Question for all you CC experts out there!

This just occurred to me..so I am asking for advice.

I usually burn about 1600 cals on the light activity setting and I am eating 1330, so that is about a 270 cal deficit a day.  It equals to 1890 a week or average of 0.5lbs loss a week.

Now, I add in exercise, which for me is about an extra 650-700cals burned 3-4x a week.  I have still been eating 1330 even if I exercise, so this leads to 2250-2300 cals burned and this leads to a 920-970 deficit a day...or for the week 4490-4500.  So an average of 1.3lbs loss a week.

Am I supposed to eat more when I exercise to keep this deficit closer to 500 or is it okay to keep it around 1000 on the days I exercise??

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

I would increase your calories on those days so that your deficit is closer to 500, especially if your weight loss isn't going as fast as the numbers would suggest.

if you have both an activity setting AND are counting cals burned during exercise you are overcounting your activity. you can either set your activity level on sedentary and log all exercise or just set an activity level. not sure if thats what you are doing, and i know thats not what you asked. just saying...

a 500-calorie daily deficit is what i shoot for. i get too hungry if i go much lower for too many days in a row. my body says " nuh-uh i dont think so!" and i always listen to my body. :)

Hi though my calorie burned / consumed are very different to yours, I aim for a deficit of about 750 (average over 7 days) , i am losing between 1 -2 llbs per week on that, If I dont exercise my activity level was definately sedentary, so I leave it at that even though I walk and put some exersise in each day. So I log all my excersise daily and watch the meters on this site.

From what I have read on these forums any deficit will result in weight loss just slower if the deficit is smaller. 

The odd deficit of up 1000 will be OK mine fluctuate from less than 500 to 1500 on one day last week but over the week averaged at 800.

Would agree with above aim for a deficit that you feel comfortable at, listen to your body. If you are feeling too hungry it maybe that your burning more calories than you think. (or not consuming enough)

The pounds wont drop of dramatically but will fall, keep in there.

Question for watergirl:  I have it set at light activity because I work in an ICU and am very active at work, plus on my days off...the exercise is extra calories burned in addition to my "light" activity.  The sedentary setting description does not equal the amount of activity I am doing....the weight loss has been really close to the amount of calories burned doing it this way and intake, I have lost 43lbs in 5 months.  Why would you say I am overestimating my calories burned?

I was under the impression that we set it for the appropriate activity level and then documented activity over and above the "level"????

I set my activity level for sedentary and then add in all my exercise.  I feel this gives a truer picture of calories burned.  Personally, I think it is a personal choice.

Original Post by babyvdog:

Question for watergirl:  I have it set at light activity because I work in an ICU and am very active at work, plus on my days off...the exercise is extra calories burned in addition to my "light" activity.  The sedentary setting description does not equal the amount of activity I am doing....the weight loss has been really close to the amount of calories burned doing it this way and intake, I have lost 43lbs in 5 months.  Why would you say I am overestimating my calories burned?

I was under the impression that we set it for the appropriate activity level and then documented activity over and above the "level"????

hmmm...good question. i suppose that depends on if you average more work hours daily than anything else as a day is 24 hours for counting. for example, my brother is a firefighter, if you have a schedule like his then i would say you are right on. his shifts come in 24-48 hour blocks.

go with your gut. good luck :)

That's a good thought devilish patsy..I work 12-14h shifts 3 days a week, so when I come home, I eat dinner, take a shower and hit the bed.  Other days I swim, study and in general run all over town...rarely am I home for more than 2-4h during the day and to sleep.

There is actually very little difference in the sedentary setting anyway since it won't go below 1200 cals...the burn is a tiny bit lower, but with 700cals burned from swimming, like today...2250 yrds or 90laps.

I really like this site! It breaks down your activity for the day. I like to refer to it if I had a half hectic/ half lazy day.

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.ht ml

Original Post by babyvdog:

 like today...2250 yrds or 90laps.

 niiice! i think 1.3 miles is my top distance.

i leave mine on sed and log all activity too.

Original Post by watergirl:

Original Post by babyvdog:

 like today...2250 yrds or 90laps.

 niiice! i think 1.3 miles is my top distance.

i leave mine on sed and log all activity too.

 so far it's mine too just crawl in 1h..but getting longer each week, I swim an interval that is 2100 and another that is about 1800-2000 with added in pull buoy and kickboards..soon to add fins too.  Once a week I swim a long swim, just straight laps for 1h, as many as I can get.  Trying to reach 100 in the meter pool.

I see ur in Austin, I am in San Antonio.

