I’m just confused on how losing weight actually works. So if I cut myself down to 1500 calories a day, I would have to burn like 2000 calories to lose weight? That just seems like a lot of exercising to me, especially because I’m juggling a job and highschool still. Could you guys explain it to me in a better sense?
In: Biology
You burn a bunch of calories just being alive (breathing, generating heat, etc).
You can either cut your caloric intake below that number, or exercise to burn extra calories.
Eg, if you burn 1800 calories just being alive, and normally intake 2000, you could cut your intake down to 1500, or exercise to burn off 500.
Exercise is generally the healthier option, of course, since you have less worry about not getting enough nutrition. Plus working out has the added benefit of building muscle mass, which increases the “base” calories you burn by doing nothing. But it has its downsides relative to dieting too.
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