Question about calorie deficit and exercise

samanthalombard

Hello everyone! I am new to MFP and have just started a new fitness journey.
For the past 3 years I have been working in research and often am traveling and in a sedetary state. I end up gaining about 15 kilos!
I obviously noticed the weight coming on but was 'too busy to exercise and eat healthy' - classic excuse. Now I am planning my wedding (April 2018). When I went to try on wedding dresses a few months back I was just so unhappy with how I looked - for me I just wasn't myself. I have always been around 68kg.

So here is my Question, I know it sounds ridiculius, but I'm new to this and want to make sure I am doing this right.

I am 29, about 5'7" and currently 85kgs. I eant to get down to 70kg, hopefully by December/January so that I have time to make changes to dress fittings.

So I have the goal of .5kgs a week, putting me at about 1400 calories a week. I often end up eating over that - around 1800 calories. With the exercise I do each day, I usually burn between 200-600 calories per day on days that I work out. So would this still help me loose the weight? Eating the 1800 calories a day and burning about 200-600 calories a day?
I hope that makes sense. I'm assuming that as long as at the end of the day I am in deficit, it's okay, even if I ate over the goal calories.

MrsSeager

samanthalombard wrote: »

Hello everyone! I am new to MFP and have just started a new fitness journey.
For the past 3 years I have been working in research and often am traveling and in a sedetary state. I end up gaining about 15 kilos!
I obviously noticed the weight coming on but was 'too busy to exercise and eat healthy' - classic excuse. Now I am planning my wedding (April 2018). When I went to try on wedding dresses a few months back I was just so unhappy with how I looked - for me I just wasn't myself. I have always been around 68kg.

So here is my Question, I know it sounds ridiculius, but I'm new to this and want to make sure I am doing this right.

I am 29, about 5'7" and currently 85kgs. I eant to get down to 70kg, hopefully by December/January so that I have time to make changes to dress fittings.

So I have the goal of .5kgs a week, putting me at about 1400 calories a week. I often end up eating over that - around 1800 calories. With the exercise I do each day, I usually burn between 200-600 calories per day on days that I work out. So would this still help me loose the weight? Eating the 1800 calories a day and burning about 200-600 calories a day?
I hope that makes sense. I'm assuming that as long as at the end of the day I am in deficit, it's okay, even if I ate over the goal calories.

Yes, as long as you are within you calorie goal after adding in your exercise calories you'll lose. I try not to eat anymore than like 200 calories over my goal, because I get nervous I won't calculate the exercise calories correctly...even though I use an Apple Watch that monitors it.

bbell1985

Well, is it working? You'll have to see. Personally, it's hard for me to actually burn 600 calories. I'd start by eating only half of exercise calories burned. The estimates, especially on MFP, are usually high.

MrsSeager

bbell1985 wrote: »

Well, is it working? You'll have to see. Personally, it's hard for me to actually burn 600 calories. I'd start by eating only half of exercise calories burned. The estimates, especially on MFP, are usually high.

Agreed.

samanthalombard

Thank you everyone!

beanz744

i m a certified fitness instructor for 10 years so i know something abt calories burned from exercising. i m not saying u r not but it is not often a person will burn 600 cal in exercising. it has to be a very very intense 60 min cardio session. unless u r losing weight on a consistent basis already, i would suggest u use the 1400 as a REAL upper limit. we ALL cheat but its once in a while. it might be ok to go over the speed limit once in a while but if u r constantly speeding, u WILL get a speeding ticket.

more importantly, u should use this as an opportunity to change ur eating habit for good for many reasons. if u treat this like a crash diet exercise, then i m 90% sure that the weight u lose will come back soon after the wedding because u have not learn to break ur bad eating habits. sorry to preach. good luck!

samanthalombard

Hi Beanz744

Thank you so much for your response. Yes I completely agree with you about the ‘fad diet’. Planning my wedding was more so the trigger that made me aware and forced me to acknowledge my weight gain and unhealthy habits. So I am trying to make sure that this results in a lifestyle change – I want to do this properly for the long term.

I’ve been using the MFP to measure my calories burned during exercise – each day that I go to the gym (4 or 5 days a week depending on work), I do 30mins of running/jogging intervals on a treadmill – the treadmill and also the MFP app usually measures this as about 200-300 calories burned – do you think this sounds right?

I do a gym class afterwards – either les mills bodyattack or bodypump – the class is 60mins but I always enter it as 45 minutes because I didn’t think I worked the whole class (changing weights and such). On the les mills website and also the MFP measure this as about 300 calories burned.

As a fitness expert, do you have any further advice for me? I've started watching all food intake and using the app to track everything.
Do you suggest splitting my work so that I'm working out twice a day instead of one longer gym session?