Original Post by babyvdog:

Original Post by watergirl:

Original Post by babyvdog:

 like today...2250 yrds or 90laps.

 niiice! i think 1.3 miles is my top distance.

i leave mine on sed and log all activity too.

 so far it's mine too just crawl in 1h..but getting longer each week, I swim an interval that is 2100 and another that is about 1800-2000 with added in pull buoy and kickboards..soon to add fins too.  Once a week I swim a long swim, just straight laps for 1h, as many as I can get.  Trying to reach 100 in the meter pool.

I see ur in Austin, I am in San Antonio.

i need to get back in the pool since i moved dammit. yeah a nice long crawl ever so often, otherwise i like to practice all my strokes and use all my gear to keep it mixed up. 100 m eh? keep us posted...

i never lived in san a but my older bro went to high school there.

100 laps in the meter pool is what it should have said :)

Wait, am I doing something wrong?  My deficit is always higher than 500...and my calories burned (including my workouts) is usually 2300-2500 at the end of the day.  Part of that is automatically put in and the rest is from my activity log....I have it set on sedentary too. Am I way over estimating?  By this am I technically supposed to be working off more calories at the gym than I'm eating???

I'm understanding where you're coming from BABYVDOG....if you understand it now...please let me in on it!  Haha

Original Post by kdubois1:

Wait, am I doing something wrong?  My deficit is always higher than 500...and my calories burned (including my workouts) is usually 2300-2500 at the end of the day.  Part of that is automatically put in and the rest is from my activity log....I have it set on sedentary too. Am I way over estimating?  By this am I technically supposed to be working off more calories at the gym than I'm eating???

I'm understanding where you're coming from BABYVDOG....if you understand it now...please let me in on it!  Haha

 I am kinda confused with ur post....

CC recommends a 500-1000 deficit of calories in vs calories burned if you are trying to lose weight.

I eat about 1100-1200 a day and my burn at a light activity level is 1600 ish.  When I swim, for an hour, at least a mile, mile and half, my burn increases to 2330, which leaves me with a deficit of 1130 or so.

I was asking if I should eat more on the days I swim to keep my deficit down.  I have already lost 43-45lbs and seem to feel hungry and tired when working out consecutive days.  I think I need more calories on the days I swim.

I am trying to average 1200 now, but I zig zag a little, so yesterday I ate 1400, today 1200....this is new to me, I used to just stick between 1100-1200 at most.....my recommended calorie intake at sedentary is 1200, 1330 at light activity.

We should never burn more than we eat...that means you need to eat more.,

correction: we should never burn ALL the calories we eat, if ur trying to lose weight, you should burn about 500-1000 cals more than we eat.

Original Post by babyvdog:

Original Post by kdubois1:

Wait, am I doing something wrong?  My deficit is always higher than 500...and my calories burned (including my workouts) is usually 2300-2500 at the end of the day.  Part of that is automatically put in and the rest is from my activity log....I have it set on sedentary too. Am I way over estimating?  By this am I technically supposed to be working off more calories at the gym than I'm eating???

I'm understanding where you're coming from BABYVDOG....if you understand it now...please let me in on it!  Haha

 I am kinda confused with ur post....

CC recommends a 500-1000 deficit of calories in vs calories burned if you are trying to lose weight.

I eat about 1100-1200 a day and my burn at a light activity level is 1600 ish.  When I swim, for an hour, at least a mile, mile and half, my burn increases to 2330, which leaves me with a deficit of 1130 or so.

I was asking if I should eat more on the days I swim to keep my deficit down.  I have already lost 43-45lbs and seem to feel hungry and tired when working out consecutive days.  I think I need more calories on the days I swim.

I am trying to average 1200 now, but I zig zag a little, so yesterday I ate 1400, today 1200....this is new to me, I used to just stick between 1100-1200 at most.....my recommended calorie intake at sedentary is 1200, 1330 at light activity.

We should never burn more than we eat...that means you need to eat more.

If you want to maintain your current weight, then you want to eat basically the same number of calories that you burn each day.  If you want to lose weight then you want to eat fewer calories than you burn each day.  The suggestion is to space the total caloric deficit you want (3500 calories = 1 lb) across a week.  So, for a typical one pound per week loss you want to eat 500 fewer calories per day than you expect to burn (but never less than 1200 calories for an adult woman).

The common opinion across members of CC seems to be that most of us who do not have active jobs typically choose the sedentary setting then log all exercise done in the activity log.

Hope this helps!

Gotcha...yep, I had a blonde moment.  I'm doing it correctly.  Sorry for all of the confusion, and thanks for clarifying!!