Should I really be eating this many calories!?
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Thank you for your advice Brandi
I heard HRM are not good for elliptical's since they don't count the resistance. So I might pass on it
Yeah I figure my body has got use to walking after 5 months. My husband was able to find one 5 pound weight, so I got that to work with
I do want to start a bit of strength training. My husband ordered me a Elliptical for my birthday and I'm hoping that will arrive soon. Monday I plan to start a beginners jogging routine for 5 weeks. It's really simple. Walk 4 minutes, jog 1 minute, repeat for about 25-30 minutes. But I figure it will help get me started in the right direction and the amount of time jogging increases over week while the time of walking decreases.
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Hello Sofaking,
I absolutely can't run at all unfortunately
I've tried jogging a little, but my legs get incredible sore and painful. So I stopped jogging until Monday so my legs can hopefully heal up. Then I plan to start a beginners jogging routine. Walk 4 minutes, jog 1 minute for about 25-30 minutes and it's 3 times a week. It gets harder every week Thank you so much for the kind words!! Dedicated is one word that really describes me and something I'm really proud of. I refuse to give up and will keep trying until my weight budges. I can get discouraged when my weight doesn't change for a while and want to give up, but I refuse too I really do think 2 hours of walking is a pretty long time, so I'm proud of that.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that sometimes has trouble losing weight. Bodies really are complicated.
I'm keeping my calorie limit to around what MFP suggests, so hopefully that will help me I just hope I'm not over eating. Today I reached 1,563 calories and I feel like that's a high amount. MFP says I'm suppose to eat 1,672 calories a day, but I'm pretty full right now so I don't think I should try to eat another 109 calories. I do feel a lot better eating a little more calories and I'm a lot more full. Normally on my other diet, I always feel hungry. I really am excited to get started with the elliptical once it comes! I think it will turn my body into a lean mean burning machine ha ha! At least that's the hope I lost a lot of calories with just walking, so I'm so excited to try the elliptical.
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My calories are logged in at 1,563 and I have finished drinking 10 cups of unsweetened tea I always love seeing my water cup overflow. I'm so glad I didn't go over my calorie limit since I was putting myself 300 calories higher than I really am. But I changed it to 312 for the whole day and I'm within my calorie limit which is wonderful!
I do feel like I'm eating a lot since I'm not use to this many calories, but I really do feel a lot better. On my other diet, I was constantly hungry. Now I am actually full!0 -
I also wanted to ask a question. I heard the elliptical is way over estimates the calorie burned as well. When I start using it, how much calories should I reduce the amount by to get a estimated calorie burn rate? Should it be 30% or 50% reduce? Or even another percentage?0
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I put myself as Moderately active, but I might need to change it to lightly active if I'm only burning 312 calories a day.
I think moderately active is fine given all the walking you've described. Are you referring to MFP? (I didn't actually realize it had a moderately active option, but thought it went from lightly active to active, which I've always thought was weird.) I'd say do that and then don't worry about also eating back walking calories.0 -
I have found that eating most of my calories earlier in the day works for me. I have a low carb dinner (lean protein and green leafy veggies cooked in olive oil). I work out after that so I am sure it's all burned off before I go to bed. I follow a bodybuilders "diet" and do 45 mins of intense cardio (elliptical, spinning, bike on a trainer, rowing) and push myself hard with free weights and machines. I do that 5 days a week and rest on weekends, although I might take a walk. I lost a ton of weight before (40lbs in 4 months) and was very lean and fit. Then aliens must have taken my brain because I gained it all back and then some! Either way, this worked for me and I was about 150lbs but almost in a size 6 (I have thick, muscular legs). I also don't go to bed within 2.3-3 hours of my last meal. The only carbs I might eat at night are the simple variety (e.g., fruit) because it has benefits when doing heavy weights and also will get burned off super fast and before I go to bed.
