the amount that i burn

i have worked out the amount that i burn during the day including my 7 hour shift in the travel centre and booking office in the train station and driving just about exceeds my bmr estimate which is 2200 or there abouts.

somedays i work longer - if needed.

am i doing harm by noting down as exercise the housework that i do when i get home such as ironing, cleaning, cooking - the last two i put under multiple household tasks, ironing has its own.

work = 1412cals

driving = 224 cals

sleeping = 706

i - of course - do not log these on a daily basis.

total = 2343 burned - this is without anything else normally done during the day - i want to include housework etc as my husband - due to being out of work at the moment now does most of the things around the house

i dont often have the time to do more when working shifts etc.

please could i have some honest advice please?

am cutting down the amount i am eating when i dont do much.

thanks

Remember, the time spent exercising needs to be subtracked from your basic burn rate.  CC will do it for you automatically.

You'll want a 500-1000 calorie deficit to lose 1-2 lbs per week.

excsuse me if i sound thick but do you mean

bmr(2200) - exercise (300) = 1900 meaning i should eat about 1400 a day

when i first started in may this year i was led to believe it was

bmr +exercise - calories eaten = decefit

i am confused - i so need to lose weight big time and i want to do it right.

if its 1400 a day for a person of my current size (247) i would really struggle

Okay, lets just round the numbers to keep the math easy. Say your RMR was 1800, so on average you burn 150 calories an hour (1800 divided by 24 hrs is 150). So that's for just breathing, not moving much at all.  Then you do some exercise that is rated at 400 per hour. You have to subtract from that the 400 the 150 you would have burned if you were resting... you are only ahead 250 calories.

2200 seems high for your BMR... are you confusing this with your sedentary rate?  A sedentary rate is higher than BMR  because it presumes you do a small amount of activity.

What's your height and age... that will help me trouble shoot. Also how many calories total do you eat on average, how much have you lost so far, in how many weeks or months.

i am 38 years old and am 5ft 4" tall

eat on average 1850 -1900 a day

i weighed 268 in may 2007 and currently am at 247.2

i am at sedentary activity level - due to being an office worker - i work in a travel centre - this is the level recommended on the original forum

According to the RMR calculator on the site www.shapeup.org your RMR is 1777.  This is when you are at rest, not being sedentary. According to this site,  you can eat this as your minimum, below this and you may slow your metabolism. This site says to eat your RMR  but you don't have to "eat back" calories for exercise. This site has a long list of PhDs and experts as advisors.

All the stuff about trying to figure out your deficit is really just theory. Your RMR number is based on averages, and you may actually need more or less.  How many calories you burn for various exercises is also theory.  Really, the only thing you know is how many calories you eat, how many hours a week you exercise, and what the scale says.

The scale says you've lost about 20 pounds in about 15 weeks, that's actually pretty good, so 1900 is working well for you... it tells you your deficit is about right. This works out to between 7.7 calories a pound. So as you lose, keep your calories to between 7 to 8 calories per pound of body weight.  If you don't reduce your calories as you lose weight, you rate of loss will get smaller and smaller... because as you weigh less, your body needs less.

thanks for the advice