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kellybuss91
kellybuss91 Posts: 7
in Motivation and Support
If I'm eating 1270 calories a day and burning about 500-600 a day at the gym will I lose a lot of weight? Can someone explain to me what number my net calories would be at and what are net calories? I eat pretty healthy, I only slip up a few times and it's not like I binge so I'm doing good. I weight 223 and my goal is 149 by June 2012. do you think my goal is attainable?

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  • BanderaOutlaw
    BanderaOutlaw Posts: 35
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    As I understand it (I am by no means an expert), 1,200 calories in a day is kind of a minimum before your body starts to go into starvation mode and try harder to store fat (making it harder to lose, obviously).

    Net calories are how many calories you've ended up with for the day (what you've eaten less what exercise you've done). When talking about target calories for a day, you want to look at your net calories.

    If you're eating right at your target calories AND burning 500-600 a day on exercise, you need to "eat your exercise calories," and replenish them. You want your net to be 1,200 or more, preferably right at or close to the target MFP shows you for your weight and goals. This is the best way to ensure you lose weight gradually, consistently, and long-term without plateaus.

    Losing 70lbs by June 2012 is certainly attainable. Eat right, exercise, don't eat too much and don't eat too little, and you'll get there. You may hit plateaus, but you just change up your diet and exercise at that point (eat different things, do different activities) to keep your body progressing.

    I hope this answers some of your questions!
  • himiller3
    himiller3 Posts: 81
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    My personal journey was from 243 to 160. It took me 2 years to get there. My outlook wasn't about a time frame to get it done it, just about changing my habits and lifestyle so I would get there. I lost the weight in 2 and have kept it off for over 6 now.

    Yes, it was hard, and I slipped up :D But I got there.

    The calorie thing works like this: You add how many calories you burn to the amount of calories you can safely eat each day and still lose weight. If you stay below that total number every day, you should have no problems.

    Example: You can eat 1200 calories a day without exercise and still lose 1lb per week... Your daily exercise burns 500 calories. So you can safely eat up to 1700 calories each day you exercise and still lose 1lb per week. But, like he said above, don't eat too few, that won't help.
  • kellybuss91
    kellybuss91 Posts: 7
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    Soooooo you're saying I'm going to gain weight instead of lose it because I'm "starving" my body? What if I feel like I'm full and I don't want to eat anymore for the day? I mean, my body could do without those extra few hundred calories or so... and I'm still so confused on everything you just said.
  • himiller3
    himiller3 Posts: 81
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    Starving your body makes your metabolism go slower. This will make it harder to lose weight, and given long enough, will reverse any progress you made by starving yourself.

    If you follow the plan laid out by this website, you should safely remain above that. You just need to consume enough calories to keep your body in a healthy state of weight loss.

    So if you need to eat 1700 calories a day after you exercise, keep your calories as close to that as possible. If you come in at 1650 or so, that's ok... But if you need 1700 and you only eat 1300, you are eating too little.

    Don't eat if you aren't hungry (that habit made me overweight), rather make good choices about your calorie intake so at the end of the day you have your counts in order. It takes a little time and research, but once you get used to it, it's easy.

    This website is a HUGE help for all of that.

    Oh! (Edit here).. Once in awhile if you come a couple hundred low isn't what's going to be the problem... It's making a daily habit of being too far below your daily requirement that will be the problem... In other words, 1 day last week you only ate 1400 when you needed 1700 isn't going to be a problem, but doing that regularly will be.

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