Please confirm - the 1,000 calorie deficit

I sat with a nutritionist last night and she said a few things that confused me.  Let me confirm what I am learning here - please...

I calculated my resting calorie consumption (lowest energy output for my height and weight) at 3100 calories.

That means I want to set my diet to 2100 calories.

But, if I exercise and put in, say, 800 calories of work, I then should add 800 calories to both my daily burn and my daily intake, right?

I have read that below 1500 calories for a man is not advised, and if I eat 2100 calories and put in an 800 calorie workout on the same day, my net calories would only be 1300 calories and not in the safe zone.

I was told this is wrong - and I didn't want to argue with her, but I don't believe she was thinking clearly either.  So help me out, am I missing something?

You're close, but not quite right.  Where your math is failing you is in figuring out exactly how many calories total you've used each day.  You can't just take your normal resting amount and add the workout amount to it because you've replaced some of those resting calories with the work-out ones.  What you have to figure out is how many calories an hour (for example) that resting amount works out to, then you'd subtract the amount for the time period of your exercise, then you'd add the exercise calories.

Depending on how long you exercise for this may make little difference in your total calorie expenditure number, or it could make a big difference.  I know for me often times it does mean the difference as to whether or not I'm above the safe threshold.

Hope that helps and makes sense to you.

I know, I find it confusing too,  I would also like to know. It sounds right to add the 800 cals back in if you already are eating 1000 cals less. 

Okay, does anyone know????

Here's my method:

My resting or sedentary metabolic rate is 1600-1900 cal/day, depending on whose method you use.  I believe 1800 is close, based on my current rate of weight loss.

I count up all my exercise for the day, subtracting off the resting rate.  I  walk fast, and have figured that this uses 70 cal/mile over and above resting rate (75 cal/hour for me).  So if I walk 7 miles, I've used 490 calories above resting.

Add the exercise to the metabolic rate: 1800 + 490 = 2290 cal/day total caloric consumption. I could run a deficit of 700-800 calories maximum if I ate the minimum 1500 calories/day for a man.  Over five months, maintaining that deficit has resulted in weight loss at a rate of 1-2 lb per week.

None of this is set in stone.  The resting metabolic rate is an estimate for a large population, and is not a high precision estimate (plus or minus at least 100 calories/day). It's only a guide, which has to be adjusted your weight changes. You have to count your calories accurately, and you have to account for the effect of exercise accurately (also affected by weight change), over a long period of time.   Keeping a diary is essential.

Thank you for your comments.  It looks like the way I understood the calorie consumption is inline with what you are saying.

BTW - it looks like the exercise log from this site subtracts the value of resting calorie burn from your log when you add in an exercise.

When I came back from the gym the other day, I entered in 80 minutes of different exercises and it subtracted 80 minutes worth of my daily resting burn from the "Normal Daily Consumption" amount - so it automatically adjusted for it.

I was simply trying to keep the math very basic for the sake of the argument - that I start with my resting burn rate, add in exercise to get a total burn for the day, subtract 1000 and try to eat to that level.

So far, it seems to be working very well - as I am certainly not starving but have melted 8 pounds in 14 days in an almost linear fashion.  I am crediting the HIIT workouts for the fast drop - but I am feeding my body plenty of nutrients and eating good meals with small snacks throughout the day.

either way, I am gonna stick with what is working and ignore what she said...proof is in the pounds.

Remember that if you make up the calories the next day (by not burning them off exercising, for instance), it's fine and you won't go into starvation mode. So unless you are burning 800 cals every single day, 2100 cals a day intake is fine.

You must be a fairly big fellow to have a 3100 calorie sedentary burn, so don't worry about going over 1000 calories for your deficit. Just make sure you are netting 1500 overall, i.e averaged over a few days/week. A few days without exercise every week would make that happen.

And it makes sense to subtract resting burn when you are using that time (and not resting), no?

(I personally find it a lot easier to just choose an activity level description and plan based on that).

This should explain better.

If you enter your exercise on CC, then your sedentary amount is automatically adjusted to account for the time you spent exercising.

I typically eat about 1/2 again as whatever I've exercised so I get the benefit of the exercise and I get to eat more.

well, according to the Shape Up site's calculator, my RMR should be around 2200-2300 calories at my current weight.

That seems about right, and this site calculates the BMR for a standard person of my size/height/weight at "sedentary" levels to be just under 3100.

When I adjust that meter to "Moderately Active" it hits 4000 calories.

This all works in unison.  If I was resting all day, it would be a mere 2200 calories, 3100 for a normal day, and around 4000 for an active day typical with the days I work out.

That is right on for my consumption and sticking to the -1000 calorie idea.

I am eating between 2300 and 3300 calories each day, depending on my workouts.  I had one day where I dropped below 2000 for the day AND exercised and I was very hungry the next day and nothing I ate seemed to quiet the hunger pains (I did maintain a more normal intake.)

I am now at 8.5 pounds lost but had three days where I couldn't fit in my planned workouts - so I ate at around an 400-800 calorie deificit.  So far, I am seeing just what I would expect, based on the calculations from this site.

Beginner's Luck?

 If you stay under 1,00-0 calories does it ,matter what you eat?

i would say that the nutritional value overall is very important, as is trying to stay balanced (25% calories for fat, 25% calories from Protein and 50% from carbs) - if you overdo anything, overdo protein, but that is hard to do.

I get "A"s for days when I manage to eat lower sodium foods and keep a pretty good mix of carbs to fat and protein.

--

however, the good news is, if you earn the calories, you can burn them pretty much how you want on any given day.

so, yeah, a treat doesn't have to smash your diet - just can't eat nothing but cookie dough for the week and expect to stay healthy for long. :)

Did your nutritionist give you a ballpark figure on the amount of calories they want you to consume? Most nutritionists will take into account your age, height, weight, BMI, AND activity level when suggesting an intake.

My calorie intake was always around 1200 net until I saw my nutritionist.  She asked about what I do for activities and how often, and suggested that the more I eat, the more I will lose (to a point) if I am active. She suggested that I should eat around 1500-2000 calories daily, but would rather I take in between 1800-2000!... That mad a hell of a difference in my diet.

So, my point is, a nutritionist provides you with numbers based on a personal consultation, so  I would take that advice over stuff from this site... well, unless your nutritionist was a TOTAL nutjob. That would e another story. :D

I agree with lala7819 remember that what is on this site is good general advice for everyone.

However, If you've seen a professional thats even better. Well done! as we all know, not everyone is the same, so she has given you advice based on your specific situation, so she will know best.

And shes a professional so does this everyday, where as we have here a collection of people giving what has worked for them, which, while quite good advice I'm sure, may not nessesarily be the best for your circumstances.

Congratulations on making the step to see someone and remember if you're confused, its your nutritionalist's job to make you understand, so I'm sure she will be happy to explain until you do so that you get the best possible benifits from the program she has set you. She really wants you to succeed as much as we do!!!

Best of luck!

i should have put nutrionist inside quotes (ala "nutritionist") as she was mostly a health store worker who now works at Bally's and offered a free consultation.

she really didn't dig into my personal story too much, she did take readings for my BMI, etc - but I am now pretty certain that she was not hearing me or listening particularly well.

35 days and down 16.5 lbs.