Calories - The Starting Point

  • Author Rava
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For some reason when reading up on calories in v’s calories out, I would have a brain fart moment and it would all look like "goobledygook" to me. My eyes would glaze over and I would pick up words here and there, but it is quite obvious to me now, that I had some type of dyslexia where anything regarding weightloss was concerned.

The basics were that I knew that I needed to create a calorie deficit to lose the weight, and I could do that through exercise and reducing my food intake - that was it.

I really need to thank @Determined93 for patiently explaining how she came up with her calorie total that she needs to burn every day to have a week of weight loss. Without her patience, and answering all my questions, I would still be fumbling along not understanding the bigger picture….

So, the formula is;

One pound of fat equates to 3,500 calories, so for a weekly loss of 2.2 pounds, or 1 kilogram, you need to plan a 1100 calorie deficit each day for a period of 7 days. (7700 calorie deficit each week).

When I looked at this number (1100) I was like holy shit balls that is huge! The last week I had been aiming for a 400 calorie (if not more) exercise burn each day plus keeping my total food calories between 900 – 1000. (Don't be concerned about this number, thinking it might be to low - my circumstances are different). I took a look at the standard recommended calorie intake for women wanting to lose weight and its 1200. Right I thought, I have already taken off 300 calories there if I stick to 900 food calories.

Ok what’s my daily total? 400+300= 700 calorie deficit each day. How the hell am I going to burn or reduce my calories by another 400? Its my first week exercising each day in nearly 10 years and I am really am pushing myself, don't think I could find anymore there. My food intake I don't want to go any lower, but I still have another 2800 calories I need to find each week to try and reduce/burn just to lose a freaking kilo!!!

Sometimes I can be amazingly dense! I never took into consideration my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). In the back of my mind I knew that our bodies burned calories just by functioning, well duh! but I didn’t grasp that this was needed to help me achieve my deficit!

Talk about brain fart moments!

There are heaps of BMR calculators online that will give you a general idea by using your height, age and weight plus your level of physical activity - but for me my Apple Watch has a great Health app on it which gives me my BMR.

So my averages for the week were:
Calorie intake (what I ate): 800 per day (obviously didn't make my goal)
Calories burned via exercise: 592 per day
BMR (resting energy): 1799 - basically what I burn everyday - what my body uses to function.

Exercise Calories + BMR = 2387 per day gone.

If I look at what I achieved and get my weekly total (2387 x 7) I get a total of 16709. Lets divide that by 7700 (the calories I need to burn weekly to lose 1 kilo) and my result is: 2.17 kilos - pretty darn close to the 2.8kg loss I had this week!

Edited to Add (28/05/2018): That I also wanted to note on this page the differences between BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate). Both estimate the number of calories you burn at rest, but RMR takes additional factors into consideration when determining needs.

BMR measures your basal energy expenditure, or BEE. The BEE is a 24 hour estimation of the number of calories you burn maintaining your most basic bodily functions, such as breathing, circulating blood and growing and repairing cells.

RMR measures your resting energy expenditure or REE. REE determines the number of calories you burn in a 24 hour period maintaining basic bodily functions, but also includes the number of calories burned eating and conducting small amounts of activity.


(My calculation above used my RMR average)

Why is it so important to me? Its structure, its planning, it's science! and I finally get it!!

I know others would have already known this and I cant say why it took so long for me to comprehend, but my blog is all about writing down what I am thinking and what conclusions I come too.

Edited to add: Each time you lose weight, re-calculate your BMR as it will change!:)

Comments

Determined93
Glad I could help you understand it a little bit better =) looks like you have a good plan to follow now. I think it was great you writing it out like this so that other newbies that are really confused about calories in vs out
Iike we were have something to reference.
 
C
hello! I'm Carol. I'm new :) This still confuses me :laughing:

Here's where I get confused:

So I get 1100 calories a day I can eat.
So lets say I eat breakfast and lunch and that equals 500cal. So I have 600 left for the day right?
Then I go for a run and burn 400cal.
Do I now have 1000 left to eat for dinner?

And then question 2:

Lets now say I have a dinner worth 500cal. Have I now created a deficit? Cos I kept it under the 1100 allowed?

And then question 3:

If I can and do eat 1100 cal per day. Do I now need to burn 1100? Like it says you need to burn more than you consume. So eat 1100 and exercise off 1100?

Help :)
 
Last edited:
Rava
Hi @Carolm79 and welcome :)

Calories can definitely be confusing! and I was in the same boat as you :)

You have decided your calorie intake is to be 1100 - so thats great :)

@Carolm79 said;

So I get 1100 calories a day I can eat.
So lets say I eat breakfast and lunch and that equals 500cal. So I have 600 left for the day right?
Then I go for a run and burn 400cal.
Do I now have 1000 left to eat for dinner?


