Exercise more... But eat WAY more

vinerie

There is really interesting research on the relationship between taking up exercise and gaining weight. Not muscle, but fat.

An excerpt from a New York Times piece on such research:

"At the end of 12 weeks, the women were all significantly more aerobically fit than they had been at the start. But many were fatter. Almost 70 percent of the women had added at least some fat mass during the program, and several had gained as much as 10 pounds, most of which was from fat, not added muscle."

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/exercising-but-gaining-weight/?_r=0

The researchers think that the women who began exercising ate more calories than they were burning.

I can totally relate.

Yesterday I went kayaking all day. I am incredibly sore today. It was fun being on the water for so long, I really pushed myself and I felt what I call "good-tired" afterwards (tired from physical activity-- not boredom, not stress, etc.).

But I was about 500 cals over my limit. We packed a good lunch but I was famished when I got home. I drank a big glass of water, but my stomach was still growling. I ate cheese and crackers, some olives, and some chips and salsa-- all before dinner. I ended the day 500 cals over my limit. This was frustrating as I had worked so hard physically. The joy of being on the water was good for the spirit-- I don't want to minimize that. But I wish I could have kept to a deficit.

So to bring this back to the study-- I can see how exercise can lead to weight gain unless you are super disciplined about eating. It's hard, though, when your stomach is growling after a full day of physical activity. I almost think it is easier to ignore the feeling of hunger for a bit if you haven't exercised.

I believe strongly that exercise is vital for a healthy body and mind. But it's not a magic weight loss trick, either.

TavistockToad

Exercise for fitness, not weight loss.

Loads of people overestimate their burn, so they spend 45 minutes in the gym then treat themselves to a muffin... Burn 300 cals, eat 500...

bluworld

TavistockToad wrote: »

Exercise for fitness, not weight loss.

Loads of people overestimate their burn, so they spend 45 minutes in the gym then treat themselves to a muffin... Burn 300 cals, eat 500...

Yup. I prepped myself against this mindset when I added in weights.
Pre logging really helps.

RosieRose7673

Yeah I see that. Lots of people will exercise a bit and the justify eating tons of food. I used to work at the Cheesecake Factory and I remember hearing people say, "oh! I ran 2 miles today! I can have that cheesecake!" They would proceed to eat the entire cheesecake after finishing off their main meal. Their entire caloric intake for that meal would probably have been in the range of 2000-3000 calories.

I'm not saying your justifying anything at all. You know about nutrition and how to lose weight you just had an off day! 500 calories isn't that bad! But I think a vast majority of people feel that if they do a little exercise... They can stuff whatever they want into their mouths!

lauracups

I battled with this conundrum for YEARS before I started counting calories. I worked out HARD. But I was still very overweight borderline obese, and confused as to why. I thought I needed those calories because I "felt" hungry. THEN I was injured "couldn't" (wouldn't ) workout and it all got WAY worse! I quit smoking then quit drinking (and the snacking that went with it) dropped 30 then joined mfp losing the rest by being REALLY aware of cico. Still having to make tweaks as I go. If you have a day that's up and above more active and the hunger is too and you've already met your goal for the day something small like oz of cheese or nuts does the trick without putting you too over.
Good luck!

brendak76

Yes that was me. Gaining weight for every race I trained for including 2 marathons. I decided to make the counterintuitive decision to exercise LESS to lose weight and it's working for me!! When I exercise in a less extreme fashion, im able to focus on eating less and I'm not insanely hungry, tired, and sore all the time.

shadowfax_c11

Yep I am starting to realize that this is exactly why I am so over weight despite having a really active lifestyle. I never thought I was eating badly. Just fueling myself for my activity needs. MFP is providing me with quite an education. I try to save myself enough calories for a satisfying snack after a hard workout. For me an ounce of cheese jsut won't cut it most days.

I have read that chocolate milk is a great recovery drink (the right ratio of carbs and protein) so I may start just incorporating that as my evening post-workout snack.

