do we need to burn more calories than we eat to lose weight?

Question

for example, if we eat the minimum of 1500 calories a day do we need to burn off at least 1500 everyday to lose weight? It seems like a lot of work, literally impossible if you only spend an hour in the gym.

Answer 1

Yes, it's true that you burn off calories by doing anything, but the real key to good weight loss is to burn off more than you take in. Calories are great, but if there's too many of them, it's bad.

Answer 2

What is it that you aren't understanding about this weightloss thing. You've asked loads of questions which should have given you your answer.

If you want to lose weight you need to control your calorie intake and exercise to burn up the extra calories you are storing in your body as fat.

No you don't need to exercise off everything that you eat, you burn calories doing everything from watching tv to typing dumb questions on your computer.

Not sure how an hour at the gym isn't enough for you. It's not going to vanish overnight if you are trying to shift excess weight, it takes time. On a running machine I can burn around 1000 calories in an hour, if I did that 3 times a week and only ate your 1500 calories I'd lose weight like mad. If you are overweight then there is no reason why this wouldn't work for you. You are increasing your metabolism by exercising this will help you burn fat better. The better it gets the easier it will become to lose weight and maintain a decent weight.

The only thing that I'm worried about now is whether you really need to be losing weight.

Answer 3

You burn lots of calories anyway regardless of what you do. Just sitting watching TV burns calories, just not as many as running/jogging. Even when you sleep, you are burning them. You always do as you always need to be using up energy to survive. If you tried to burn the same calories as the food you ate at the Gym, you'd lose weight fast and probably die as you're body wouldn't have enough energy to sustain itself. As a general rule, 30mins at the gym burns around 500-1000 calories. This is more than enough for most. If you're eating the average recommended calorie intake of 2500, you'll loose weight slowly and still keep healthy.

Answer 4

No, that's not exactly the way it works. Your body naturally burns calories going through each day (food is your fuel). The reason that the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of caloris is 2,000 is that the "average person" burns about 2,000 calories in a day just by being alive and moving around. I, for example (5'10", 242 burn about 2450 a day), so it is different for each person depending on your size. We'll say you are an "average person". If you eat 1750 a day (-250) and do enough exercise to burn 250 calories (average each day), then you will have a weekly defecit of 3500 calories or 1 lb of fat.

Answer 5

Yes we do need to burn calories to lose weight. By eating a varied diet for your intake of calories, ie. not just fats, then you need to burn more calories than you take in. Everything you do burns calories, some things are quicker than others, ie: exercise. So if you want to lose some, then eat healthly and eat less than you normally would and go for that exercise.

Answer 6

Yes. The sure way to loose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. however, don't forget you're burning calories all the time - you don't have to be in the gym to burn calories. You even burn calories sitting and watching the TV believe it or not! Going to the gym simply burns more calories (obviously) that sitting around doing nothing)

Answer 7

You do realise, don't you, that our bodies are burning up calories all the time.... and its the net difference thats important. People are usually referring to the net difference when they talk about losing calories and whatnot...

To actually lose 1500 every day probably isn't a problem at all...
If you were losing that much NET difference..... you'd possibly be in trouble though.

But generally speaking, you're on the right lines... yes.
Its just not as difficult as you might think.

Answer 8

Just breathing and living will burn the calories for you. A car needs petrol to function just as your body requires calories to function.
It is an energy equation we all struggle with.

You proably burn at least !000 calories just by being alive, more if you are active even more if you are very active. Good luck

Answer 9

I had a smiliar thought... but you burn calories throughout your normal working day. the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of calories are those that we are believed to need in order to stay as we are. So in theory we burn most of the 1500 per day without doing exsercise. When we go to the gym or do the recommended 30 mins of exercise per day, this is in addition to that already burnt off by working/sleeping.

Answer 10

Calculate your calories

It is not as easy as it looks losing weight. We need to make efforts even for losing single pound. One pound of fat contains around 3500 calories. So in order to lose one pound in a week time, you need to cut down your daily calorie intake by 500 per day. So if you have to lose 2 pounds in a week, you need to reduce your calorie intake by 1000 per day.

To get this reduced calorie diet, your physical activity can help a lot. So reduction of 500 to 1000 calories can be obtained with the help of reduced intake and physical activities. The lowest intake per day recommended for females is 1,200 calories, and for males is 1,500 calories