Burn more calories then you eat to lose weight?

dunn_7_10_85
dunn_7_10_85 Posts: 1 Member
edited December 2 in Health and Weight Loss
Is that even healthy? I'm trying to lose weight, yet I'm told I don't eat enough calories in a day and now I read your supposed to burn more then you eat. I'm confused on if it's right and if so how to do it. Anyone that's lost weight or got fit, help!!!!!

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    When people say "burn more than you eat," they mean the total number of calories you use in a day to keep your body running -- even when you're just sitting or sleeping. You can use this website to set a calorie goal that does that -- enter your goals and stats into MFP and it will estimate how many calories you burn each day. You will then get a goal of how many calories to eat to lose weight.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    Yes, you need to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight.

    But that's talking about total calories burned, not exercise calories. Your body burns calories just existing, plus all the movement you do everyday (assuming you're not bed bound).

    The simplest way to get started is to put your stats into MFP and eat what they tell you to eat. You'll lose weight eating what they recommend (assuming you're logging your food accurately) without ANY exercise. If you exercise, you should log that and eat back at least some of your calories.
  • fourtherecord
    fourtherecord Posts: 103 Member
    Yes you need to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. This includes the calories you burn to stay alive (your BMR).
    Myfitnesspal will tell you how many calories to eat for weight loss when you input your details.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    You must burn more than you eat to lose weight, but you don't burn calories only through intentional exercise. Most of what most people burn is through the body just running naturally plus daily activity outside of exercise.

    For example, if I were sedentary, I would burn about 1550 calories, so to lose I'd have to eat less than that.

    Because I am reasonably active walking around and stuff and intentionally exercise I end up burning on average about 2200 calories per day, so to lose I must eat less than that.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Well your body burns calories even at complete rest to keep your body alive and functioning. This is known as your BMR and does NOT include any activity. BMR actually takes up a very large portion of your daily calorie burn. Then you have the calories you burn just doing your day to day activity. When this gets added to your BMR it's known as NEAT (BMR + daily activity). After that there is exercise calorie burns and they usually only account for a very small portion of your daily calorie burn in a day. When you add all 3 together you have your TDEE. TDEE is what you have to eat less than to lose weight.

    MFP bases your calorie goal off of NEAT. This way you lose weight even if you don't workout. When you workout to keep the same deficit (and to keep it from becoming too large/unhealthy) you get to eat some of those calories as well as the original goal MFP set.
  • DonM46
    DonM46 Posts: 772 Member
    Think of it in the opposite direction: If you eat more calories than you burn in a day, what happens? You gain weight, with the excess calories being stored in your body as fat.
    So then the converse, eating fewer calories than you burn, means you'll lose weight.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Calories = unit of measurement for the energy your body uses.

    If you are living - you use energy in all that you do. Whether you're awake/asleep, active or inactive, you're burning energy and thus spending calories. What you do, and your body's stats (gender, age, height, weight) determine how much your body uses. Sites like MFP help estimate it for you.

    Since your body needs energy/calories to function daily - if you don't eat enough to meet the daily needs, your body takes the additional that it needs from your fat and muscle stores. This is how you lose weight. To do so safely and in a healthy manner, you create a slight deficit. Starving yourself is a way to lose weight, but is not a safe/healthy way to do so.
  • cshartranft
    cshartranft Posts: 3 Member
    Yes, that is how you lose weight. Burn more calories to eat, but always eat enough to keep your body functioning and healthy. (Generally 1000 - 1200 calories for women; 1200 - 1500 for men, both depending on weight.) MFP can help with this. It works and it works for me. Lost 34 plus pounds in 11 months. This should include a daily exercise routine. For instance, one hour a day of vigorous walking or, better, interval training. Get a basic FitBit device and integrate it with MFP.
  • gertmeister
    gertmeister Posts: 13 Member
    http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    As everyone else stated look up your BMR. I've usually already burned around 400 calories when i get out of bed in the morning, per my fitbit, and this is while sleeping.
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