must you burn more calories than you eat to loose weight?

[xtonix]

I'm 22 and weigh 67kgs. 2 months ago i lost 12kgs. However, for the last 2 months i haven't been able to loose ANYTHING. It's incredibly frustrating.
On average i eat around 1200 calories a day, and i burn approx 1000.
I work out daily, jogging half an hour and using the stair machine to burn the rest of the calories. I also do weights a few times a week.

I eat a lot of cereal, yoghurt, musli, egg, meat, etc.

What am i doing wrong???

Also, is it true you must burn more calories than you eat to loose weight?? perhaps i'm simply not burning enough?

[Lifterforlife10]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you're probably in a HUGE DEFICIT and are in a stage where your bodies conserving everything it can. If you burn 1000, and your only eating 1200, this ain't good. Your body naturally burns cals (basically=metabolism) and your daily activities add up as well. You'll probably need to eat a little more than 1200. (again, correct me if im wrong)

You do need to burn more than you consume, but not in the sense that your activities in the gym are the only things that count towards this. As stated above, your body has its metabolism to break down food.
Overall Advice, eat some more

BTW: your pic looks great, don't know why you feel you need to lose weight

[xtonix]

So you basically include the calories your body naturally burns in your work out?

i don't think i'm crazy overweight, but i'd still like to drop another 10kgs. I still have quite a bit of body fat that i'll like to kill before i can look toned.

It's just so frustrating working out so often with no results! I will up my intake to 1500 or so?

and thanks!

[Lifterforlife10]

Again I stress you look fine in your pic. An easy way to do this is find out your basic metabolic rate, just look up on google, add your calories burned from excercise, and subtract 500 from that total. As well, just eat good foods and, I note that you have to build up muscle in order to tone down and see anything, because your body MIGHT be consuming muscle with your calorie intake. Just suggesting, hope all goes well and
(Try not to focus on losing a bunch of weight, rather focus on living healthy and just being in good shape, you don't need to look like some cut up model)
Hope this helps, and ask other more professional people for advice.

[Slayer12]

to add onto what some of these guys have said, if you have eaten 1200 calories a day for a while now your body may have gotten use to it. and obviously going less in calories is not an option. I would suggest eating 1600 calories after subtracting your exercise calories. Do this for about 4 weeks to get your body use to it, you might put on a lil weight but thats ok. Then drop your calories to 1400 and you will begin to lose weight again. I would stay at this calorie amount until you get to where you want to be, but if you disagree you can go back to 1200. This will break your slump of not losing weight and will workout better in the longrun

[komrade]

Human body needs about 1200 calories a day to properly function, so the bare minimum you have to consume is 2200, since you burn 1000 a day. Here's a breakdown for you just in case you were wondering why you need that many calories just to survive:
-The heart needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The kidney needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The Liver needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The brain needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The skeletal muscle needs 30% of the calories (360 cals)

If you want to lose weight you have to figure out your BMR (basic metabolic rate) first, go to http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ and figure it out. Once you figure that out you can figure out the daily calorie needs. Here's what you have to do:
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Since you are not even close to being obese, take the number that you get and subtract 500. This is what your goal is. For example is your daily caloric need is 3500, you only have to consume 3000 calories a day to lose 1 pound a week. 1-2 pounds a week is pretty good. The reason you've lost 12 kgs a while ago is probably because it was water weight and bloat. Good luck with your diet! In before tl;dr :P

[determined4000]

Human body needs about 1200 calories a day to properly function, so the bare minimum you have to consume is 2200, since you burn 1000 a day. Here's a breakdown for you just in case you were wondering why you need that many calories just to survive:
-The heart needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The kidney needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The Liver needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The brain needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The skeletal muscle needs 30% of the calories (360 cals)

If you want to lose weight you have to figure out your BMR (basic metabolic rate) first, go to http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ and figure it out. Once you figure that out you can figure out the daily calorie needs. Here's what you have to do:
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Since you are not even close to being obese, take the number that you get and subtract 500. This is what your goal is. For example is your daily caloric need is 3500, you only have to consume 3000 calories a day to lose 1 pound a week. 1-2 pounds a week is pretty good. The reason you've lost 12 kgs a while ago is probably because it was water weight and bloat. Good luck with your diet! In before tl;dr :P

nice info
repped

[Lifterforlife10]

nice info
repped

Agreed, you do learn something new everyday. I also provide reps for an excellent post

[xtonix]

thanks everyone, very helpful indeed

after calculating my BMR etc i should be eating 1477.11 - which is only an extra 200 calories or so.

