How do calories work? I bike 5 miles, I lose ~120-150 calories. But a small snack can be more than that?

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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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Anonymous 0 Comments

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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