Can someone help me understand all this?

[Cyn]

You are all a magnificent group of people with lots of valuble information,
therefore, I thought it most fitting to ask those here who know their
stuff...

What does all this mean?
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=khalamity

Believe me when I tell you that I know NOTHING about basic nutrition... so
this "basal" and how is it possible for me to burn 2940 calories in about 8
hours of being awake?

Oh, I so need help... UGH!

And thanks in advance.

Cyndi

[Cyn]

Thank you for your reply... I made the change you suggested and it did make
a difference.

So, I have another dumb question.... At this rate, am I doing well to lose
weight? And if so, how well?

Thanks again, and in advance.


"Ignoramus12383" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 11 Nov 2005 18:39:37 GMT, Cyn > wrote:
>> You are all a magnificent group of people with lots of valuble
>> information,
>> therefore, I thought it most fitting to ask those here who know their
>> stuff...
>>
>> What does all this mean?
>> http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=khalamity
>>
>> Believe me when I tell you that I know NOTHING about basic nutrition...
>> so
>> this "basal" and how is it possible for me to burn 2940 calories in about
>> 8
>> hours of being awake?
>
> Some random points: if you enter your actual exercise in fitday, you
> have to select "sedentary/bedridden" as your lifestyle, otherwise the
> resulting calorie count is too high due to double counting by fitday.
>
> (your lifestyle calorie count of 996 calories is likely an
> overstatement)
>
> Secondly, you burn calories not only during the "8 hours of being
> awake", but also when you sleep.
>
> Thirdly, the basal calorie number per day given by fitday, is for the
> whole day, not just the portion of it that you already lived through.
>
> For a 190 lbs person who exercises, 2,900 calories per day is not an
> outrageous number, but it does seem a bit high for a female. (women
> burn a bit less basal calories than men).
>
> i
>
>> Oh, I so need help... UGH!
>>
>> And thanks in advance.
>>
>> Cyndi
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> 223/174.9/180
>

[Cyn]

"you would need to create a calorie deficit of more than 1800 calories per
day through either reduced eating or increased exercise"

Ah... now this is what I'm talking about... this statement may make perfect
sense to you and every other person here, but to me it is Chinese (and I
don't speak it LOL) Would you mind explaining this to me? Do you mean to
say that I have to burn 1800 calories in a day? or if I eat 1800 calories I
have to burn twice that to lose? Believe me, I wasn't kidding when I said I
was clueless about this stuff ;-)

--
Cyndi (aka Khalamity)

197/135/190.5
"Matthew Venhaus" > wrote in message
...
>
> Cyn > wrote in message
> ...
>> You are all a magnificent group of people with lots of valuble
> information,
>> therefore, I thought it most fitting to ask those here who know
> their
>> stuff...
>>
>> What does all this mean?
>> http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=khalamity
>>
>> Believe me when I tell you that I know NOTHING about basic
> nutrition... so
>> this "basal" and how is it possible for me to burn 2940 calories in
> about 8
>> hours of being awake?
>>
> You are right that this seems high. Many here have found that FitDay
> overestimates caloric needs for individuals who tend to be overweight.
> In your case I would guess it to be off by about 600 calories per day.
> That is only a guess, and the only way to be sure is through
> consistent, accurate logging of both your food intake and the change
> in weight.
>
> Also, your weight goal seems rather ambitious. In order to lose 55
> pounds in 15 weeks you would need to create a calorie deficit of more
> than 1800 calories per day through either reduced eating or increased
> exercise. I would recommend revising your goal weight or your end
> date.
>
> Breakfast looks good, but you might try sneaking some vegetables into
> the tuna salad.
>
> --
> Matthew
> Slow and steady wins the race.
>

[Matthew Venhaus]

Cyn > wrote in message
...
> You are all a magnificent group of people with lots of valuble
information,
> therefore, I thought it most fitting to ask those here who know
their
> stuff...
>
> What does all this mean?
> http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=khalamity
>
> Believe me when I tell you that I know NOTHING about basic
nutrition... so
> this "basal" and how is it possible for me to burn 2940 calories in
about 8
> hours of being awake?
>
You are right that this seems high. Many here have found that FitDay
overestimates caloric needs for individuals who tend to be overweight.
In your case I would guess it to be off by about 600 calories per day.
That is only a guess, and the only way to be sure is through
consistent, accurate logging of both your food intake and the change
in weight.

Also, your weight goal seems rather ambitious. In order to lose 55
pounds in 15 weeks you would need to create a calorie deficit of more
than 1800 calories per day through either reduced eating or increased
exercise. I would recommend revising your goal weight or your end
date.

Breakfast looks good, but you might try sneaking some vegetables into
the tuna salad.

--
Matthew
Slow and steady wins the race.

[Matthew Venhaus]

Cyn > wrote in message
...
> "you would need to create a calorie deficit of more than 1800
calories per
> day through either reduced eating or increased exercise"
>
> Ah... now this is what I'm talking about... this statement may make
perfect
> sense to you and every other person here, but to me it is Chinese
(and I
> don't speak it LOL) Would you mind explaining this to me? Do you
mean to
> say that I have to burn 1800 calories in a day? or if I eat 1800
calories I
> have to burn twice that to lose? Believe me, I wasn't kidding when
I said I
> was clueless about this stuff ;-)
>
This would mean that you would either have to burn 1800 calories per
day which is the equivalent of running 18 miles per day, or eat 1800
calories per day less than your body uses or some combination of the
two. Let's assume that your body uses 2300 calories per day to
maintain your current weight at your current activity level. In order
to lose at the rate you have planned through reduced eating alone you
could only eat 500 calories per day, or about what you have already
eaten. There are a number of reasons why eating only 500 calories per
day is foolishness.

