Calories in vs calories out

bellesb169
bellesb169 Posts: 41 Member
edited November 22 in Food and Nutrition
I'm trying to get a better understanding of calories and how the affect weight gains/loss. So for the past 4 days I've consumed a little over 4600 calories. I've burned 1900 calories with exercise. So do I need to up my exercise calories to see the scale shift down????

Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited August 2015
    Calorie burn includes what your body burns just to live, not just what you burn via purposeful exercise.

    You're eating less than 1200 a day. Your exercise burns are probably overstated. It's hard to know for sure on so little info but, no, you probably don't need more exercise to lose weight eating less than 1200 calories a day.
  • bellesb169
    bellesb169 Posts: 41 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    Calorie burn includes what your body burns just to live, not just what you burn via purposeful exercise.

    Ok so does this mean I need to burn more calories to see weight loss? Using the example i just posted should I have to burn 4600 calories in exercise to offset the 4600 calories in food i consumed?

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    No. The 4600 you consumed it offset largely by just being alive and less so by purposeful exercise.

    If you're expecting to see weight loss directly correlated to four days' worth of eating and exercise, you're probably not going to see it because that's just not how weight loss works.
  • bellesb169
    bellesb169 Posts: 41 Member
    Thank you!! It just seems frustrating because I feel like I'm doing everything right but the scale isn't agreeing with me. I log everything and I use my Garmin ViVo2 with heart rate monitor to accurately track my calories burned during exercise.

    I guess I'm not one of those people who can lose 2-3 pounds a week.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    Weight loss isn't linear. It will probably take a longer timeframe for you to get a clearer picture of your trend.

    Your calorie level is at the very bottom of the recommended range for women. That may or may not be reasonable, based on your personal stats but, even if it is, you're probably going to want to eat back at least some exercise calories, since you're netting 1000 a day or so.
  • bellesb169
    bellesb169 Posts: 41 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    Weight loss isn't linear. It will probably take a longer timeframe for you to get a clearer picture of your trend.

    Your calorie level is at the very bottom of the recommended range for women. That may or may not be reasonable, based on your personal stats but, even if it is, you're probably going to want to eat back at least some exercise calories, since you're netting 1000 a day or so.

    MFP has me at 1270 calories per day. I try not to eat back any calories from exercise just because the scale isn't moving how I think it should.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    You're (theoretically) eating less than that, though, and netting far less.

    You might want to open your diary so people can take a look at your logging.
  • bellesb169
    bellesb169 Posts: 41 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    You're (theoretically) eating less than that, though, and netting far less.

    You might want to open your diary so people can take a look at your logging.

    will do
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    edited August 2015
    I guarantee you burned much more than 4600 calories in those four days just by going about your day. Also, with a 35-pound goal, losing two pounds per week is a bit aggressive.
  • bellesb169
    bellesb169 Posts: 41 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    I guarantee you burned much more than 4600 calories in those four days just by going about your day. Also, with a 35-pound goal, losing two pounds per week is a bit aggressive.

    I'm going to change it to 1lb per week.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Seeing your diary, you should definitely start weighing everything, even for prepackaged things. Don't use cups, don't use "per piece", and definitely don't use diameter.
  • bellesb169
    bellesb169 Posts: 41 Member
    stevencloser wrote: »
    Seeing your diary, you should definitely start weighing everything, even for prepackaged things. Don't use cups, don't use "per piece", and definitely don't use diameter.

    Thank you! I guess I'll need to invest in a food scale. I always rely on the label packaging.

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