HELP eating 1200 calories and working out with no weightloss?
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liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
If someone is at 1,200 calories and close to goal weight, not accounting for exercise calories can result in a very low net. This isn't healthy.
While it can be difficult sometimes to estimate exercise calories, assuming they're "0" is guaranteed to be wrong. Why recommend someone choose the only number that can't be right?9 -
janejellyroll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
If someone is at 1,200 calories and close to goal weight, not accounting for exercise calories can result in a very low net. This isn't healthy.
While it can be difficult sometimes to estimate exercise calories, assuming they're "0" is guaranteed to be wrong. Why recommend someone choose the only number that can't be right?
I didn't say to eat 1200 calories, I said just choose an intake level and eat that everyday.
If you don't have a consistent intake it's hard to know what or how much to adjust if things aren't working.1 -
liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP6 -
Have u tried to add spices that help increases metabolism like cumin and cinnamon. Also eating a grapefruit before dinner helps.22
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ugandajens wrote: »Have u tried to add spices that help increases metabolism like cumin and cinnamon. Also eating a grapefruit before dinner helps.
Those dont work or increase metabolism.8 -
TavistockToad wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP
TDEE is different than just saying I ran for an hour so I should eat 400 more calories.
TDEE minus 10-20% is good. Problem is people on here use the MFP calculator. I know for a fact it's not good to use the MFP calculation and eat the exercise calories as well. According to MFPI can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose 2 lbs a week by eating 3500 calories a day. I know that I would probably gain weight doing that given my TDEE is ~ 30001 -
How many calories are you saying she should eat if not 1200 to not eat back any of her exercise calories? When you’re around 5 ft you don’t get a bunch of options from mfp.1
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liftingbro wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP
TDEE is different than just saying I ran for an hour so I should eat 400 more calories.
TDEE minus 10-20% is good. Problem is people on here use the MFP calculator. I know for a fact it's not good to use the MFP calculation and eat the exercise calories as well. According to MFPI can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose 2 lbs a week by eating 3500 calories a day. I know that I would probably gain weight doing that given my TDEE is ~ 3000
This is why most people recommend eating a portion of the exercise calories and then adjusting depending on scale performance since all exercise calorie calculators are estimates... just like TDEE calculators. Since the OP is eating half her calories, she's taking a moderate approach to how this works.
You can't really extrapolate your experience to the OP's anyway.
OP, the advice to use a food scale is solid.9 -
liftingbro wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
If someone is at 1,200 calories and close to goal weight, not accounting for exercise calories can result in a very low net. This isn't healthy.
While it can be difficult sometimes to estimate exercise calories, assuming they're "0" is guaranteed to be wrong. Why recommend someone choose the only number that can't be right?
I didn't say to eat 1200 calories, I said just choose an intake level and eat that everyday.
If you don't have a consistent intake it's hard to know what or how much to adjust if things aren't working.
Since OP is eating 1,200 calories, it wasn't clear that you were advising them to eat more than that if they're active. If you mean that people should account for their activity when choosing a calorie goal, I agree with that.2 -
liftingbro wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
If someone is at 1,200 calories and close to goal weight, not accounting for exercise calories can result in a very low net. This isn't healthy.
While it can be difficult sometimes to estimate exercise calories, assuming they're "0" is guaranteed to be wrong. Why recommend someone choose the only number that can't be right?
I didn't say to eat 1200 calories, I said just choose an intake level and eat that everyday.
If you don't have a consistent intake it's hard to know what or how much to adjust if things aren't working.
Okay - but MFP does not use TDEE, it uses NEAT. Calorie goals here are based on Non-exercise activity thermogenisis.
TDEE (which includes exercise) less a cut is great when your exercise will be consistent.
If you are going to tell people not to eat calories back, ALSO explain that they need to use a different calculator because using this one is going to result in under eating.8 -
liftingbro wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP
TDEE is different than just saying I ran for an hour so I should eat 400 more calories.
TDEE minus 10-20% is good. Problem is people on here use the MFP calculator. I know for a fact it's not good to use the MFP calculation and eat the exercise calories as well. According to MFPI can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose 2 lbs a week by eating 3500 calories a day. I know that I would probably gain weight doing that given my TDEE is ~ 3000
MFP's calculations work fine for me. I'm not sure how you can "know for a fact" that they're no good when some people do have success using this method.10 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP
TDEE is different than just saying I ran for an hour so I should eat 400 more calories.
TDEE minus 10-20% is good. Problem is people on here use the MFP calculator. I know for a fact it's not good to use the MFP calculation and eat the exercise calories as well. According to MFPI can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose 2 lbs a week by eating 3500 calories a day. I know that I would probably gain weight doing that given my TDEE is ~ 3000
This is why most people recommend eating a portion of the exercise calories and then adjusting depending on scale performance since all exercise calorie calculators are estimates... just like TDEE calculators.
You can't really extrapolate your experience to the OP's anyway.
Like I said if she is using a TDEE and calculating each day based on if it's a workout day then that's fine. The problem is using MFP. IMO,it's just a lot easier to eat 1900- everyday than to eat 2250 on a workout day and 1750 on off days for instance.2 -
liftingbro wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP
TDEE is different than just saying I ran for an hour so I should eat 400 more calories.
