Needs advice on calories

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  • adidrea
    adidrea Posts: 275 Member
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    I'm very uneducated when it comes to this, I have so many questions it's ridiculous. Aren't you supposed to burn more calories then consumed to lose weight? How will I lose if I eat the same amount that I burn while exercising? I am not second guessing any advice, just confused.

    Without doing any form of exercise your body burns quite a few calories every day performing basic tasks. Those calories are used to keep you alive and your organs functioning, your body temperature regulated, and much much more. If you eat 1200 calories per day you are more than likely eating well under the calories that your body burns every day so you will lose weight. Burning an *additional* 1000-1200 calories is giving you too big of a calorie deficit and is not nearly enough to keep you healthy!! If you burn everything you eat there's nothing for your body to run on. Please take care of yourself and eat a little bit more (or don't exercise so much). You are likely to see much better results that way!

    I hope it helps! Good luck to you :flowerforyou:
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I'm very uneducated when it comes to this, I have so many questions it's ridiculous. Aren't you supposed to burn more calories then consumed to lose weight? How will I lose if I eat the same amount that I burn while exercising? I am not second guessing any advice, just confused.

    Yes, you do need to burn more than you eat. But you haven't allowed for the fact that your body is going to burn about 1200 - 1400 cals a day even if you didn't get out of bed. Getting out of bed and just breathing and talking and walking around is going to burn even more. If you add your 1000 cals burned through exercise a day you are burning more than 2400 cals a day. And if you are only eating 1000 cals you are making your body survive on a HUGE deficit. This probably isn't going to have good long term effects on your body and it isn't necessary!
    You will read so many success stories of people here who lost weight eating HEAPS - like me. I've lost 21kg (about 47 pounds) and I've been eating at least 1500 NET calories every day (net calories means eating my daily allowance plus my exercise calories). You don't have to starve and exercise like a maniac to lose weight.
  • shannon_stallone
    shannon_stallone Posts: 136
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    If you're eating only 1000-1200 and burning 1000-1400, you may be putting yourself in starvation mode..the body cannot survive on negative calories..

    I agree....Think of food as fuel....If you're burning that many calories, fill your body up with good healthy fuel..Proteins, fruits and vegetables
  • chanceuse2424
    chanceuse2424 Posts: 2
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    if you're consistently only eating 1000 calories a day... i mean... you're not going to lose weight. and if you're eating mostly sugar and carbs, then you definitely won't lose weight. and if you're exercising THAT much without a) recovery or b) eating more calories to fuel yourself, then forget about it.
  • Candikickbutt
    Candikickbutt Posts: 97 Member
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    What does your food diary set for your calorie intake goal before exercise?
    [/quote]


    Well before exercise, MFP is set at 1200 calories, which I only meet half the time, then after I exercise, like today, it tells me I still have another 1669 calories remaining to eat. So do I need to eat that much more?
  • mellymink
    mellymink Posts: 72 Member
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    Yes, you should be eating back most or all of your calories you earned through exercise. That's why this site is so awesome, it factors it all in for you so you don't have to do tons of math. It just shows you how many calories to eat and adjusts it accordingly.
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    What does your food diary set for your calorie intake goal before exercise?


    Well before exercise, MFP is set at 1200 calories, which I only meet half the time, then after I exercise, like today, it tells me I still have another 1669 calories remaining to eat. So do I need to eat that much more?
    [/quote]

    Read the link I posted in one of my previous post.
  • Misiaxcore
    Misiaxcore Posts: 659 Member
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    I honestly don't understand how people don't understand =[

    Basic concept of:
    Green means go.
    Red means stop.
  • Candikickbutt
    Candikickbutt Posts: 97 Member
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    What does your food diary set for your calorie intake goal before exercise?


    Well before exercise, MFP is set at 1200 calories, which I only meet half the time, then after I exercise, like today, it tells me I still have another 1669 calories remaining to eat. So do I need to eat that much more?

