Trying to lose weight and putting it in numbers is demoralizing. I’ve started riding a stationary bike for 5 miles and then doing minor weight lifting after and I maaaaybe lose 200 or so calories. Is that not a good exercise? I’ve been doing this almost everyday starting 2 weeks ago. But it’s starting to feel useless if it’s such a minor amount of calories burnt. Is this a good trend to continue? What am I missing?
Edit: everyone here has been incredibly helpful, and surprisingly consistent with one another. I feel much more confident about what I’m doing and what I need to do. Seriously, thank you all.
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The ap you’re using to count burned calories is bullshit.
It’s an estimated counter that just ticks calories per minute based on the activity you choose. Don’t take it seriously.
.
Eat well, eat light and exercise. Get rid of the stupid app. It’s just tracking you and selling your data anyway.
You’ll be fine.
Exercise is combined with diet to lose weight. Just exercise but unhealthy diet will get you nowhere.
A lot of calories are already burned passively by the body. If you keep your intake at 1700-2200 calories a day (based on gender and height basically) those 200 calories account for 10% that wouldn’t be burned otherwise. That really adds up over a longer period to get you to the weight you desire!
You’re doing great and keep up the good work!!
Calories are the fuel for your body. Your body needs a base line to function, like if you’re just sleeping for 24 hours your still burning 1,500 ish calories depending on height, weight, muscle, and age. This is called your basal metabolic rate. Everything else you do burns calories. Brushing your teeth, making food, getting dressed, whatever.
So to lose weight you need to create a deficit where you’re burning say 2,000 calories but eating 1,500 calories. This is a 500 calorie deficit and you should start losing weight.
The actual mechanics are a bit complicated like your body is going to react to 1,500 calories of brownies differently than 1,500 calories of carrots. But that’s the basics.
Exercise is amazing for your body but not something you really do to lose weight. It can have the added benefit of losing weight but you could also gain weight from muscle mass or by going “I just burned 300 calories, let’s eat cake!” The best thing is to exercise for your health and make changes in your diet for weight
Exercising is good for your overall health, but unless you’re doing full-time endurance training, it’s not going to do anything noticeable for your weight loss.
It’s far easier to not eat that one slice of bread than it is to run the 3 miles it takes to burn the same amount of calories.
Definitely get regular exercise for your total health, but don’t rely on it to help get your weight down. Eat less and eat better for that outcome.
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Exercise is not an efficient way to lose weight. It’s all diet (simply; caloric deficit = lose weight, caloric surplus = gain weight)
As the saying goes “abs are built in the kitchen not the gym”
Your brain burns a shit load of calories but yeah your body is pretty efficient at converting food to fuel for cardio. Remember our ape bodies evolved to walk all day and still be able to run. Humans used to hunt deer by chasing them until the deer got tired then killing them for the food.
Resistance training is far more useful because all the muscle repair/growth your body does afterward eats up a *lot* more fuel than going for a walk does.
biggest mistake i see in people trying to *lose* weight is *trying to factor calories burnt*. calorie trackers *are garbage*. tdee calculators *are general*. you lifting weights or biking miles is *fantastic*, keep it up. you simply need to *eat less* if you’re trying to *lose weight*. lbs are lost in the kitchen, not the gym. muscle and definition are built in the gym. they’re entirely different things.
i checked the rules and apparently i’m allowed to post links as long as they’re not the primary content. [this one is about common mistakes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCbn05pda_4), and [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBUsZvMD-Qk) is general advice about calculations.
People eat too many calories.
Unless you’re very active, you don’t need many calories.
You’re not missing anything. 200 calories provides a lot of energy to do physical work. Running 2 miles, or biking about 4 miles.
Most of your calorie deficit comes from fixing your diet, eating nutritious and filling foods, and cutting out sugar and high calorie foods.
Your calorie deficit doesn’t come from 1,000 calories of exercise every day. People that try to do that invariably fail.
Do cardio. Do strength training. Eat responsibly.
Your body is efficient. It can turn a single McDouble into 4 miles of running. Or about 1.6 oz of adipose tissue.
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