how much exercise is necessary to lose 1 or 2 lbs per week? i want to eat around 1300/1500 calories per day and work out enough to lose about 2lbs per week.
how much calories should i be burning on average per week if im eating around that much?
thanks for any answers.
We need your height and weight to accurately figure that out.
Umm, I'd also like to know the answer to this question, haha. I'm 5'1 at 160 lbs. I'm supposed to be getting like 1350 a day.
Digitalkitt; your BMR (basal metabolic rate => amount of calories your body needs to keep ticking) Is 1518 with your stats, is you are 25. The BMR should be what you consume daily.
If you then did absolutely nothing, like sitting on the sofa all day, you'd burn 1822, so lose around .5lbs a week, as you'd be having a 300 calorie defict daily.
If you were moderately active - exercising 3-5 times a week, you could burn 2300 calories daily, and stand to lose 1.5lbs a week.
Obviously, this isn't true if I've guessed your age wrong - sorry if I have, I just went for an age which was neither very young or very old!
I'm 24 so that's close enough! Wow, I thought that my calorie target from this site was 1350? So that's what I've been aiming for.
I exercise between 5 and 6 times a week. But I'm losing NOTHING this month. =/
maybe try eating your BMR for a few weeks?
There's a lot of cynics of the 'starvation mode' on this site, but speaking as someone who has experienced the same thing as you (large defict, but no weight loss), I'd say that eating under your BMR consistently can slow down weight loss.
The easiest way to think of it is that the BMR is an approximation of the amount of calories your vital organs need to function normally. So to keep your heart rate steady, breathing regular and brain functions 'normal' you would need to eat your bmr.
However, if you are eating under your BMR, the body anticipates a reduction in the availability of food, and so it attempts to function at a lower level, so that the body holds its fat stores and can still function relatively well. However, there can be some side effects from this - irregular heart rate, weak immune system etc.
So, if you are eating up to 500 calories under your BMR, your body will adjust to assure you have stores of fat for future rationing. However, if you are eating your BMR, the body can sense that there is enough supplies for the basic organs, and thus is more willing to burn off the fat during exercise.
Obviously, this is different for those eating significantly under their BMR, as the body cannot adjust to the large defict. However, this is hopefully not an issue you will ever have to worry about!
if anyone wants to calculate their BMR, a great site is caloriesperhour.com (I'm in no way affiliated with the site, its just the one I've always used in conjunction with CC+)