i don't really understand calories, help me out.?

Question

so what i get is excersice burns calories. food has calories, some way more than others. idealy i should be eatting less than 1500 cal. a day, and getting 30 minutes of excersice a day. what happens if i burn way more calories than i eat? the reason i ask this is becasue today i was working out for the most part of the day and i calculated that i burned roughly 700 calories while i had only eaten 250. i felt really worn out. do i need calories to feel healthy? any tips or energy foods that will help me feel alive while working out?

oops, i meant 250 cals in comparasin to when i was working out. that was my breakfast. i've eaten like 1100 cals today. thanks for the concern guys.

Answer 1

Do not worry if you burn more calories than what you need.
Your body is a marvelous machine and previously stored some extra energy (as fat reserve) for you to use whenever you need them.

You should not eat less than you BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) or your body will adjust and you will even need less than that...
BMR: women: lbs x 0.453 = kilograms x 7.18 + 795
(BMR: men: lbs x 0.453 = kilograms x 10.2 + 879)

I'm 120lbs so my BMR is 1,185 and I never eat less than that.

Do not exercise on an empty stomach (not enough sugar in your blood) or a full one...(too busy digesting)
Eat a good meal and then wait for one hour or two so you're full of energy.

If you're doing cardios, after about 20 to 30 minutes, your body will run out of sugar and start using your fat reserve.

If you burn out 700 calories working out, that means you did A LOT of workout (on a good day, I will only do about 500 calories, bicycling for 15 miles...) so you really need more energy. Drink some Gatorade to keep you healthy.

Pasta, rice and bread are good food to eat the day before you need all that energy...

Answer 2

Calories are basically the unit measure of how much energy is in an object. If you're on a diet, then 1,200 calories is the ideal amount of calories you should eat. 250 is way too small and most of the time, that deals with people suffering from anorexia. An anorexic person can eat 100-300 calories per day. I suggest you to eat balanced meals that will sum up to 1,200. That doesn't mean you should eat protein bars all day long that will make 1,200 but you should eat a combination of fruit and veggie meals/snacks with meat and grain in between. Burning more calories than you eat will help you lose weight. Burning the same amount of calories as the amount you eat will balance your weight while eating more calories than what you burn will result in gaining weight. Drink water throughout the day to regulate your body system and it will help you stay away from your cravings (feeling of being full). Listening to music is a definite plus to your work out..Friends help too. Sometimes an energy bar after your workout (if your really hungry, eat an energy bar before your workout) can help your energy levels.

Answer 3

U NEED CARBS THEY GIVE U ENERGY THAT S WHERE ENERGY COMES FROM AND U NEED PROTIEN BASICALLY IF U ONLY ATE 250 CALORIES AND BURNED OFF 700 THEN THAT IS VERY UNHEALTHY AND U NEED TO EAT SOME FOOD THAT IS GOOD FOR U AND THEN U WONT FEEL SO FRICKEN WORN OUT SO HERE IS SOME ADVICE GO EAT A BIG MAC (then u really will feel sick but all of the above it true not the big mac stuff) well anyways it s unhealthy to burn way more calories that u eat it is fine if u are trying to loose weight but atleast take in about 1200 calories

Answer 4

Calories give you energy. You need to be eating 2000-2500 calories a day. Eating as little as you say you are is extremely unhealthy. If you're doing that to lose weight, you will only put the weight back on faster.
In order to lose 1 pound, you need to burn 3500 calories. That doesn't mean not eating for a few days. Optimal weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week, so eating between 1500-2000 calories a day and exercising for 60 minutes will give you good weight loss.
Eating 3500 extra calories and not burning them off means you will gain a pound.

Answer 5

calories are just a measure of energy. you will gain weight if you eat more calories than you burn because the extra energy gets stored as fat. so you need to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight. you better be eating at least 1500 calories a day, though. 250 is not enough by far.... very unhealthy. drink gatorade or other sports drinks while working out for long periods. they will give you some extra energy and replenish fluids and electrolytes to keep you going.

Answer 6

Calories are a measure of heat energy. Over time, if you take in less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. In the short term, during exercise, you will probably lose (or gain) more weight from water loss (gain) than you will detect from diet changes. The best choices are to eat balanced meals and do moderate exercise, increasing the pace with time. You are tired because you are working and you are working muscles that need more conditioning.

Answer 7

you never want to burn more calories than you eat in one day!!! never! that's why you feel like crap! Never eat below 1200 cals a day.

Find a maintainence calorie calculator on the internet and determine how many cals per day are required to keep you weight. Say it's 1700 for example. If you eat more than 1700 per day, you will gain weight. And if you eat less than 1700 you will lose weight.

I sugges you eat 300 calories below your maintainence level. 250 cals is way too low and very unhealthy.

you can email me if you'd like at [e-mail]. I used to be heavy and know what it takes to get trim and lean

best of luck!