I need help figuring this out.

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LuciaB1967
LuciaB1967 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a former Weight Watchers, I'm lifetime. I gained about 20 lbs back. I now decided to just count calories, because my last time trying WW was not successful. I can't for the life of me think that if I didn't count fruit and vegetables on WW I have to count them now.
That said, I'm having a hard time losing weight. I exercise 5-6 days a week for about an hour a day and earn about 400 calories a day. Most of the times I don't eat any of them. Can anybody help?

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  • tracyt6
    tracyt6 Posts: 1 Member
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    Upgrade to the premium plan log everything and look at your nutrition, especially your macro's. I had gained a pound in a week and couldn't understand why until I looked at my macro's and seen that my fats and carbs were higher then my protein. I reevaluated my eating habits, adjusted my diet, increased my water to 1 gallon a day instead of just 64 ozs and lost 2.4 lbs the following week.

  • Designer20698
    Designer20698 Posts: 23 Member
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    Hi LuciaB1967, I too am a lifetime member of WW. (I'm 8 lbs over goal so I pay) There program does work but has gotten so stinking expensive that it is no longer in my budget. Fruits and veggies do have calories and must be accounted for. As in WW, they are zero points, but only to a limit. You can't eat a pound of grapes everyday and expect to loose weight.
    I've taken what I've learned from WW and have applied it here, and the most important thing is PORTION CONTROL! Use your tools...measuring cups & spoons to keep everything in balance. It's easy to get right back on the band wagon of "it looks about right" when it's not. Food items have a way of sneaking up in size.
    Also, not every calorie is a "good" calorie. Proteins and carbs have 4 calories per gram while fats have 9. Holy smoke! So be mindful of those fat grams. They are weight loss death. (Not all fats are bad, but they have a lot of evil cousins.)
    One last thing...don't "eat" your exercise calories. They are just excess fuel. If you eat them then you are just maintaining your weight.

    I hope some of this helps. This has also helped me as a reminder of what I have to do everyday. It's not a diet, but a lifestyle.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,119 Member
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    I have always eaten every delicious exercise calorie. I've maintained my weight loss for nine years.

    This site uses different algorithms to calculate your calories allotted, and it is intended that you eat those exercise calories. Why not fuel the body correctly? I never had trouble losing weight when I ate all the calories earned by exercise. @Designer20698, if you want to not eat them, of course that is a choice, but it's not necessary to be hungry.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Designer20698 wrote: »
    Hi LuciaB1967, I too am a lifetime member of WW. (I'm 8 lbs over goal so I pay) There program does work but has gotten so stinking expensive that it is no longer in my budget. Fruits and veggies do have calories and must be accounted for. As in WW, they are zero points, but only to a limit. You can't eat a pound of grapes everyday and expect to loose weight.
    I've taken what I've learned from WW and have applied it here, and the most important thing is PORTION CONTROL! Use your tools...measuring cups & spoons to keep everything in balance. It's easy to get right back on the band wagon of "it looks about right" when it's not. Food items have a way of sneaking up in size.
    Also, not every calorie is a "good" calorie. Proteins and carbs have 4 calories per gram while fats have 9. Holy smoke! So be mindful of those fat grams. They are weight loss death. (Not all fats are bad, but they have a lot of evil cousins.)
    One last thing...don't "eat" your exercise calories. They are just excess fuel. If you eat them then you are just maintaining your weight.

    I hope some of this helps. This has also helped me as a reminder of what I have to do everyday. It's not a diet, but a lifestyle.

    A few notes on this advice: use a foods scale, not measuring cups and spoons. They aren't accurate for the most part.

    And MFP is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. Your deficit is already built into your calorie goal. And if not eating back your exercise calories drops you under 1200 in a day you are not going to get the nutrition your body needs and could suffer side effects (hair loss, fatigue...). That's fine for a day here and there, but not long term.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    Buy a food scale. Weigh all your solids.
    Measuring cups for liquids.
    You must count fruits and veggies, they do have calories. Yesterday I ate 1,158 calories from fruits and veggies.


    Remember- weight loss comes from a calorie deficit. Eat less then you burn and you'll lose weight. If your not losing weight, your not at a calorie deficit. For weight loss to occur you must create a calorie deficit. Calories in calories out
  • LuciaB1967
    LuciaB1967 Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks all for the inputs, I will start counting my fruit and veggies calories as of today. As for my exercise calories, I'm still trying to lose, so for now I'm trying to stay away from them. I might eat them, when it's time to maintain.
  • Designer20698
    Designer20698 Posts: 23 Member
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    Good idea Veryana! I forgot about the scale. Another useful tool. I've always told my students that you have to have the right tools to do the job. You wouldn't use a shoe to hammer a nail into a 2x4. The right tools make all the difference. Thanks for reminding me to get my food scale in my weight loss tool box. :)
  • daniip_la
    daniip_la Posts: 678 Member
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    LuciaB1967 wrote: »
    Thanks all for the inputs, I will start counting my fruit and veggies calories as of today. As for my exercise calories, I'm still trying to lose, so for now I'm trying to stay away from them. I might eat them, when it's time to maintain.

