You burn calories by simply living, not only the exercise you do.  Your BMR
(Basal Metabolic Rate) is an estimate of calories used to keep you
breathing, maintaining body temperature, etc.

Among many BMR calculators, here is a link to one...

http://www.dieting-review.com/bmrcalc.htm

So for example, if you were a 30 year old, 5'4" female who weighed 150
pounds, your BMR would be approximately 1459.  Your 1700 calories would
cause you to gain weight if you did absolutely no activities.  If your 230
calories on the tredmill were the ONLY thing that you did, you would stay
about even, eating 1700 calories, and buring 1689.

Imagine that it takes 2000 calories a day for you to live.  And if you cut
back by 500, you will lose approx. 1 lb/wk.  By adding the treadmill, you
have two choices.  First you can eat a little more and still maintain a
reasonable weight loss or you can lose weight 50 percent faster.

In addition to the calories burned on the treadmill, it has other benefits
as well.  It can help with appetite suppression, it keeps you off the sofa
eating, it is good for self esteem, metabolism in general and does all sorts
of nice things for you including prevention of some disease.

Something I read lately about exercise and diet pointed out that people who
engage in moderate exercise do not lose that much more than those who do not
exercise but the long term success rate of those exercised was clearly
better.

j

That's arithmetic not just an agreement between the professionals
you talked to.  input +2000 - burn up 300 = 1700 left over.

What you are talking about is why the US Surgeon General has
changed the exercise recommendation to 1 hour not 30 minutes.
I can lose weight with an hour of exercise a day as long as
I'm eating low-fat.

That's why I keep posting to ignore the calorie issues, you're
just going to make yourself crazy.  Use portion sizes, limited
fat, an hour a day of exercise for several months, and if your
clothes aren't getting looser, exercise harder.

you burn off calories by maintaining higher than ambient body
temperature, by having your heart beat every second, by fidgeting, etc
etc etc. Even when you watch TV your body gets a little
workout. Energy expenditure at rest is called Base Metabolic Rate
(BMR).

i