1,200 apparently??

apparently to lose a few pounds, CC recconmends that i need to consume 1,200 calories to reach my goal weight, however i burn about 800 at the gym, so wouldnt this be sabotaging my efforts, as this would surely be putting myself into 'starvation mode' for example:

1,200 calories (in) - 800 calories (burned at gym) = 400 Net?!?!?!

im currently eating 1,700, excercising 3-4 times a week for 2 hours and burning about 800 calories. but im wondering whether i should carry on eating 1,700 or to lower that number to the recommended 1,200? 

You should have 1200 AFTER burning...so if you burn 800 cals you should consume 2000...from what I understand

misfit, when you did your calorie calculation -- did you put in sedentary?

1200 should be your net calories -- so on days you exercise, you should eat more compared to days when you're skipping the gym.

I hope that helps.

Just curious, what are your stats?

i selected sedentary as i figured it would be the safest option to choose.

stats:

5"1
about 103lbs i think

so what would be my safest bet? 1,200 PLUSS calories burned from excercise (800)? or just half of that? arggggghh i dont knowwww!

It isn't food minus exercise. Your body doesn't care if you burn calories from exercise or from sitting - that just changes the rate at which you burn.

You burn about 1500 at sedentary, plus 800 from exercise = 2300
You consume 1700.

Your deficit is 600 calories, which is a bit high, especially given that your BMI is 19.

And, not to be a stick in the mud, but we actually talked about this a few weeks ago: http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/666 54.html

Like I said back then - don't look at it in terms of "NET" - it will only confuse you.

Also, when CC tells you that you have to eat 1200 to lose weight, but you are setting your activity at sedentary, then exercising away 800 extra calories - THE CALORIE COUNT TOOL DOESN"T KNOW YOU ARE DOING THAT!!!

ok thanks. mebbe i'll just try to lower my deficit then, or eat more?

sorry, i just get so confused from time to time.

That's ok - I get confused too. I think if you banish "net" from your vocabulary, it'll help.

I would say, eat a little more, and maybe don't spend as much time at the gym. Or better yet, go to the gym, but instead of an hour or cardio (I'm guessing at that), do some weight lifting - it won't burn as many calories, so your deficit will be more manageable, but also it will create muscle, which I really think is going to improve your "problem areas". You can't spot burn fat, but if it's just a little bulge in the belly (which might actually be more skin and your internal organs), stretching it over abs is going to be a lot more effective. That goes for arms and legs too.

Good luck!

thanks alot! im glad you understand lol..

and yur right about the cardio. and yur probably right about everything else, its just my stomach and other lose bits.

i know i should tone but dont you need to lose the fat first? 

sometimes i even get freaked about the whole thing and start thinking ' but this/that isnt going to burn the calories, when i could be burning more doing cardio!'   

I'm guessing from your weight that you've lost enough fat - if you were 300 pounds, I'd say skip the crunches, get on the bike. But you are hovering at 100 - trust me, the muscle will show through. And just keep reminding yourself that you are already at a deficit - you don't need to burn those extra calories! And muscle burns more calories than fat, so think about it that way - that means that if you build muscle, you will burn more when you are just sitting around! Doesn't that sound appealing?

why is my belly fat though? lol

i'll try and get some toning, maybe attend some classes or something and try burn less doing cardio. what would be the best thing to do?

Because you have skin and internal organs.

Try crunches, leg presses, lat pulldowns, chest presses, and the seated row. If you wnat help on these, try posting in the Fitness forum, and someone can help you out. Or go to a gym and see if you can get in a class or talk to a trainer.