Ok got a question if I intake 1300 calories a day

how many do I need to burn off?

To do what? Most people naturally burn off more than 1300 calories a day without doing much of anything.

To lose weight....I have been doing this for about 3 weeks my hubby says he notices a difference in my body but when I look at my scale it says ive lost 5 lbs and im not sure how accurate it is.

Using CC's tools and yourr stats you put in a prior post, this is probably how many calories you are burning on a daily basis:  "

"Daily Caloric Expenditure
You burn 2250 calories during a typical day. Remember that this estimate is based on your body weight, height, age, gender, and your average level of activity.

You can use this information to help you figure out how many calories you should be consuming to maintain your weight. On active days, you'll need more calories, so it's okay to eat a little more than you would on an average day. But on more sedentary days, you may want to reduce your calorie intake. If you want to lose weight, try to stay below your calorie needs or increase your activity level. However, make sure you are eating nutritious meals and not restricting your calories too much - eating too little or losing weight rapidly can be unhealthy and dangerous"

So, if you are only eating 1300 cals a day, you are eating too little.  I know it sounds like the less you eat the better, right?  WRONG.  If you eat too little, your metabolism can slow down, and cause your weight loss to slow or stop.  Also, you can only burn so much fat per day, if your deficits are too high, you'll actually burn muscle too, and you don't want that, do you?

Just aim for a deficit of 500-700 calories a day (so eat 1500-1750 calories a day) and you should get a nice SAFE loss of around a pound per week.

Well anytime you take in less calories than you burn you will lose weight. 3600 calories in a pound. So if you ate 1300 calories a day and burned 1400 (which isn't a lot) it would take you 36 days to lose one pound.

5 pounds over 3 weeks is very healthy weight loss.

I have been told that you take your goal weight and time it times ten. So if you want to weigh 120 you should take in 1200 cal a day. However if you work out a lot you should be eating a bit more. You should estimate somewhere between .5 - 1 pound a week of weight loss. Hope that helps.

Original Post by janewild:

I have been told that you take your goal weight and time it times ten. So if you want to weigh 120 you should take in 1200 cal a day.

I'm sorry, but I just have to point out for the benefit of those who may not already know, this information is incorrect.

If this were true, to be healthy, everyone's goal weight would have to be 120, because adult women should never consume less than 1200 calories in a day, it is unsafe and unhealthy. I'm only nitpicking because I don't want some young girl to take this equation to heart with a goal weight of 100, she'd get ill.

This is for weight loss purposes only. I dont suggest anyone who is under 120 attempt to lose weight regardless.

Actually, 3500 calories are in a pound.

Aside from that, yes, you should up your intake. The 1300 intake may work nicely for a while, but it will be harder to lose weight once your body adjusts to it. Definitely follow thmheh's advice and go for 1500 to about 1800. 

hi!...  I was just wondering about your comment...  Do you mean that if I take 1300 while I'm on my diet (example for over 3 months) and reached my ideal weight, I would gain some weight again if I take more than that as my body has already adjusted to it?...Please explain this further because I'm on 500 deficit plan and exercise everyday but only until I reach my goal...  I will be eating my normal calorie intake as soon as I got my ideal weight...  but if you said that my body will get used to it and can take more than that... ... that would really be frustrating...

 ... i'm not sure what your height is or what you goal is. Just note that when you exercise - you move fat into muscle. You are chaning the body but not weight. So you hubby is probably noticing toning and you are looking for the scale change. Pay attention to your clothing instead.

Well when your weight drops, the energy your body needs also drops. Usually what people do as they see weight loss slowing is to eat at maintenance calories for a while to speed the metabolism back up. But yea, note that when you lose weight, depending on how much, your maintenance calories will be lower.