doing the math is dissapointing

In my view, for what it's worth, the whole excercise/nutrition/weight loss thing is like a domino effect.

It has been proven that you will actually burn around 20% more calories for the 24 hours after a workout, so if you burn 500 kcal at spin, you'll expect to burn another 100 cals on top in the following 24 hours. Couple this with the fact that 1lb increase in muscle burns around 50 kcal extra a day adn you start to make progress. Coupled with a calorie defecit and you're on your way.

Let me give you an example.

On week one, you can manage a days spin class and decide you can live with a calorie defecit of 300 cals a day. for the sake of argument, you should lose about 1lb.

By week 4, you feel you can manage 3 spin classes a week, you have more energy so you park further away when you go shopping, maybe tackle the stairs at work or have a brisk weekend walk. you decide you can now live with a 500 kcal defect as you've got your portions under control adn you've gained 1lb of lean muscle at the gym, increasing your metabolic rate. As a result, you're now burning 1800 cals at spin, with say another 350 from the lean muscle mass and you've got a 3500 defecit. All of a sunddent that's 2lbn a week.

by three months, you're burning 3000 cals at excercise through both increased motivation and intensity, your body's burning 1000 cals more than it did when you started on a base week and you're losing 3lb a week and feel amazing.

Given that 30 mins moderate to high intensity excercise a day is recommended, eventually you'll be a fat burning machine who can excercise at a higher level for longer and the numbers will continue to grow.

Realisitcally, if you're losing 3lb a week, I'd think anythnig much more is unhealthy and unlikely to be sustainable - it's a life change so no points for the first past the post. Having crash dieted, I can say with certainty ther quicker you lose thje sooner it goes back on and you're back to old habits.

Like I said, just my opinion for what it's worth, but it helps me to look at it like this and has helped me on my recent weight loss journey. I think if I looked at the 3500 kcal in 1lb of fat I'd be back to unhelathy eating and sofa-surfing.....

you could cut off your leg and lose 40 lbs in a day!

or....

I hear Meth is VERY effective at creating rapid weight loss......because the speed at which this all occurs is the MOST important thing! Right?

What about your health?

I would also do some research into how many calories you're actually burning. People who weigh more burn calories faster. My husband and I are both runners. I burn about 125 calories per mile (which is approximately calculated using my height, weight, age, and fitness level) and my husband (who is 6'2" and an elite triathlete) burns almost 400 per mile. The less you weigh the more the body tries to hang on to the energy it has. That's why you see the people on The Biggest Loser losing 20 pounds in a week--their bodies are letting go of all that extra energy more readily.

Google some better calorie calculators that will factor in your height and weight (Nike+ has a good one for running). I would say that burning 100 calories in a 30 minute walk is a little low.

I would also do some research into how many calories you're actually burning. People who weigh more burn calories faster. My husband and I are both runners. I burn about 125 calories per mile (which is approximately calculated using my height, weight, age, and fitness level) and my husband (who is 6'2" and an elite triathlete) burns almost 400 per mile. The less you weigh the more the body tries to hang on to the energy it has. That's why you see the people on The Biggest Loser losing 20 pounds in a week--their bodies are letting go of all that extra energy more readily.

Google some better calorie calculators that will factor in your height and weight (Nike+ has a good one for running). I would say that burning 100 calories in a 30 minute walk is a little low.

I thought it was because you had haul more weight around with you!

Jecka's got it !

When I first stated with MFP it suggest 1300 calories a day. There's no way I could sustain that for a week, never mind 6 months !
So I gave myself a daily target of 2000 calories and started losing weight at a modest rate.

Then I decided to train for a 5k race and so added 400-600 calories of exercise 2-3 times a week and lost weight faster !

I also use those figures (1lb fat = 3500 calories = 5 hours of running !) to motivate me not to eat crap. A mars bar (250 calories ?) takes about 30 minutes on a treadmill to burn off ! I'd rather not have it than have to run an extra 30 minutes !