Calorie burning question

[Angel-xo]

Have been thinking about this ever since i started really and nobody's really been able to answer it properly:

Basically, whenever i exercise, i always burn about 200 to 400 calories [before it was about 500 or so]. Obviously im not counting how many calories i burn after the exercise. In terms of diet, my BMR is about 1620. However working out my daily calorie needs due to exercising and all that, it comes to about 2000 [it's actually more than this, but let's just say 2000 to make it easier]. I currently try to consume 1200 to 1400 calories, which is obviously quite a bit of a deficit from the 2000 or so needed.[obviously everyone's body is different so the harris benedict equation could be slightly wrong]

Anyway, my question is this: Should i be worried that i have more of a deficit from my diet than exercise? Should i be looking for more of a deficit from exercise than my diet? If the 2000 is taken into account, then that's a deficit of 600 to 800 from my diet, whereas it's only 200 to 400 from my exercise, so a ratio of 1:2. I know diet plays a big big part in fat burning, but i dunno, i just feel like im doing something wrong, or should be working extra harder and be losing 800 calories from my exercise rather than diet. Does it matter if im only losing 200 to 400 calories per day from exercise? Would the fat burning still be effective?

Sorry if i've confused anyone. Hope anyone can answer.

 

[pillboy]

hi the best advice i can give you is to go to myfitnesspal.com its a weight loss journal or you do is enter your stats age weight height that sort of stuff and how much you want to lose and it will work out your daily cals,you can also log all you eat on there and what exercise you have done,its really helped me and its free to join

 

[Angel-xo]

Thanks, but that still doesn't answer my question of what is enough when it comes to exercise? Burning 800 calories or burning 400? Or does it really matter as long as there's a deficit both from exercise and food?

 

[Justin]

If you are mainly concerning yourself with how many calories are burned DURING exercise, then you're going down the wrong path in my opinion. No exercise really burns that many calories during activity. The majority of calories (you're probably talking up to 80% here) are burned during recovery of exercise, and that amount is based on how intense the exercise was.


Im really trying to be straight here, theres no point counting how many calories are burned on the treadmill or bike, its not an accurate figure of what your body is doing at all. The ONLY way you can properly measure your exercise progress is with an exercise recording log, making sure your weights are going up and your cardio intensities are increasing over time.

 

[Angel-xo]

I understand what you're saying justin, but i don't think the calories burned during exercise are insignificant. I know quite a few people that burn upto 1000 during exercise. :S so as you can see im slightly confused and wondering if im the one that's doing something wrong.

 

[Justin]

I see where you're coming from but here's the 'problem' as I see it:


If you can manage to burn 1000 calories during one workout, this would take a good amount of time, and means that to go for such a duration the exercise would have to be kept at a low, aerobic level.


I'll say it again, and it definately won't be the last time I say it, but aerobic exercise is NOT very effective for weight loss. For some people its not an option, they must keep thier heart rates down for cardiac reasons or because they are beginners. This is not just me saying it, but also the top trainers in the world and scientific research studies are constantly proving that the old game of counting calories during exercise is pointless.

Basically, you could keep the intensity up, which will raise your metabolism. You could then spend a fraction of the time exercising (no more than 40 minutes) and still burn those thousand calories while you rest through the day! Such an intensity would also strengthen your muscles to give you a toned shape. Aerobic exercise cannot do this.


OR, stay on the cardio machine for hours upon hours to burn the same amount of calories AND have to do extra resistance exercise to shape your body.


If you want to know you are burning more calories from exercise, increasing your fitness levels and seeing your bodyfat % or waist measurement decrease are the only true ways of telling if you're on the right track.

Hope this helps your confusion! YOU would not be the one doing something wrong. The people who disregard good advice and spend their future repeating the SAME workouts that never lost them any weight in the first place are the ones doing something wrong.


As Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting different results."

 

[Angel-xo]

Thanks for the reply. I understand now. It's just when i see small numbers i think 'i must not be putting 100%' even though im knackered at the end of my 25-30 min HIIT sessions. I still seem to be losing the 2lbs a week, so i guess that's good, and my body has deffo gotten smaller.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

 

[Justin]

Quality over quantity, always.


2lbs a week is genuinely an excellent achievement. But if you start losing more than that a week, I can almost guarantee you that some of that weight will be water, or perhaps muscle tissue. Those things you want to keep, you just want to lose the fat! So again, losing 2lbs a week of just fat will make you look far better than would losing 3 lbs a week of fat and water.

And like you say, your body is changing. Isnt that the main thing? Isnt what you and others see in the mirror more important than what you see on a Technogym bike or set of scales?



Keep going, you're doing very well in my opinion.

 

[Angel-xo]

Yeh you're right, which is why i always always get worried in the weeks where i lose 3lbs. I will be even more worried during the last few weeks if im still losing the 2lbs per week, as i expect it to be difficult in losing 1lb per week let alone 2lbs.

Personally, i don't really care about the scales, they're just there as motivation whenever i do lose weight as it spurs me on. I just wanna get to size 10/12 really.