You will lose 1 lb. if you burn 3,500 calories more than you consume. Eating 1,200 calories and burning 1,900 calories daily means you will lose 700 calories daily or 1 lb. every five days. However, you are risking your health if you eat 1,200 calories daily. Calories are a measurement of energy, and you need to eat far more than 1,200 calories daily if you want to have the energy to work, play, exercise and perform other everyday activities.
Warning
The minimum amount of energy that you need to live is called basal or resting metabolism. This energy ensures that your heart, kidneys, lungs and other internal organs function properly. It also maintains a normal body temperature. The average woman needs 1,100 calories daily to "keep the body functioning while at rest," and the average man needs 1,300, according to "Essentials for Health and Wellness." You will lose weight if you eat less, but you are also jeopardizing your life, the textbook reports.
Considerations
Your weight loss might be higher if you eat more than 1,200 calories daily, because extra calories can help you burn more calories. Average women need and burn 1,600 calories daily for everyday activities, and average men need and burn 2,000, reports The Merck Manual of Medical Information. You need more if you exercise. You can eat fewer calories if you're resting all day, but you will "experience more than just weight loss" if you exercise and eat too little, according to "Swim, Bike, Run." The potential hazards include injuries, infections and viruses.
Everyday Activities
Everyday activities can burn a lot of calories. Playing with your children burns 149 to 186 calories per 30 minutes if you weigh 155 lbs., according to a study of about 150 activities by the Harvard Heart Letter. You burn more calories if you're heavier and fewer calories if you're lighter. Outdoor activities such as raking leaves or mowing your lawn burn 149 to 223 calories per 30 minutes if you weigh 155 lbs. Watching television burns 28 calories per 30 minutes.
Exercise
Exercise often burns more calories than everyday activities. Several swimming activities, bicycling 14 to 16 mph, and running a mile in 10 minutes burn 372 calories per 30 minutes if you weigh 155 lbs., according to the Harvard Heart Letter study. If you weigh 155 lbs. and exercise for 30 minutes, you will burn 260 calories playing tennis and racquetball, ice skating and inline skating; 223 calories hiking and alternating between walking and jogging, and 167 calories walking 4 mph.
Potential
Swimming for an hour burns 344 more calories per 30 minutes than watching television. Playing with your children burns about 140 more calories per 30 minutes than watching television. One hour of swimming and one hour of playing with your children burns almost 1,000 more calories than watching television for two hours. Choosing swimming and playing with your children two hours per day, four days weekly will burn almost 4,000 calories, or more than 1 lb. more weekly if you eat enough to perform these activities.
References
- "Essentials for Health and Wellness"; Gordon Edlin, Eric Golanty, Kelli McCormack Brown; 2000
- The Merck Manual of Medical Information; 2003
- "Swim, Bike, Run"; Glenn Town and Todd Kearney; 1994
- Harvard Heart Letter: Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three Different Weights
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