Questions about cardio and caloric intake

P

Philmac

Guest
Some quick stats:
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Weight: 152 lbs
Height: 5'9"
Body Fat %: 17.9% (estimation)

I'm a little bit overweight and I'd like to burn off fat as quickly as is safe/possible. My weight is stable, it doesn't go up or down, regardless of what I eat. So for the time being, I'd prefer to avoid dieting and just exercise. I also only eat about 1500 calories per day. I never deny myself food, I always eat when I'm hungry and I eat whatever I want, I can't imagine forcing myself to eat anything more in a single day. So I'm not sure that dieting would be a particularly good idea given my current eating habits.

However, I'm completely new to exercise and don't really know what I'm doing. What I've managed to gather so far is that 60-70% MHR is best for weight loss and 70%+ is for endurance training. I use a dual-action stationary bicycle to do my cardio and I keep my heart rate in the 60-70% MHR range, but the thing is, even after 60 minutes of non-stop exercise I feel like I could keep going -- forever. Obviously my heart rate is increased and I do work up a sweat, but I never feel physically exhausted. Is this normal, or does it mean I'm not pushing myself hard enough?

I have a lot of free time right now, so if it will be safe and beneficial to do so, I'd be willing to do 2 hours of cardio per day. Is there any point in going for a 60 minute walk (roughly 50% MHR) or is this a waste of time from a cardio perspective? Would it be better to just go back on the stationary bike for another hour (2 non-consecutive hours)? I can't find the site I found the calculator on, but I estimated that I burn approximately 300-400 calories per hour on the bike, so I'd be burning 600-800 calories per day. Given my already low caloric intake, would it be safe to do this?
 
You're starving yourself on 1500 a day. If you were stuck in a wheelchair, your body would still need close to 1900 a day.

Sounds like you lack lean muscle since you are only 152lbs (basically an ideal weight for your height) but claim you have abdominal fat to lose.
No need to cut calories...hell you should eat more! Cardio yes...weight training YES.
 
Thank for the response malkore!

I really do not starve myself; I eat whenever I'm hungry. If I force myself to eat another 500+ calories per day, what exactly will happen? Will I start gaining fat or muscle? Also, is it safe for me to burn 600-800 calories per day? Will that burn fat or will it burn muscle? Is there any point to 50% MHR cardio?
 
go do a harris benedict BMR calculation on yourself. You'll see it puts you at 1800 calories a day for BMR which is just the Basal Metabolic needs...it doesn't include working out or simply daily activities.

You may find that eating 500 calories MORE causes you to lose body fat more readily.
why?
Because the body won't think its starving and will start to burn fat for calorie needs, instead of breaking down lean muscle mass.
 
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