A little confused..

Ok, so I'm new to calorie-count.com.  I am trying to lose a bit of weight and about 4 days ago, stumbled across this website and I love it.  I have found so much interesting and educational info on here.  I have used the tools and found how many calories I should be consuming daily.  The thing is that under the section for calories burned, it's almost double than what I have consumed.  I'm not sure if i'm reading this correctly, but am I really supposed to burn that many more calories than I consume??  Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks :) 

Hi stimpy727 - what did you set your activity level at?  You might want to knock this down to Sedentary if the numbers look way too high.

how many calories are you consuming?  at least 1200?  it takes 3,500 calories burned over what you consume to loose 1 lb, and a healthy weight loss is approx 1 - 2 lbs a week, if you are loosing 1 lb a day, I think something is off

Here is some math to help you figure how many calories you should consume. Remember to never go under 1200 for a female and 1500 for a male. This was posted by a frequent visitor to the forums. This information is widely available in internetland. I have slightly edited the content to not infringe on copyright. Information can not be copyrighted, only the way the information is presented. So here is a representation: 

Here is how you can figure your BMR and your caloric needs so that you can stay within 500-1000 calories of your needs. This is the most effective method of losing body fat and not losing water and muscle.


Imperial(US) BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )  

Metric (Canada) BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )

This will calculate what you require even if you were to sit on your butt all day or sleeping most of the day. Because this is roughly how many calories your body will burn as a living, breathing, eating, heart-beating, digesting etc.. being. This does not include your daily activities. It is really easy to not eat enough, so you need to factor in your activity levels. 

Harris Benedict Formula To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

This is the total number of calories you need in order to maintain your current weight. Now to address the caloric deficit needed to help lose body fat.

The calorie deficit should be achieved by a combination of fewer calories in (diet) and more calories out (exercise). This combination of diet and exercise is simply the best for lasting fat loss.

If you want to lose fat, a useful guideline for lowering your calorie intake is to reduce your calories by at least 500, but not more than 1000 below your maintenance level. One pound of fat = 3500 calories. That is why 1-2lbs per week is the best rate of fat loss. Anything faster would mean you are probably losing muscle mass and losing water. You want to lose FAT without doing damage to your body.


For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories is clearly ridiculous and would be too much of a deficit. As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1500 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are considered by most fitness, nutritional and exercise professionals to be quite low.

An alternative way of calculating a safe minimum calorie-intake level is by reference to your body weight or current body weight. Reducing calories by 15-20% below your daily calorie maintenance needs is a useful start.


I've posted a lot of really great information and useful tips in this thread:

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/8532 .html

Ok so for my activity rating I put it at moderately active.  I go to the gym a minimum of 4 days a week, and my job is very active, I am always on my feet, and never standing still, I am also always lifting and pushing and carrying around something usually something fairly heavy.  So I would consider myself a pretty active person. 

So the link where I get what my calorie intake to lose weight by my goal date, based on my height, weight, and activity level.  The amount that it tells me is what I should consume to lose the weight?? Or do I subtract 500 calories from that?? 

The one thing I don't want to do is drop too low on calories.  I've been down that road and I'm pretty sure it's why I am having so much dificulties now.  I am a bad dieter, I always go overboard.  This time I want to get it right.

Thanks So Much Everyone!!!  All the advice and support is so wonderful.

So if you are clearly burning more than the amount it takes to burn off a pound over the span of a couple days, and no weight is coming off- what does that mean? Any ideas?

stimpy, the "expenditure" figures out what you usually burn in a day.  the "allowance" is what they estimate you should eat in order to reach your weight goal.  you can either choose a date or let the site fill that in for you.  and it's entirely flexible, but the recommendation is to aim for not more than 1 to 2 pounds of weight loss per week.  you want it to be a permanent change in eating habits, not just a temporary "diet" that you will "abandon" as soon as you reach your goal.  good luck! and welcome to the website.  

eDryden, sure, lots of ideas. The most obvious one is that you might have too much of a calorie deficient. Or your body might have been in starvation mode before you started and it is currently in recovery. 

Read this article: 

 http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8. htm

elin, thanks so much!!! I was completely misreading.  The "expenditures" and "allowance" I had it all confused.  It makes a lot more sense now.  I am only aiming for 1 pound per week really.  If I lose a bit more by my goal of next year then I'll be super happy.

Thanks Again  =)