The smaller you get the harder it will be to burn the same amoun tof calories from the same activity. That's why larger people can lose weight faster than smaller people (all other things being equal). I agree with other posters that you should change up your exercising to keep your body guessing and also keep up your interest. You didn't mention if you do strength training but you pretty much have to in order to maximize your fat burning capabilities as you get smaller. HIIT is also effective for that as well. Just my opinion but I don't think walking is going to cut it a major way to lose fat. It can't hurt. But if you follow figure and fitness models and what they do to burn fat you will see they do major amounts of intense cardio.
Good luck.0 -
Here's my suggestion.
You are still obese. As you have 70+ you need to lose you should be able to lose 1% body weight per week safely. This would be 2.1 pounds per week.
Obviously as you get closer to your goal (and into the overweight/average weight range) you should drop it down to 1 pound per week to .5 pounds, etc. As you prepare for maintenance.
Here are your numbers. To maintain your current weight you would need roughly 2,400 calories per day. (Assuming you are sedentary)
To lose 2 pounds per week you would need 1,400 calories per day.
As far as walking is concerned the calories burned are significantly less than you are thinking. Generally walking burns a little over what you would burn laying around doing nothing, especially if it's low intensity. A heart rate monitor IS accurate for steady-state cardiovascular activity, however, walking may not raise your heart rate enough to accurately calculate calories burned.
My advice at this point would be to eat 1,400 calories and NOT log your walking as exercise. It's not burning as much as you think, AND myfitnesspal already assumes you're walking as part of your daily activity. I.e. Getting ready, going to work, grocery shopping, etc. MFP calculates your calories based on your TDEE.
TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) means the calories you burn on a regular day doing normal activity. When you set up MFP you selected "sedentary" "lightly active" "active", etc. So MFP took your BMR (calories you'd burn doing NOTHING aka breathing, pumping blood, etc.) and said "okay, she burns this much doing NOTHING and according to her she's active, so that means she burns x amount during the day with her walking, working, etc. Let's do her deficit off of that."
Does that make sense?
Anyway, unless you're running and really really pushing it above what you'd normally do in a day I wouldn't log it as exercise. It's very easy to overestimate how much you're actually burning, and MFP gives you the calories back to eat because it keeps your deficit the same...
Example: you maintain on 2,400 calories on an average day.
You want to lose 2 pounds per week so you'd eat 1,400 calories.
But wait today you burned your normal 2400 PLUS a really hard workout of 500 calories. You are now taking 2,900 calories to maintain your weight, so you'd need to eat 1,900 calories to maintain the "2 pounds per week" calorie goal.
Get it?
I hope this helps. You still got a ways to go, so keep at it! 0 -
I think you'll love the elliptical, don't worry if it seems really hard at first because you'll improve very quickly. When I used to do the elliptical at the gym, I would put in my weight (it asks for weight and age to calculate calories burned) as 10% under my actual weight to get a more accurate count. I would burn between 6-10 calories per minute on it - like 6 during my warmup/cooldown, 7-8 during the bulk of the workout and 9-10 when blasting it for a minute here or there. I'm short and 170 at my heaviest if that helps compare burns.0
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Hello Rainbow,
I know I'm still obese, but in exactly 16 pounds, you will never be able to call me that again I will just be fat. Also please don't say 70 +, it makes it sound like I have a lot more weight to lose than I really do. I need 71 pounds exactly left to lose.
I know as I get closer to my goal that it will take longer to drop the pounds.
I ate a little over 1,500 calories today so that is good I realize now that I am actually burning a lot less than what I really am from walking. I am losing about 312 calories a day from my walking of 2 hours
It does make sense and I changed my ranging to the lowest since walking isn't a high intense exercise Thank you for explaining the calories of a average day. I'm still pretty new to this, so I was confused a bit. 0 -
Hello Rainbow,
I know I'm still obese, but in exactly 16 pounds, you will never be able to call me that again I will just be fat. Also please don't say 70 +, it makes it sound like I have a lot more weight to lose than I really do. I need 71 pounds exactly left to lose.
