i dont understand........

sarah-louise x

Silver Member
hi,

i started calorie counting 2 weeks ago, however last week i only lost 1 lb and this week iv put on 2 lb, despite following the meal plans i got from another site.

the site i use says that my calorie goal is 1700 but my net calorie goal is 1500 after exercise. i really dont understand how this works as it seems that any exercise i do, i then have to eat the calories i just worked off. and my net cal goal cannot be met without eating over 1700 cals, unless of course i dont exercise at all, which again dont make sense.

can any one explain this theory to me or tell me where im going wrong please, as i would really appreciate some help here.

thank u xx
 
Hi, I'm new to calorie counting aswel so I often find it confusing.
Maybe posting a few days worth of your food diary might help with some answers, maybe others can pick up on something that might be stalling any progress.
Sorry cant be of any help myself.
 
hi there, this may be an easier way to work out your cals

use a website to work out your current BMR (basic metabolic rate)

from your BMR deduct 500 cals (this means losing rather than maintaining)

so for example if your BMR was 2000
then you would reduce your cals to 1500

BUT it is dangerous to go below 1200 so...

if you did 500 cals of exercise the net effect would be 1000 (1500-500) which is too low so you would need to eat a further 200 to get back to 1200

but if you did only 200 cals of exercise the net effect would be 1300 so you wouldn't have to eat further cals.

however do ensure you eat after exercise, as it is to do with the body using cals during the exercise and if you don't eat, your body thinks it is being starved and then your metabolic rate will drop for the follwing day .

hope that helps and doesn't make your more confused!
 
I like the way you explained it Alex. Looks a lot easier like that
Thanks!
 
hi all,

thank u so much for your help, i think i get it now. Alex, u did explain it in a way i understood, the sites iv looked on seem to talk alot of irrelivant info which confussed me a bit, so thank u! x
 
I still really don't understand this (sorry for jumping in on your thread). I just worked out my BMR and it was 1553. So it take 500 off that it would be below 1200, which you say is not good? I do light to moderate exercise, am 5ft 8in and weight 160lbs. Could anyone tell me how many calories I should be having a day?
I have been having 1300 calories a day, but have lost some weight recently so wanted to work out what I should be having to continue losing. Don't want to be eating too little if I can be having more ;)
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!
xx
 
Basically, vegetarian, take up to 500 calories off per day. If that would drop you below 1,200, then shoot for 1,200. This means you'll loose slightly less than 1lb per week, but it's safe and steady and prevents your body thinking there's a problem with food supply.

Naturally, everyone's different. Some can continue to lose weight comfortably at only 1,000 calories per day. So don't worry too much about it. So long as the weight travels in the direction you want it to, and at a safe rate, all's well :)
 
I don't mean to throw a spanner in the works here, but I'd like to point out your BMR is what your body NEEDS to function each day.

To work out what your body uses in an average day- multiply this number by 1.2 (if you're pretty sedentary, 1.5 if you're fairly active) then take the 500cals off THIS number, not from your BMR figure.

For example- if your BMR is 1500, multiply that by 1.2=1800. If you take 500cals off this figure you can eat 1300 calories and expect to lose 1lb a week.

If you want to lose more than that, you will need to exercise to increase your calorie deficit. In simple terms- to lose 2lbs a week, you need to have a 1000cal deficit a day, so for the above example- you'd need to do 500cals worth of exercise on top of eating 1300cals a day. I hope that makes sense?
 
That makes perfect sense! Thank you! That is pretty much what i am doing anyway, so I am glad I don't have to change it too much.
 
I don't mean to throw a spanner in the works here, but I'd like to point out your BMR is what your body NEEDS to function each day.

To work out what your body uses in an average day- multiply this number by 1.2 (if you're pretty sedentary, 1.5 if you're fairly active) then take the 500cals off THIS number, not from your BMR figure.

For example- if your BMR is 1500, multiply that by 1.2=1800. If you take 500cals off this figure you can eat 1300 calories and expect to lose 1lb a week.

If you want to lose more than that, you will need to exercise to increase your calorie deficit. In simple terms- to lose 2lbs a week, you need to have a 1000cal deficit a day, so for the above example- you'd need to do 500cals worth of exercise on top of eating 1300cals a day. I hope that makes sense?


thanks irishmum, i didn't notice i'd left that bit out!!!!! i feel really guilty for mis-informing people now!
 
thanks irishmum, i didn't notice i'd left that bit out!!!!! i feel really guilty for mis-informing people now!
No problem Alex! It's all a bit confusing at the best of times, it's easy to get muddled! ;)
 
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