carmenl12

If I eat 1500 calories a day to lose weight and then exercise burning 400 or 500 calories does that mean Im only eating 1000 calories a day? Should I be eating 2000 calories burning 500 so its 1500 calories in the end?

cjohnson728

It depends on how fast you want to lose the weight.

If you eat 1500 calories a day, you eat 1500 calories a day, not 1000, no matter what exercise you do.

However, if you burn 500 calories a day more than you eat (exercise plus activity is your burn), then you will lose about a pound a week (a pound being 3500 calories, 500 calorie deficit per day times 7 days).

If you have a deficit of 1000 per day, then you will lose about two pounds a week.

Suppose (and I don't know your #s so I am totally making this up) you burn 2000 calories a day just regular lifestyle (no exercise). If you eat 1500, you will lose about a pound a week (on average). However, if you do exercise each day of the week that burns 500 calories, then you will lose, again on average, 2 pounds per week, because your total burn is 2500 (2000 lifestyle + 500 burned via exercise). But say you burned 2500 and ate 2000 cals per day...then you are back to losing a pound per week because the difference is 500 per day.

Rubystars

Make sure you stay above 1200 and that you focus on nutrient dense foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats/fish/chicken etc. so that you get as much nutrition as possible from your restricted caloric intake. It doesn't hurt to include a little bit of healthy fat too like from boiled eggs, nuts, or avocados once in a while.

nichaleh

I think you need to listen to your body to really answer this one. I pushed myself really hard to step things up this week because I had been stuck for about a month not losing or gaining, I started to feel lethargic and grumpy today and realised thursdays are very busy for me, I do a lot of running around, probably burning more calories and by 3 o'clock I was totally drained. I ended up deciding to add an extra 150 calories in for the day an this helped me feel more level and I think it is balanced by what I did today.
If you are feeling like you don't have enough fuel in the tank even though you are eating healthy foods then maybe you need a few more calories. If you are feeling good then probably all is well. Off course I am no expert though

jl15

What you are doing is absolutely fine. Exercise in combination with a 1500 calorie diet is an ideal way to lose weight in a healthy way. That said, nichaleh is absolutely right in saying that listening to your body is key. We are all different and if you feel like you are feeling tired or low in energy then there is nothing wrong with easing up a bit on your workouts or taking in a few extra healthy calories. It may be that your body needs a little more time to adjust to a different lifestyle.
If you feel good then keep it up