Question on deficits and eating back calories?
I'm a little confused with how much you're supposed to eat back when working out. I usually burn around 300-400 each time I go to the gym, so on days I work out should I add 300/400 to my intake?
So say, if I eat 1800 on a day I work out will that equal a 1500 calorie total for the day? I haven't been losing any weight and the most I eat is 1900, which is only on days I work out. Am I eating too much?
depends on your goals, if you want to maintain your weight then eat back all of your calories. so on days that you burns 300, eat 300 extra. if you want to lose weight then you would only eat the calories back if you were at an unhealthy deficit because of the exercise. so your net intake shouldn't fall below 1200, and your total deficit for any given day should be a maximum of 1000 calories which would yield a 2 pound loss per week. 2 pounds is the maximum weight loss, and is more appropriate for someone with a large amount of weight to lose.
so, what are your goals? stats? how much do you regularly consume?
definitely not eating too much!
just to give you an idea i'm 5'4 maintaing 110 and i eat 2500+ on days i workout....
make sure that when you work out you have a snack 30 minutes prior and 30 minutes after you work out!!! it helps with muscle repair etc...
generally i take my basal metabolic rate and add on however many calories i burned with cardio - and if i'm lifting weights i add an extra 200 calories
so for you if you are trying to LOSE weight to have a deficit of 500 calories a day (so that you lose 1 pound a week) so I would take your basal metabolic rate say it's 2000 and subtract 500 - so 1500.....(for example)....if you are working out and you burn 600 calories then add 600 onto that number...ie. 2100....try not to stick to a cold formula everyday though - it's good to shock your metabolism some days - so if you were to eat 2600 one day you aren't going to gain or lose weight but i twill help with long term plateaus i find! it will also help your body transition more easily into a maitenance weight!
oh ya chrissy brings up a good point - a 1000 calorie deficit i woud say is okay for someone whos basal metabolic rate is over 2500 calories - it gets dangerous when you limit your calories under 1500...what are your stats??
My goal is to overall tone up but I want to lose a final 5 pounds so right now i'm focusing on that
Stats are:
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 130-135 it fluctuates
Goal: 125
I regularly consume 1600 on days I don't work out and between 1800-1900 on days that I do.
I do intense cardio 4x a week and strength training 3x a week.
Kaila, that's very true. I should most likely found out my bmr since I have no idea what it is now.
sorry to be a forum snob, but i think KAILA meant to say to subtract 500 from whatever you burn with activity if you'd like to lose weight. if you subtracted 500 from your BMR you'd fall below the 1200 MINIMUM FOR ANYONE. most people have a bmr below 2000, this is the amount needed for your body to stay alive on a coma. So, for you it is about 1400. Don't go below 1400.
When you move around at all you burn calories. So sedentary, you would burn around 1700, this number only increases with exercise. At moderately active, which you are probably between moderate and highly active, you burn 2200. So, this is probably an underestimation. If I were you I would subtract 500 from the 2200 and consume 1700, which is the amount you'd burn sedentary...this should yield around a 1 pound loss.
I guess I've been eating a little bit under then, I'll up my calories to the appropriate amount and see how that goes:)
Thanks, that was a big help!
no no i meant subtract 500 from your bmr if you want to lose weight and add onto that any calories you burn from exercising....what i wrote.
Original Post by kaila_a:
no no i meant subtract 500 from your bmr if you want to lose weight and add onto that any calories you burn from exercising....what i wrote.
so if her BMR is 1400 and she doesn't exercise then she'd be eating 900 calories, not exactly healthy. even if she were to exercise, and burn 200 calories that would still make her intake only 1100 calories. this is below the recommended 1200 and would not be healthy.
So on days I work out, I would consume 1700 plus the calories i burned, or just 1700 in order to lose weight?
1700 total, this would be taking into account your burn for the day. on days that you don't work out i'd consume about 1500 each day.
The bare minimum for a teenager, seems a bit low considering my height..
wow, didn't think about your age...you never mentioned it. taking into account that you're still a teenager, it's estimated that you burn about 2500 calories a day, so on days that you don't work out i'd actually consume 1800-2000, giving you a 500-700 calorie deficit, and on the days that you do work out just add it on top of the 1800-2000. does that make sense? this is based on the children's calculator at http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/energycalculator.cfm
and estimating 1 hr of activity daily, so i would go from there.
haha that seems more like it!:) Sorry about that, I should've mentioned my age in my stats
Thanks again:)
