For those confused or questioning "Eating your exercise calo

Jenna423

Wow, I didn't think that eating the exercise calories made sense.. I thought it would just defeat the purpose of working out. :grumble: No wonder I'm always hungry! Thank you for putting the time into that, it really helps. :drinker: Bumped! :laugh:

cmriverside

:happy:

SunnyInBuffalo

This is so very helpful !

REB89

mkeithley

bump:bigsmile:

beep

mommy2js

Thanks! I just need to convince myself that I really WON'T lose more if I eat less!!!!!!!!! I WILL LOSE MY LAST 10!:drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

banks1850

bimp

Steffykins

I walk or jog everyday to Uni so I usually burn about 300 extra calories which, on top of my 1200 calories a day allowance means can eat 1500 calories a day.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I find it really hard to eat that
many calories in a day! I eat healthily, getting loads of fruit and veg and stuff so is eating below my allowance going to do a lot of damage to my weight loss?

banks1850

I walk or jog everyday to Uni so I usually burn about 300 extra calories which, on top of my 1200 calories a day allowance means can eat 1500 calories a day.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I find it really hard to eat that
many calories in a day! I eat healthily, getting loads of fruit and veg and stuff so is eating below my allowance going to do a lot of damage to my weight loss?

It's quite possible it will. What did you set your goal at? (I.E. did you set it at 2 lbs, or 1.5lbs ...etc per week)

Steffykins

I walk or jog everyday to Uni so I usually burn about 300 extra calories which, on top of my 1200 calories a day allowance means can eat 1500 calories a day.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I find it really hard to eat that
many calories in a day! I eat healthily, getting loads of fruit and veg and stuff so is eating below my allowance going to do a lot of damage to my weight loss?

It's quite possible it will. What did you set your goal at? (I.E. did you set it at 2 lbs, or 1.5lbs ...etc per week)

I weigh around 140 pounds at the minute and set my goal at 2lbs a week.

banks1850

I weigh around 140 pounds at the minute and set my goal at 2lbs a week.

So essentially, if you don't eat that 300 calories, you are setting your weekly goal at 2.65 lbs. This is too aggressive IMHO. Unless you are under 5 feet tall and have a slim build you are starving yourself.

I can say with a high degree of confidence that you are sabotaging any chance you have by doing this, as a matter of fact, you are probably being too aggressive even with 2 lbs a week. Check these posts out, they should help to understand why a little better:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/12250-1000-calorie-deficit-not-for-people-with-healthy-bmi

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

Steffykins

OK thanks for info!

mrsyac2

Im trying to understand this so I am supposed to eat the calories that I burn- AHH this is so frustrating i am already watching what I eat like a hulk.. I just want to lose weight- they never tell you that you need to eat what you burn in calories they just say cut your calories and workout- well Im doing that and not seeing the results except a sore body- but then again i am sleeping better with more energy too bad Im still the same weight--:grumble:
but thanks for the info-

banks1850

Im trying to understand this so I am supposed to eat the calories that I burn- AHH this is so frustrating i am already watching what I eat like a hulk.. I just want to lose weight- they never tell you that you need to eat what you burn in calories they just say cut your calories and workout- well Im doing that and not seeing the results except a sore body- but then again i am sleeping better with more energy too bad Im still the same weight--:grumble:
but thanks for the info-

read the 2 links I posted above, they should help with your understanding. Just like eating too many calories, eating too few will screw up your body chemistry and cause you to not lose weight correctly. Also, seeing your profile, you don't have a ton to lose. I don't know what you set your goals at, but weight loss when you are already in a normal weight range is going to be extremely slow, somewhere on the oder of 1/2 to 1/4 pound a week, so I don't know how long you have been working with this program, but it's going to take months to lose a significant amount. You have to be resigned to this. This site isn't a "get rich quick" type of site, we are trying to help eachother become more healthy. And that means recommending the right way to do it. Which also means slow and steady. Are there crash diets out there that may cause you too lose faster? Sure, do they work? Sure. But many are dangerous and all are (to some degree), unhealthy. Not only do I not recommend them, I loath people who use them because they are the same type of people that drive in the breakdown lane and cut in line at checkout.

hope this helps
-Banks

GIGINATOR

Bump, Bump!!!!:happy:
Took a while for me to believe you eat to lose, but its SOOO true. So for all you non-believers have a leap of faith and try it, it works!!!!!:flowerforyou:

mkeithley

bump a roni the san francisco treat

beep

:smooched:

edyta

bump

IndigoElectron

Banks, that was really interesting info, thanks for posting it. Not that I need convincing, in fact I was horrified when the site said I needed to restrict my calories to 1200 a day just to lose 1/2 lb a week :laugh: So I've had to up my exercise just to stay within my calorie limit, I'm now eating between 1300 calories (for days when I don't do any extra exercise other than walking to work) and 1550 calories a day. I've even been struggling to stick to this amount - I've been following the South Beach diet since March (and have lost about 5 pounds) and when I put the recommended amount into my food diary to see how it fitted, I was about double my calories! I'm not sure how I lost weight in that case, but I think I must have either been eating under the allowance, or I hadn't worked it out properly :laugh: So I've had to tweak it considerably, but I'm happy with what I'm eating now. But without my lovely extra 'exercise calories' I think I would either be very hungry or very bored! So thanks for confirming that, not only is it ok to eat these calories, it is actually essential.

melathon

BUMPathon by Melathon.

frankp

Great post Peter,

I'm at my last 10 lbs. so I think this was an important thread for me. If I understand correctly we have on average 1000 calories of margin from I presume our maintenance level before our bodies go into survival mode.