All advice is highly appreciated!

beanz744

OP, I hope that i was not too forward before n thank u for taking it so well.

i doubt ur 600 cal burned before because i didnt know u workout 2 times in a day. u dont need to workout any more that in a day because 1.5 hrs each time is already more than enough!

Lets talk details. 200 cal for 30min jogging interval n my guesstimate on bodyattack for 400 cal n bodypump for 300 cal so u r at 500 to 600 each time u r at the gym. lets pick the lower number of 500 n u go 5 times so thats 2500 calories u earned in a week. u eat 400 cal extra 6 days in a week so thats 2400 calories that u need to cover. In theory, everything is a wash BUT everything (food calorie n exercise calorie) is an estimate, they r NOT EXACT but u have no room to spare if the estimate is against u. do u see what i mean? u could be chasing ur own tail for weeks n months with all ur hard work thinking the numbers should work but the numbers r only someone else' guesstimate. here r my recommendations with ur indulgence.

wear a heart rate monitor that can work with ur phone so it can tell u exactly what u burned while exercising if u dont really want to change ur current eating habit n to make sure u up ur weights in bodypump every 2 or 3 weeks.

and/or

more importantly, learn to eat back ONLY half of the calories u think u burned.

either way, change the MFP macros either to 45C/30F/25P or 40C/30F/30P to preserve ur muscle mass because u r lifting.

my recommendation on hitting ur daily 1400 on the non workout day n 1400+250(half of what u burned) on the other days

bf 300
snack 100
lunch 400
snack 100
dinner 500
total 1400

bf 300
snack 100
lunch 500
snack 100
dinner 650
total 1650

bf 300
lunch 400
dinner 500
snack 200
total 1400

bf 300
lunch 500
snack 200
dinner 650
total 1650

these r only my suggestion framework n the numbers r not rigid. they r to show u that ur daily caloric allowance is very achieveable without going hungry but it needs some mental planning. u can google 400 or 500 cal simple healthy recipes n there r tons. imagine that a 400 cal entry n 250 dessert is possible so theres no way u can be hungry. my meal formula is simple 4 to 6 oz meat (any) n one or two cups of vegs (can be mixed in with more than one kind) n i often come under 400 per meal if i pick chicken or fish. i will often cheat on whatever l manage to save for the day to keep myself HAPPY.

lastly, u r doing amazingly in the workout department already. u just need to learn to eat better n i know its not easy but it gets easier. today i only ate 1300 n i had 100 cal worth of dark chocolate plus i hit my protein number, YAY!

PS guys, i never professed to know everything n i m sure there r other suggestions that will work too so plz dont go shooting darts all over this.

rheddmobile

I think probably the most important thing is to track your weight for a couple of weeks and see if the weight is coming off as expected. Different people react to exercise differently, and even if you work out a lot most of your calories are burned by your non-exercise activity and resting state.

heiliskrimsli

samanthalombard wrote: »

On the les mills website and also the MFP measure this as about 300 calories burned.

It is if you're going about 3 miles.

samanthalombard

beanz744 wrote: »

OP, I hope that i was not too forward before n thank u for taking it so well.

i doubt ur 600 cal burned before because i didnt know u workout 2 times in a day. u dont need to workout any more that in a day because 1.5 hrs each time is already more than enough!

Lets talk details. 200 cal for 30min jogging interval n my guesstimate on bodyattack for 400 cal n bodypump for 300 cal so u r at 500 to 600 each time u r at the gym. lets pick the lower number of 500 n u go 5 times so thats 2500 calories u earned in a week. u eat 400 cal extra 6 days in a week so thats 2400 calories that u need to cover. In theory, everything is a wash BUT everything (food calorie n exercise calorie) is an estimate, they r NOT EXACT but u have no room to spare if the estimate is against u. do u see what i mean? u could be chasing ur own tail for weeks n months with all ur hard work thinking the numbers should work but the numbers r only someone else' guesstimate. here r my recommendations with ur indulgence.

wear a heart rate monitor that can work with ur phone so it can tell u exactly what u burned while exercising if u dont really want to change ur current eating habit n to make sure u up ur weights in bodypump every 2 or 3 weeks.

and/or

more importantly, learn to eat back ONLY half of the calories u think u burned.

either way, change the MFP macros either to 45C/30F/25P or 40C/30F/30P to preserve ur muscle mass because u r lifting.