The answer is NO. You still only have 600 left that you can eat if you want to keep your deficit.

Lets now say I have a dinner worth 500cal. Have I now created a deficit? Cos I kept it under the 1100 allowed?

Yes :). You have created a 100 calorie deficit for the day! You've eaten 500 calories for lunch and breakfast and a 500 calorie dinner, so 500+500=1000

If I can and do eat 1100 cal per day. Do I now need to burn 1100? Like it says you need to burn more than you consume. So eat 1100 and exercise off 1100?

This is where your BMR (or Basal Metabolic Rate) comes in to play and you need to find out what it is. Your BMR is what your body burns just by functioning and doing your day to day activity.

Have a look at this http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced - you will need to enter some data and it will give you a good idea of what it is. There are other basic ones around like this one http://www.mydr.com.au/tools/basal-energy-calculator which will give you one based on age, height and current weight.

So now that we have your BMR whats the formula?

One pound of fat equates to 3,500 calories, so for a weekly loss of 2.2 pounds, or 1 kilogram, you need to plan a 1,100 calorie deficit each day for a period of 7 days. (7,700 calorie deficit each week).

Lets say you found out your BMR is for example 1500 (remembering this is what your body burns just by functioning and doing your daily activity), your calorie intake for the day is 1100. Your average calorie burn by exercise is 400 per day.

So what we now do is this;

We take your BMR which is 1500 and add it to the calories you have burned for the day through exercise only - which is 400. (1500+400=1,900) We then multiply 1,900 by 7 (as there is 7 days in the week) and we get the total 13,300. This total is what you are burning for the week - your body with its BMR (burning calories just by functioning) and your average daily exercise burn which is 400 per day!

We then have to divide this by 7,700 (which is the deficit we need each week to lose a kilo) so what we have is 13,300 divided by 7,700 = which gives us
1.72kg of estimated weight loss for the week.

If you were to stick to your plan eat only 1100 calories a day, and burn 400 each day it is telling you that you should lose at least 1.7kg per week.

What you need to do is keep in mind that everybody is different. Some might need to eat more, and some maybe even less. Its a real game in finding out what you should be eating per week for your body to let go of the fat!

Hope this helps and I didn't confuse you more!
 
C
Thank you! Thank you! That helps a lot! I was so confused! Still am a bit if I'm honest.

So my BMR is 1650. So if I'm only consuming 1100 and exercising 400 I should be on track to lose weight right? Or am I now not eating enough to function properly?

I cant believe I'm not getting any results! Maybe my doc gave me a placebo! :laughing::(
 
C
@Rava I need even more help! So according to this: https://www.spotebi.com/fitness-tips/bmr-calculator/
My BMR is 1650. So I need to consume 2550 calories to maintain my current weight.
So if I'm now only consuming 1100 or less am I now starving? And starving is bad for weight loss yeah? Well short term anyway. I'm sure if I starve long enough Ill look like a Survivor contestant.
 
Rava
Ok @Carolm79 your BMR is 1650, so the fitness calculator is saying you need this for your body to function on a day by day basis.

As you drop weight - so will your BMR. Mine started out at the 1600's and now I am in the low 1500's - So don't panic!!

Personally my BMR is right now at around 1540 - I am only consuming around 900 calories a day (this is due to an op I have had, so yes it does sound low but its ok for me). On average I am losing around 1.1kg a week. You will get there!

In regards to "starving" have a look at the article posted in the "useful info in weight loss"
Starvation Mode Truth - there is a link there that will take you to an article which is a great read.

https://duromineforum.com/threads/starvation-mode-truth-worth-reading.3520/

As long as you create a caloric deficit (meaning consume less calories than your body burns, or burn more calories than you consume), then you will lose weight every single time regardless of whether you’re creating a deficit that is small, moderate or large - and that's a proven fact.

The only things I can suggest is make sure you are tracking everything - don't discount any type of flavoured water, fruit teas etc... they all have a calorie count as well as sugar.

Make sure you are tracking your water intake but DON'T INCLUDE tea or coffee.

Check the salt/sodium content of the foods that you are eating - because this will make you retain also.

Have a look at your dairy and fruit intake. For me personally I had to give them both a miss when I started out. Fruit because it retains a hell of a lot of natural sugars and would make me crave sweet things - and milk/dairy because my coffee intake was huge, not to mention how much I was eating cheese... I cut them all out, and then started re-introducing them back in a few weeks later

And don't forget because it is that TOM your body will naturally hold more water at this time, which could be causing you to retain also.
 

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