Maybe I'm overthinking this

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OvationUltraFan
OvationUltraFan Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey All

I'm 33M and 5ft 6in.

I've been using MFP since Oct 2016 and lost 37LBS. I went from 201lbs to 163lbs.

Previously I walked frequently and strictly kept my daily calories to 1500, today I'm sort of maintaining at about 1700-2000 plus I also run and do mostly cardio at the gym 3-4 days a week.

Usually my intake is 1700-2000 calories and I work out and burn 300-600 calories (MFP Showing a deficit).

I'm just checking that I can still lose weight with exercise calories only, CICO still works if your deficit is only from exercise, right?

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  • Reed039
    Reed039 Posts: 62 Member
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    OvationUltraFan wrote: »
    Hey All
    I'm just checking that I can still lose weight with exercise calories only, CICO still works if your deficit is only from exercise, right?

    Yes but be sure to not overestimate calories burned.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,081 Member
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    CICO is a simple energy balance. You create it by either eating less or exercising.

    It's slow going to lose that last 10-15. It took me about nine months. I was legit hungry and it was tough to stick to the plan. Don't expect to lose more than 1/2 pound per week. Patience is your friend.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited May 2018
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    Yes you can but can be frustrating because there is no precise way to figure calories burned. You can do the same workout two days in a row but due to subtle variations in effort and energy, burn more or less calories.

    As @cmriverside said it will be slow going anyway, so as long as you are ready to be patient you can do it with just exercise calories, just food calories, or a combo of the 2. Good luck!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,081 Member
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    I would add, if you aren't keeping meticulous records, that last 20 pounds is going to be very difficult. You can't afford to under-eat when you approach goal weight, and you certainly don't have room to over-eat.

    If you aren't already logging everything you eat and if you aren't already using a digital food scale and vetting your food entries in the database - it will be more frustrating than it needs to be.

    That calorie deficit you are maintaining on? "About" won't really cut it, because 1700ish to 2000ish could very easily sneak up to 2500(for real) if you aren't keeping good records. Your accuracy and consistency are the keys here.

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