Calories Burned

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smartmom0818
smartmom0818 Posts: 83
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone. So, here's the deal. I found a pretty reliable site that has set up a training plan for me, and it records my calories burned for strength training and cardio. My question is, does anyone have a goal for how many calories they try to burn in a week or in a month, with exercise alone? I am obese, so I don't want to push too hard, but I also don't want to go too easy on myself either and I like having goals to reach. So, I'm just interested in what you guys are doing in this area and any suggestions for me. Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • sarajaxon
    sarajaxon Posts: 21 Member
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    Hi smartmom, it's Sara. I am obese too.... On exercise days I burn between 700 and 1000 (on average). So maybe you try shooting for that and if you need a weekly goal you could multiply by the number of days you plan to workout. Just a thought. Take care of yourself! Let me know how you figure it out in the end!
  • smartmom0818
    smartmom0818 Posts: 83
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    Hi Sara, I should have just written this on my page lol, would have gotten more responses. Anyway, I find on my program that I am burning around 450-700 five days a week so I think I should just aim for that and then increase once my fitness level gets better.
  • icculus19
    icculus19 Posts: 39
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    i really dont have a cals burned goal when lifting. i do have a cals burned goal for cardio. i try to burn off the my entire days caloric intake durning cardio. so right now its 1200. remember to that after you do your weight training your body is still burning calories at a higher rate for about 2-3 hours you have finished.

    to set a goal i would recommened burning your cal deficit. what i mean is if you are runnning 500 cal deficit try and burn off an additional 500 through weight training. you may also want to in vest in a heart rate monitor. it will give you an accurate # of cals burned. also you may want to start doing lite cardio for about 10 minutes every time you are at the gym. not only will this help you reach your goals faster but you will feel alot better to (endurphine rush)

    also as you lose weight you will burn less cal so you will have to increase your cardio and or add some additional resistance work outs to your program
  • samba_sue
    samba_sue Posts: 12
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    Thank you -useful reply . i have noticed too that once i went onto a weight lifting program and cut out cardio /intervals in the gym ,weight has remained static .I run 4 times a week (5-12 k each time ,swim twice and work out with weights 2-3 times .have gone back to using rower in-between sets and noticed a difference .Also keeping below 1500 calls most days .I have got fitter and i guess body has got used to the exercise .Also resumed pilates as had lots more pains in joints etc once i stopped
  • Aneallen2009
    Aneallen2009 Posts: 16
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    Could add too much to these awesome posts. Only one FYI I would give you.. 3500 calories is what you have to burn to lose a pound... So I am fighting to burn between 7 and 10 thousand calories a week.
  • smartmom0818
    smartmom0818 Posts: 83
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    Thank you everyone. I am going to get a HRM and I think right now I am set at burning around 2,000 a week, but that might not be ambitious enough so I will aim for burning 3500 calories a week for a deficit and a loss Then, hopefully as my fitness and stamina improve, I can aim for 7-10,000 cals a week which is an awesome achievement. Thank you for the helpful responses.
  • bsharrah
    bsharrah Posts: 129 Member
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    Keep in mind a hrm will only give you an accurate (about 75% accurate that is) calorie burn reading if used during consistent cardio activity. It will not provide an accurate reading when used during strength training, because your heart rate doesn't consistently stay elevated high enough. It will monitor your heart rate (which is all it can truly accurately do) and will calculate a calorie burn reading, but it won't be accurate, and will most likely be very inflated. To date, there isn't a device that can calculate calories burned during strength training outside of a lab.
  • SenshiV
    SenshiV Posts: 131 Member
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    I think that both calorie intake and exercise are important, however, as long as you don;t pass your suggested intake often, you will loose weight anyway.

    If you are just starting you have to go slow and increment little by little your effort, or you might overexert or even injure yourself, there's no rush.

    I think I have set like about 1000 cals a week and not often reach them, only do treadmill and it's very exhausting. But since I started here, although some times because of that progress is slow, never weighted more than a previous measure. That's why I say intake is important.

    Good luck!
  • fbandit14
    fbandit14 Posts: 61 Member
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    What site did you find?
  • brjustice2000
    brjustice2000 Posts: 33
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    Look at more than being obese and a calorie burn goal. The key is to burn more calories than you take in. Your resting calorie need to maintain your weight is under 10 calories a pound. MFP can help you figure that out. if you weighed 200 lbs you would need almost 2000 calories a day just to maintain current weight. If you want to lose a pound a week, you need to average a 500 calorie deficit. If you consume too few calories your metabolism will slow down which is bad for losing weight. I try to eat near my resting calorie needs and let exercise create my calorie deficit. Some days I do really well and now and then I fall off the wagon and eat too much. A week ago I ate the entire container of ice cream low cal, low fat, low sugar that was 1.75 quarts. I was bad and didn't lose any weight that week because I had too many sugars even though my calorie deficit should have resulted in a 1 lb+ loss. Start easy for you and don't over exercise. Include strength training, some form of a squat, bench press, shoulders, and abs. Don't strength train over an hour including rests between sets. STRETCH and do light cardio 5-10 minutes to warm up the muscles, then weight training 3 days a week if you do whole body, follow with some cardio and have a cool down period and you can stretch again. I started in mid March this year and have lost over 30 lbs. Losing weight is hard work! I've dropped around 60 points on cholesterol and other good results as well including right at 5 inches of waist gone. Use MFP with the goal of having carbs, fats, and sugars left over everyday. Do some form of exercise everyday even if it is just walking. My goal is lose 2 lbs a week, 7000 calorie or 1000 calorie deficit a day. This week I will have a 10000+ calorie deficit. I lift weights, use the treadmill, walk, and walk in a pool (easy on the knees). Some days I don't burn a 1000 calories and some days I burn over 2000 calories. When I started I cold not do what I do now and had to build stamina. I weigh my food with a digital scale to the nearest tenth of an ounce. I still eat my favorite foods - beef and potatoes. I usually burn off more than half of what I eat. Every once in a while I burn off more than I eat that day. Hang in there, stay motivated, you can do it.

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