Can someone explain this to me?

[MissMandaJo]

Ok, so I know cutting calories and exercising causes fat burn. But what I dont understand... is, say I burnt 200 calories from running. Then, an hour later, I eat soup thats 100 calories. I feel like it was a waste of time running an extra mile because the 100 calories I burnt... Im reconsuming anyways. Does this make any sense? Maybe I just dont understand how it works. If anyone can explain this to me, I'd appreciate it, haha.

[skyjuice]

Hi

 

I think part of it is because we have to have constant inflow and outflow of energy for a balance. We couldn't just burn calories without intake, and we couldn't just take in calories without out flow.

I hope this would help.

[RayKay]

Ok, so I know cutting calories and exercising causes fat burn. But what I dont understand... is, say I burnt 200 calories from running. Then, an hour later, I eat soup thats 100 calories. I feel like it was a waste of time running an extra mile because the 100 calories I burnt... Im reconsuming anyways. Does this make any sense? Maybe I just dont understand how it works. If anyone can explain this to me, I'd appreciate it, haha.

 

Well, the basic idea is you need a BASE amount of calories to survive, as without them you tend to go into starvation and hold onto calories to store as fat and so forth. It also makes you depressed, weak and unhealthy.

 

On top of this there are additional ones needed for moving, eating, staying warm, walking, and on and on.

 

You should never dip BELOW the ones you need to do all the things you do, but most people tend to eat MORE then they need. So to lose weight, you should start a deficit of 500 calories a day (to lose 1 lb a week) but you should not go BELOW your BMR as you will cause a lot of issues and retain weight as well. So you can have a deficit by exercising 250 cals worth, and eating 250 cals less a day as well.

 

Now, you CAN just cut calories and not exercise, and you will lose weight, but it won't be very healthy or long lasting. If you JUST cut calories, your body adjusts to that new daily limit and you plateau or even gain as you are still sedentary and your body has adjusted by becoming more efficient.

 

If you are exercising, you are increasing your resting metabolic rate by increasing fitness/muscle mass, but also jump start it during the day.

 

Basically, you need to look at food as FUEL...just like gas in your car. Too much, and you top out/spill over (out of tank/your pants) and do damage to the car. Too little and you can't go, and again damage the "vehicle". You need to find the optimum amount to keep the vehicle moving efficiently. Also, look at "premium" aka healthy foods as being more "fuel" for the amount then the cheap stuff that's really NOT meant for cars...it comes with all sorts of other junk that only does harm.

[CarnelianButterfly]

Well its a fundamental law of thermodynamics, energy in = energy out. The food you eat is the energy you burn. Calories are just a measure of that energy. All of our actions burn calories. Sleeping, typing, even when you're eating your burning calories. Fat is the body's warehouse of energy, you want to lose fat you need to expend more calories than you consume. The basic principal to staying fit is just balancing that. Most diets are based on limiting caloric intake or in the case of low-carb, metabolic changes and limiting calories. Don't go by web or tv ads for diets, the best person to get truthful, realistic information from would be your doctor or a trained dietician.

[melee18]

don't forget too that when you exercise you burn off muscle. after you exercise, your body rebuilds the muscle you burn (this is why exercising regularly makes you stronger). the act of exercising burns calories, but so does the act of rebuilding muscle. so you are still burning calories hours after you exercise. also muscle burns more calories than fat - that's why getting in shape can help you maintain a healthy weight

[RayKay]

don't forget too that when you exercise you burn off muscle. after you exercise, your body rebuilds the muscle you burn (this is why exercising regularly makes you stronger). the act of exercising burns calories, but so does the act of rebuilding muscle. so you are still burning calories hours after you exercise. also muscle burns more calories than fat - that's why getting in shape can help you maintain a healthy weight

 

Just one comment...you don't "burn off muscle" - you tear muscle tissue/fibres which then become bigger when they are given time to recover and rebuild. Calories are needed for this rebuilding process, but even after they are recovered more muscle = higher basic metabolic rate.

 

Other then the small "burn off" rather then tear though, spot on

 

Regular exercise also makes you more efficient at that exercise so you require less effort/calories to do it, so shaking up your routine (ie adding intervals, cross training, higher weights) to shake it up can "jolt" your body back again to strengthening and burning more.