Calorie deficit?...
i dont get it, im 5'4" 181 (was 191 -10 SO FAR) my burn meter thing says i burn 2000 a day without workout out or anything, and i work at a desk job, walk one break a day. work out 4-5 times a week, just doing the weight lifting machines, and like 20 minutes on the eliptical- sometimes more..CC tells me to eat 1250 a day, and on the days i work out i burn like 500 ish, so does that mean i am suposed to eat more on those day? and what is my calorie deficit thing? I DONT GET IT..?? please explain it to me, ive been on CC for awhile but i always ignored the Burn meter thing b/c i didnt understand it.
oh and im 19 years old, if that matters?
As a teen, you should probably be eating more. Also if you have too high of a deficit you may not lose. You don't want to have a deficit of more than 1000 calories, and on the days you workout you'd have a deficit of almost 1300.
I burn 1800 doing nothing, exercise three times a week for 30-45 minutes and I'm 5'6'' 163, and I still eat 1500 calories a day and lose about a pound per week. I would recommend eating at least 1500.
Are you logging your workouts?
If the burn meter says 2000 regularly, and you add your workouts of approximately 500 calories burnes, your approximate burn for that day would be around 2500 so you shouldn't be eating less than 1500 on work out days. Hope that helped.
Lyssmarie - I think it's important to point out that the calorie amounts CC suggests are usually the minimum calorie intake suggested for weight loss. If I input my current stats (5'4", CW 155, GW 135) and classify myself as sedentary it tells me I should consume 1200 cals a day in order to reach my goal by Feb. 25 of next year. Think of it as 'one size fits all' answer..
I consume no less that 1450 of good, clean calories per day... but I initally went with CC's suggestion of 1200 cals and I was miserable!
I think the safest way to figure out how much you should consume is by figuring out your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate - the calories you use just by being alive) taking into account physical activity and subtract from this number your desired deficit...
I took the liberty of inputting your info into this CALCULATOR (as sedentary) and it estimates you should consume 2665 calories in order to maintain your weight. I know you are trying to lose weight, and as I am sure you have read, one should ideally create a deficit of at least 500 cals per day for a 1 lb loss per week and no more than 1000 cals per day for a 2lb loss per week... Now, this is not an exact science! most people will tell you that calories burned and calories consumed are estimations at best but if you take the calories suggested by the site I posted, 2665 cals, and deduct 500 cals (minimum deficit), you should consume 2165 calories per day in order to lose weight. On days that you workout, you may choose to eat more in order to have the same 500 deficit or just a bit more.
Personally, I find that a deficit of more than 700 cals leaves me feeling very weak but this is a personal thing. Do keep in mind that as a teenager you should not consume less than 1500 cals.
This is another calculator that might help.
The most important thing to know is that you should listen to your body when trying to figure out how much you consume... it's all about trial and error.
Just thought this was interesting (note: these numbers are for my stats: 5'4 female 28 122lbs):
http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/calories-b urned
Daily Energy Expenditure: 1862 kcal ( 7796 kJ)
Your Estimated BMR (calculated at http://phord.com/cc):
BMR=1271 :: RMR=1525
vs.
http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-bur ned.php?metric=&calculate=1&gender=fe male&age=28&weight=122.00&feet=5& amp;inches=4&activity_level=1&x=70&am p;y=21
You burn 1600 calories during a typical day
Nice, huh.