I know as I get closer to my goal that it will take longer to drop the pounds.
I ate a little over 1,500 calories today so that is good I realize now that I am actually burning a lot less than what I really am from walking. I am losing about 312 calories a day from my walking of 2 hours
It does make sense and I changed my ranging to the lowest since walking isn't a high intense exercise Thank you for explaining the calories of a average day. I'm still pretty new to this, so I was confused a bit.
There's no "fat" weight range! Morbidly obese range, Obese range, overweight range, healthy range, underweight range, etc. Is how the scale goes. And it is over 70 pounds :P It doesn't matter if "obese" sounds demonizing or "over 70" sounds bad, it is what it is. Enough semantics though.
I just have one question because I'm really confused.. What do you mean by "I am losing about 312 calories a day from my walking of 2 hours "? You mean you are burning 312 extra calories a day?
Anyways, good luck on your journey!
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Well I mean I will be considered overweight and not Obese. It's only 1 pound over 70
I walk in the morning for 51-53 minutes and get 3.2-3.3 miles I thought I burned 300 calories for that, but it turns out it was only 156 . I do the same thing in the afternoon and burn another 156 calories. So 313 in total.
I don't count calories for my daily routine like grocery shopping, going some where, riding my bike, ect. Just the calories that I actually work on.0 -
Wow, reading all these different perspectives, suggestions and analysis gives me a headache! LOL0
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You will never get an 100% accurate estimate of your calories - I really think you're overthinking it. I do "different" activities - aka circuit training - and could never accurately estimate it, so I moved to the TDEE -20% method and have been MUCH happier. And I'm around the same size as you. If I didn't eat back any of my calories (I have a desk job so was in as sedentary, but hit the gym/barn daily), I would be starving. Not literally... but super super hungry...
The purpose of having extra calories from working out is to fuel said workouts. You earned that extra workout food!
Congratulations on your loss so far... but it's not a race. It doesn't matter how people say things. Own your weight loss and own how much more you have to lose. Good luck!0 -
Yeah calories are such a pain, especially when estimating how much you are losing. I know I am probably over thinking it and I haven't in the past, but it's driving me absolutely crazy to not lose anything in so long. I don't understand TDEE at all. It says my current TDEE is 2,379 calories. So I'm suppose to take 20% of that and that's suppose to be my daily calorie intake? If that's true, then me daily calorie intake should be 1,903? That would seem extremely high amount of calories for someone that is only lightly active and trying to lose weight, at least I think so. I was super hungry on my previous diet, but I bumped my calories up to 1,500ish and it has helped a lot.
It still is strange to me to eat back the calories you burned, but I understand your body needs fuel to keep going.
Thank you so much! I know it's not a race, but it doesn't mean I don't like setting goals for myself and at least lose 1 pound a week. I would love to lose 2 pounds a week for a while and hopefully get down to 185 so I won't be considered obese anymore. It's just nice to get as much weight off as you can, you also feel a lot better about yourself.0 -
Wonderful news guys! I woke up this morning and I'm back down to 200!!! I've been eating a bit more and feeling a lot better. The best part is now some people can't say 71 + anymore :P 0
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Jenniator, I wanted to apologies if I discouraged you about the HRM. It was not my intent. Also, since you still have 75 lbs to lose, your body can sustain a bit more than a 20% reduction to your TDEE. If anything, I would put your daily intake to 1500 as a starting point and NOT eat back exercise calories. I would make sure protein is adequate macros be around 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. This will give you about a 1.5 to 1.7 lb loss per week. If you want, you can add some body resistance training to help retain your muscle mass. This could include, squats, lunges, push ups, planks, pull ups (even with a resistance band and door attachment), etc...0
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Yeah calories are such a pain, especially when estimating how much you are losing. I know I am probably over thinking it and I haven't in the past, but it's driving me absolutely crazy to not lose anything in so long. I don't understand TDEE at all. It says my current TDEE is 2,379 calories. So I'm suppose to take 20% of that and that's suppose to be my daily calorie intake? If that's true, then me daily calorie intake should be 1,903? That would seem extremely high amount of calories for someone that is only lightly active and trying to lose weight, at least I think so. I was super hungry on my previous diet, but I bumped my calories up to 1,500ish and it has helped a lot.
