exercise

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humpbackgirl
humpbackgirl Posts: 63 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I do go to the gym every weekday when I can. But there are times I am there for an hour and I feel like I haven't burned enough calories to catch up with eating. How can I tell when it's enough?
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  • tennileb
    tennileb Posts: 265 Member
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    switch , eat to catch up witch activity.
  • humpbackgirl
    humpbackgirl Posts: 63 Member
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    I thought to lose weight I had to burn more than what I eat. (Unless I was on the biggest loser I don't know how I can burn 1500 cals)
  • tennileb
    tennileb Posts: 265 Member
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    Be careful about getting into a cycle of eating more than what you plannnd then exercising to get rid of that over indulgence.

    This is a great post
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10303793/who-gained-weight-during-the-holidays-i-have-a-solution/p1
  • tennileb
    tennileb Posts: 265 Member
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    To loose weight yes you need to burn more than you eat, part of that burn is just being alive, for me to loose weight I can eat about 1250 calories that is if I am in 100% couch potato mode, yesterday I burnt an extra 490 calories exercising, I eat back about 1/2 my exercise calories (1250+ 250=~1500) my strategy is to plan my diet based on couch potato mode (1250 for me) then I add a small pre exercise snack and a small post exercise snack , this way I get enough energy to work out but limit overages...
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    When they say "Burn more than you eat," it doesn't mean "Burn in the gym."

    You are constantly burning calories. Ever single breath you take burns a few calories. If you came home from work and sat on the sofa watching TV you'd still probably burn 1500 calories a day, depending on your height and weight and what oyu do at work.

    How you know you've burned enough calories? You use the calculator on this site to figure out how many calories you are burning in an average day WITHOUT the gym, and then you add in your workouts, and that tells you how many calories you "Burnt" all day. Did you eat less than that? Then good, you're great.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,679 Member
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    What exercises are you doing at the gym? How intense? Is exercise new to you? An hour of running or stair-stepping will burn a lot more than an hour of walking, but you have to build up to that. Aerobic exercise will burn more than weights, but both are good to do.

    It takes time to get to the point where you are burning enough calories with exercise to really make a difference, though if you are brand new to exercise (i.e. a total couch potato) any exercise will rev up your metabolism somewhat. The big problem with many new exercisers is they think they've burned more than they have, so a post workout snack can replace all the calories burned.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    You burn calories just by living. You don't even need to enter a gym. The goal MFP gives you will allow you to lose weight without any exercise.
  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
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    I just had a peek at your food diary. I'm surprised you can do anything at all besides sit on the couch. You hardly eat anything. If I were your age I'd be losing 10 pounds a week doing what your doing.
  • humpbackgirl
    humpbackgirl Posts: 63 Member
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    just because i'm fat doesn't make me lazy >< i am faaar from lazy. even before this. i just added more exercise to my already lifestyle change
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,395 MFP Moderator
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    Getting fit is not just about doing more, it's about doing the right combination of things. Essentially, you can only work on doing cardio, eat low calorie diets and work to burn a ton of calories, but I rarely have seen people happy with the overall results. Ideally, there should be a balance between adequate calories, protein and solid training (cardio + weight training). Often, what people do want, is fat loss, not necessarily weight loss.

    So at some point, I would take a deep look into what you would like to achieve long term, and establish a plan to achieve that. And I would suggest doing this sooner than later because short term decisions do effect long term goals.
  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
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    Oh no I didn't mean that in a mean way,at all. I'm sorry. I just meant that you're not eating much. I'm in awe actually and I wish I could have such discipline. I would never call anyone lazy because I'm actually really lazy. I barely get in 5000 steps a day and I don't exercise at all. I still lose at 1400 cals and I'm 56.
  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
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    Plus I'm a stay at home mom with a messy, cluttered home. If you looked up lazy in the dictionary there would be a picture of me. I'm really sorry to have come off like that. Please forgive me.
  • WatchJoshLift
    WatchJoshLift Posts: 520 Member
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    humpbackgirl wrote: »
    just because i'm fat doesn't make me lazy >< i am faaar from lazy. even before this. i just added more exercise to my already lifestyle change

    No one called you lazy. However, according to your diary you are not eating enough for your active lifestyle. This is what @Barbs2222 is trying to tell you.
  • humpbackgirl
    humpbackgirl Posts: 63 Member
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    I'm sorry for misinterpreting. I do get the "how are you active etc" comments alot in RL when I do work out so I thought it was going the same way. I'm very sorry :(
  • tennileb
    tennileb Posts: 265 Member
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    Most humans over estimate their activity and under estimate their intake, unless they have exceedingly rare health conditions if you eat less then you burn ( living +exercising) then the scale goes down. I'm not saying that to be cruel or mean. It applies equally to me, tracking accurately is hard, one cracker here, an extra spoonful of mashed potatoes ( you know to test them before dinner) and all of a sudden I can take in and extra 200+ over the course of a day.

    I didn't see anyone calling you lazy.

    Are you tracking 100% accurately (I know I'm not), are you getting your calories burnt from a heart rate monitor or the cardio machine or MFP's estimate....I was amazed how much I underestimated things like peanut butter, I thought I was using 1 tbsp , I was actually using more like 3 tbsp.

    What are your goals! Weight loss? Athletic performance?

    Be kind to yourself, and be honest with yourself, make small sustainable improvements that move you in the direction of your personal goals .
  • tennileb
    tennileb Posts: 265 Member
    edited December 2016
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    I'm not lazy, I'm skilled in energy conserving behaviours :D

    Busy doesn't automatically equal active. Fat doesn't automatically equal lazy, thin doesn't automatically equal busy or active.....

  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
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    I focus more on what I am putting in my body than how I'm working out. That is mainly due to physical limitations I have so I can only do walking on the treadmill for exercise. I've lost weight in past years by cutting back on what I eat and measuring it all out each meal with no exercising at all. So weight loss can happen even without exercise. It's need for other reasons of course but it can be done just by focusing on how and what you eat if it ever got to that point.
  • humpbackgirl
    humpbackgirl Posts: 63 Member
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    I do measure my food.
  • red99ryder
    red99ryder Posts: 399 Member
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    humpbackgirl wrote: »
    I do go to the gym every weekday when I can. But there are times I am there for an hour and I feel like I haven't burned enough calories to catch up with eating. How can I tell when it's enough?

    I don't do the gym yet .. but I would think you work your program and go home .. just have a plan and stick to it ..

    Good luck

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