TimothyFish

All last summer, I rode my bicycle more than I had in quite a while and at the end of summer I decided to step on the scales because I was convinced that I must have lost several pounds. I was two pounds less than the highest weight I had ever seen on the scale. All the exercise in the world won't help you lose weight if you don't watch what you eat.

ajcamber

TavistockToad wrote: »

Exercise for fitness, not weight loss.

Best advice I have ever been given!
I do track my exercise but, just to have a measure of my fitness progress. One thing that really helps me post workout is to drink a protein shake right after exercise, it tends to help me not want to eat everything in sight.

snowflakesav

The study is was pretty much designed to get the headline. I always read what was involved in the study in these articles and this one seems like there is so little difference between the control group and the study group that it is pretty meaningless.

The women walked on treadmills at the laboratory three times per week for 30 minutes

In my mind isn't a lot of additional calories burnt in a week (450-600) Just way too easy to eat back that amount of calories by having 1 latte. (as they suspect)

snowflake954

This was me. I've been swimming for 20 yrs and on MFP for 2. Before, I had what I call "weight creep", I was not sedentary and swam 2-3 times a week, but was slowly getting heavier. So frustrating! I couldn't figure out why--I was carefull of what I ate. Once I started MFP it was all clear. When you exercise and are hungry, you need to eat more--but how much more?, that, is the million dollar question. I finally knew exactly (or close) how much I should be eating. Now, I hear women at the pool just starting, expecting to lose weight. I think, it's probably not going to go how you think. Others are complaining of weight gain despite exercising. I think a normal person thinks exercise=weight loss. This is not true. Now I think CICO.

eileensofianmushinfine

I keep protein bars in the house for after my workouts. This way, if I'm hungry, I don't bang out too many calories and it helps me hit my protein macro. Also, I've started snacking on packages of grape tomatoes....about 100 calories per container (about 24 tomatoes)....just enough to hold me until dinner.

505n8v

Over the past 3 years, I've lost 80lbs. Since then, I've been struggling with the 20lbs that I want to lose. I use to work out 6x week, weights and cardio, I've trained for and completed my first half marathon. With all this work I've managed to maintain my weight loss +-5lbs. Like a few people have said, we tend to think, well, I tell myself "I ran x miles today, I can eat this today." I have read a lot in these forums and am thankful for all the information and advice given. Today, I will start logging and weighing my food and not use exercise as an excuse to eat what I want.

annaskiski

One running web site posted a question, "What is the biggest mistake you made training for a marathon?"
Number one answer? "thinking I could eat as much as I wanted, cause I was running so much"

People were running hours every day training for the marathon, and many complained that they had packed on as much as 30 lbs.

F00LofaT00K

When I exercise, my brain tells me to EAT! I absolutely see how these results came about! Until I started counting calories, I felt defeated because I would work out and see very little change.

llUndecidedll

You have to remember that the foods we eat now are way more calorie dense than what nature naturallly gives us. If you were famished and decided to feast on apples, oranges, cabbage, ugh even a small animal until you felt satisfied, I'm sure you would have felt full long before you went into a surplus. Or the surplus wouldn't have been that much. Well, that's the way I always think about it. My opinion that's all.

janejellyroll

llUndecidedll wrote: »

You have to remember that the foods we eat now are way more calorie dense than what nature naturallly gives us. If you were famished and decided to feast on apples, oranges, cabbage, ugh even a small animal until you felt satisfied, I'm sure you would have felt full long before you went into a surplus. Or the surplus wouldn't have been that much. Well, that's the way I always think about it. My opinion that's all.

Nature didn't "give us" most of the plants we eat regularly. We selectively bred them, from their wild ancestors, to meet our own tastes.

999tigger

snowflakesav wrote: »

The study is was pretty much designed to get the headline. I always read what was involved in the study in these articles and this one seems like there is so little difference between the control group and the study group that it is pretty meaningless.

