will vehemently argue both sides... but you can find good scientific research out there to help you decide.

what MFP gives you is just an estimate. If you're not seeing the results you want, reduce your calories or up your exercise. As far as "not eating enough", you're probably fine. There is not a real minimum number of calories you need to eat per day, just minimums for macros and even then you have some flexibility. Protein is the most important, then some fats and carbs. The "eat more to lose" thing is mostly a myth that has been disproved time and again, but people still preach it here. Log all of your food and exercise, for sure, but don't think you have to eat back 50 calories worth of exercise. Don't sweat the precision until you're down to the last few BF% you want to lose. Your calculations are probably off by at least a couple hundred calories anyway (that's true for pretty much everyone).

Your progress in your measurements and on your scale is *far* better at determining how much you should eat than some faulty online calculator. If you're not losing at the rate you'd like, eat less and/or move more. Calories in versus calories out...

So I eat back my 15 mins of cardio, but what should I be doing about the weights part of my work out? Im not sure that I am eating enough calories on my workout days?

there is a "weight training" under cardio. so use this for entering the weight work.

Hi, thanks for the advise, so should I change to sedentary again? I did have it set as that but then in this thread someone suggested I change to lightly active?

And this is why you have to trust your own gut.

People will argue BOTH sides until the death on these forums. We are all right.

Just pick something you are comfortable with and stick to it for a month, then study your projected goals and your goals achieved. It is a personal experiment for you and you alone.

your friend gave you bad information. Perhaps he meant *in addition* to your normal diet... but as part of your calorie/macro plan they are fine.

so in a typical day, you burn about 2275 calories.

for the sake of easy numbers, let's assume you net about 1700 calories a day through eating and exercise.

2275-1700=575 calories

575 x 7 day = 4025 per week

So that's over a pound of fat you could be losing every week.

Yes, but not net 1700 -- eat 1700 total. Forget about net if you're using TDEE.

Also, it's true that your daily activity setting here should not include exercise you are planning to log. At the same time, it's unlikely you're truly sedentery if you have a job, go to school, leave the house at all...

I think this illustrates the point that you will get a lot of conflicting advice from people who seem really sure of themselves. The best strategy is to understand the concepts yourself so that you can judge whether what people say makes sense or not.