Can you lose weight if you stay in your daily calorie range and still eat anything?

I'm confused about something.  I read that it's mostly about how much calories you consume one day but what if you eat fine all day and "save up" your calorie intake for something you really want like a pizza or a hot dog.  Can you still lose weight if you stay within the 1500 calorie per day range and still eat greasy things?

Yes.

Sure you can. But.... (Yup, there is a but!) you don't want to do it all the time, its not really healthy. A calorie is a calorie, some just go father than others!

its not what you eat that matters, its purly a equation of how much food you put in your mouth

thanks!  I was really confused about that but I guess it makes sense to put things into your body that'll be to better use to it then calories

   please help! i am very confused about calories. this is all new to me. if i am told i am supposed to have 1500 a day does that mean i have to also burn off 1500 a day to lose weight and firm up?

you have to burn in excess of 500-800 calories more than you eat  In other words the amount you burn - the amount you eat should be 500-800 difference.  To firm up is excercising. :) good luck.

juliettajasper
I second that.  Also, keep these things in mind:

• You have a resting metabolism that is the number of calories you burn everyday depending on your lifestyle (sedentary, active, etc.)
• If you eat less than you burn, it is considered a calorie deficit
• One pound is equal to 3500 calories.
• In theory, once you hit a deficit of 3500, you lose a pound. 
  

This isn't always exact depending on how accurate your resting metabolic rate is and how much water you retain etc., but it's pretty darn close. 
I'm happy to help clarify if you have any other questions.  My email is jmbarton@comcast.net.  Feel free to email me.
Good luck!

oh, and speaking of hot dogs, have you tried hebrew national? They make a low fat dog that has like 60 cals. Yum!

thanks for the replies and information!
i very recently added exercise to my life.

but what you're saying is to see any results i would need to burn 2000 calories or more everyday to lose any weight? sorry for my ignorance with this!


also this part confuses me:

• One pound is equal to 3500 calories.
• In theory, once you hit a deficit of 3500, you lose a pound. 

does it mean i have to burn 3500 a day? lol

so if i burn 250 doing exercise today but tomorrow ate 1200 calories i am in essence doing nothing?

oh my i am lost. my brain must need exercise too!

Juliettajasper,

Here is the easiest way to figure it out.
1. Get out a calculator.
2. Punch in the weight you want to be. (Your goal weight)
3. Multiply that number by 12.
4. Thats how many calories you eat every day for the rest of your life.

Any excercise you do each day will make you lose weight a little bit faster. Once you reach your goal weight, any excercise you do each day is a few extra calories you can eat without putting on weight.

Example: My goal weight at this time is 175.
                175 x 12 = 2100.
                I actually eat about 1800 to 1900 cals per day, so I will lose weight a little bit faster. I also work out 3 times per week, that will help too. Don't go too low on your calories, or your metabolism will slow down and make it harder to lose weight.

My complete goal is to weigh 175 and bench-press 175. I'm hoping to be there by the end of summer. Good luck with your goals whatever they are!

You should burn 3500 calories more than you take in PER WEEK! I was confused when I did the calculations at first too.  :)

Try this example:

What you ate: 1500 calories

Subtract Calories burned by excercise: 300

equals 1200

subtract your calorie burn for your metabolism! (don't forget this part. This is the rate at which your body burns calories while eating, sleeping and generally just living.) WebMD has a metabolism calculator...mine says I burn 2570 per day just living because I'm active. You can change it based on your level of activity. This site has one too...it's under TOOLS and then EXPENDITURE. Both sites are different. You can split the difference if you want.

So let's use mine. SO....1200 minus 2570 leaves=

-1370

There, you have a deficit of 1370 calories for ONE day. Here, you burned more than you took in. Do this for every day of the week. If you don't excercise, just subtract your metabolic calories...using the sedentary rate.

Add together each negative (or positive if you ate more than you burned that day) number to get your total for the week.

(-1370)+(+140)+(-1190)....and so for 7 days.... You should have a total of -3500 to lose at least one pound. The larger the negative number, the more you lose. But never try for too high of a number. You don't want to kill your system too quick!

Hope that helps (and makes sense!)  :)

cw, where did the 12 come from? So, if right now my goal is 200, I can have 2400 calories a day? that sounds like a lot!!

cwinans, that's a great (and simple) calculation.