The women walked on treadmills at the laboratory three times per week for 30 minutes

In my mind isn't a lot of additional calories burnt in a week (450-600) Just way too easy to eat back that amount of calories by having 1 latte. (as they suspect)

+1 the study was pretty meaningless.
If the women counted calories, then the exercise gives them the hoice of whether to eat back or not. If they had chosen not to then they would have lost. Exercise affects peoples appetites in different ways and not everyone gets hungrier. Even when i do long burns i.e 20-30k on the erg it doesnt make me any hungrier. It maybe because I hydrate and fuel up, but im not famished when I leave.

If you arent tracking calories and controlling the deficit then the results arent surprisng at all.
Also a similar argyment for people who use diet drinks, they can overcompensate, so its really the people who are the cause and not the activity. Track your food and you avoid the issue.

uvi5

snowflakesav wrote: »

The study is was pretty much designed to get the headline. I always read what was involved in the study in these articles and this one seems like there is so little difference between the control group and the study group that it is pretty meaningless.

The women walked on treadmills at the laboratory three times per week for 30 minutes

In my mind isn't a lot of additional calories burnt in a week (450-600) Just way too easy to eat back that amount of calories by having 1 latte. (as they suspect)

I'm so glad you said this. I don't want to read this article, so now I don't have to. I was having a lighter exercise day yesterday. I had to run a bunch of errands (I don't include that in my exercise calories in my diary) and walked 100 minutes + 32 minutes of step aerobics. MFP burn calulates 760 calories burned. I ate 180 extra calories of that. On the days I burn 1000 + I eat about half. I'm shrinking, but slowly, which now I am very happy with. I love exercise, but for many reasons, not just to be able to eat. But I can see where people can get the idea that if they walk or run for 1.5 hours they can eat any and everything after and totally go over the limit, just to gain wait. That would completely justify CICO. Logging and understanding calories has helped me understand what I am actually eating/burning. But, I don't get hungry after workouts. I get thirsty and down 20 oz's of water and wait quite a while before I actually eat, since my habits have changed for the better. I believe exercise helps a lot with the fat loss, but I'm learning to be realistic on how much I actually burn, because the slice of cheesecake I would eat could easily be 800 calories and take less than 20 minutes to eat it and that would be over what I burned yesterday. I'm still figuring it out, but I love the workouts and the overall good feeling of them.

llUndecidedll

janejellyroll wrote: »

llUndecidedll wrote: »

You have to remember that the foods we eat now are way more calorie dense than what nature naturallly gives us. If you were famished and decided to feast on apples, oranges, cabbage, ugh even a small animal until you felt satisfied, I'm sure you would have felt full long before you went into a surplus. Or the surplus wouldn't have been that much. Well, that's the way I always think about it. My opinion that's all.

Nature didn't "give us" most of the plants we eat regularly. We selectively bred them, from their wild ancestors, to meet our own tastes.

Yes. I know we have plenty of hybrids.

uvi5

snowflake954 wrote: »

This was me. I've been swimming for 20 yrs and on MFP for 2. Before, I had what I call "weight creep", I was not sedentary and swam 2-3 times a week, but was slowly getting heavier. So frustrating! I couldn't figure out why--I was carefull of what I ate. Once I started MFP it was all clear. When you exercise and are hungry, you need to eat more--but how much more?, that, is the million dollar question. I finally knew exactly (or close) how much I should be eating. Now, I hear women at the pool just starting, expecting to lose weight. I think, it's probably not going to go how you think. Others are complaining of weight gain despite exercising. I think a normal person thinks exercise=weight loss. This is not true. Now I think CICO.

I just googled this. And I can totally see how some can get the wrong idea about exercise burns:

"A 130-pound person swimming freestyle for one hour will burn 590 calories swimming fast, and 413 calories swimming slower. A 155-pound person swimming freestyle for one hour will burn 704 calories swimming fast, and 493 calories swimming slower."

Even the highest "burn", in one hour would not cover my slice of cheesecake. I will have cheesecake, but know how to fit it in (someday). I would have to workout a lot more that day and/or compensate by eating less calories of everything else for that day. I'm so happy I'm learning this now. My ignorance was not bliss before, just mass frustration.