Sensibly, I think you could increase activity by about 400 calories
per day and reduce calorie intake by about the same amount. This would
create a daily deficit of 800 calories and would result in an average
weight loss of 1-2 lbs per week. If you wanted to maintain an end date
of 2/21/06 (I've been assuming you meant 2006) a more appropriate goal
weight IMHO would be 170lbs. If you wanted to keep the goal weight of
135 a more appropriate (again IMHO) goal date would be July 31, 2006.

--
Matthew
Slow and steady wins the race.

[Matthew Venhaus]

Matthew Venhaus > wrote in message
...
>
> Cyn > wrote in message
> ...
> > "you would need to create a calorie deficit of more than 1800
> calories per
> > day through either reduced eating or increased exercise"
> >
> > Ah... now this is what I'm talking about... this statement may
make
> perfect
> > sense to you and every other person here, but to me it is Chinese
> (and I
> > don't speak it LOL) Would you mind explaining this to me? Do you
> mean to
> > say that I have to burn 1800 calories in a day? or if I eat 1800
> calories I
> > have to burn twice that to lose? Believe me, I wasn't kidding
when
> I said I
> > was clueless about this stuff ;-)
> >
> This would mean that you would either have to burn 1800 calories
per
> day

Sorry, this should say 1800 calories per day *in addition to* your
current activity level.

[Cyn]

Eureka!! I've got it now! Thanks a million! Yes, you are absolutely
right. I did in fact set unrealistic goals, however, I'm a spoon when it
comes to all this stuff. Knowledgeable posts such as yours really help me a
ton! And I can certainly accept July 2006 for a goal date.

Thanks again, Matthew!
--
Cyndi (aka Khalamity)

197/135/190.5
"Matthew Venhaus" > wrote in message
...
>
> Cyn > wrote in message
> ...
>> "you would need to create a calorie deficit of more than 1800
> calories per
>> day through either reduced eating or increased exercise"
>>
>> Ah... now this is what I'm talking about... this statement may make
> perfect
>> sense to you and every other person here, but to me it is Chinese
> (and I
>> don't speak it LOL) Would you mind explaining this to me? Do you
> mean to
>> say that I have to burn 1800 calories in a day? or if I eat 1800
> calories I
>> have to burn twice that to lose? Believe me, I wasn't kidding when
> I said I
>> was clueless about this stuff ;-)
>>
> This would mean that you would either have to burn 1800 calories per
> day which is the equivalent of running 18 miles per day, or eat 1800
> calories per day less than your body uses or some combination of the
> two. Let's assume that your body uses 2300 calories per day to
> maintain your current weight at your current activity level. In order
> to lose at the rate you have planned through reduced eating alone you
> could only eat 500 calories per day, or about what you have already
> eaten. There are a number of reasons why eating only 500 calories per
> day is foolishness.
>
> Sensibly, I think you could increase activity by about 400 calories
> per day and reduce calorie intake by about the same amount. This would
> create a daily deficit of 800 calories and would result in an average
> weight loss of 1-2 lbs per week. If you wanted to maintain an end date
> of 2/21/06 (I've been assuming you meant 2006) a more appropriate goal
> weight IMHO would be 170lbs. If you wanted to keep the goal weight of
> 135 a more appropriate (again IMHO) goal date would be July 31, 2006.
>
> --
> Matthew
> Slow and steady wins the race.
>

[Doug Freyburger]

Cyn wrote:
>
> "you would need to create a calorie deficit of more than 1800 calories per
> day through either reduced eating or increased exercise"
>
> Ah... now this is what I'm talking about... this statement may make perfect
> sense to you and every other person here, but to me it is Chinese (and I
> don't speak it LOL) Would you mind explaining this to me? Do you mean to
> say that I have to burn 1800 calories in a day? or if I eat 1800 calories I
> have to burn twice that to lose? Believe me, I wasn't kidding when I said I
> was clueless about this stuff ;-)

Step 1 - Find out what you're really burning in calories per day.
Since
most estimates are terrible and fitday is worse than most, this is a
lot harder than it sounds.

Step 2 - Subtract 1800 from that number. Hey, there's an easy step.

Step 3 - Eat that new number of calories per day. This might be
anywhere
from easy to impossible. If the number from step one is less than 1800
there's no way you'll be able to eat negative calories per day.

Step 4 - Understand that cutting that much will trigger starvation mode
in your body and that will lower your actual calories burned.

Step 5 - Cut your intake even more to account for that.

Step 6 - Since that reduction cut your metabolism even more, cut your
calories even more.

The problem with it is the only end point you're going to hit is not
eating at all and it still won't work.

You seriously need to select a loss expectation that matches what's
possible in the real world. The smaller the calorie deficit, the
smaller
the starvation mode response*. Have a small enough calorie deficit
and there isn't any starvation mdoe response at all. No one knows
what point that is but it seems that 500 calories less per day seems
to work best.

*Starvation mode response by the body is not an on-off-switch.
It's a dial. It also can only reduce your metabolism so far and no
lower. But either way you really want to avoid the trap not overwhelm
it with total starvation.

[Wanwo]

If your activity level is the same week to week you can ignore the 'calories
burned' aspect of Fitday and concentrate on calories intake. You might try
eating on average 1900 cal per day for a week and see if you lose a pound.
If not, drop it down to 1800 cal per day for a week and see what happens.
This way you can find a calorie level that consistently has you losing
weight. As you get thinner you'll probably need to reduce it further to keep
losing.