I know have I answered my own questions many times, but I need to hear it from others "if you know what I mean"?

To lose weight fast =1200 a day

A Slow burn =1500 a Day


If you burn 600 during your daily workout routine and eat over 1500, like 1700 and minus the 600 calories of working out, (1700-600= 1100) you have done your goal for the day?


I know it sounds like simple math, but is it?

Thanks Gals!

Sort of That's probably all you need to count. You actually burn a lot more calories than that, just by living. Your body uses energy to sleep, breath, digest foods, etc. So no matter how much do the math for eating and intentional exercise, you are still going to burn more than that. In other words, I wouldn't get too caught up in the numbers. The important thing is to eat enough to sustain your health and the exercise you do, so you don't overdo it. It's really great that you are adding daily exercise, and being careful not to overeat, so you're doing great

Great thank you, I was nearly feeling guilty for for having 1700 a day even if I burn 600 on the machine. I have tried to make it a point to only eat if I am hungry, I do need to get more water into my system though...


I was amazing the other day I was too tired to cook and thought a quick chicken at Mc D`s would be ok, but just that small sand has 382 calories and the meal that I was going to buy (pre packaged Healthy Meal with rice, veggies) has 780 total. If I would have given in and ate those 2 chick sandwiches, it would have been empty calories rather than the balanced meal..

I was sooooo suprised to see how many calories a Big Mac had and one is not even filling enough.

Thank you Suzanne!!!

Like Suzanne says you don't really need to go into it more than that!

But if you want to be sure that you are eating enough(!) check out your personal requirements on a BMR counter - Google calorie counter and follow the instructions - then you can decide how many calories you want to eat and how many you want to exercise.

But the best way, cos it is the simplest, is to use a food diary and work from there. The current guidelnes are that we shouod lose slowly - max. 1lb week - so you need to lose 500kcals per day (3500 per week) from your CURRENT intake! that could be 250kcals less food and 250kcals more exercise each and every day:

2 thick slices of bread
walking for 30 minutes (or so, depending upon your weight)

And if your loss slows you keep another food and exercise diary and cut another 500kclas per day. You just keep on adjusting the amount you cut or add in until you reach goal weight - then you stick to whatever you are doing. By the time you reach goal any changes you have made shold feel natural. This is why this is called lifestyle change rather than a diet!

I am currently practicing what I preach (this forms part of my day job) and I have been losing 1/2 - 1 lb per week all year! By my 40th I will have reached my interim goal and be the skinniest I have been since I got married 16 years ago!

Awesome, thank you for the advice "Stef"!!! I had been losing 4lbs a week, but I gather that is just in the begining, and it will slow off a bit as I go along, I hope to make goal by the end of the summer!

Thank you for the Google Tips!

It sounds like you're definitely on the right track: eating 1700 healthy calories a day and exercising moderately to strenuously on a regular basis is pretty much guaranteed to help you lose weight.

I wouldn't get too caught up in counting your exercise calories, however. While it's easy enough to use fitday or similar websites to track your daily calorie intake, it's much harder to guage accurately your specific caloric output. The calorie counters on exercise machines are not necessarily accurate, even when attached to heart-rate monitors, so it's very difficult to tell exactly how much you're burning during your exercise routine.