My Question: I set goal at 1/2 lb per week and it yeilds 1780 calories and after my excercise that goes to about 2000 or more. (BTW, if I had set my goal at 1&1/2 lbs per week I'd be at 1280 calories :mad: ).

So I have been just making sure that I eat a well balanced diet and come within 500 calories of my target, (i.e. at my target calories plus excercise calories or below but never more than 500 below).

Is this 500 calorie range close enough to not put my body in survival mode?

And thanks for the great site, great threads like this give this site so much credibility.

Frank

banks1850

Banks, that was really interesting info, thanks for posting it. Not that I need convincing, in fact I was horrified when the site said I needed to restrict my calories to 1200 a day just to lose 1/2 lb a week :laugh: So I've had to up my exercise just to stay within my calorie limit, I'm now eating between 1300 calories (for days when I don't do any extra exercise other than walking to work) and 1550 calories a day. I've even been struggling to stick to this amount - I've been following the South Beach diet since March (and have lost about 5 pounds) and when I put the recommended amount into my food diary to see how it fitted, I was about double my calories! I'm not sure how I lost weight in that case, but I think I must have either been eating under the allowance, or I hadn't worked it out properly :laugh: So I've had to tweak it considerably, but I'm happy with what I'm eating now. But without my lovely extra 'exercise calories' I think I would either be very hungry or very bored! So thanks for confirming that, not only is it ok to eat these calories, it is actually essential.

Pretty sure you lost weight with the south beach because of the "shock" for lack of a better term. I could also have just been a "good fluctuation day" for you. Tough to tell but 5 pounds is very reasonable sounding to me for an initial loss. Many times people will lose up to 10 lbs initially in water weight.

banks1850

Great post Peter,

I'm at my last 10 lbs. so I think this was an important thread for me. If I understand correctly we have on average 1000 calories of margin from I presume our maintenance level before our bodies go into survival mode.

My Question: I set goal at 1/2 lb per week and it yeilds 1780 calories and after my excercise that goes to about 2000 or more. (BTW, if I had set my goal at 1&1/2 lbs per week I'd be at 1280 calories :mad: ).

So I have been just making sure that I eat a well balanced diet and come within 500 calories of my target, (i.e. at my target calories plus excercise calories or below but never more than 500 below).

Is this 500 calorie range close enough to not put my body in survival mode?

And thanks for the great site, great threads like this give this site so much credibility.

Frank

LOL, that's not my name, I hope you realize, Peter Griffin is the lead character in the cartoon The Family Guy (my favorite cartoon of all time).

Anyway, to answer your question Frank, I'm no doctor, but you're reasoning sounds fine to me, I don't see 500 cals as being to much under for you, but it's up to your body, at this point in your weight loss "career" you should know your body well enought to know if this isn't working for you after maybe 3 or 4 weeks of attempting, if it isn't tweak it a little. The fact that our bodies are so dynamic is what makes us great, but it also makes it difficult to pin down exactly what will work for each person, unfortunately. You may have to do a little trial and error in the end game to get it perfect.

Best of luck to you!

Banks

shorerider

Pretty sure you lost weight with the south beach because of the "shock" for lack of a better term. I could also have just been a "good fluctuation day" for you. Tough to tell but 5 pounds is very reasonable sounding to me for an initial loss. Many times people will lose up to 10 lbs initially in water weight.

I remember reading somewhere--back several years ago when I did Atkins--that the body normally carries around 15 pounds in water weight due to carbs; so when you do the initial Atkins stage, which is like no more than 15 carbs a day for a month (I think it was), you'll lose those 15 pounds just from water weight.

That's what happened to me, too. Didn't last though--soon as I went to stage 2, I gained and eventually came off of it completely.

hamilton4beaumont

Me too shorerider! I lost a lot initially which is what hooked me on it. Then after 6 months of induction and not moving the scale anymore, I went to the doctor. I had bloodwork done and the results were crazy! I had my big 64 ounce water jug that goes everywhere with me when the doctor said, "you're terribly dehydrated!" I held up my jug and told him I'd have more before bed! Then he asked about my diet because blood pressure and cholesterol seemed a little high for my weight and age! I told him what I'd been doing for 6 months or so and he told me to stop immediately. He said God gave us all the food groups and our bodies work best with all of them.
The only advice that he gave me that contradicts what I'm doing now is eating less. He said to eat 1200 calories, and I've been doing that since (2 years). I joined this site about 2 months ago. I haven't lost any weight, but I've increased my calories almost 800 a day and I'm not gaining either. Just my experience with it. Hope it helps someone realize that it's not the best way to go about it.

TashaKnight

haha this bumping has been going on for a longgg time now.
thanks, Banks!!!

shorerider

Bumping again--this needs to be "pinned" somewhere!

Gabbi

:flowerforyou: bump!!!!

maverickyanda

I'm still waiting for doctoral citations.