How many calories do I need to be burning?

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lane220
lane220 Posts: 11 Member
edited August 2020 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all, i’ve tried google all night long but I just need some advice from people who can give me actual answers. I’ve lost some weight, i’m about 10 fluctuating pounds away from my goal weight. I eat about 1500 calories a day, rarely less and sometimes a little more. By exercise, I burn at least 800 a day, sometimes I get carried away and burn around 1000 by exercise alone. I understand that the body also burns a bunch of calories just by being a body and living, sleeping, moving, sitting on couch. But I get so confused sometimes lol. If i’m talking in terms of my apple watch, do I need to see on my little screen that i’ve burned over 1500 calories a day to lose weight? Like, if i’m eating a total of 1500- do I HAVE to make sure I exercise off 2000 in a day? or can I assume that just by living my life- and getting 800 cals worth of exercise in- that i’m most definitely burning 2000 by the end of the day? I don’t want to lose my progress but I also am not quite ready to maintain yet, so i’m just trying to figure out whether to count alllll the possible calories my body could be burning, or if I need to physically go out and run for 2 hours straight to burn 2k to have my 500 deficit. any and all help matters. thank you in advance. i’m kinda desperate though not gunna lie it’s starting to stress me a bit

Replies

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,596 Member
    edited August 2020
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    deep breath -- it's not quite THAT bad! :smiley:

    while many people seem to think that Calories have "qualities" over and above that of a measurement of energy... no matter what "type" of Calories you're using up (or eating), 859.85 calories per hour are still equal to 1 WATT.

    the good news here is that once you start playing with big "C"'s and little "c"'s, a Calorie is actually 1000 calories, so your "typical and mythical" 2000 Cal a day female is using just about as much energy as an old style incandescent 100W light bulb!

    And the light bulb moment here, is of course what you suspected all along: EVERY CALORIE COUNTS and most of the calories that you burn in a day, you burn by EXISTING--regardless of whether you're exercising while existing!

    Your apple watch COULD do a better job explaining all this... but hey... it's an fruit!
    (nope: I am not a fruit person)


    Here are some hoops you can jump through to see your total caloric expenditure for your day using your chosen fruit: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8003630 and https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/figure-out-your-total-calorie-burn-apples-health-app-0191409/

    PS: it is generally considered a GOOD idea to NET 1200 Cal OR MORE per day after your actual exercise is fully taken under consideration. So you should NOT be exercising more and eating less ASSUMING your food intake logging and your exercise logging are close to accurate.

  • stevehenderson776
    stevehenderson776 Posts: 324 Member
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    If you're consuming 1500 calories a day you definitely don't want to be burning anywhere near 1500 calories per day exercising. That doesn't seem very healthy or sustainable.
    There are tools out there that will give you a rough calculation of how many calories your body requires per day based on your sex, height, weight and activity level. https://tdeecalculator.net/ is one of them.
    So say for instance you're a fairly sedentary young woman, 5'4" in height at 140lbs. You'd need to consume ~1700 calories per day to maintain your weight. If that same woman burned 800 calories per day with exercise like you, she'd need to consume 2500 calories per day to maintain her weight. If she wanted to lose a pound per week and burned 800 calories per day with exercise, she'd have to consume about 2000 calories per day.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    What is your height and weight, and activity level not counting exercise? Are you on your feet a good bit, desk job, or somewhere in between?

    What is your exercise, for how long, and what source indicates you burn 800 per day from exercise?

    You don't 'need' to burn any calories by exercise in order to lose weight, technically. But you do benefit in other ways from exercise. And if you exercise excessively, you would need to eat more than if you did not exercise at all.
  • lane220
    lane220 Posts: 11 Member
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    @nanamerriman2020 hi- in response to your questions, I am between 5’7-5’8”, between 135-136 lbs, and I am quite active. I typically walk 14-15 miles a day. that is where most of my calories are burnt i’d say. it’s rare that i’m just sitting around for hours at a time.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
    edited August 2020
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    lane220 wrote: »
    Hey all, i’ve tried google all night long but I just need some advice from people who can give me actual answers. I’ve lost some weight, i’m about 10 fluctuating pounds away from my goal weight. I eat about 1500 calories a day, rarely less and sometimes a little more. By exercise, I burn at least 800 a day, sometimes I get carried away and burn around 1000 by exercise alone. I understand that the body also burns a bunch of calories just by being a body and living, sleeping, moving, sitting on couch. But I get so confused sometimes lol. If i’m talking in terms of my apple watch, do I need to see on my little screen that i’ve burned over 1500 calories a day to lose weight? Like, if i’m eating a total of 1500- do I HAVE to make sure I exercise off 2000 in a day? or can I assume that just by living my life- and getting 800 cals worth of exercise in- that i’m most definitely burning 2000 by the end of the day? I don’t want to lose my progress but I also am not quite ready to maintain yet, so i’m just trying to figure out whether to count alllll the possible calories my body could be burning, or if I need to physically go out and run for 2 hours straight to burn 2k to have my 500 deficit. any and all help matters. thank you in advance. i’m kinda desperate though not gunna lie it’s starting to stress me a bit

