A little math that would help me understand..
simone319
Posts: 3
hey guys,
this whole website has got me a little bit confused on how we, mathematically, loose weight. I'll use today as an example.
So today I calculated that I burned 600 calories through exercise. On the other hand, I ate almost 1300 calories today. My net calories are 1200 (BEFORE I burned those 600 calories) so therefore the website is telling me that I still have 500 more calories left.
Meanwhile, my BMR (calories I would burn from sleeping a straight 24 hours) is around 1420 calories. I'm assuming I sleep an average of 8-9 hours each night. I'm just gonna say I therefore burn a little less than 700 calories overnight.
Ok, getting to the exciting BIG question here!
Does this all mean that since I consumed 1300 calories today and I burned a total of 1300 (through sleeping & exercising) that this will result in me keeping a steady weight? If I skipped out on exercising today and the only thing that burned calories was sleep, would I have an abundance of 600 calories and would this contribute to me GAINING weight?
this whole website has got me a little bit confused on how we, mathematically, loose weight. I'll use today as an example.
So today I calculated that I burned 600 calories through exercise. On the other hand, I ate almost 1300 calories today. My net calories are 1200 (BEFORE I burned those 600 calories) so therefore the website is telling me that I still have 500 more calories left.
Meanwhile, my BMR (calories I would burn from sleeping a straight 24 hours) is around 1420 calories. I'm assuming I sleep an average of 8-9 hours each night. I'm just gonna say I therefore burn a little less than 700 calories overnight.
Ok, getting to the exciting BIG question here!
Does this all mean that since I consumed 1300 calories today and I burned a total of 1300 (through sleeping & exercising) that this will result in me keeping a steady weight? If I skipped out on exercising today and the only thing that burned calories was sleep, would I have an abundance of 600 calories and would this contribute to me GAINING weight?
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Replies
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Your math is a bit off...
TODAY -
Your BMR = 1420
-Your intake = 1300
and Exercise = 600
= Total Calorie Deficit of 720 Calories.
If you had not exercised
Your BMR= 1420
-Your Intake = 1300
= Total Calorie Deficit of 120 Calories.
So even if you didn't exercise today and ate the 1300 calories, you would still end up losing weight.
As long as your total calories IN are less then your total calories used, your golden.0 -
Your math is a bit off...
TODAY -
Your BMR = 1420
-Your intake = 1300
and Exercise = 600
= Total Calorie Deficit of 720 Calories.
If you had not exercised
Your BMR= 1420
-Your Intake = 1300
= Total Calorie Deficit of 120 Calories.
So even if you didn't exercise today and ate the 1300 calories, you would still end up losing weight.
As long as your total calories IN are less then your total calories used, your golden.
you're forgetting that an individual's BMR isnt the same as their sedentary burn.
your SEDENTARY burn is 1420 (BMR) multiplied by 1.2 =1704, when you add in 600 calories burned through exercise your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is ~ 2300 (a bit more/less depending on what else you do in the day and your body composition)
You ate 1300,so you deficit is 2300-1300 = 10000 -
you're forgetting that an individual's BMR isnt the same as their sedentary burn.
Yes, you are correct they are not the same. My motivation for only calculating against BMR is I tend to take the lowest number and work from there. I've never had an actual sedentary/BMR, etc study done on myself, and most of us here haven't either. Due to variations between us, the sedentary burn could vary quite a lot (muscle mass percentage, insulin, etc).
I am just a fairly cautious individual and would rather under estimate then over estimate. But that is just me. :-)0 -
you're forgetting that an individual's BMR isnt the same as their sedentary burn.
Yes, you are correct they are not the same. My motivation for only calculating against BMR is I tend to take the lowest number and work from there. I've never had an actual BMR, etc study done on myself, and most of us here haven't either. Due to variations between us, the sedentary burn could vary quite a lot (muscle mass percentage, insulin, etc).
I am just a fairly cautious individual and would rather under estimate then over estimate. But that is just me. :-)
that's quite a lot to underestimate by--nearly 300 calories. I'd average the 2 at the very least. Also, most people aren't actually sedentary so using that activity factor is fairly conservative as it is. just my opinion.0 -
you're forgetting that an individual's BMR isnt the same as their sedentary burn.
Yes, you are correct they are not the same. My motivation for only calculating against BMR is I tend to take the lowest number and work from there. I've never had an actual sedentary/BMR, etc study done on myself, and most of us here haven't either. Due to variations between us, the sedentary burn could vary quite a lot (muscle mass percentage, insulin, etc).
I am just a fairly cautious individual and would rather under estimate then over estimate. But that is just me. :-)
Why assume that you're different? Better to assume that you're the same until proven otherwise.0 -
oh, so no matter what i will loose all the calories that my BMR is?
I thought the bmr is the amount of calories that i would loose if i slept all day...
by the way, thanks for all the informative answer guys!0 -
oh, so no matter what i will loose all the calories that my BMR is?
I thought the bmr is the amount of calories that i would loose if i slept all day...
by the way, thanks for all the informative answer guys!
you're 5'5, 120 and in high school. please get goals unrelated to your weight. you're already on the thinner side of "healthy" and i'd recommend no further weight loss.0 -
oh, so no matter what i will loose all the calories that my BMR is?
I thought the bmr is the amount of calories that i would loose if i slept all day...
by the way, thanks for all the informative answer guys!
you're 5'5, 120 and in high school. please get goals unrelated to your weight. you're already on the thinner side of "healthy" and i'd recommend no further weight loss.
This ^
You look great and 120 is ok for your height. Losing weight could be unhealthy at this point. But, if you feel that you're flabbier than you'd like in some areas, you could do some weight training to tone up. But I'd still recommend eating at a maintenance level for that.0 -
As I understand it, when you put your goal weight or number of pounds to lose in myfitnesspal, it automatically calculates how many calories you'll need to eat per day to lose 1lb per week, without exercise Generally you need to calorie deficit by about 500 per day (3500 per week) to lose 1 lb per week. When you exercise, it adds those calories to your total number of calories to consume. So, say I get 1300 calories a day if I don't exercise. Say I then exercise 300 calories worth before eating anything that day and enter it in myfitness pal. It would then say I needed to eat 1600 calories that day to calorie deficit ONLY the 500 I would need to deficit each day to lose 1lb per week. If I didn't eat those 300 exercise calories, I would be in a deficit of 800, since myfitnesspal had already calculated I could should eat 1300 a day without exercise to still lose 1lb per week.
So, myfitness pal has already done the work of calculating how many calories you should eat per day without exercising. Which means, EAT THE EXTRA exercise calories, or you might lose the weight too quickly or put your body in starvation mode which slows down your metabolism and all sorts of bad things for your body, like burning muscle mass which eventually could damage your heart!!
AGAIN - Myfitnesspal has done the work for you - EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES for strength and health.0 -
oh, so no matter what i will loose all the calories that my BMR is?
I thought the bmr is the amount of calories that i would loose if i slept all day...
by the way, thanks for all the informative answer guys!
you're 5'5, 120 and in high school. please get goals unrelated to your weight. you're already on the thinner side of "healthy" and i'd recommend no further weight loss.
This ^
You look great and 120 is ok for your height. Losing weight could be unhealthy at this point. But, if you feel that you're flabbier than you'd like in some areas, you could do some weight training to tone up. But I'd still recommend eating at a maintenance level for that.
Weight training is nearly always good, however on a calorie deficit you won't increase muscle, only conserve the muscle you already have, so she will continue to lose fat, hence get even more skinny0 -
5 + 4 = 9
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