I'm not 100% sure I know what you are talking about but I will give it a shot :) Yes you would consume 1400 calories regardless of what you are burning. With that being said, if you are physically taxing yourself of energy with each exercise, you may need to increase those calories needed to meet those exercise demands. Remember that if you are consuming 1400 calories, it doesn't mean you need to burn 1400+ calories in your workout because you will be burning calories throughtout the day just to survive. The benefits of gaining muscles increases your metabolism, which is what burns those calories, and the more muscle you have, the more you burn when you are resting. Be careful not to "starve yourself" such as skipping meals because this will send your body into survival mode rather than burn mode. Which means your body will save your fat for survival purposes rather than use those stores to fuel your body. 1400 sounds like a good number as long as it's balanced eating. Good luck and I wish you all the best with your program!
@Lindsay05: That is exactly what I meant :) I burn approx 500 calories on my cardio days. So regardless I should only consume 1400? My fitness pal and loseit "credits" you calories when you log exercise....
@RoyalLime: this doesn't directly answer your question since I'm not sure how these apps work, but in general people underestimate the calories they eat, and overestimate the calories they burn. The machines aren't very accurate when they say you've burned X number of calories. So just keep that in mind.
I would stick to eating around 1,400 calories with your current exercise plan and see how the pounds/inches melt off, then adjust accordingly. You want something sustainable or you will just end up quitting (been there, done that). 1,400 sounds pretty reasonable to me.
@RoyalLime: Yes, I would stick with the 1400 calories. The only thing you may see is a bigger/smaller loss depending on # of calories burned each week. I think they "credit" you calories based on your starting weight and what you would need to eat/exercise to lose a healthy 1-2 lbs per week. But yes, I would stick with your number and if you feel like your lacking energy you may need to add some of those extra calories. As you get going, and get stronger/fitter, it's ok to increase those calories providing it's healthy calories.
@throughthebarricades: Yes I have tried to loose weight forever! But this time my DH joined my gym and we are going together! Helps so much, thanks for the tips :)
Ooo whith my fitness pall, I never enter my workouts because it always over estimates. When I entered the workouts, I stopped losing weight for probably 3 weeks until somebody told me to stop eating my workout calories. I always just listen to my body now, if I had a tough workout and I feel weak, I'll eat no more than 50-100 calories back unless I run for more than 3-4 miles, then I'll eat maybe 200 back (more or less) depending on what my body wants. Following this and eating only 1200, I'm losing 1-2lbs a week. I went from 172 to 135. I'm 5'4 and am trying to lose my last 15lbs!
You should be ok with that number of total calories and then your exercise (an hour of cardio might burn 300-400 calories depending on your size). The only thing to be aware of is burning too much and not eating enough to make up for it - your body can go into "starvation mode". But a net ~100-1200 should be ok.
As an aside, It looks like you are doing steady state cardio by those times. You may want to look into interval training which takes less time and is better at burning fat
http://www.workoutnirvana.com/using-hiit-for-weight-loss-endurance-strength/
@sheepandbear: Congrats on your progress! And I hope the last 15 come off with ease :) Good to know how you accomplished this.
@lolot: I am 5' 9" 205 lbs.
@ThreeMeers: Thank you! On the treadmill I am actually doing HIIT. Because I am not a runner and just started this new workout schedule on Monday, I walk 6 mins, run for 1, repeat that 3 times :) I will then slowly increase my running and decrease walking. Great Advise!
That sounds good for now, but you may need to up your calories as you get closer to your goal. My Fitness Pal has some great forums that can help you out too. Most people will say that netting 1200 is on the very low end, and that, again, especially as you get closer to goal you should increase your cals.
Check out what your BMR and TDEE are and eat somewhere in between the 2. I'm 5'4", started out netting 1200 and was 176 lbs. Was SO hungry and tired but was losing weight so I ignored it. Then I stalled after 20 pounds. Stopped the low cals, then went back to it with higher calories (1350-1400) and lost another 10. Now I'm getting out of another plateau having upped my cals to 1500. Just play around with the numbers and find out what is doable (and sustainable) for you. If you want to friend me on MFP, I'm very active on there, same name as here.