    What is your height and weight?
    Nevermind, I see you answered that...

    At your height, weight and activity level, 1500-1700 (even a shade more) calories a day should be just right for fat loss.
  • lane220
    lane220 Posts: 11 Member
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    to everyone else, thank you for your responses! i’ve typed some information into these links you’ve sent me and gotten a better baseline on how my days will look from now on. thank your for your help.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    lane220 wrote: »
    @nanamerriman2020 hi- in response to your questions, I am between 5’7-5’8”, between 135-136 lbs, and I am quite active. I typically walk 14-15 miles a day. that is where most of my calories are burnt i’d say. it’s rare that i’m just sitting around for hours at a time.

    Walking 14-15 miles per day: 800 added cals burned does not seem unreasonable. I asked because exercise machines seem to inflate #s, and one may like that a machine says they burned 800 from 30-40 minutes on a cardio machine-but its unlikely to be so!

    Keep in mind that because you are close to an ideal weight for your height, and you are SUPER active: if your energy/stamina seems to suffer then you may want to increase your calorie intake by 200-300 (decrease your deficit). Especially if you are training for anything in particular. Eating too low (having a large deficit) could make it hard to stick to the fitness routine.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    OP, try entering your information into MFP. For activity, tell it "sedentary" because you will let your applewatch count your calorie burn from exercise (don't want to double-count activity). Then tell it you want to lose 0.5 lb/week. MFP will tell you how much to eat WITH NO EXERCISE to result in a 250 calorie daily deficit. What is that number?

    Now add the 15 mile walking calories. What is that number?
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    deep breath -- it's not quite THAT bad! :smiley:

    while many people seem to think that Calories have "qualities" over and above that of a measurement of energy... no matter what "type" of Calories you're using up (or eating), 859.85 calories per hour are still equal to 1 WATT.

    the good news here is that once you start playing with big "C"'s and little "c"'s, a Calorie is actually 1000 calories, so your "typical and mythical" 2000 Cal a day female is using just about as much energy as an old style incandescent 100W light bulb!

    And the light bulb moment here, is of course what you suspected all along: EVERY CALORIE COUNTS and most of the calories that you burn in a day, you burn by EXISTING--regardless of whether you're exercising while existing!

    Your apple watch COULD do a better job explaining all this... but hey... it's an fruit!
    (nope: I am not a fruit person)


    Here are some hoops you can jump through to see your total caloric expenditure for your day using your chosen fruit: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8003630 and https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/figure-out-your-total-calorie-burn-apples-health-app-0191409/

    PS: it is generally considered a GOOD idea to NET 1200 Cal OR MORE per day after your actual exercise is fully taken under consideration. So you should NOT be exercising more and eating less ASSUMING your food intake logging and your exercise logging are close to accurate.

    I have become so lost the past few weeks...I took a diet break for two weeks that was my first planned break and not a binge....I took the weight off I gained on my break..now my scales are stuck...I started swimming for exercise about a month ago....MFP says I am using over 1000 calories in 90 min....this is impossible....I have no idea how many calories I should now be consuming....I am in Larger Loser group if you could help me at that site....thanks
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
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    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    J72FIT wrote: »
    lane220 wrote: »
    Hey all, i’ve tried google all night long but I just need some advice from people who can give me actual answers. I’ve lost some weight, i’m about 10 fluctuating pounds away from my goal weight. I eat about 1500 calories a day, rarely less and sometimes a little more. By exercise, I burn at least 800 a day, sometimes I get carried away and burn around 1000 by exercise alone. I understand that the body also burns a bunch of calories just by being a body and living, sleeping, moving, sitting on couch. But I get so confused sometimes lol. If i’m talking in terms of my apple watch, do I need to see on my little screen that i’ve burned over 1500 calories a day to lose weight? Like, if i’m eating a total of 1500- do I HAVE to make sure I exercise off 2000 in a day? or can I assume that just by living my life- and getting 800 cals worth of exercise in- that i’m most definitely burning 2000 by the end of the day? I don’t want to lose my progress but I also am not quite ready to maintain yet, so i’m just trying to figure out whether to count alllll the possible calories my body could be burning, or if I need to physically go out and run for 2 hours straight to burn 2k to have my 500 deficit. any and all help matters. thank you in advance. i’m kinda desperate though not gunna lie it’s starting to stress me a bit