This brings me back to the same dilemma....... why haven't i lost weight in 2 months!!

I think i will just increase calories and vary my work out routine, as i usually only do running or the stair machine.. perhaps my body has just adjusted to this work out.

And if i increase my calories now, surely i wont gain more weight again will i? if i am still burning 1000 calories a day?
bah.

thanks again <3

[nathanbailey]

thanks everyone, very helpful indeed

after calculating my BMR etc i should be eating 1477.11 - which is only an extra 200 calories or so.

This brings me back to the same dilemma....... why haven't i lost weight in 2 months!!

I think i will just increase calories and vary my work out routine, as i usually only do running or the stair machine.. perhaps my body has just adjusted to this work out.

And if i increase my calories now, surely i wont gain more weight again will i? if i am still burning 1000 calories a day?
bah.

thanks again <3

at 22 1400 calories seems extremely low. 1000 calories burned of exercise is a lot... are you sure you calculated it properly? you probably need to be around the 1600 - 1800 range.

edit: did u get your bmr then times it by one of the numbers that komrade said to??? look back up at his post and you will see what i mean.

[Teench]

You've reached a weight loss plateua. It happens, just don't let it discourage you. I would recommend taking a week or two off working out. Eat slightly above maintenance for the time your off. This will give your body time to adjust to your new weight.

After your done taking a break start working out again and drop your calories about 500 below maintenance and you should be fine. Maybe look into some carb cycling to. Possibly keto. A good fat burner never hurts either! I recommend mitotropin or what ever Gaspari's new "fat burner" is named. You can't go wrong with Gaspari anyways.

Best of luck!

[PTN_old]

not eating enough
too much cardio
not enough lifting

muscle burns fat faster. if you keep losing fat and not add any muscle, your just going to be a skinnyfat. don't be afraid to lift, it will do your body much good. good luck

[nathanbailey]

You've reached a weight loss plateua. It happens, just don't let it discourage you. I would recommend taking a week or two off working out. Eat slightly above maintenance for the time your off. This will give your body time to adjust to your new weight.

After your done taking a break start working out again and drop your calories about 500 below maintenance and you should be fine. Maybe look into some carb cycling to. Possibly keto. A good fat burner never hurts either! I recommend mitotropin or what ever Gaspari's new "fat burner" is named. You can't go wrong with Gaspari anyways.

Best of luck!

are u serious? did u even look at the part saying "i only eat 1200 calories"?????

any1 can see that isnt enough she doesnt need to take a break from working out!! jesus christ.

[Teench]

are u serious? did u even look at the part saying "i only eat 1200 calories"?????

any1 can see that isnt enough she doesnt need to take a break from working out!! jesus christ.

What did I say dude? I told her to eat at maintenance for a couple weeks. What does that mean? It means she will be getting enough calories. If she really is eating that little and starvation mode really does exist then her metabolism is shot right now. Further dieting even at a decent deficient will not do her any good. Taking the time off will.

So why was what I said so outrageous? Is it because it's not what you think is the right thing to do?

[Simmo0508]

Yeah you've reached a sticking point. Definitely increase your calories.

You need to eat in order to lose weight. A lot of people, especially women, struggle with that concept and really accepting it. So don't worry, just listen to what's been said so far.

[Vietgoboi]

1400 calories seem fine, but less your cardio 20-25 minutes 3 x a week

If your trying to look tone, you need to weight lift which means you need to increase your calories to around 2000 cal

[xtonix]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions!

I will increase my calories to 1500-1600 by snaking more during the day, and start doing more weights. Maybe vary my cario and burn less. I am kind of scared of bench presses etc though, heh..

I hadn't heard of Gaspari before either.. what product exactly? Mitotropin? I'll look into it

[xfile384]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions!

I will increase my calories to 1500-1600 by snaking more during the day, and start doing more weights. Maybe vary my cario and burn less. I am kind of scared of bench presses etc though, heh..