    Read the link I posted in one of my previous post.
    [/quote]
    I did read it, thank you.
  • Candikickbutt
    Candikickbutt Posts: 97 Member
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    I honestly don't understand how people don't understand =[

    Basic concept of:
    Green means go.
    Red means stop.
    I'm new to it, so that's why I don't understand. I have to learn somewhere.
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    I did read it, thank you.

    What you should have gotten from it then it that you should eat more.
    Your caloric deficit shouldn't be so great if you want to lose weight and sustain the weight loss. Start with a 15% caloric deficit and if that doesn't work, lower it a bit more, but slowly, make adjustments 1 week at a time to see how your body takes the caloric intake adjustments.
  • Candikickbutt
    Candikickbutt Posts: 97 Member
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    Thank you so much. I am going to bump up my calories starting tomorrow!!! Thank you all!!!
  • neuro316
    neuro316 Posts: 42 Member
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    How are you calculating the number of calories you're burning in exercise? 1000-1500 sounds really high, at least to me. For me, that would be like spending 2-3 hours on the elliptical, at a high intensity. That amount of exercise would make me feel SO hungry by the end of the day if all I had to eat was 1000 calories (and frankly I probably wouldn't be able to get through that amount of exercise on so little food). I'd at least start with inputting your weight/age into the machines at the gym (if that's where you're exercising) or getting a heart rate monitor. I've found that the calorie tables online are wildly different and often way off from what the machine tells me when I input my info.

    I've just started on MFP this week, so I'm new to this as well, but I think you might have more success if you just follow the site's suggestions. Go for 1 lb a week loss, eat the minimum calories MFP tells you to, and eat back at least most of your exercise calories. Give it a month, and see how it goes!
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
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    What sort of exercising are you doing to burn 1000 calories if you dont mind me asking?
  • Candikickbutt
    Candikickbutt Posts: 97 Member
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    What sort of exercising are you doing to burn 1000 calories if you dont mind me asking?
    I am doing boxing on a daily basis. Anywhere from 90-120 minutes worth
  • Hirundo
    Hirundo Posts: 148 Member
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    What does your food diary set for your calorie intake goal before exercise?


    Well before exercise, MFP is set at 1200 calories, which I only meet half the time, then after I exercise, like today, it tells me I still have another 1669 calories remaining to eat. So do I need to eat that much more?

    [/quote]

    Basically, yes !

    and, by the way, wanting to loose 3 pounds per week is probably a bit too much... you'd want to loose a constant 1.5-2lbs/week max rather than a 3lbs/week that might get you in plateau more often ...
  • Hirundo
    Hirundo Posts: 148 Member
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    I think it's important to understand what you are doing !
    Read that !

    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/
  • Bamacraft
    Bamacraft Posts: 175 Member
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    forgive me fo saying so but i doubt your caloric burn is more than ~750 -800. I have been training fro a couple of years and dont have the stamina to burn 1200 - 1550 in 1.5 - 2hours of KB. You probably burn ~500 the first 45 minutes but after that you should be way too tired to keep up that pace (assuming you are at 70- 80 % MHR for the first 45 munutes). Also, mix it up. do KB 3x per week and do a few days of run/jog/ jump rope in between. pick a rest day. rest days can include a walk or relaxing bike ride. Try to eat most of you exercise caories but avoid a single meal over 500 - 600 and anything over 200 for snacks. 3 - 400 calorie meals and a few healthy snacks of ~150 - 200 puts you at ~1600- 1700+. take out about 500 for exercise and you'll be a safe range and losing a lb or so per week on average. Dont expect 1lb every week. over 6 weeks you should see ~6lbs but dont count on it every friday like a pay check. learn to deal with the ups and downs and enjoy the ride...Good luck. oh...based on 1200 calorie BMR.
  • CuteEllais
    CuteEllais Posts: 39 Member
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    I eat a min of 75% of my "earned calories" for the day...and if I'm over, I make myself do something to make up for it!

    You have to eat to survive.

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