[SqueakyBirds]

Ok...so this just got me thinking. Maybe I'm being too analytical or something...heh. This isn't something I am doing personally, but read something that made me try to figure it out mathematically for myself...and then became waaaaaaay confused, so thought I would just ask for help. I'm kinda doing ww points myself because when ever I get too many numbers involved, this is what happens...I totally doubt myself and my calculator. lol

We all know the thing that technically you must burn more calories than you eat so you can lose weight. So, if you wanted to lose 2 pounds a week (I'm guessing not takinn anything else into consideration) you need to be minus 7,000 calories for the week, right?

So, if you eat 1200 calories a day, that equals 8400 calories for the week. So, you need to not only burn the 8400, but also 7000 more so you can lose the 2 pounds!?

So if you figured out your exercise routine was 600 calories a session (I just went to a few calorie calculators and tried to find a good average...this could be way off because I didn't really know what to base it on...heh) and you did 6 sessions a week, that is only (I say 'only' like it's not a lot...hah) burning 3600 calories. You would still have 11,800 calories to burn...in one week?!

haha, this cannot be right! What am I figuring out wrong? Do you not need to burn the 8400, just the 7000? But that still leaves you with 1400 calories doing nothing, right?

The only other thing that kept throwing me off was dieting without exercise. I have lost weight before by cutting back on food and not exercising (not that you shouldn't exercise, but I didn't personally for a long time), so it doesn't make sense that I lost weight (granted it never got me to goal...). Does one just need to be minus 7000 calories a week than they were when not dieting to lose the 2 pounds a week? Am I taking into account something that I don't need to?

Again, these aren't personal numbers, just ones I used when trying to figure it out. Actually, I just read somewhere about "being defecit 7000 calories a week to lose 2 pounds" and this sent me into my late night math frenzy. lol, I should be sleeping because I have to get up early for work! Thanks so much for figuring out what I am totally missing!
~michelle

[KriWes]

The part that you are forgetting is that we are all burning calories just by existing. That's why if you are not dieting or exercising you may still be able to maintain your weight. Then on top of that you have just your regular daily activities that you do. This will vary based on your job, whether you have kids, do you walk, take the bus or drive, etc. If I don't do any "exercise" just by my regular daily activities and my metabolic rate I burn around 2200 calories (I am 5'4", 148 lbs with a seated job) There are different sites that help you figure this out exactly. If I want to have a 1000 calorie deficit (X 7 days = 7000 calories / by 3500 calories to burn one lb =2 lbs in a week) then I need to consume around 1200 calories. This will go up as I burn extra calories from working out. If I burn 300 calories working out then I can eat 1500 calories that day.

This may sound really confusing but there are a couple different programs that make tracking this super easy. Fitday is a common one used by a lot of calorie counters, I have started using www.nutridiary.com because I really like the way it tracks everything and estimates my weight loss each week. It takes some figuring out but calorie counting is great because it is the actual science/math of weight loss. There are other factors that need to be taken in such as where your calories are coming from (carbs, protein, fat) and as well making sure you are getting all your nutrients and minerals.

Hopefully this helps?

[GonnaLooseitagain]

Here is what I am reading...you are taking in to account you "exercise" and your "consumed" calories, but not your "resting metabolic rate (RMR)" to figure your calories burned (weight loss). Now I have been doing this.

The since Aug 05- April 06 (8 months) lost 55lbs without exercising (but not without daily movement) I have lost an avg 6.875lbs per month. So each month I have consumed 26,062 LESS calories than I have burned. (granted there have been plateaus in there). That averages to 107 calories per day deficit on what I eat vs. what I burn. (not much huh, but what a BIG differece).

So you need to look at:
RMR + Calories burned in daily activity + exercise calories burned per day = total DAILY calories - calories consumed per day (this will get you your deficit per day to figure weight loss). GOOD LUCK

[LaVictorita]

Hi, I'm going to repeat what everyone else said:

Your body needs X amount of calories per day. For example, I need 2500 calories per day, for all of my daily activities, and simply breathing, sleeping and being.

So I want to create a defecit.

I start eating only 1500 calories of food per day.

My body needs 2500, but it only gets 1500, and so it consumes what it needs from you have on you = WEIGHT LOSS!!!

Okay, my example is super basic and probably not accurate, but I think you see what I mean.

If you add exercise in, then your body needs MORE calories. Say, with exercise my body needs 3000 cal per day. If I stick to taking in 1500 calories, then I've created an even bigger defecit.

The hard part is figuring out what your body is consuming every day.

Google DCN with daily calorie needs to find some calculators.

[SqueakyBirds]

Thanks so much! I knew I must have been forgetting something. hah, I even had used a calculator for the resting metabolic rate, but I never made the connection to where it went, so I never thought about it.

"So you need to look at:
RMR + Calories burned in daily activity + exercise calories burned per day = total DAILY calories - calories consumed per day (this will get you your deficit per day to figure weight loss)."

Thanks...this is pretty much what I was trying to do in my head, but was forgetting the RMR and daily calories burned--so it wasn't nearly as accurate...lol. Oh, and I found a DCN calc. and that was helpful! And I'll have to check out NurtiDiary...I don't really like FitDay, but there's no reason as to why. I used one awhile ago that I loved, but I stopped for awhile, and now cannot remember where it was, so I think I have been biased on FitDay! heh.

Thanks again...I don't think I wuld have figured it out on my own

[KriWes]

No problem, glad you've got it! Math is fun isn't it? Definately give Nutridiary a try, if you take the time it does the work for you. Feel free to ask any other questions, if we can help we will! Keep smiling.