It still is strange to me to eat back the calories you burned, but I understand your body needs fuel to keep going.
Thank you so much! I know it's not a race, but it doesn't mean I don't like setting goals for myself and at least lose 1 pound a week. I would love to lose 2 pounds a week for a while and hopefully get down to 185 so I won't be considered obese anymore. It's just nice to get as much weight off as you can, you also feel a lot better about yourself.
It's hard not to overthink it, I certainly do sometimes, but it sounds like you are doing what makes sense. Eating more because those low calories were getting hard to sustain and picking a reasonable number--1500-- and just trying it for a while. I also think 1500 and not worrying about exercise calories makes sense. This is not because your exercise isn't valuable, but trying to mess with calculating them is probably unnecessary, since you are consistent every week so they are part of your normal routine.
Congrats on getting back to 200 and good luck!
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Yeah calories are such a pain, especially when estimating how much you are losing. I know I am probably over thinking it and I haven't in the past, but it's driving me absolutely crazy to not lose anything in so long. I don't understand TDEE at all. It says my current TDEE is 2,379 calories. So I'm suppose to take 20% of that and that's suppose to be my daily calorie intake? If that's true, then me daily calorie intake should be 1,903? That would seem extremely high amount of calories for someone that is only lightly active and trying to lose weight, at least I think so. I was super hungry on my previous diet, but I bumped my calories up to 1,500ish and it has helped a lot.
It still is strange to me to eat back the calories you burned, but I understand your body needs fuel to keep going.
Thank you so much! I know it's not a race, but it doesn't mean I don't like setting goals for myself and at least lose 1 pound a week. I would love to lose 2 pounds a week for a while and hopefully get down to 185 so I won't be considered obese anymore. It's just nice to get as much weight off as you can, you also feel a lot better about yourself.
Yes that is accurate. Although I am a similar size (5'5", 205 lbs) and mine - 20% at working out 3 times a week is 1800.
You don't HAVE to eat that much if you aren't hungry, but it ends up being a more consistent value on non-workout days
I know exactly what you mean - I've been at 205 for 3 weeks now.. but for me, I KNOW I'm eating more at maintenance (sigh).0 -
It still is strange to me to eat back the calories you burned, but I understand your body needs fuel to keep going./quote]
Well, you don't HAVE TO eat back your walking burn. Given the difficulties in estimating what you do burn on walks, it's probably better if you don't, assuming you're not losing more than 1% of your body weight per week regularly.
The fuel your body uses to fund the deficit is your body fat. That fuels your walk as well as today's meals do. Eating a minimum amount today isn't so much a fueling issue as a nutrition one. Walking doesn't negate nutrition.
Good luck!0 -
That's alright psulemon, you didn't discourage me I just figured that it wouldn't really be important since I'm primary going to be using the elliptical. Maybe a little bit of jogging also. The HRM is really best for jogging, running, and things like that. Actually I have 70 pounds exactly left to lose whoo! For the past 2 days, I've been eating around 1,500 calories which I think is a good range. Thank you for the information I wasn't sure how much percent everything should be. I'm not good at pull up's or push up's, but I can try my best 0
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Hello lemurcat,
It really is hard to not overthink it. I'm such a worry wart and tend to overthink a lot of this :P 1,500 a day I think is really good! I don't feel as hungry and my body has enough calories for the day That is true the calories I burn are part of my normal routine, but I would like to think they do help with the weight.