If you only consume 1,400 calories and then you burn 500 calories a day your body will not be able to build the muscle to turn you into a fat-burning machine. You will plateau hard many times. You will feel tired and sore and lethargic. You will not be toned.
Your body requires healthy calories in order to function (digest, breathe, function your brain), to build muscle, and to give you energy.
1,400 calories - 500 calories = 900 calories. You're going to crash hard and have a reallllly hard time sticking to the plan vs a healthy 1-2 lb loss each week.
@CaliHoya: I don't use MFP anymore. Loseit is more user friendly to me at least :) I appreciate it!
@MrsBroccoli: See this is why I created this post... So I should be making up for the calories I am burning? If I am eating what I am burning then how will I loose weight? I am eating really good. Cut out almost all bread, pasta, wheat, flour. I drink whey protein mixed with water in the morning along with a green smoothie (spinach, bananas, p butter, greek yogurt, milk), eat a salad and an orange for lunch and then a sensible dinner... ie: chicken and veggies. I also drink only water :)
lindsey, we need to get some calculations based specifically on your height and body weight. I'm not sure how old you are - I'll estimate both 25 and 30, for conservative matters. Search for "daily calorie maintenance" calculators on-line. These are a combination of both your BMR and the calories you burn per day doing things like housework (your BMR is the number of calories you burn per day if you were, say, comatose and/or totally inactive each day):
Assuming you're sedentary (and 25), your daily calorie maintenance is about 2100 calories. Assuming you're 30, it's about 2050 per day. Calculators will vary according to the formulas people use, but these are reasonable averages.
I don't know how intensely you're working out or how high your heart rate gets - but I'd estimate you're burning about 1100 calories a week on the elliptical and about 500 a week walking. Maybe another 250 for your 25-minute cardio work-out, depending on what you're doing.
So...about 1,850 calories per week you're burning (I'm not including strength-training in this, as I don't know what you're doing. I'd include circuit training, like a Jillian Michaels' work-out, since those can get the heart rate roaring).
If I were you, unless you're going to devote more time to cardio, I would scale your weight loss efforts to a loss of 1 to 1 1/2 pounds a week. For 1 1/2 pounds a week, that would mean eating around 1600 calories a day (which is about a 500-a-day deficit for you) and continuing what you're currently doing for exercise.
I agree with the others, though - you're eating far too little.
For comparison, I am about your size and while I generally burn more calories (about 5-7k a week), I'm eating right around 2,000 a day. I am still losing weight.
And if you're just starting, there's no need to so drastically cut calories. You may even want to stick to around 2k calories right now and work out...see where that gets you. It may be more sustainable for you in the long run.
I know that it's far easier for me to work out than it is to abstain from eating, but I know that varies from person to person.
My wife mentioned this topic to me.
The key is strength training.
Don't try to lose more than 2lb per week. That means a daily TOTAL calorie deficit of 500 calories. Any more, and your body will being converting muscle to energy instead of fat to energy.
Muscle requires its own caloric upkeep. Which means when you lose weight, if you also lose muscle your base metabolic rate will fall so far that it will be nearly impossible to maintain the loss.
You can gain muscle while losing weight when starting out, and that is how you keep the weight off. It also allows you to keep losing more fat over time.
I recommend 3 days a week of strength training--high weights (as high as you can do) with compound exercises (bench press, overhead press, squat, dead lift). This stuff isn't just for men and you won't end up like she hulk.
Your cardio plan is sufficient but eat enough calories. Don't starve yourself. Instead, eat better. Skip processed carbohydrates bread, pasta, all sugary food) and focus on fruit, vegetables, and protein sources you prepared yourself.
My wife will tell you- it was a total body transformation for me. Three years later, I am still in good shape.
@CookieCreamCakes: Thank you! I am 29. Strength training is a class I take that is an hour long. We do a TON of squats, lift weights, and work abs. We do lots of reps, and I use 8 lb weights. I really don't have the time or motivation to do even more cardio. Is what I am doing going to even be sufficient? I feel like my efforts aren't going to pay off and that terrifies me! For work, I sit at a desk all day. I do get up and walk around throughout the day, but pretty much sitting ALL DAY LONG!
