Calorie deficit???? confused :/

Hey! 


I'm 17. I weigh 116, and I want to go down to 110. I've been trying to do a 1300 calorie plan and I usually exercise, burning about 600 calories (4 times a week). I still have 1300 calories even when I don't exercise. Also, my calorie intake in order to maintain weight is 2010.

What I don't really understand is calorie deficit, and eating your calories back?  

Should I eat more when I exercise? If I want to lose a pound a week, 

what would I need to arrange my calorie intake and exercise?

if you eat 1300 and burn 600, your net intake is 500. which means your body only has 500 to use for its normal functions, which isn't enough. you should get at least 1200 even after exercising. you don't have to eat back all your calories, just enough to get to 1200. and you will still lose weight so no worries (:

To lose a pound a week you only need a deficit of 3500 calories per week.  so cutting 500 calories per day will accomplish this.  usually i try to eat more calories when i exercise in order to build and repair muscle tissue but, i am losing weight for my college cycling team so your goals may be different.  but you also must be careful that you do not go into too much of a deficit or your body will go into shutdown mode.

 

 

 

OK, here's the math:

Your maintenence intake (meaning no gain or loss) is 2010/day.

You are eating 1300 calories/day.

Based on that alone, your have deficit of 710/day (2010 - 1300 = 710). What that means is that you are using 710 more calories a day than you are eating, and that energy will come from fat stores or muscle on your body.

Now, you say you also excerise for 600 calories 4 times a week. Those calories get added to your maintenece for the day (2010 + 600 = 2610). So, on a day that you excercise, it would give you a deficit of 1310 calories (2610 - 1300 = 1310).

2 things about that. 1. 1310 is more of a deficit than you should run. That will actually cause you to have a tougher time losing the weight. 2. to reach your pound a week goal, you only need a 500 calorie/day deficit. Each pound is about 3500 calories. If you run a 500 calorie deficit 7 days a week, that will get you to your 3500 deficit for the week.