Calories intaken vs calories used

Do folks have an idea of a good ratio for calories intaken vs calories used. I've been logging and I just reviewed and figured out my calorie intake. It seems to be okay - 1500 give or take a few here and there but my exercise seems really large - 2394 calories per day used. Given that, I would think I'd drop weight like crazy but not! I'm wondering if I'm too low on the intake and my body thinks I'm starving it. What to do?

Tue. Jun 20, 3:16pm

I take my weight and multiply it by 11. That's how much it takes to maintain my weight. I then subtract 500 to get my daily cal limit.
How do you know you're burning over 2,000 cals a day? It could be that the calculator you're using is off?
How long have you been at it?

Tuesday, June 20, 2006, 3:43 PM

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with the above poster. The weight times 11 minus 500 is way to general. It does not take into account your frame size, gender, age, or height.
Maybe you could visit a nutritionist or someone who can test your body fat % and tell you what your caloric needs are. I did a body composition with Bod Pod at my gym and the report told me how many calories I need for various activity levels.

I can say from personal experience keeping track of calories taken in vs calories burned in daily activity plus exercise, lose weight is not a simple as burning 3500 calories less than you take in. If it was that simple I'd be a lot skinnier by now. Your body does have way of fighting back. I can't tell you if that's why you aren't losing right now, but please do keep eating healthy and your body eventually will reward you for your efforts. Also take measurements every 2 -4 weeks.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006, 4:56 PM

I wen to my pryamidtracker.gov and you can put in your height, your age, your gender, your weight and then you can put in the foods you eat that day and the physciall activity. I ride my bike to work which takes me about an hour for 5.3 miles. That is split between two levels - 2.1 miles is towing a trailer with a 2 yr old in it - often into a headwind, to the babysitters. The second is 3.2 miles to work which has 3 small hills - since I'm usually trying to make time to work - I reall push the effort then. Then I ride it all over again home. I will have to say - the PM is often a chore as my energy level is often way down and I'm slower but I still try to push as the babysitter wants me there at a certain time.

Link

Tuesday, June 20, 2006, 5:36 PM

Set Point?

There also used to be a concept of a 'set point'. That is, a point past which your body didn't lose weight that easily. So, if a person had been habitually 200#, and then was up to 250#, losing 50# was much easier than going below the 200# mark.

This idea may be out of date, though, I remember hearing about it years ago.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006, 6:21 PM

First figure out your BMR (basal metabolic rate). That's the calories your body burns naturally, based on age, weight, muscle mass, etc.

These will also have a way to estimate your additional calories burned based on daily activity and exercise. For example, my BMR is 1400 calories/day and I exercise heavily, so I multiply that by 1.725, and I burn about 2400 calories/day total.

A heart-rate monitor is a close estimate of calories burned (within 15 percent). I know I burn about 600 calories per day through exercise (1.5 hours, typically). (This is already included in the 2400 from above).

So, if you eat 1500 calories, you should lose two pounds a week. However, your metabolism will slow down, so you should sometimes eat more to help fuel the fire so to speak. Try varying between 1400 some days when you don't exercise and 1800 on days you do. This will average out to help you still lose two pounds a week, but you won't slow your metabolism.

Link

Tuesday, June 20, 2006, 6:32 PM

6.20/ 6:32 PM Poster

THANKS for the Link! So - If my BMR is 1668, to maintian I should have been eating 2293 calories. I most likely wasn't. I wasn't tracking as intensively has I have this month but if I had to guess, I'd say from 1500 up to 2500 depending on the mood, the day, and the source. I've tended to have a life time of eating less than I need - my 6th grade PE teacher said I wasn't eating enough calories in 1976 to feed a kid in africa. I skipped breakfast by 4th grade and lunch by 6th. I tend not to exercise over the long haul. I will exercise for a month or two and then quit. So - if I had to lose based on calories it would be 1292 - barely above stravation line which may be why I'm so hungry now and having a hard time riding the bike home.

I guess my best bet would be to get those calories out up - so I need to be exercising even more than just the two major bike rides a day. Once I get the claories up and lose some weight, eating a little more won't be so bad. I also noticed at this link that there are more accurate methods of measuring body fat. I don't have my forearem or wrist measurements. It may be useful though as a baseline.

Thanks again for that link.

Thursday, June 22, 2006, 3:21 PM

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