Burning more calories than you eat?

My friend eats around 1000 calories a day (lots of fruit and vegetables) with little to no meat, I like the vegitarian bergers and stuff so I try and get that when i can instead of ground beef (tastes the same to me lol)

You can eat a LOT of fruit and veggies for as little as 500 calories, and I mean a LOT. Human's main diet is supposed to be fruit and veggies anyways from what I heard.

This blog explains the concept very well.....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

The "experts" say 500 less. That means 500 less than your resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories you burn a day). If you are maintaining your weight, then that means you eat the same number of calories you burn. If you are gaining weight it means you're eating more than your body is burning. And if you are losing weight, it means your body is burning more calories than you're eating. So in the end it really is simple math. The complex part is finding a way to get all of the nutrients you need within that caloric budget. In order to do this, you must eat healthy. That and exercising, in order to create a calorie deficit will cause you to lose weight in a healthy way.
So, I'll use myself as an example to explain the numbers. My resting metabolic rate is around 2000 calories. So if i just go about my day and do not do any strenuous exercise, I can eat 2000 calories, and expect to weigh the same amount the next day. If I exercise and burn 500 calories, I can eat 2500 calories and expect to weigh the same the next day. If, however, I burn 500 calories exercising, and still only eat 2000 calories, I can expect to have lost weight the next day, because I created a 500 calorie deficit. This means that my body burned 2000 calories just living all day, and 500 calories exercising, so it burned a total of 2500 calories. Since I only ate 2000, i burned 500 more calories than I ate.

If you look at your BMR under 'tools' it gives you an estimate of how many calories your body would burn a day if you did nothing. Just eat less than whatever that number is.

Just to clarify, most people (unless obese/morbidly obese, and even then it's often not necessary) should NOT eat less than BMR - as BMR is what you burn as if in a coma, for basic functions. You want to eat less than your TDEE, or maintenance calories - you can see MFP's estimate for this under Goals, at the top right.

Burn more than you eat does not mean WORK OUT all you calories. It means 500-1000 calories less than your BMR (Basal Metabolism Rate). Remember that your body burns calories by living!

Ok. My BMW is 1,604.. so I need to eat how many calories to lose weight I'm confused. Does the daily summary include my BMW already when it calculates how many I should be eating to lose weight?

BMR, not BMW lol

Yes, MFP has already done the calculations for you. As long as you've chosen an appropriate loss per week goal (see the links I posted previously - according to your ticker, should be about 1 lb per week), then just eat what MFP tells you. MFP will include a deficit for weight loss based on your loss per week goal in what it tells you to eat.

Ok. My BMW is 1,604.. so I need to eat how many calories to lose weight I'm confused. Does the daily summary include my BMW already when it calculates how many I should be eating to lose weight?

Your BMR is 1,604. That means the calories your body requires to maintain its weight is 1,604. To achieve a daily 500 calorie deficit just by dieting, you would need to eat 1,104 calories daily. This does not include exercise.

If you burned an estimated 200 calories while exercising, you could eat 1,304 for the day and still have a deficit of 500 calories.

I'm sorry, but this is incorrect.

BMR is NOT maintenance calories. Maintenance calories is BMR + daily activity level + purposeful exercise. BMR is basal metabolic rate, and is what you burn as if in a coma - as soon as you get out of bed you burn more than that.

So it looks like this:
BMR = 1604
Activity Level (using sedentary as an example) = 320
Maintenance calories = 1924.... This does NOT include any purposeful exercise.

The deficit comes from 1924, NOT 1604. If you do it that way, you'll be undereating.

So, with a 1 lb per week loss goal as an example, you have a 500 cal deficit per day (500 x 7 = 3500 or 1 lb). So the daily cal goal BEFORE purposeful exercise would be 1424. If you exercise 200 cals, then you would eat 1624 to maintain the 500 cal deficit.

The maintenance calories, the calorie deficit calculated by MFP, and the projected weight loss can all be found on Home -> Goals. It's worth checking that page to make sure everything is set up the way you think it is, but you shouldn't need to do any of the math yourself.

I'm sorry, but this is incorrect.

BMR is NOT maintenance calories. Maintenance calories is BMR + daily activity level + purposeful exercise. BMR is basal metabolic rate, and is what you burn as if in a coma - as soon as you get out of bed you burn more than that.

So it looks like this:
BMR = 1604
Activity Level (using sedentary as an example) = 320
Maintenance calories = 1924.... This does NOT include any purposeful exercise.

The deficit comes from 1924, NOT 1604. If you do it that way, you'll be undereating.

So, with a 1 lb per week loss goal as an example, you have a 500 cal deficit per day (500 x 7 = 3500 or 1 lb). So the daily cal goal BEFORE purposeful exercise would be 1424. If you exercise 200 cals, then you would eat 1624 to maintain the 500 cal deficit.

Semantics.

I left out the 1.2 sedentary multiplier for the deficit.