Calories burned & eating = Losing?

kymyas
kymyas Posts: 10
edited September 23 in Food and Nutrition
I'm new here to MFP and I was reading some questions that were similar to mine but I still don't understand...

My goal is to lose about 2lbs a week. I workout 5-6 days out of the week burning at least 700 - 900 calories per workout. I have a sedentary job & I'm an evening student but busy evenings & weekends. According to this site if I don't workout I should only consume 1200 calories a day. I have to eat about 1700-1800 calories on the days I workout otherwise I am STARVING by the time I go to bed. Is my goal realistic? Can I lose 2lbs a week the way I'm eating & working out? Help me understand the calculation for my calories eating & burned = weight loss?

I'm 167 (but I don't look it my weight is evenly distributed)
5'5"
700-900 (3 days out of the wk I do boot camp workout)
1700-1800 calories eaten daily (except on wkends alot less)

THANKS!

Replies

  • kac7700
    kac7700 Posts: 125 Member
    You just have to do the math.

    It takes 3500 calories per pound. Therefore you need to burn 7000 more calories per week then you consume if you want to lose 2 lbs. a week.
  • Michelle_J
    Michelle_J Posts: 362 Member
    You just have to do the math.

    It takes 3500 calories per pound. Therefore you need to burn 7000 more calories per week then you consume if you want to lose 2 lbs. a week.

    Thank you for the insight. Seriously, you just made that crystal clear. It's been a gray area in my head and now I get it. Thank you! :happy:
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    if you are supposed to eat 1200, and you burn 900 through exercise, then you should eat a total of 2100 that day. Inside that 1200 number there has already been built in a deficit, so that if you never exercised at all, at 1200 cals, you will still lose. Deficit=loss. BUT if your deficit is too big (not eating back what you earned through exercise), over time you'll depress your metabolism and start hanging on to the weight instead of losing it.


    EAT back what you earned through exercising, your body needs fuel. Trust me, it works.
  • bpayne78
    bpayne78 Posts: 249 Member
    You just have to do the math.

    It takes 3500 calories per pound. Therefore you need to burn 7000 more calories per week then you consume if you want to lose 2 lbs. a week.


    AAANND....there's already a deficit to lose 2 lbs per week in the 1200 that MFP gives you. That's why it's good to eat at least some of your exercise cals so that you don't create too big of a deficit. You want a deficit to burn off what you want gone but too big of a deficit is a bad thing. You are already eating some of your exercise cals back by eating 1700-1800 cals......personally, I think you're doing great. Just keep in mind that you don't want to go too far under the 1200 net (that's including exercise cals) or you might not do as good. I know that kinda goes against all logic BUT you have to eat to lose!

    Good Luck! I think you'll do great!
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
    I'm new here to MFP and I was reading some questions that were similar to mine but I still don't understand...

    My goal is to lose about 2lbs a week. I workout 5-6 days out of the week burning at least 700 - 900 calories per workout. I have a sedentary job & I'm an evening student but busy evenings & weekends. According to this site if I don't workout I should only consume 1200 calories a day. I have to eat about 1700-1800 calories on the days I workout otherwise I am STARVING by the time I go to bed. Is my goal realistic? Can I lose 2lbs a week the way I'm eating & working out? Help me understand the calculation for my calories eating & burned = weight loss?

    I'm 167 (but I don't look it my weight is evenly distributed)
    5'5"
    700-900 (3 days out of the wk I do boot camp workout)
    1700-1800 calories eaten daily (except on wkends alot less)

    THANKS!

    MFP never suggests lower then 1200 calories for your intake. This is based on the idea that eating too little results in your metabolism slowing quite a bit, which makes consistent weight loss hard, and makes maintaining your weight loss very hard. 1200 has no huge signifigance, except generally being a good number to stay above.

    Losing 2 lbs a week is very ambitious for someone who isn't very overweight. I would recomend starting with your settings to lose 1 lb. a week. Slow weight loss is maintainable weight loss.

    The reason you are starving if you eat less than 1700 calories is because if you burn 800 calories that day, you're only leaving your body 900 calories for everything else. It is the general opinion that this is too few calories. I just used on online calorie calculator that says your maintenance calories are around 1750 calories. This does not take into account exercise, so if you work out and burn 800 calories, your maintenance calories would be over 2500 calories! That means that if you eat around 2000 calories on your workout days you should lose at least 1 lb. a week and will still keep your net calories (intake-exercise) over 1200 and keep your metabolism from dipping so low that it affects your health.

    Another suggestion; you're working out really hard. Every 3-5 weeks, take a week off and rest, or atleast do easier workouts, which is known as de-loading. This will give your body the chance to recover.
  • kymyas
    kymyas Posts: 10
    Cool. ... but I'm still sticking to the plan of 2lbs a week, I don't think that is so drastic. I do like your idea about taking a week off or lighten my workout for a week to give my body a break this makes total sense, maybe a leisure bike ride, yoga videos or long walks and eat 1200 - 1300 calories on those days.
  • Cool. ... but I'm still sticking to the plan of 2lbs a week, I don't think that is so drastic. I do like your idea about taking a week off or lighten my workout for a week to give my body a break this makes total sense, maybe a leisure bike ride, yoga videos or long walks and eat 1200 - 1300 calories on those days.

    I am 5'9 1/2" and weight 170(ish) I was told by both my nutritionist and my metabolic technician today that I lost the "right" to loose 2 lbs a week 150 lbs ago... the less you have to loose the slower it is (SHOULD) going to come off... if you set unrealistic goals for your body... (not saying your are- but you need to be honest with yourself to determine what the real nunbers are saying) then you are not going to stick with the plan and will be discouraged because you are not loosing that 2... but if your goal was 1.. and you occasionally loose 2.. you will be happy that you are accompolishing your goals!

    just saying..

    la-
    www.thecurvylife.com
  • if you are supposed to eat 1200, and you burn 900 through exercise, then you should eat a total of 2100 that day. Inside that 1200 number there has already been built in a deficit, so that if you never exercised at all, at 1200 cals, you will still lose. Deficit=loss. BUT if your deficit is too big (not eating back what you earned through exercise), over time you'll depress your metabolism and start hanging on to the weight instead of losing it.


    EAT back what you earned through exercising, your body needs fuel. Trust me, it works.

    This is the absolute BEST explanation I had read yet! So matter what, your body needs to consume no less than 1200 calories a day. So if you only eat 1200 and you burn 500, you need to eat 700 more to meet your 1200 cals/day requirement.
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