HELP! I have no idea what I'm doing..

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KenziesMomma11
KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
after reading through the forums I feel like I have no idea what I am doing.

exercise calories, calorie defecit, bmr, bmi....

I'm 5'2 186.5 and want to get down to 135. MFP says to eat 1200 cals a day.

Can someone explain the whole calorie defecit and bmr thing to me please!
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Replies

  • untilthesun
    untilthesun Posts: 30 Member
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    all you have to do is log everything you eat and excersise and make sure you stick within your calorie goal, dont worry about all the terminology, thats all you need to know :) try to excersise as much as it says and eat as much as it says and you should loose weight :)

    hope this helps xx
  • tubie22
    tubie22 Posts: 24
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    Hey! I have basically the same stats as you (5'3, 182lbs) and the way I see it is, you can eat 1200 calories per day whilst doing excercise to burn it off; you have to work off more calories than you consume to lose weight.

    Sorry if that doesn't really help...

    But basically I am trying to cut my calories down as much as possible and also doing workouts 4 times a week and walking everyday. Hopefully it will work!:smile:
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
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    if you have to burn more cals than you consume than i have to burn 1201+ to lose weight? maybe that sound stupid, but its how it came across in my mind.
  • sharonachamberlain
    sharonachamberlain Posts: 10
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    It can be confusing. Just follow the recommendations such as workout time and calorie intake. Log all of your meals and snacks, as well as your exercise. The site will calculate everything for you. When you work out you will notice that you are allowed more calories, and yes you can eat those additional calories. The site has already calculated the amount of calories you need to eat to lose weight safely. You can eat too few calories.
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
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    this is also confusing...

    if i have just busted my fat butt to burn cals, how is it safe to eat them back?!

    *sorry if i sound totally ignorant
  • luckyvirgo
    luckyvirgo Posts: 31 Member
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    There are 3500 calories in a pound. To maintain your weight your current weight you would need something like 2300 calories a day. You would lose weight without exercising if you reduce your calories. But, when you exercise you burn even more calories causing a larger deficit that will cause your body to pull the extra needed calories from your stored fat cells. Your BMR is the calories burned, you burn calories even if your sleeping. It is energy used. Your BMI is your body mass index, and that determines if your at a healthy weight. Hope this is helpful. And if anyone feels I mis-spoke or gave incorrect information please feel free to correct me, I am self taught and have room to grow!

    Julie
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
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    There are 3500 calories in a pound. To maintain your weight your current weight you would need something like 2300 calories a day. You would lose weight without exercising if you reduce your calories. But, when you exercise you burn even more calories causing a larger deficit that will cause your body to pull the extra needed calories from your stored fat cells. Your BMR is the calories burned, you burn calories even if your sleeping. It is energy used. Your BMI is your body mass index, and that determines if your at a healthy weight. Hope this is helpful. And if anyone feels I mis-spoke or gave incorrect information please feel free to correct me, I am self taught and have room to grow!

    Julie

    Started to type an explanation, but read this, pretty good one
  • MyFriendLinn
    MyFriendLinn Posts: 102 Member
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    Food: think of your car. It won't run without gas, and you won't run without fuel either. If you filled out your profile here at MFP, to reach your goal, MFP actually does the math for you. So generally a 1200 calorie is the average for loosing weight.

    I will tell you right now, there will be times you go over that 1200 calories count, but if you do, its ok, get back on your new life plan not the next monday, or the next day, but the next meal. If you look at success stories here, you will get the picture real fast.

    Exercise: log your exercise daily. Exercises are on the top naviagation tabs. Add in your favorite exercises. So for me, I routinely walk the dogs, work out on the treadmill, do weights and yoga. Log in what you do every day. Start small, because small changes will net you big results. So today if you can walk 15 min, log that, in a week bump it up to 20, then 25 then 30.

    For maximum weight loss, do cardio and strenth training. Carido burns the fat and strength training will boost your metabolism, tighten your skin, and build musle. You want to have musles. I follow a strength training program and it works for me. I do upper body, mon, wed, and friday, and lower body tues, thurs, and sat.

    If you have questions, just ask, you will get a bizillion new friends helping you. We have all had help so this is our way to play if forward. Anyone reading this post, feel free to friend me.

    Why MFP works, besides logging in daily calories and daily burn, is the support you will find here. Don't be shy, ask questions and enjoy your journey. You are on the first day of the rest of your life. Have fun, enjoy and good for you! You are most welcome here.
  • MyFriendLinn
    MyFriendLinn Posts: 102 Member
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    Yeah, I almost wrote what Julie said.....and ditto Ben.

    Julie has it exactly RIGHT!!!!
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
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    thank you! that does help me ALOT!

    its so nice to hear that its okay that i dont know what i'm doing and that people are willing to help!
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
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    thank you julie!

    sounds like you have self taught yourself pretty well :)
  • luckyvirgo
    luckyvirgo Posts: 31 Member
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    your welcome, and thank yo for the compliment.
  • jheath123
    jheath123 Posts: 101
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    I am not positive, but I do believe when you initially setup your MFP with your current weight and your goal weight that it automatically sets you a daily calorie goal in accordance of your daily activities like work and home. When you exercise you subtract those calories but should still stay close to your daily goal. When you complete your daily entry it should say "If you ate like this every day you would be XXX pounds in 5 weeks".
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
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    yes, i do see that.
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
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    okay so my bmr is 1530 and my daily calorie goal is 1200, why is that?

    if i am already cutting those calories wouldnt i be losing weight without doing anything more?

    im so confused LOL
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
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    bump
  • sharonachamberlain
    sharonachamberlain Posts: 10
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    That does not make you ignorant. I was in the same place as you are now, so I completely understand how you feel. You need to make sure that you are consuming enough calories for your body to perform its daily functions. At 1200 calories you have a deficit that will cause you to lose approximately 1 lb per week. This is without exercise. If you eat less than a net of 1200 calories, it is easy to not get enough nutrients to recover from your workouts. If you do not eat enough calories your metabolism could go into starvation mode, which will cause you not to lose weight.

    I know that this is a complicated topic, so the best thing I can tell you is allow the site to do the calculating for you.

    When you track your food intake for the day, and submit the entries. Watch the feedback at the bottom near where it says 'if every day were like today you would weigh......in 5 weeks'. It will tell you if you are eating too few calories.

    Let me know if this helps. I know that it can be confusing in the beginning, but we are all here to help :)
  • millerll
    millerll Posts: 873 Member
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    At the top of this forum section are several posts marked with the red push pin icon. Those are "stickies" that are always there. You should read all of them, but I suggest you start with "Posts you want to read again and again" and "Newbies read me".

    These answer all your questions.
  • Janice032557
    Janice032557 Posts: 163 Member
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    When I signed up to MFP, I read that if you stayed in bed all day your body would burn about 1700 calories. So when MFP tells you that you need to eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight, you are taking in less than what you use causing the weight loss.
  • sdb903
    sdb903 Posts: 85
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    bump

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