    What is your height and weight?
    Nevermind, I see you answered that...

    At your height, weight and activity level, 1500-1700 (even a shade more) calories a day should be just right for fat loss.

    I really have to disagree, here. Not knowing age & other particulars, her sedentary TDEE before her 15 mile walk is around 1600-1700 calories. Now add 800 calories for her daily walk. She can lose at a rate appropriate for the last 10 pounds at around 1650+800-250=2200 calories.

    With 10 pounds or less to lose it's really a simple equation.
    Bodyweight in pounds x 12-14 for fat loss provided you are training 3-5 x per week.
    1620 - 1890 range in calories. Of course it's still a guess and you can increase as long as you are still losing fat.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    Does your "really simple equation" account for the 15 miles OP walks daily?
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
    edited August 2020
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    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    Does your "really simple equation" account for the 15 miles OP walks daily?

    yep...

    It's just a starting point. Adjust as needed...
  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
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    Alll the calories
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    If the scales have been stuck for a few weeks, the first thing to assess is how accurately and honestly you are logging all that you consume. Using a food scale for solids? Using accurate database entries? Creating your own recipes - someone else's recipe is probably not the same nutritional value as your own.

    If you don't trust that you used 1000 calories in your 90 minute swim, try adding back 500.
    conniewilkins56 wrote: »

    I have become so lost the past few weeks...I took a diet break for two weeks that was my first planned break and not a binge....I took the weight off I gained on my break..now my scales are stuck...I started swimming for exercise about a month ago....MFP says I am using over 1000 calories in 90 min....this is impossible....I have no idea how many calories I should now be consuming....I am in Larger Loser group if you could help me at that site....thanks

  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
    Options
    J72FIT wrote: »
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    J72FIT wrote: »
    lane220 wrote: »
    Hey all, i’ve tried google all night long but I just need some advice from people who can give me actual answers. I’ve lost some weight, i’m about 10 fluctuating pounds away from my goal weight. I eat about 1500 calories a day, rarely less and sometimes a little more. By exercise, I burn at least 800 a day, sometimes I get carried away and burn around 1000 by exercise alone. I understand that the body also burns a bunch of calories just by being a body and living, sleeping, moving, sitting on couch. But I get so confused sometimes lol. If i’m talking in terms of my apple watch, do I need to see on my little screen that i’ve burned over 1500 calories a day to lose weight? Like, if i’m eating a total of 1500- do I HAVE to make sure I exercise off 2000 in a day? or can I assume that just by living my life- and getting 800 cals worth of exercise in- that i’m most definitely burning 2000 by the end of the day? I don’t want to lose my progress but I also am not quite ready to maintain yet, so i’m just trying to figure out whether to count alllll the possible calories my body could be burning, or if I need to physically go out and run for 2 hours straight to burn 2k to have my 500 deficit. any and all help matters. thank you in advance. i’m kinda desperate though not gunna lie it’s starting to stress me a bit

    What is your height and weight?
    Nevermind, I see you answered that...

    At your height, weight and activity level, 1500-1700 (even a shade more) calories a day should be just right for fat loss.

    I really have to disagree, here. Not knowing age & other particulars, her sedentary TDEE before her 15 mile walk is around 1600-1700 calories. Now add 800 calories for her daily walk. She can lose at a rate appropriate for the last 10 pounds at around 1650+800-250=2200 calories.

    With 10 pounds or less to lose it's really a simple equation.
    Bodyweight in pounds x 12-14 for fat loss provided you are training 3-5 x per week.
    1620 - 1890 range in calories. Of course it's still a guess and you can increase as long as you are still losing fat.

    Edit, 3-4 not 3-5...

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