Weight loss question?

[Anonymous]

Ok so I just started working out Monday 22, and I've been doing a lot of reading about how to loose a pound in a week and all that stuff. And some things I read said one pound of fat is 3,500 calories. And on a regular day you burn about 2,000 calories from regular activities like sleeping and stuff. I'm not sure if that's true or not? But I will be working out 5 times a week and I usually burn about 530calories a day from that from like the treadmill,elliptical,stationary bike, and 30 min zumba videos. So my question is, is burning 530 calories a day from workout enough?(minus the 2,00 cal) or should I go for burning 3,500 5 times a week to make sure I lose the one pound? Sorry if that was confusing. I am 19 138 pounds I eat pretty healthy about 1,200 calories a day or lower.Thanks

[Izzy2102]

You're mixing some things up here. First off that 3500 calorie is very very inaccurate, but OK let's go with it.

I don't know how tall you are but someone you're weight would probably not need 2000 cal for sleep and light activities (if you're student or working in an office) more like 1700 - 1800 but then again that's still based on average people. For every lb of muscle mass you hve more than the average woman your age you would burn 30cal more a day. But 1200 cal is a little low, particualry if you are working out you should eat more.

It's not only about exercise. 3500 cal a week is equal too 500 cal a day. If you need 1700 cal and only eat 1200 you're already there. If you then workout lets say an hour of cycling (roughly 350cal not that cal burned from a workout is also very very inacurate science) you'd be at an 850 cal deficit which is to much. I don't know how you calculate the calories you burn but forget the average stuff on the machines and even most heart rate monitiors are crab. You can't rely on that. I heard polar has the best algorithms but it's still not really good. Inaccuraties are so big that when your HRM tell you burned 500cal you may actually have only burned 200 and even bigger on the machines

Bottom line eat more, exercise but don't focus on the calories you burn with that

[madmisskelly]

The idea is creating a calorie deficit, which yes, you are doing by exercising but calories burned tends to depend on a ton of factors that are all individual. Calorie counters tend to overestimate how much you are burning. The only way to get a better idea is to wear a heart rate monitor, etc.

To ensure you are getting enough of a calorie deficit co make sure you keep your calories at a health amount. 1200 seems pretty low. I would increase it to at least 1300 to 1500 and really work on pushing yourself. Do different kinds of cardio- long distance, high intensity, sprints and combine it with strength training.

[1ibiz]

Okay first off, don't listen to anybody here, but me! It does not matter how much you exercise. That has no factor on loosing weight. Exercising is just to build strength, speed, endurance, power, and condition those muscles. If you want to loose fat, then it's all about what you get and avoid from the calories you eat. This my best advice to you. Don't worry about how much calories you eat, just eat from this specific list I will present to you. Meat, fish, fowl, and eggs~ in bulk. Roots, tubers, and stems~ in moderation. Plants and vegetables~ in bulk. Fruits and berries~ in moderation. Nuts and seeds~ in moderation. Do Not Eat Grains as they are one of mankind's worst mistakes, and is nowhere near considered a whole food. Also stay clear of junk food and sweets. Take a fish oil every day, and make sure you get some Iodine in your diet, Kelp, Dulse, Iodized salt( what ever sea vegetable that has plenty of Iodine)! Don't be scarred of fat, your brain is made of 100% fat, and eating foods high in fat will just make you smarter. This is a high fat diet, low in carbs. If you cook with oil, I only suggest coconut oil, olive oil, macadamia oil, and butter from cream. Yes I said butter. Butter is 100% lard and is dam well good for you!

[1ibiz]

If you have any questions on what you should be eating, what to avoid, just send me a message. You can tell me what symptoms you usually are feeling on a normal basis, and I could tell you what foods are creating those symptoms.

[JoeValentine]

i love me some pudge (not saying you have any), but reducing sugar to a trickle AND (also,) Peak 8 style exercises is the generally best way I have seen.

sugar wreaks havoc on your body generally - replace pops with tea or coffee or whatever... I won't geek out anatomy wise, but mercola.com has great safe & effective health info. guy's a genius ("a geeeniuhs") -- check 'im out =)

[Anonymous]

I just started alternate day fasting (google it) where you eat whatever the hell you want for a day then the next day eat either nothing or about 600 calories then repeat. the limited research done on it suggests its healthy and lowers cholesterol and all that jazz. there's plenty of websites and YouTube videos about it.

Yesterday morning I weighed 211lbs and I only drank 600 calories of protein drink all day. this morning I weighed 208.8lbs for a loss of 2.2 pounds. I'm sure some of it was muscle loss but a good portion was fat loss. It's pretty damn hard going with out food and just drinking lots of water but after one day so far I'm sold.

the notes in the ladies YouTube video shows she lost about 5 lbs in a week. click the show more button to see her results.

https://youtu.be/bR-kGhONSgM

this isn't a specific answer to your question but this diet seems to work well so far. I'm also sure some know it all fool will criticize everything I said so my advice it just to google it, then try it for one day to see for yourself.

[Anonymous]

The average healthy woman burns 2000 calories a day, this is true.

If you are only eating 1200 calories a day, then you'd already be losing 1.5 lbs a week even without any exercise.

Since you're not doing that (or you would have mentioned it) I can only assume that you're eating way more than 1200 calories a day, and like most girls you're age, you are absolutely terrible at calorie counting.

The other alternative is unpleasant - it would mean that you've had years of unsuccessful crash dieting, and you've f***ed up your metabolic beyond all repair, and now you're only burning 1200 a day instead of 2000 calories a day.

So let's assume you're actually eating more than 1200 a day.

If you exercise, you'll be burning in total around 2500 calories a day.

To lose one pound of fat, you have to burn 3500 calories more than you take in.

That means, over 7 days, you have to burn 500 calories more than you eat, per day.

So you can safely eat up to 2000 calories a day, if you're burning 2500 calories a day - and you'll still lose 1lb a week.

[Asker]

I'm not eating WAY more than that I either eat 1,200 calories or a little bit more. I have two different calorie counters that I log all my food that I eat into. And I looked up my BMR and it's 1462.1 and the amount of calories I've burned in the last 5 days is 2474.Ok So with this new info, do you still think I'd lose 1b a week?

[Opinion Owner]

IF your BMR is only 1462, then there's already something wrong. I wouldn't want to predict what would happen, because your metabolism is already f-cked.

[Asker]

A regular routine of cardiovascular exercise can increase your BMR. BUT thank you SO much for your input.

[southernseetheart589]

If your doing all that you should at least be losing 2 pounds a week. I've been a dancer for 16 years and I've had to dome major toning up after winter. You sould be okay. Eat a lot of protein! Stay away from sugars, or a lot of foods that turn into sugar. And don't eat right before you go to bed because that's when you gain it the most since your just sleeping! But good luck! I'm sure you'll do fine(:

[martyfellow]

IF you are on a reasonable diet, yes, this should easily shed a pound a week. But if you start eating more because your are hungry from working out, that will cancel out the calories you are burning. You'll still get trimmer and stronger, but you won't lose weight unless you limit your food intake!

[kheserthorpe]

If you are actually eating 1200, and actually have a 2000 maintenance, plus are doing 2500 a week in exercise, you should be losing 2-3 lbs of fat a week.

Is that what's happening?

[Asker]

I actually looked up my Basal Metabolic Rate which is 1462.1 so I was wrong about the 2000 at least for me. But I track my exercise and how much calories I burn doing them and in the past 5 days I've burned 2474 calories. And I do sometimes eat 1,200 but mostly I go about that at about 1,300 because I work out, I get more calories added.