Can I lose weight while exercising?

zztoolzz87

So I started eating 1200 calories in February 2016 and by June I was down 55lbs and weighed 189. I decided to start working out at orange theory. I work out 6 - 7 days a week. I burn about 530 calories in 1 work out. When I started working out everyone said I needed to eat 2100. After a month of working out and eating 2100 calories I gained 20lbs and weighted 210. After another month of doing the same thing I was at 202. I decided to cut my calories down to 1700. I dropped to 195 but stayed there and couldn't lose. I dropped my calories to 1200 and started losing again but felt light headed.

How can I exercise and lose weight? Some people say I need to eat 2100 calories but when I did that I was not losing weight. Others say I need to stop exercising and just diet to lose weight. I need help. Am I eating too little? Should I not count calories?

malibu927

Who was telling you to eat 2100 a day? A trainer?

Set your goals on here to a pound a week (which should give you more than 1200 calories but likely nowhere near 2100). Eat that much plus a portion of your exercise calories. And make sure you're logging everything as accurately as possible. This may include making sure 100% of the foods you eat get logged, using a scale to weigh all solids and measuring cups for all liquids, double-checking that the entries you use are accurate, utilizing the recipe builder instead of homemade/generic meals in the database, and being mindful of the exercise calories burned and eaten back.

H_Ock12

I eat at 1000-1200 calories a day (depending on how hungry I am) and have been losing since February. I run once/twice a week, and do cardio and weights in the gym three days a week. If you're feeling light headed, play around with modifying your eating times/amounts. You can also try eating some of your exercise calories back if you feel like you aren't getting enough food on days you work out.

Lizarking

Get your food quality and macros in order. You might need to trim your exercise a bit, or get more efficient, depending on what you're doing.

Packerjohn

Many people on here will suggest eating back 1/2 of your exercise calories if you're trying to lose weight. In you case if you were at 1200, feeling good and losing while sedentary, you would want to eat 1200+265 on days you exercise (or some combination where it averages our over a period of say a week).

Best of luck.

NorthCascades

Of course you can burn calories while exercising. Most people who have lost weight have incorporated some type of exercise so that proves it can be done.

If you were eating 1,200 kCal per day and started doing 530 kCal worth of exercise, why on earth would you think you should be eating 2,100 kCal per day? 1,200 + 530 = 1,730 kCal.

From your experience it sounds like you were probably burning slightly less than you expected during your exercise.

ndj1979

so you increased your calories by 900 per day (1200 + 900) and want to know why you gained 20 pounds?

what are you using to determine calories burned and what are you doing to burn 530 calories an hour?

ETA - yes, you can lose weight while exercising you just need to be in a calorie deficit...

cwolfman13

Your calorie intake should be based on what's actually happening, not what some random person in the gym tells you.

If you're training regularly it is likely you need more than 1200 though...thus the light headedness.

zztoolzz87

The trainers at orangetheory said 1200 was starving myself. They said I needed to eat 1600 just to meet my bmr and then on days I work out I should eat back what I burned so that made up the 2100 calories. But to me that sounds like I would maintain my weight doing that.

Spliner1969

zztoolzz87 wrote: »

The trainers at orangetheory said 1200 was starving myself. They said I needed to eat 1600 just to meet my bmr and then on days I work out I should eat back what I burned so that made up the 2100 calories. But to me that sounds like I would maintain my weight doing that.

Have you tried calculating your BMR and TDEE yourself? There are lots of websites that will help you with that. Those are both numbers you should know. Try IIFYM.com and use their TDEE calculator or their IIFYM calculator if you want to factor in exercise as well.

Lizarking

How much protein are you getting? how exactly are you exercising?

rileysowner

So what calories does MFP give you as a goal when you enter your information and set a goal like 1 pound per week?

zztoolzz87

I have went to all the websites to calculate my bmr, it ranges from 1500- 1700, when I add in my exercise it says I should be eating 2100- 2700 (depending on site). I workout for 1 hour, it's 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes doing weights/ floor/ rowing. My heart rate is between 85 and 92 percent of my max for about 25 minutes of my workout.

Lizarking

530 is probably pretty generous given that workout. Assuming you aren't running/sprinting or doing HIIT on the treadmill.

Heart rate is more or less irrelevant. If you're using a HRM for weight lifting, it will overestimate in a dramatic fashion.

If you ARE walking, and not running, and ASSUMING you're strength training, I'd only hit the treadmill for a few minutes before lifting, then finish on the treadmill after.

zztoolzz87

I eat about 110g of protein each day. If I change my goal to lose 1lb a week mfp says I should eat 1550 calories.

zztoolzz87

It is HIIT.

zztoolzz87

Everything I find online about my bmr and exercising says to eat a ridiculous about of calories but I'm thinking that's for people wanting to gain muscle, maybe they are already at the percent of body fat they want. I'm more focused on losing body fat than gaining a lot of muscle.

ndj1979

zztoolzz87 wrote: »

Everything I find online about my bmr and exercising says to eat a ridiculous about of calories but I'm thinking that's for people wanting to gain muscle, maybe they are already at the percent of body fat they want. I'm more focused on losing body fat than gaining a lot of muscle.

if you want to lose body fat then you need to be in a calorie deficit. I would suggest plugging your states into MFP and setting it for one pound per week weight loss and see what number you get...

and be wary of what some "trainer" from orange theory tells you ..most of those folks get their knowledge from bro-science university ...

ndj1979

are you using a food scale to weigh your portions?
do you log everything you eat?

rileysowner

zztoolzz87 wrote: »

I eat about 110g of protein each day. If I change my goal to lose 1lb a week mfp says I should eat 1550 calories.

BMR is largely irrelevant since it is simple the amount needed to maintain your body without any activity. If you go with the 1550 and eat say 200 extra calories on your workout days things would probably start going in the right direction assuming your logging is accurate.

zztoolzz87

I log everything I eat. I weigh and measure everything. When I change my mfp to lose 1lb a week it tells me to eat 1550 calories.