my recommendation on hitting ur daily 1400 on the non workout day n 1400+250(half of what u burned) on the other days

bf 300
snack 100
lunch 400
snack 100
dinner 500
total 1400

bf 300
snack 100
lunch 500
snack 100
dinner 650
total 1650

bf 300
lunch 400
dinner 500
snack 200
total 1400

bf 300
lunch 500
snack 200
dinner 650
total 1650

these r only my suggestion framework n the numbers r not rigid. they r to show u that ur daily caloric allowance is very achieveable without going hungry but it needs some mental planning. u can google 400 or 500 cal simple healthy recipes n there r tons. imagine that a 400 cal entry n 250 dessert is possible so theres no way u can be hungry. my meal formula is simple 4 to 6 oz meat (any) n one or two cups of vegs (can be mixed in with more than one kind) n i often come under 400 per meal if i pick chicken or fish. i will often cheat on whatever l manage to save for the day to keep myself HAPPY.

lastly, u r doing amazingly in the workout department already. u just need to learn to eat better n i know its not easy but it gets easier. today i only ate 1300 n i had 100 cal worth of dark chocolate plus i hit my protein number, YAY!

PS guys, i never professed to know everything n i m sure there r other suggestions that will work too so plz dont go shooting darts all over this.

Thank you for your extensive reply! Yes I know I need to work on my calories in and hitting macros - I think each day I work on it I can keep adjusting it down, and also to shrink my stomach down to an appropriate size - in terms of portion sizes - because I think my stomach is so used to larger portions.
I've been working this week on monitoring and being selective of my snacks to make sure I am hitting macros and not just filling my stomach. I've also worked on cutting out sauce and dressing for more natural options - like fresh lemon juice instead salad dressing.


I really appreciate your response and advice. So thank you!

beanz744

samanthalombard wrote: »

beanz744 wrote: »

OP, I hope that i was not too forward before n thank u for taking it so well.

i doubt ur 600 cal burned before because i didnt know u workout 2 times in a day. u dont need to workout any more that in a day because 1.5 hrs each time is already more than enough!

Lets talk details. 200 cal for 30min jogging interval n my guesstimate on bodyattack for 400 cal n bodypump for 300 cal so u r at 500 to 600 each time u r at the gym. lets pick the lower number of 500 n u go 5 times so thats 2500 calories u earned in a week. u eat 400 cal extra 6 days in a week so thats 2400 calories that u need to cover. In theory, everything is a wash BUT everything (food calorie n exercise calorie) is an estimate, they r NOT EXACT but u have no room to spare if the estimate is against u. do u see what i mean? u could be chasing ur own tail for weeks n months with all ur hard work thinking the numbers should work but the numbers r only someone else' guesstimate. here r my recommendations with ur indulgence.

wear a heart rate monitor that can work with ur phone so it can tell u exactly what u burned while exercising if u dont really want to change ur current eating habit n to make sure u up ur weights in bodypump every 2 or 3 weeks.

and/or

more importantly, learn to eat back ONLY half of the calories u think u burned.

either way, change the MFP macros either to 45C/30F/25P or 40C/30F/30P to preserve ur muscle mass because u r lifting.

my recommendation on hitting ur daily 1400 on the non workout day n 1400+250(half of what u burned) on the other days

bf 300
snack 100
lunch 400
snack 100
dinner 500
total 1400

bf 300
snack 100
lunch 500
snack 100
dinner 650
total 1650

bf 300
lunch 400
dinner 500
snack 200
total 1400

bf 300
lunch 500
snack 200
dinner 650
total 1650

these r only my suggestion framework n the numbers r not rigid. they r to show u that ur daily caloric allowance is very achieveable without going hungry but it needs some mental planning. u can google 400 or 500 cal simple healthy recipes n there r tons. imagine that a 400 cal entry n 250 dessert is possible so theres no way u can be hungry. my meal formula is simple 4 to 6 oz meat (any) n one or two cups of vegs (can be mixed in with more than one kind) n i often come under 400 per meal if i pick chicken or fish. i will often cheat on whatever l manage to save for the day to keep myself HAPPY.

lastly, u r doing amazingly in the workout department already. u just need to learn to eat better n i know its not easy but it gets easier. today i only ate 1300 n i had 100 cal worth of dark chocolate plus i hit my protein number, YAY!

PS guys, i never professed to know everything n i m sure there r other suggestions that will work too so plz dont go shooting darts all over this.

Thank you for your extensive reply! Yes I know I need to work on my calories in and hitting macros - I think each day I work on it I can keep adjusting it down, and also to shrink my stomach down to an appropriate size - in terms of portion sizes - because I think my stomach is so used to larger portions.
I've been working this week on monitoring and being selective of my snacks to make sure I am hitting macros and not just filling my stomach. I've also worked on cutting out sauce and dressing for more natural options - like fresh lemon juice instead salad dressing.


I really appreciate your response and advice. So thank you!

U welcome n one more thing. Cook more non starchy vegetable. I always have some ready in the kitchen so if I m really hungry, I will eat a cup of vegetable (30 to 40 cal only)