Yes, that's right ... BUT.
There's always a but.
While on paper it works that way, our bodies are weird and wonderful things. And sometimes weird and annoying things. And unfortunately weight loss isn't always that mathematical and linear. You can do everything right for a week, and for some reason the scale won't show a change, some weeks. There are a dozen other things that affect your weight ... and especially that affect us as women. Your period, ovulation, the weather (seriously - the barometric pressure can affect how much you weigh), how much salt you ate in the last 72 hours, how much exercise you've gotten (serious, hard core exercise causes your muscles to swell and retain fluid for up to 48 hours), etc., etc., etc.
Plus, even when you're working out, you don't JUST lose fat. Everyone loses lean muscle when they diet. If you're not working out at all, or working out doing just cardio, you're going to lose more lean muscle mass. If you are working out and doing strength training, you'll lose LESS lean muscle, but there might be days that the scale doesn't move because you've achieved a zero balance between building/maintaining muscle and losing fat.
On top of that, how many calories you burn at a given activity will vary from day to day. You can't count on always burning 400 calories doing the same thing. And in fact, if you do the exact same exercise every single day (or twice a day) your body will become more efficient at doing that exercise, which means eventually you'll burn fewer calories doing the same thing. It's possible that after 3 weeks you'll no longer burn 400 calories doing the video, but you'll only burn 300 calories, because your body has learned to adapt. That's why you should always mix up your exercise if you want to keep losing weight.
On top of ALL of that ... as if it's not enough, right?
... at 200 lbs it's entirely possbile that 1200 calories might not be enough food for you and you'll stall out on your weight loss because you're not eating enough. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but it all goes back to that thing about your body becoming more efficient. If your body knows that you're only going to give it 1200 calories even though it NEEDS more, then it's going to learn to hold on to everything you give it in the most efficient way possible. So by eating too little, you're telling your body to go into "survival mode" and to NOT lose weight. So ... better to eat a little more (especially if you're working out hard) and lose a little more slowly, and be more consistent with it, than to freak out your body.
And finally, the closer you get to your goal weight, the harder it will be to maintain a rapid weight loss. Ideally to be healthy you should lose about 1% of your body weight per week. So as you get closer to your goal of 135, it'll be harder and harder to lose 2lb per week ... and you're more likely to easily lose 1.5 lb per week, or even 1 lb per week. Again, on averge, and not counting all those other things I mentioned above.
Isn't this fun?
So ... at it's heart, yes, 3500 calories = 1 lb. If you can burn 7000 extra calories a week (whether through diet or by exercise or some combination) you *should* in theory, lose 2 lb per week.
It's a good goal to go for. Just don't be disappointed or feel like you've failed or give up if it doesn't work exactly that way. Our bodies are more than machines - they're intricate biological devices that have been programmed over thousands and thousands of years to SURVIVE. And that makes losing weight often a very tough and confusing thing to do.
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justformenow1 , 12-22-2008 04:59 PM
mandalinn82 , 12-22-2008 05:06 PM
PhotoChick , 12-22-2008 07:10 PM
misspiggy408 , 12-23-2008 05:29 PM
