how many calories should I burn a day?

CHERRIEZ123 · October 2013

Hi would love people's input im so confused! Im a 22 yr old female trying to lose around 1-2 pounds a week, so have started eating 1200 calories a day. So far on days that I have exercised I usually burn 600 calories, and on these days i will make sure I eat back all my exercise calories so that my NET calories are 1200.

But today I had a brief chat with a personal trainer, and he told me that If I am eating 1200 calories a day and want to lose weight, I need to burn around 1700 calories A DAY, so should be in the gym 1-2 hours every day for an intense workout.

Isnt that too extreme, having to spend 2 hours a day, 7 days a week just to lose 1 pound a week? I thought that by cutting my calories down to 1200 a day I was already creating a deficit (as women's BMR is usually around 1800 ish calories) ! If he is right I have no idea how any one has time to lose weight at all!!!

Mr_Knight · October 2013

What your personal trainer is probably trying to say, in a round about way, is that you aren't burning as many calories as you think in your workout. And he's almost certainly right - I average a bit north of 1000 calories/day specifically in exercise burn, it takes me about 2 hours in total, and I'm almost certainly much bigger than you.

Eating back (too many) exercise calories is a huge reason for stalls on MFP.

Ninkyou · October 2013

Uh... not to sound mean but I think your PT should go eff himself. NO ONE strives to burn 1700 calories of exercise. EVER. That's ridiculously high. I go hiking 3-4x a week 2 1/2 hours at the most I'll have 850 calories. I cannot even imagine even trying to hit 1700 calories. It's that ridiculous.

Calorie deficit is for weight loss.
Exercise is for fitness.
When you exercise, you get to eat more to replenish the lost calories. You only need to maintain your deficit that has been given to you. YOU decide how much exercise you want to do. If that's 20 minutes of 30 Day Shred, that's 20 minutes. If that's 2 hours on the elliptical, burning 600 calories, then that's your choice. Either one will help your fitness.
Just keep up what you're doing. Also, I recommend investing in a heart rate monitor to give you a more accurate estimate of calorie burn from your exercise.

ETA: I reread your OP, and I read it as he wants you to burn 1700 in exercise. Just to clarify. If that's wrong, you can just skip down to the 2nd part I wrote, lol.

Mr_Knight · October 2013

NO ONE strives to burn 1700 calories of exercise. EVER. That's ridiculously high.

I think we need to be careful not to be too literal here. If he is going by what an elliptical or HRM is saying for an under-fit person - yeah, a reading of 1700 is absolutely a reasonable goal, because the real number will be half of that.

In the context of a gym with uncalibrated equipment and uncalibrated exercisers, the PT's advice is actually pretty solid.

Francl27 · October 2013

I'm a little confused, especially as you're not saying how much you weigh, but netting 1200 is too low, if anything. Most trainers have no clue what they're talking about when it comes to nutrition.

AmyRhubarb · October 2013

My average burn is 300-500 cals a day, working out an hour or less, 5-6 days a week. I eat 1800-2000 cals a day (TDEE method, so I don't eat back exercise cals), and have had my best success with losing the fat this way.

Honestly, in the past two years I can't remember a single day where my workout burned over 1000 cals - not even a long run, or a workout and then walking 18 holes of golf....

Diet is for weight loss, exercise is for fitness.

diannethegeek · October 2013

It sounds to me like your trainer meant that in order to lose 1 pound per week at 1200 calories/day, then your TDEE needs to be above 1700 calories. It sounds like he was ignoring the NET part of the equation.

Your TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure. It's the number of calories your body burns in a day (and also the number of calories you could eat to maintain your weight). It includes your workout calories, but also the calories your body burns just by existing.

You can get an estimate of your TDEE with online calculators like Scooby: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ This is usually a good starting point to figure out your calorie goal.

Ninkyou · October 2013

NO ONE strives to burn 1700 calories of exercise. EVER. That's ridiculously high.

I think we need to be careful not to be too literal here. If he is going by what an elliptical or HRM is saying for an under-fit person - yeah, a reading of 1700 is absolutely a reasonable goal, because the real number will be half of that.

In the context of a gym with uncalibrated equipment and uncalibrated exercisers, the PT's advice is actually pretty solid.

Even if you're going by half of the 1700, 850 calories is a BIG burn, for anyone... and I think that would be a bit ridiculous. Asking someone to stay in the gym for 2 hours is kind of asking a bit much, unless the person really has that amount of time to give. Like I said in my previous post, I get UP to 850 calories on days I go hiking for 2 1/2 hours. But I have that time to spend. For a newbie (not sure if OP is or not), 2 hours is pretty demanding, and if they go too hard, they could end up hurting themselves (this coming from personal experience). It's better to start out small and work your way up. But regardless if it's 850 or 1700, I still think that's a bit ridiculous.

CHERRIEZ123 · October 2013

thanks for the replies

yes I have a heart rate monitor, found it really helpful! and will check out the TDEE calculator now. If you dont mind me asking, how many calories roughly do u try to eat and burn each day in order to continue your weight loss?

cwolfman13 · October 2013

I average about 300 - 500 calories burned per day depending on what my exercise is that day...pretty much 30 - 60 minutes, I don't do any more than that. You don't have to burn a gazillion calories with exercise to lose weight. I've lost 40 Lbs netting to MFP's goal...you do have to be careful to not overestimate your burn though.

I might have a good 800 - 1000 calorie burn like once or twice per month if I go for a good hike in the mountains or a longish bike ride...but day to day, no friggin' way.

Spilogale · October 2013

Best bet would be to talk to a Nutritionist. Trainers have an understanding of dietary needs. In my experience they always talk in general terms... blanket statements. You need to burn 1700 to lose weight you need to eat 2500 to gain weight. Just looking at you without taking anything into consideration. Everyone's body is different and burns calories differently. Best bet would be to talk to a nutritionist and find out exactly how many calories you need to take in and how many you need to burn in order to lose weight.

Ninkyou · October 2013

thanks for the replies yes I have a heart rate monitor, found it really helpful! and will check out the TDEE calculator now. If you dont mind me asking, how many calories roughly do u try to eat and burn each day in order to continue your weight loss?

It's different for everyone, but for me, my MFP goal at this moment is set to 1430 calories. My calorie burns range anywhere from 200-800 calories, depending on the day and which activity I'm doing. (this is why I don't do the TDEE method, simply because my exercise varies so much). I eat back all (or most) of my exercise calories.

peter610 · March 2014

i am a eleven year old child and children burn more calories a day than adults. i have a nike fuel band and the highest amount of calories i have burnt a day is 1200 for two days in a row. i walked around not even half of versai to burn that much. i reckon i am overweight in some ways though i consume less than 1000 calories a day and burn about 500 to 600 or slightly less/more a day and i cannot shed fat.. I am only eating ww2 rations for lent and a bit more because of a schools project and i find that is helping… i also walk , run and play sports games a lot ..

how many calories should I burn a day?

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