I hadn't heard of Gaspari before either.. what product exactly? Mitotropin? I'll look into it

Don't be scared of lifting, go with a friend. If your friends don't like it, go alone. Guys are just going to look at you and think it's hott seeing a girl in the gym. It's a lot better than seeing d*ck run around all day...No one is looking at the exercises you do, but only hope it's your squat day. =)

lol, JK. (To an extent)

But seriously, just start up a simple workout routine to get toned. Jogging will not get you toned and is over rated for fat loss. Keep in mind, MUSCLE BURNS FAT. A lot of people don't realize that. So, weight lifting is a very essential tool for losing fat and looking great! Jogging has it's benefits if your really obese, but your far from this, so don't worry about it as much.

[Teench]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions!

I will increase my calories to 1500-1600 by snaking more during the day, and start doing more weights. Maybe vary my cario and burn less. I am kind of scared of bench presses etc though, heh..

I hadn't heard of Gaspari before either.. what product exactly? Mitotropin? I'll look into it

Don't be afraid to lift weights. There more afraid of you than you are of them. ???

Here is the link to Mitotropin

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/gn/mitotropin.html

I would recommend using this as a last resort. You can reach your goals without out it, but it will help.

[xtonix]

Don't be afraid to lift weights. There more afraid of you than you are of them. ???

Here is the link to Mitotropin

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/gn/mitotropin.html

I would recommend using this as a last resort. You can reach your goals without out it, but it will help.

this doesn't ship to australia for some reason, however i'm sure i can find it over here somewhere.

and i am a little intimidated by the hulkish guys that are always in the weights area of the gym, so i mostly avoid it unless the gym is relatively empty :P
I do use some of the chick weights and dumbells though

I've been eating a lot and feel super bloated :/

[Teench]

this doesn't ship to australia for some reason, however i'm sure i can find it over here somewhere.

and i am a little intimidated by the hulkish guys that are always in the weights area of the gym, so i mostly avoid it unless the gym is relatively empty :P
I do use some of the chick weights and dumbells though

I've been eating a lot and feel super bloated :/

If you can't find it you can just look for some other fat burner. Just do your research first.

Intimidated? Trust me when I say their the ones who are intimidated by the hot girl lifting weights. You'll be fine.

To me, as long as I'm still losing weight I don't care if I'm a little bloated.

[lightningwatche]

To lose weight yes. To lose fat no. To lose fat you need to get your growth hormone levels up with the right exercises so your body uses the extra calories for muscle instead of fat. But I doubt you could get them high enough to turn a 1000 calorie per day surplus into just muscle. Most likely only a 200 or 100 calorie surplus is reasonable.

[lightningwatche]

and i am a little intimidated by the hulkish guys that are always in the weights area of the gym, so i mostly avoid it unless the gym is relatively empty :P
I do use some of the chick weights and dumbells though

I've been eating a lot and feel super bloated :/

As for women weight lifting, don't worry about getting huge. You won't. I'm a guy and I have a hard time building mass. You'll just get the growth hormone and strength you need to get in shape. And you won't get big over night. It takes years. If you think you are getting too big, you can easily cut back and watch it shrink. Fat is your only concern.

[xtonix]

To lose weight yes. To lose fat no. To lose fat you need to get your growth hormone levels up with the right exercises so your body uses the extra calories for muscle instead of fat. But I doubt you could get them high enough to turn a 1000 calorie per day surplus into just muscle. Most likely only a 200 or 100 calorie surplus is reasonable.

What exercises do you recommend to lose fat? i'm finding it impossible to get below this weight, even with working out every day and watching what i eat. i've been doing weights the last few days and its going okay so far. i mainly need to kill fat in my thighs arms and butt. gaawd, it just wont go, its never ending

[xtonix]

If you can't find it you can just look for some other fat burner. Just do your research first.

Intimidated? Trust me when I say their the ones who are intimidated by the hot girl lifting weights. You'll be fine.

To me, as long as I'm still losing weight I don't care if I'm a little bloated.

but i'm not losing weight

[SpinFan]

Summary of the advice here:
*Eat more
*Lift weights
*focus on losing fat, not losing weight. Throw away your scale and use measuring tape instead.

