Wednesday, September 02, 2009
I have recently started a 1200 cal per day diet and I bike 40k or 2 hours 3 times per week.
according to my computer on my bike I use up approx 500 calories in this time frame, but on line on different sites it calculates to over that for half the time. In otherwords they say I use up approx 1300 in 120 min for my weight and speed on the bike.
My diet calorie calculator on line adds the calories burned in my bikeride to the calories for the day. this would mean if I go by what they say on line that I need to have 1300 more calories on those days! does this make sense? That is a lot of calories, over doubles my daily calories. will I loose weight that way?
First I would have to address your 1200 cal diet. If you are female, you need to eat at least 1300 cals a day or else your body will go into starvation mode, this will cause your body to store fat for energy conservation. If you are male, 1200 if the minimum.
However, the average person cosumes are 2000-2500 cals a day. In order to lose one pound a week, you have to burn 3500 cals over that week. so 3500/7 days = 500 cal deficit per day. If you want to lose 2 pounds a week it would be a 1000 cal decifit per day. Be aware that the more you work out, the MORE you need to eat to balance out and keep your metabolism high. If you work out a lot, and dont eat enough, your body will hold on to fat than expend it.
I would follow the calorie tracker on your bike, as opposed to websites, because its not equipment/model specific.
But to answer your question, yes you can lose weight by eating more calories IF you are increasing your fitness. Decreasing your fitness = decreasing your calorie intake. If you wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, for example, I would eat 500 less calories a day according to your BMI (so if your BMI was 2000) Eat 1500 cals, and burn 500 cals working out = 1000 calorie deficit.
I agree. 3500 calories is a pound so if you want to loose weight and a pound week is a good, practical and maintainable weight loss goal then you either need to eat 3,500 less calories a week (cutting back 500 calories a day) or exercise to burn off those calories.
The combination of a healthy diet & exercise is the best way to be healthy & loose or maintain weight. 1200 calories a day is NOT enough to be healthy & exercise on a daily basis. Your body need the energy to burn and our bodies are designed to survive so yes, it is true that not getting enough calories is counter productive. Your body will store & preserve whatever it does get, it does go into "survival" mode as explained. For most women 1600 calories a day is a good goal if you want to be active & exercise regularly and to keep you body properly fueled so to speak.
We should all remember that the mythology that a 500-calorie deficit x7 days = one pound of weight loss does not hold true in real life. I'd be out of a job if it did!
When you reduce your calorific input (eat less), your body will reduce its energy usage and slow down your metabolism. It does this through the release of stress hormones, fat storage enzymes and reduced thyroid output. It's a very clever system perfectly suited to the leaner times that we evolved through but not suited to calorie-counting.
To allow your body to burn fat unbridled, you must avoid putting it into a starvation state. This mean providing sufficient protein on a regular basis, together with generous levels of omega 3, then easing back on the carbohydrate intake (especially the starches). Now your body can avoid shutting down its metabolism and still burn its alternative fuel source.
Regards, Marek - West London Personal Trainer and Nutritionist