Thank you I was so happy to see 200 on the scale this morning. 0 -
Hello arrrrjt,
It is still such a high amount. I think I will stick to 1,500 calories since I think that's more of a reasonable range
I don't eat when I'm not hungry since that's just extra calories I don't need. But it is a bit difficult to resist snacking, but I do pretty well at it
It really is difficult being stuck at the same weight for weeks when you are doing your best to eat healthy, maintain your calories, and stick to your workouts. It really is discouraging I really hope your weight will start budging soon 0 -
For breakfast I had 60 grams of All-Brain fiber: 256 calories.
Then after walking I had a turkey and spinach sandwich on whole-grain bread: 202 calories
for lunch I had 2 eggs with a lot of spinach, turkey lunch meat diced, and veggies mixed together: 300 calories
Dinner is chicken with noodles and veggies: 780 calories
I cheated and had 3 squares of chocolate since I was really craving for it: 113 calories. I'm really proud of myself though for having enough restraint to only eat 3 squares! Not everyone can do that But I feel bad for not sticking to my 1,500 limit
Total for the day: 1,651 calories without counting the exercise
Hopefully I am doing alright
Also Happy Halloween guys!
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Jeeze, when I walk an hour, which is 3 miles, it tells me I have only burned like 180 calories. It's for sure not 600. I would say don't eat back exercise calories because it's extremely hard to know how many calories you burned, even ballpark. Go with the calories your regular daily lifestyle burns (as calculated here or other reputable site).0
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Hello gothchiq,
Yeah unfortunately I believed I was burning 300 calories for 3.2 miles in 52 minutes since my walking app said it was around 320 and MFP said it was 312. But I learned I really am only burning around 156 calories per 52 minutes. I do hope it is around 180 though !! ha ha. But I count it as 156 to be sure. It really is difficult to figure out how many calories you burn with walking. I'm sticking around 1,500 without exercise and I think that's good 0 -
Omg rabbitjb, are you seriously?! So MFP says I burn 312 calories, so it's actually 156 calories for 51-53 minutes!? I thought a mile was 100 calories? Wow that is actually really sad to hear. I thought I was getting 600 a day, but it's really only 312 calories for 2 hours of walking?
And here I was so proud of myself for burning so many calories...I thought.
I'm a fairly new user with MFP, but one thing I noticed immediately when logging my exercise was that it was giving me my total calories burned (calories from exercise in addition to my BMR) when exercising instead of my net calories burned from exercise. In other words, for the time spent doing cardio, it was including the number of calories I would have burned had I spent that time sitting on the couch watching TV.
For an exercise such as walking, it's been calculated that you'll burn 0.3 calories per pound you weigh for every mile you walk. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and you walk one mile (0.3 x 200 x 1) you would burn 60 calories in addition to what you would burn had you spent that same time resting. In contrast, the average total calories burned per mile walking is .63 calories per pound you weigh. The total calories burned for that same 200 pound person walking a mile (.63 x 200 x 1) would be 128 calories. These numbers may vary a little bit based on your individual body and the speed you walk, but they are generally accepted as accurate. When MFP calculates your calories burned for walking a mile, it gives you 128 instead of 60.0 -
I can't afford a HRM at the moment so ive been using this website.
http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/walking-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
Takes in account your weight, distance and time. I like having something that dosn't use an average weight and speed to calculate. When i started I was at 4' 11" and 225 lbs none of the machines that take "averages" were anywhere near correct for me.0 -
Wow Peter you are awesome!! I am still new to nutrition and estimating calories, so all this is a bit confusing to me. But yeah I noticed that MFP way over estimates the calories. I didn't know you burn 0.3 calories per pound of your weight per mile you want. Even luckier, you used my exact weight I was thinking that I was burning around 156 calories for 3 miles. But really it is 180 calories if I'm 200 pounds right? 0
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Hello ktekc,
Yeah HRM are pretty expensive. Unfortunately that site is way way over estimating the calories. I entered my information and it says in 3 miles I would've burned 357 calories which is not possible :P0
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