Juliettajasper, if your goal is 200, you have to eat LESS than 2,400 calories every day to lose weight. How fast you lose it is up to you, depending on how few calories you want to eat each day. But eating, say, 1,800 calories a day would theoretically pare off a little more than a pound a week. (600 calories less than you need X 7 days = 4,200 calories. If a pound is 3,500 calories, you should lose 1.2 pounds a week.)

Once you reach 200, you can eat 2,400 a day to maintain that weight. Again, though, this is an estimate. You may be able to eat 2,500 and not gain weight, or you may need to stay under 2,000. We are all individuals. And it's just a rule of thumb, not the theory of relativity.

you are all remarkable for taking the time to teach me!

at webMD it told me i burn 1570 being sedentary
here it told me based on my info i need to consume 1200 calories daily.

at webmd it had this note:
""to lose weight and burn body fat, eat 500 fewer calories per day than your body currently needs. Never eat fewer than 1,200 calories per day without talking with your doctor.""


i am 5' tall and pretty small. in the past two years my thighs and tummy have become fat and flabby. my belly hangs over my jeans :(  i want to correct this by exercise and eating better as i've read there is no such spot treatment and one must make overall changes to lose any fat that's on the body.

maybe my main problem is not the calories and diet but the fact that i was doing absolutely no exercise at all. i just don't know where to begin or what the heck i need to do!!! i was hoping that the exercise bike and an exercise routine via dvd would reduce the flab. i hope it will do something!

Yes. This is why the Atkins diet wroks despite being often high in fat. People get full from the fat and eat below their daily calorie intake, however, you'll pay for it later in life with health issues. Plus its easier to eat healthy foods and loose weight -  more often than not they are low cal. Compare a cup of rockmelon, some 36cal to a cup of chocolate chips some 900 cal. And which is better for you? Sure you could just eat 30 cal of chocolate chips, but the rockmelon is better for you, and easier to get full from

So you can save up cals for those little treats, but why not find healthy treats you like. Like having pizza but make it yourself with lower fat ingredients. You can treat yourself more often :D

hey changeofheart I luvvvv those hot dogs!  I get them every couple of weeks for a nice change of pace!  I was shocked how low in cals they are!

O.K....after reading this thread I'm confused.  I've dropped 45 pounds since November.  I maintain on average 1500 calorie intake daily, and burn 500-650 @ the gym.  Using Gunfiregirls formula with a metabolic rate from web md of 3299 (228 5'10, mod active) I'm running a DAILY deficit of -2299.

Something does not seem right...what gives?  This has been working for me well but that deficit seems extreme.

twinsdad, that 3299 seems unreasonably high. You are probably burning about that including your exercise. That would give you a daily deficit of 1800 kcal or so, meaning you would lose a pound every other day. Since you've lost 45 pounds in 70-90 days, that makes sense.

Let me give you an example:

I am 6'1, so the numbers will be a little high.

I weigh 215. If I lie in bed all day and do nothing, I burn about 1800 calories, simply with the basic functions of the body, especially keeping my body at a normal temperature.

Because I move around during the day, little things like housework, preparing meals, walking to class, to the mailbox, etc... I burn closer to 2200 calories a day.

My diet that I'm on says to have 1600 calories a day. So without exercise, I burn 2200-1600 = 600 calories a day.

So, after 6 days, I will have burned 3600 calories, and will have lost a pound! If I keep this up, then in a year I will have lost almost 67 pounds.

Again, these numbers are NOT the same for you! But, just to give you an idea.

Also, if I exercise 3 times a week and burn 300 calories each session, then that's an extra 13/14 pounds.

If I decide to splurge on a day and eat 1800 calories, then I would need to bump up my exercise in order to compensate so I can still lose those 67 pounds.

Julietta, since you are so small you might be able to get away with consuming less than 1200 calories a day to lose weight, maybe 1100 or 1000.

However, you won't be eating that much if you do, and you will be hungry all day!  So I suggest eating 12-1300 and exercising to make up the extra, giving you a deficit of about 500.

You'll have to play around with your calories to see what your body adapts to the best, listen to your body and not the BMR/AMR calculators since everyone has different natural metabolisms.