volleyball2121

hi Im new to fitday and I think its really cool but I was just wondering:

WHAT IS CALORIE RESTRICTION?!??!

they gave me a number, its like 1,900 something and I dont exactly know what to do with this. does it mean I need to eat 1900 and that will result in lost weight? or does it mean I need to eat less than this to lose weight??

please help!!! im so confused!!

thanks!!

01gt4.6

if you entered a weight loss goal and time, it means that's what you'd have to eat to reach your goal.

Mark999

Calorie restriction is a deficit in calories consumed vs burned. There are three ways to go about creating a deficit (restriction). You can increase your burn rate by increasing activity, while keeping the same consumption. You can decrease consumption by eating less, while keeping the same activity. And last but not least you can do a combination of both.

*Go to the profile tab and enter all of the correct data. Sex, birthday, height, activity level, etc.

*Then click on the weight goals tab. Enter the current and goal weight with their dates.

*Then click on the calorie balance tab (same page as goal weight).

You will then see;

Calories You Burn - Calorie Restriction = Calories You Can Eat

Hope this helps. Welcome aboard and good luck!

volleyball2121

I kind of understand...but my problem is that the "calories you can eat" part of the equation is at 0. so that means I can eat nothing?! thats why I'm confused....it might be because I haven't entered any activities or anything so my calories burned is lower than the second number.

so my question is which number am I supposed to be looking at - the calories I can eat or the calorie restriction?? I think what Im getting from the replies is that the calorie restriction number is the calorie number that I should stay at each day in order to lose weight...correct?

Mark999

If the "calories you can eat" is at zero you have a data entry issue someplace. Check to insure you have setup your profile completely and correctly. Then recheck to make sure you have the weight goal date set appropriately. You should be trying to lose no more than two pounds per week, which is equal to 1000 calories per day.

I've read it somewhere that it's not advisable for women to go below 1200 calories per day and 1500 per men. If your daily basal metabolic rate was 2200 then you could safely restrict calories to 1200 and lose 2 lbs. per week. If you your BMR is, lets say, only 1700 calories per day then a restriction of only 500 would put you at a consumption of 1200 calories and this gives you a theoretical loss of 1 lb. per week.

All of the factors that determine your BMR are the things you input on your profile.

There are many online BMR and RMR calculators. Try reading this page. It may help you to understand the math.

KingFeckless

To add to the above, what I have heard on several sites was to get a defizit of about 500 per day so that one roughly looses 1 pound a week.

bettmrr

Yeah it sounds like you haven't given yourself a realistic goal date to reach your target weight (ie want to lose too much too fast). Play around with the tabs on the 'weight goal' page there are explanations on each one that makes it a bit more understandable.

Good Luck with it.

volleyball2121

ok thank you all so much that makes a lot more sense.

turns out my goal weight was apparently unrealistic (I was losing 3.5 pounds per week). Im not changing it though because I have really high metabolism (already lost 5 pounds since I posted that because I started to eat only 3 meals a day) so I guess Ill just have to do without the calorie restriction thing if the issue is my goal weight.

but thanks soo much I get it now!! that website helps too!