[delsey2007]

If 3,500 calories is equal to one lb. of body fat

If I were to cut 250 calories off of my food intake and exercise to burn 250 calories a day..would it be the same as exercising to burn 500 calories a day or cutting 500 calories out of my diet?


Doing half and half just seems easier..for right now.

So at the end of the week, I'll be one lb. lighter if I do half and half..right?

[pipernoswiper]

on a totally unrelated subject lol, hi there neighbor, i'm just across the river from you. sorry though, i cant help you with your question, but someone will come along soon that will be able to help, i'm sure of that!

[mandalinn82]

Delsey - Yes...IN THEORY.

Our bodies, though, are not machines. Really! We have formulas, we have tools, we have calculators...but none of them are based on YOUR unique body intake.

Bottom line, if you burn 500 calories more than you eat in a day, yes, you'll lose 1 lb a week of fat.

HOWEVER (and this is a big one), while you can generally calculate pretty closely what you take in calorie wise, it is nearly impossible to get an accurate number of calories you burn. The calculators that determine calories burned in activity - either on a piece of equipment like a treadmill, or online - are only estimates. And calculators that determine your metabolic rate (ie, what you burn in a day) are also notoriously inaccurate...your body is unique, and what it burns during a workout or while sitting on a chair in your living room is highly individual. And even for a single individual, your rate can vary by day, or even by hour. It just isn't consistent enough to make accurate predictions.

If your stairclimber says you burned 500 calories in a workout, that is really just an estimate (and study after study has determined that these calculators GROSSLY overestimate calories burned during exercise). What you burn doing an exercise is a function of your unique body makeup...there is no way a machine can calculate that with any kind of accuracy.

So while burning 500 calories more than you eat every day for a week will cause 1 lb of fat loss, it is nearly impossible to exactly determine what you're burning.

To complicate the issue, burning off a pound of fat doesn't necessarily always translate into a pound on the scale. Scale fluctuations are normal, and a part of everyday life. You may want to see our excellent explanations of reasons for scale fluctuations and water weight here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115826

[delsey2007]

so are you saying that i have to burn like 2500 calories a day?

i mean, you said if i burn 500 more calories than i eat a day..which would mean burning 2500 calories a day or more..!?

[mandalinn82]

Burn total...including the calories you burn every day just "being"...breathing, digesting, keeping your body warm, plus by walking around, standing, and basically everything else you do in a day...which varies based on your weight, height, activity level, etc. That's in addition to what you burn via formal exercise.

[Mel]

The number of calories that you burn just sleeping, sitting, breathing, etc. is called your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). There are lots of online calculators based on age, weight and height, but as mandalinn said, none are specific to YOUR body. Theoritcally, to calculate what you need to maintain your current body weight, you need to find your BMR, use an "activity multiplier" based on your usual lifestyle (sedentary, light activity, moderate activity, heavy physical labor), then with a combination of eating and additional exercise, create a caloric deficit of 500 calories to lose a pound a week.

For example, the site I pointed you to tells me that my BMR should be 1241 calories. Using the Harris-Benedict Formula:

Harris Benedict Formula

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9


I should multiply my 1241 calories by somewhere between 1.55 and 1.75 to get my maintenance calories. That would give me a daily allowance of between 1923 and2172 calories. Unfortunately, this is a cruel joke. I maintain on between 1550-1650 calories, and lose on 1400 or less. I work out HARD 6 days per week, usually. I've maintained a loss of about 65 pounds for six and a half years now, so I am pretty comfortable with the accuracy of those numbers.

The calculators give you a rough guideline, the exercise calculators give you an even rougher guideline. In reality, it boils down to just trying different things. And not all food is created equal for all of us. I eat about 50% of my calories from lean proteins (chicken breast, turkey breast, egg whites, lean pork, lots of fish), 35-30% from unrefined carbohydrates (beans, brown rice, sweet potato, oatmeal, and vegetables. vegetables. vegetables!), and the remainder from healthy oils. If I ate 1500 calories from cupcakes, bread, candy and ice cream, I'd be gaining at an alarming rate.

Find what works for you....it's not all science, but that's a good place to start



Mel

[mrs dorson]

it just seems SO complicated! and i agree. the calculators are not true at all for me! i have to eat MUCH less and work MUCH harder to achieve results.

[Mel]

It's really not that complicated. Most of us know what we should do...it's the doing it day in and day out, and keeping up the new habits for life that seems like an enormous task. Take it one day at a time, don't get side tracked by analysis paralysis. Some people calorie count, some people portion count, some people don't count anything but change the kinds of foods they eat. Find what works and appeals to you...and go the distance!

Mel