Burn more calories than you eat?

BeaUtiful_1413 wrote: »

HOW?!!! Lol I exercise pretty much 5-6 days a week but I can only do about 30 minutes. How the heck do you burn more calories than you can eat. I'm really trying to keep at a certain calorie goal of 1200 but it's hard. I'm trying to eat what I want but have portion control. Ya I eat chocolate or junk every now and then but mostly healthy foods. But I don't want to starve myself. But anyways for those who burn more calories than you eat how do you do it? What do you eat? How long do you exercise? Feels like you would have to exercise all day.

Look up your BMR (basal metabolic rate). That's what your body burns even if you don't get out of bed all day. But you do get out of bed & move. That additional activity is called your activity level.

MFP gives you a calorie deficit with zero exercise factored in. Not everyone is capable of exercise. MFP starts at your activity level and then takes a deficit.

Put your stats in MFP......choose a reasonable weekly weight loss goal (see below) and eat that many calories. If you choose exercise, log it & MFP will give you bonus calories. But, be aware calorie burns are often generous estimates. Most people eat back only 50-75% of their exercise calories.


Pound per week goals
75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

Ditto to the advice above. But to explain it a bit more, there is something called BMR (basal metabolic rate), which is what you burn just living. You burn calories sleeping, sitting, talking, breathing, etc. So when you plug your stats into MFP, you are getting your BMR considered. You also have a TDEE number, which is your total daily energy expenditure, and takes into account your extra activities. When you look at that number, you need to eat less than that to be at a deficit. This is also taken into account on the MFP calculator (which is why they ask you about your activity level).

So it's VERY easy to eat at a deficit and you don't need to exercise to lose weight. Do some google searches and look more into BMR and TDEE if that will help you

EDIT- it took me too long to type so haha, now I see (after I posted) some good advice above explaining it a bit better.

BeaUtiful_1413 wrote: »

How do you calculate your BMR?

BMR actually isn't a helpful metric since it measures the amount of calories you would burn if you did nothing but lay in bed all day - what you really want to calculate in order to determine how many calories you need to eat less than is your TDEE.

This site will give you both, as well as projected calories to eat based on a loss goal.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

However, MFP will also calculate the non-exercise calorie goal for you and would have done that when you set up your profile, then when you exercise and log that, you would eat back a portion of those calories (some eat back about 50% to adjust for inflation of calorie burns).

BeaUtiful_1413 wrote: »

What's a good site to check BMR? I go to different ones and they all tell me something different. I'm 21, 5ft, 168lbs need to lose 30+lbs

The Scooby's site WinoGelato posted above

BMR + Activity Level + Exercise = TDEE (maintenance). Take calories away from TDEE and you lose weight

All sites are going to offer slight variations. They are all estimates. Just pick ONE, at take a deficit from that. An exact measure would have you hooked up to monitors in a laboratory.

Plug those stats into MFP with a goal of losing 1lb per week, and an activity level of sedentary. Log all your exercise, and eat back 50% of the calories MFP gives you from it. In 4 weeks, look at your progress. Are you losing an average of 1lb per week? More? Less? Tweak accordingly.

OP - there are two ways of doing this, one is to go by your TDEE (which is the site I provided you which says that if you eat anything less than 1804 you should lose weight), the other is to use the MFP approach which doesn't include exercise in the goal it provides you, but when you do exercise and eat back those calories - it should take you to the same overall number as the TDEE approach.

For simplicity, I usually advise people just starting out to go with the MFP method - enter your stats, a goal of 1lb/week weight loss, and eat back your exercise calories. Log everything you eat, ideally with a food scale. Give it 4-6 weeks and if you aren't losing, or if you are losing too quickly, then adjust accordingly.

You will also find good advice in this thread:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

BeaUtiful_1413 wrote: »

Ok I put it into MFP and it gave me calories of 1510. So if I eat around there or even 1443 I'll be good. I've been trying to eat around 1200 everyday so now I see why I've been so hungry. I've been under eating.

TeaBea wrote: »

BeaUtiful_1413 wrote: »

What's the total intake I need based on the picture

Less than 1804. If you eat 1,443 you would lose .722 pounds per week.

The math is: 1804-1443 = a 361 calorie deficit each day. 361 x 7 = a 2,527 weekly deficit. 2527/3500 = .722 pounds per week

Yep - this is good.

BeaUtiful_1413 wrote: »

How do you calculate your BMR?

All the work has been done for you by Myfitnesspal. Just eat your calorie goal, and note the list above about the maximum number of pounds per week you can lose depending on how much you have to lose. If you were set at 1200 calories by MFP, it is likely your weight loss goal per week is too aggressive.