    Quick input here - exercise calories will not make you maintain, unless you are grossly overestimating them. MFP has your deficit built in the amount of calories it's telling you to eat. Not eating exercise calories will make your deficit bigger, possibly even too big if you're already eating the minimum amount of calories recommended.
  • Designer20698
    Designer20698 Posts: 23 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    I have always eaten every delicious exercise calorie. I've maintained my weight loss for nine years.

    This site uses different algorithms to calculate your calories allotted, and it is intended that you eat those exercise calories. Why not fuel the body correctly? I never had trouble losing weight when I ate all the calories earned by exercise. @Designer20698, if you want to not eat them, of course that is a choice, but it's not necessary to be hungry.

    Kudos to you for maintaining your loss for so long! I'm waiting for the day I can say that. :) You must have the upgraded version of MFP. When I add my work-out calorie burn it automatically ups my daily calorie count. So my day went from 1200 calories to sometimes over 3000 calories. YIKES!!! Eating that much is how I got here in the first place. LOL!
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    Designer20698 wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I have always eaten every delicious exercise calorie. I've maintained my weight loss for nine years.

    This site uses different algorithms to calculate your calories allotted, and it is intended that you eat those exercise calories. Why not fuel the body correctly? I never had trouble losing weight when I ate all the calories earned by exercise. @Designer20698, if you want to not eat them, of course that is a choice, but it's not necessary to be hungry.

    Kudos to you for maintaining your loss for so long! I'm waiting for the day I can say that. :) You must have the upgraded version of MFP. When I add my work-out calorie burn it automatically ups my daily calorie count. So my day went from 1200 calories to sometimes over 3000 calories. YIKES!!! Eating that much is how I got here in the first place. LOL!

    I don't think you fully understand how MFP works. That is exactly what is supposed to happen - it adds your exercise calorie burn to your base calories. It's supposed to - that keeps you at the deficit you asked MFP for. Now, many people (not all) find that the exercise calories are inflated for them, so they'll eat a percentage - such as 50-75% of them.

    When you're more active, you burn more and need fuel your body appropriately for health. Hence, you are able to eat more while still maintaining a deficit.
  • Designer20698
    Designer20698 Posts: 23 Member
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    This is the difference between Total Calorie Burn (TCB) and Net Calorie Burn (NCB). TCB is the number of calories that you burn by just living…breathing, heart beating, etc. Even if you were just sitting on the sofa all day. NCB is the calories burned during exercise. There is a formula to determine the difference. Multiply 12 calories by the number of pounds you weight. An example would be a 130 lb woman burns 1560 calories a day just with normal activity (65 calories per hour)
    The TCB is misleading on our machines or devices…they tell us how many calories we burned in that time we exercise, but it does not take into account the amount we would have burned if we were doing nothing. So that same 130 lb woman worked out for an hour and her Fitbit says she’s burned 450 calories, only actually burned 385. (65 would have burned naturally.)
    Maintenance would suggest that consuming those 385 calories would keep her weight level or a slower weight loss. Not consuming them would be beneficial in a faster or greater loss. Consuming the full 450 calories will more than likely add girth to her waist over time.
    This is why I suggest not eating all those extra “burned” calories. You may have to work out longer and more often than you think.
    But, as with everything it is ultimately the decision of each person what they want to do. Everyone has to do what they feels works best for them. I’m just providing the science. :smiley:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,119 Member
    edited June 2016
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    .nm
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Designer20698 wrote: »
    This is the difference between Total Calorie Burn (TCB) and Net Calorie Burn (NCB). TCB is the number of calories that you burn by just living…breathing, heart beating, etc. Even if you were just sitting on the sofa all day. NCB is the calories burned during exercise. There is a formula to determine the difference. Multiply 12 calories by the number of pounds you weight. An example would be a 130 lb woman burns 1560 calories a day just with normal activity (65 calories per hour)
    The TCB is misleading on our machines or devices…they tell us how many calories we burned in that time we exercise, but it does not take into account the amount we would have burned if we were doing nothing. So that same 130 lb woman worked out for an hour and her Fitbit says she’s burned 450 calories, only actually burned 385. (65 would have burned naturally.)
    Maintenance would suggest that consuming those 385 calories would keep her weight level or a slower weight loss. Not consuming them would be beneficial in a faster or greater loss. Consuming the full 450 calories will more than likely add girth to her waist over time.
    This is why I suggest not eating all those extra “burned” calories. You may have to work out longer and more often than you think.
    But, as with everything it is ultimately the decision of each person what they want to do. Everyone has to do what they feels works best for them. I’m just providing the science. :smiley:

    Except MFP takes all that into account and subtracts your maintenance calories from the number brought over from fitbit.

    Everyone is different and that's why everyone has their own percentage for eating back exercise calories. I typically do 50% and am still losing at the same rate. I've seen others who eat back 100% and they still lose.
  • catsdogsh
    catsdogsh Posts: 130 Member
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    I now see why WW never worked for me. I now remember the fruit and veggies free for all then not being able to understand why the scale never moved
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Weight watchers deliberately keeps their calories on the too lower end to make up for the "free" fruits and veggies, confirming the fact that there are no free foods.

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