@MrBroccoli: Thank you for responding! At the moment, during the strengthening class I take we do lots of reps and I use 8 lb weights. But your saying it would be better to use a heavier weight and less reps? I am open to whatever will work :) I have cut out almost all wheat, flour, pasta, etc. I try to stick to mostly veggies, meat, and some fruit.
@RoyalLime: Yes. The best way to build muscle is three sets of five reps, doing the key compound exercises that work lots of muscle groups. Increase the weight from one set to the next.
Light weights do not draw upon all of your muscle in the area they target, the low weight doesn't make you put much effort into stabilizing, and they tend not to be compound exercises as you just don't need your whole body to squat 16 lb.
What you want to do is force your muscles to actively grow stronger to meet higher weight challenges. You still won't get 'huge' because to do that you'd need to be in the gym every day for hours. I think it'll lead you to the result you want and will ensure that when you reach your target you can stay there.
Sounds like you've got an excellent grasp on ideal diet. That's probably the single most important factor. No routine will survive a poor diet.
@RoyalLime: if your calorie goal each day is 1400 calories, you want to make it NET calories. That means if you burn calories, you eat back the calories you burn. So if you burn 600 calories in a hour long spin class, you will actually consume a total of 2000 calories that day, but it comes out to 1400 NET calories because you burned 600 in spin.
If you don't eat back the calories burned during exercise, then you will end up not eating enough during the day. From my research the general consensus is that a minimum of 1200 to 1300 NET calories needs to be consumed each day to avoid going into "starvation" mode. When you eat too few calories many days in a row, your body slows your metabolism way down and tries to conserve every calorie you eat.
A year ago I started losing weight since I was still carrying around a bunch of pregnancy weight, even though my son was 9 months old. I used myfitness pal and it told me to eat 1250 NET calories each day to lose 2 lbs per week. I logged every food, drink and exercise each day. I lost 30 pounds in 3.5 months, and an additional 25 this fall.
The tricky part is estimating the amount of calories you burned during a particular exercise. The cardio machine would give me a different number than MyFitnessPal did for a particular activity. The most accurate way to determine calories burned is by wearing a heart rate monitor. I ended up averaging what the machine, myfitnesspal app or a google search told me I burned and ate back about 75% of the calories. I would eat more if I were really hungry at the end of the day though. I lost an average of 1.8 lbs per week and maintained through the summer while training for a half marathon, then lost additional weight this fall, which I am now maintaining.
@mrstilly: Great advise! Congrats on your wonderful weight loss! Hopefully I will be in your boat soon!
For some reason my posts take a really long time to get approved.
FWIW, yes, low reps, heavy weights is a better method because it challenges and exhausts your muscles fully and forces them to rebuild more to be better capable of lifting the heavier weight.
@mrstilly: & @RoyalLime: I can't stress enough how helpful my heart rate monitor has been in calculating calories burned each workout!! It gives me a great picture of how many calories I burn each time so I don't over eat or under eat my calories back! I personally don't eat my calories back because I workout late at night, so it doesn't make sense to eat 900 calories and then go to sleep lol but I will try to when I become a morning workout person! But seriously, if you can, I HIGHLY recommend getting a heart rate monitor. I have the polar FT7. MFP, websites and even heart rate monitors on the exercise machines on the gym have been OVER 500 calories off in both directions (over or under) on workouts. It's crazy!!
@ChuckNorris: Thanks for the info! I will be checking into a heart rate monitor for sure! I also need to invest in an Ipod! Yes we are behind the times.... we both need one!!!
The truth is that there is no one right answer, OP. Everyone's body is different and different things work for different people. You need to find what works for you. Start somewhere and start changing things up to figure out how to amp it up.
Personally, I don't count calories, I eat nutrient-dense foods and I restrict my portions. In essence, I am restricting my calories by doing this, but I find it easier to eat this way.
As far as working out goes - for now, do what you can to get yourself going. Whatever gets you up in the morning or working out after work is the right workout for you.
I agree that you should definitely strength train and cardio during your workout routine, but you don't have to take a day off from cardio - you can run on Sundays, too.
HIIT is a good cardio workout, but if you just enjoy a long run, then do that! Whatever works for you.