If that doesn't work, then come back with more questions.

I honestly don't understand people who don't lift weights coming to a bodybuilding forum for weightloss advice.

[izzylicious]

i lost about 45 lbs in 3 or 4 months (okay flame me that its unhealthy and i am probably losing muscles and i will end up skinny fat -.- , tho i want to explain how i lose muscle if my muscle mass increased and my strenght gains are increasing as well? i used to squat 44 lbs, i squat 220 lbs now), and i only have like 15 lbs max and ill be like like aweasome, what i always dreamed about.. but in like 2 or 3 weeks i didnt lose 1 single ilb, i tried changing diet, but nothing work.. so i am just relaxing, and eating normally, like 1800 calorie /day (used to be like 1500 before) and cut the cardio from double cardio daily to 3 times weekly, and concentrating on muscles..
muscles help u burn fat faster, so more muscles u have, the faster u lose fat.
in 2 more weeks i will add up cardio again daily and decrease my calorie and them am sure ill start dropping weight again.

same for u, everyone plateaus, and it sucks, and YES its frustrating , hell i left gym like 2 times after finding my weight havent changed without doing my workouts. so i just figured out u can ignore the scale for a while lol.

also about fat burners.. u can just drink alot green tea+ black coffee and grape fruits, that would do aweasome if u still cant decide what u want to buy..
mitotropin is good imo

[Teench]

but i'm not losing weight

Well, I meant in the long run. When you eat at maintenance your not going to lose weight, it's when you go back to a deficient when you start losing weight again. Now if you still aren't losing any weight after going back to a deficient then you have to do something else.

[xtonix]

Summary of the advice here:
*Eat more
*Lift weights
*focus on losing fat, not losing weight. Throw away your scale and use measuring tape instead.

If that doesn't work, then come back with more questions.

I honestly don't understand people who don't lift weights coming to a bodybuilding forum for weightloss advice.

how much time should i be spending focusing lifting weights opposed to cardio? and should i focus more on my arm or leg muscles?

also i have been snacking every hour with mini meals, is this bad or should i keep less regular?

thanks

[lightningwatche]

What exercises do you recommend to lose fat? i'm finding it impossible to get below this weight, even with working out every day and watching what i eat. i've been doing weights the last few days and its going okay so far. i mainly need to kill fat in my thighs arms and butt. gaawd, it just wont go, its never ending

You produce growth hormone in your sleep. You need 8 quality hours at the same time each night to make the most. Drinking alcohol within 4 hours of sleeping will mess up the sleep process. If you drink, drink at a daytime party, not at night before sleep.

Do squats, bench press, and lat pull downs, and hamstring curls, and calf raises. Then jog or cycle. If you can't jog long, walk a bit and run a bit. Make sure you are breath kind of hard but not super hard, and workout 30 minutes a day, doing the weights one day and the running on alternate days.

And you have to build up to it. You can't jump into a super crazy workout ruitine or you will just make cortisol with dissolves muscle and puts it in fat cells. Start moderate, and as you build up, you will be able to burn fat faster later.

And don't drink soda or other calorie rich drinks. Also try not to eat a lot of white bread. All these spike blood sugar levels, and get put into your fat cells faster than your muscles can use them. Instead, eat brown bread, fruit, rice, oats, and other stuff with fiber in them. It is OK to have some soda now and then for the taste, but do not drink it for thirst. Drink water or tea for thirst. If you want fruit juice, have it at meals with your fiber food.

And it is not possible to spot reduce. It will come off many places in its own time. Just calculate your BMR and make sure your total calories are not higher than that.

And have 5 small meals per day instead of 3 big meals. It will give you more energy. When sugar leaves your intestines to your blood, you get energy. Once it gets put in your fat, you have to feel hungry before your body can use it. Better to just keep eating a little here and a little there all day long so you have energy without feeling hungry or weak.

And do not workout before breakfast. The more carbs you burn, the more fat you burn too. Don't worry about the ratio. Worry about the total. You can burn more fat later when you get in better shape. In the beginning you can't do a lot and just need to not get discouraged. A marathon would just burn off your muscle not your fat if your muscles are not strong enough yet.