New runner-eating back calories.

freespirit427

Hello all!

I'm a new runner. Currently at intervals of 3 mph walk/6 mph jog in intervals of 2 minutes each for 20 minutes.

I used to walk daily but I'm still sitting in a weight loss plateau and decided to up my work outs.

Ive been doing 4x weekly run/jog.
I am eating at 1200 calories
I average 12k to 14k steps daily.
23 year old female, from 223 to now 184. 5'3 and goal is 150 lbs.
My question is of course now that I'm running I'm so much more hungry. I have my activity level set to sedentary currently--should I be eating my exercise calories back? What percentage of them if not all?

I also weight lift daily.

Ive been plateaued for about 8 months.

Ive searched the web and found many different answers.

Thanks!

NorthCascades

You should be eating your exercise calories. If you're doing this every other day, you should probably be doing it in the form of a carb/protein mix shortly before or after your runs.

With that said, we should probably go over the stuff you didn't ask.

You can lose weight with no exercise whatsoever. It's not a good idea, but it's possible. And what that means is that if you're facing a plateau, exercise may not be the answer. You should be losing at least a little bit of weight eating only 1,200 kCal per day even if you don't run or lift. How are you measuring that?

TavistockToad

If you're using mfp to get your calorie goal then yes, eat them back

freespirit427

NorthCascades wrote: »

You should be eating your exercise calories. If you're doing this every other day, you should probably be doing it in the form of a carb/protein mix shortly before or after your runs.

With that said, we should probably go over the stuff you didn't ask.

You can lose weight with no exercise whatsoever. It's not a good idea, but it's possible. And what that means is that if you're facing a plateau, exercise may not be the answer. You should be losing at least a little bit of weight eating only 1,200 kCal per day even if you don't run or lift. How are you measuring that?

That was what mfp gave me when I put in my settings Of sedentary activity and wanting to lose .5 lbs per week.

I do use my food scale too.

I also have hypothyroidism. Which adds to my difficulty, perhaps. I am treated thoughh so not sure why it would even be a factor.

TavistockToad

freespirit427 wrote: »

NorthCascades wrote: »

You should be eating your exercise calories. If you're doing this every other day, you should probably be doing it in the form of a carb/protein mix shortly before or after your runs.

With that said, we should probably go over the stuff you didn't ask.

You can lose weight with no exercise whatsoever. It's not a good idea, but it's possible. And what that means is that if you're facing a plateau, exercise may not be the answer. You should be losing at least a little bit of weight eating only 1,200 kCal per day even if you don't run or lift. How are you measuring that?

That was what mfp gave me when I put in my settings Of sedentary activity and wanting to lose .5 lbs per week.

I do use my food scale too.

I also have hypothyroidism. Which adds to my difficulty, perhaps. I am treated thoughh so not sure why it would even be a factor.

12-14k steps isn't sedentary

kshama2001

MFP uses the NEAT method, and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back.

My FitBit One is far less generous with calories than the MFP database and I comfortably eat 100% of the calories I earn from it back.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

codename_steve

I've found that as long as you're 100% honest about the details of your run, MFP is accurate. If you on a treadmill and standing on the side rails, don't count that as time running. Use the database entry with the speed closest to the average speed of your workout; if 10 minutes is at 3mph and 10 minutes at 6mph, then I'd log 20 minutes at 4.5mph.

mitch16

How are you calculating the calories you are burning? With mfp, you are meant to eat your exercise calories back; however, mfp (and many other online calculators) and even the treadmill itself will give high calorie burns for most exercises, so you'll want to eat them back with some caution.

spiriteagle99

Also, if you are running on a TM, don't hold the handles if you can help it. That can reduce the calorie burn significantly.