Just keep a journal of what you're eating and doing and how much you weigh and see what works. Personally, I weigh myself every day, but if I go up 1-2lbs, I understand that my weight fluctuates. If I continue to go up, then I know I'm doing something wrong.
My point is - everyone is different and different things work for different people. Do what works for you.
This is what my food has been looking like lately:
M1: Protein pancake (1/2 banana, 3 egg whites, 1 scoop protein - mix it all together, cook like a pancake)
M2: 1/4c nonfat greek yogurt with a handful of berries
M3: 1 foldit bread with 1/4 avocado and 1 grilled chicken breast
M4: salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing (add lemon) and grilled shrimp
M5: 1 slice turkey and quinoa meatloaf with beans and sauteed spinach and kale (or mashed cauliflower)
I calculated it all and it probably comes to about 1100-1200 calories (just to see how much I'm eating, because I was never hungry and I was worried maybe I was eating too much, even though all the portion sizes wre right). I'm only 5'1 so 1200 calories is fine for me.
Quinoa is not a starchy carb, FYI.
Good luck!
@futuremrsk18: WOW! That is wonderful info! Thank you for taking the time to tell me all of that. I am def only going to weigh myself weekly, I am also going to take measurements every two weeks or so. I think I've got a good plan and am taking things from all the comments and applying them as well. I am taking Sunday's off so I don't get burned out. I am going from not doing anything but the strengthening class two nights a week and soccer one night, to working out 6 nights :) If I don't give myself a day to rest, I will give up.
You might like the smoothie I have been drinking every morning: Spinach, peanut buttter, no fat Greek yogurt, 1/2% milk (only like a half cup), banana, orange. Its super tasty and really helps me feel better in the mornings.
I also drink one scoop of whey protein before my smoothie and one after my workout. It's been helping me feel full, and helping with sore muscles.
@RoyalLime: Ugh I am SO afraid to try smoothies that have a mix of fruits and veggies. Everyone keeps saying that the fruit masks the veggies taste, but while I love the way veggies taste in my food, I can't get this idea out of my head that I'm going to hate smoothies in general and so I'm scared to try anything! Can you taste the veggies? What does the smoothie taste like?
@futuremrsk18: OMG DO IT! (sorry for threadjacking) I hate hate hate hate hate fruits and veggies. Confession: I did not eat things that grew out of the ground until 2 years ago. I just...didn't and still am not good at it. But seriously, I can juice and smoothie the sh*t out of some kale and spinach with enough apples, lemons, pears. Blueberries, strawberries, celery, carrots. Yum! I canNOT eat celery plain. It repulses me and tastes like dirt but I can drink it! lol
At the minimum, you should eat 1200 calories a day- these calories are burned when your body goes through its natural functions such as your heart beating, digestion, and cellular repair. So I would reccomend bumping up your calorie intake because you're only leaving your body 900 calories to do its normal processes on, and that could potentially slow your metabolism and send your body into starvation mode.
This is off topic, but cinnamon [capsules] are great to take if you have problems losing weight.
@ChuckNorris: that's so funny! i'm going to have to try it, but no ginger. ew. LOL
@futuremrsk18: I don't add much fruit. Mostly spinach. I can definetly taste it. I did add peanut butter and bananas to mask the "dirt" taste of the spinach. You can add whatever you would like. It's really just process of elimination and adding things for a better taste :)
@ForeverBirds: Thank you for the advise. I feel full at this point. I dropped 3 lbs from last week, so at this point I am going to stick with 1400 calories and see where it brings me.
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I just started a new weight loss regimin:
M - Strengthening and Toning
T- 25 mins Eliptical & 25 mins Treadmill (walk/run)
W - 25 mins Eliptical & 25 mins Treadmill (walk/run)
TH - Strengthening and Toning
F - 25 mins Eliptical & 25 mins Treadmill (walk/run
S - 25 mins cardio & 25 mins weights
Sun - Day off.
I am limiting myself to 1400 calories.
My goal is to loose 55 lbs. Now here is my question. I use Loseit.com to track my calories and exercise. When I enter exercise it gives me extra food calories. In order to loose weight do I need to consume only 1400 calories regardless of what I am burning? This has always confused me and I want to loose as much as I can with all this work!