Losing weight, obese male

I'm completely new to exercising/losing weight/tracking calories.

My question is, how does one lose weight when, I keep hearing this (you have to burn more than what you eat in calories), I can hardly exercise due from not ever exercising/being big?

I might be stupid about it, but since I've never cared about my health I just don't know anything.

I can only walk/walk briskly on a treadmil for around 40 minutes and I've been suggested by my Dr. to eat around 3000 calores (which still seems like a lot to me? I clock in around 1300-1500 when I track what I eat in the app).

Walking on a treadmill 7 days a week only burns like around 200 something calories... I think?

I hope this isn't a dumb question. I just really wanna know.

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    Not dumb, welcome to MFP. Listen to your doctor. Read the stickies at the top of “GettingStarted” forums. <3
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,023 Member
    edited April 2018
    BuzzPixie wrote: »
    I'm completely new to exercising/losing weight/tracking calories.

    My question is, how does one lose weight when, I keep hearing this (you have to burn more than what you eat in calories), I can hardly exercise due from not ever exercising/being big?

    I might be stupid about it, but since I've never cared about my health I just don't know anything.

    I can only walk/walk briskly on a treadmil for around 40 minutes and I've been suggested by my Dr. to eat around 3000 calores (which still seems like a lot to me? I clock in around 1300-1500 when I track what I eat in the app).

    Walking on a treadmill 7 days a week only burns like around 200 something calories... I think?

    I hope this isn't a dumb question. I just really wanna know.

    Your body is burning calories all day, even while you sleep. Beating your heart, breathing, digesting food, walking to the front door, etc.

    If you put your stats into MFP and tell it you want to lose weight, it will give you a calorie goal. That is the amount you should eat to lose the weight you entered. Make sure you are using correct entries in the food database, measuring accurately, and are logging everything - beverages, condiments, cooking oils, whole foods, packaged foods, everything. It would be very odd if you were actually eating 1500 cals every day and not hungry, Most small women can eat more than that and lose weight. If you just started, and drastically changed your diet, it can take a few days for your body to get used to digesting the new foods, so that could be at play as well.

    Read the posts pinned at the top of each forum, keep asking question if you need to, and good luck!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    You don’t have to exercise to lose weight. You already burn plenty of calories just by living and going about your day. For your health, however, you do need to eat enough calories. What does MFP give you for two pounds a week?
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,048 Member
    You’re off to a strong start. Don’t worry about the exercise calories. Any exercise *that you like* that you will do consistently is a huge help to your health. Find what you enjoy, and it’s easier to stay consistent. Intentional exercise isn’t a dramatic boost to calorie burn for most of us. Sure, it’s a few more calories to play with, but the vast majority of calorie burn for most people is just daily activity, being alive, using your brain.

    What you eat will be the dominant factor. I agree with @kimny72, 1500 for a large male doesn’t sound right. Logging errors are super common, and there are pinned posts that really help beginners get more accurate.
  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
    edited April 2018
    BuzzPixie wrote: »
    I'm completely new to exercising/losing weight/tracking calories.

    My question is, how does one lose weight when, I keep hearing this (you have to burn more than what you eat in calories), I can hardly exercise due from not ever exercising/being big?

    I might be stupid about it, but since I've never cared about my health I just don't know anything.

    I can only walk/walk briskly on a treadmil for around 40 minutes and I've been suggested by my Dr. to eat around 3000 calores (which still seems like a lot to me? I clock in around 1300-1500 when I track what I eat in the app).

    Walking on a treadmill 7 days a week only burns like around 200 something calories... I think?

    I hope this isn't a dumb question. I just really wanna know.

    Not a dumb question at all!

    You burn calories by just living. The silver lining of being obese, is that for you "just living" burns a lot more calories than you might think. Almost certainly more than for me. As a 170 lb, 54 year old man, I maintain at about 2050 calories without exercise. If you're younger and heavier, you almost certainly burn more.

    I assume your MD set your calories based on your weight. We might be able to advise you better if we knew your stats, but at a first guess your intake sounds way too low. So low that, if you don't feel as if you're starving, I have to think there may be something wrong with your logging. If you're not using a food scale, using reliable database entries and entering all solid food by weight in grams, you're probably underestimating. (I speak as one who's been there.) The point is that you can lose weight simply by eating less. Exercise is actually overrated for weight loss. It's extremely difficult to lose weight just by exercising without changing your diet.

    40 minutes is a good walk. Keep it up! It might not burn many calories (although I suspect it's burning more than you think; I burn about 100 in 20 minutes of brisk walking and I'm probably lighter than you) but some kind of exercise is essential to your health and walking is an excellent way to start.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,393 Member
    I am a person who will literally log a packet of salt.

    Unless I weight and log everything I am going to eat before I open my mouth to eat or drink it I still miss, or forget, items and/or their exact weights. 3+ years in.

    When I was trying hard to get a handle on things and lose weight I made the conscious decision that nothing would be eaten before it was logged.

    This led.to some cold meals.

    It also led to me having (often) an apple before my main meal because it was easy to quickly core an apple and weigh the pieces so that I could log it and eat it while dealing with logging everything else.

    Since that apple would, in the beginning, precede the rest of my food by good 10 to 15 minutes while I was choosing verified USDA entries from the database and weighed and re-weighed various food components I would often end up eating a bit less since my hunger would get a tiny bit blunted.

    Eventually I started eating without waiting to become ravenous, which helped me cut down on some compensatory over-eating.

    That said. I suspect that if both your doctor and MFP suggest 3000 Cal.... It is probably a safe start. You may want to read through the sticky posts having to do with measuring calories (and the rest of them, of course)!!!
  • gophermatt
    gophermatt Posts: 129 Member
    Great work getting started! The first week or two starting out on a new way of eating for me had quite a few ups and downs. It’s a process, and can be a long one. Have faith that if you follow the plan your Dr. gave that results will follow. I had to talk myself into giving it 60 days to see where I would be and adjust accordingly. That may or may not be the same for you, but at the end of the 60 days I was glad I had done it.

    Welcome, and enjoy the journey!
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    It's a commonly-held myth that you have to exercise to lose weight. The truth is, while it's great for your health, the only absolute requirement for losing weight is to consume fewer calories than you burn.