TDEE minus 10-20% is good. Problem is people on here use the MFP calculator. I know for a fact it's not good to use the MFP calculation and eat the exercise calories as well. According to MFPI can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose 2 lbs a week by eating 3500 calories a day. I know that I would probably gain weight doing that given my TDEE is ~ 3000
This is why most people recommend eating a portion of the exercise calories and then adjusting depending on scale performance since all exercise calorie calculators are estimates... just like TDEE calculators.
You can't really extrapolate your experience to the OP's anyway.
Like I said if she is using a TDEE and calculating each day based on if it's a workout day then that's fine. The problem is using MFP. IMO,it's just a lot easier to eat 1900- everyday than to eat 2250 on a workout day and 1750 on off days for instance.
It may be easier *for you*, but I don't know if you can decide that it's easier for *everyone*. I personally have no problem eating more some days than I do other days (and if I did, MFP works if you carry calories over into the following days).7 -
janejellyroll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP
TDEE is different than just saying I ran for an hour so I should eat 400 more calories.
TDEE minus 10-20% is good. Problem is people on here use the MFP calculator. I know for a fact it's not good to use the MFP calculation and eat the exercise calories as well. According to MFPI can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose 2 lbs a week by eating 3500 calories a day. I know that I would probably gain weight doing that given my TDEE is ~ 3000
This is why most people recommend eating a portion of the exercise calories and then adjusting depending on scale performance since all exercise calorie calculators are estimates... just like TDEE calculators.
You can't really extrapolate your experience to the OP's anyway.
Like I said if she is using a TDEE and calculating each day based on if it's a workout day then that's fine. The problem is using MFP. IMO,it's just a lot easier to eat 1900- everyday than to eat 2250 on a workout day and 1750 on off days for instance.
It may be easier *for you*, but I don't know if you can decide that it's easier for *everyone*. I personally have no problem eating more some days than I do other days (and if I did, MFP works if you carry calories over into the following days).
Or eat based on a weekly deficit.4 -
janejellyroll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP
TDEE is different than just saying I ran for an hour so I should eat 400 more calories.
TDEE minus 10-20% is good. Problem is people on here use the MFP calculator. I know for a fact it's not good to use the MFP calculation and eat the exercise calories as well. According to MFPI can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose 2 lbs a week by eating 3500 calories a day. I know that I would probably gain weight doing that given my TDEE is ~ 3000
This is why most people recommend eating a portion of the exercise calories and then adjusting depending on scale performance since all exercise calorie calculators are estimates... just like TDEE calculators.
You can't really extrapolate your experience to the OP's anyway.
Like I said if she is using a TDEE and calculating each day based on if it's a workout day then that's fine. The problem is using MFP. IMO,it's just a lot easier to eat 1900- everyday than to eat 2250 on a workout day and 1750 on off days for instance.
It may be easier *for you*, but I don't know if you can decide that it's easier for *everyone*. I personally have no problem eating more some days than I do other days (and if I did, MFP works if you carry calories over into the following days).
Or eat based on a weekly deficit.
Yep, this is another strategy that works for many people.4 -
liftingbro wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Incorrect. If you can be fairly accurate in knowing your burn then you should definitely eat them back. Or, if you don't want to, use a TDEE calculation, not MFP
TDEE is different than just saying I ran for an hour so I should eat 400 more calories.
TDEE minus 10-20% is good. Problem is people on here use the MFP calculator. I know for a fact it's not good to use the MFP calculation and eat the exercise calories as well. According to MFPI can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose 2 lbs a week by eating 3500 calories a day. I know that I would probably gain weight doing that given my TDEE is ~ 3000
And I used the MFP calculator, ate every single delicious exercise calorie, lost way too fast and had to adjust calories upward to stay strong and healthy while losing.
You (and I) can't generalize from our n = 1 experience because there's substantial variation around the mean for calorie requirements.
The right answer, as other have said, is to pick a tool/method, use it as intended, then adjust based on results.
MFP gives you a NEAT (before intentional exercise) calorie estimate, the mean (average) based on large-group studies and your personal charcteristics. MFP subtracts calories from your maintenance NEAT and gives you a goal that has weight loss estimated into it. Because it's NEAT, you eat back exercise (or some fraction), on top of that goal.
If you use a TDEE calculator, it's giving you a value that includes your exercise (NEAT + TEA), so you subtract some percent to create weight loss, and eat to that goal. It's still based on mean values from research studies. All that TDEE calculators have done is include a very generalized exercise burn estimate in the goal.
Those mean values from research are a better starting point for others than your or my n = 1 experience, because we may be statistically unusual, but the average person is likely to be average.
It's true that different calculators can give somewhat different results (even when they're estimating the same value, be it TDEE or NEAT), because they use different underlying research. One calculator may be closer to reality for me, a different one closer for you. But either will work as a starting point, as long as we follow it consistently for a while, then adjust based on results.
And we should use methods that are consistent with the tool we pick, such as eating back exercise if the tool uses NEAT.11 -
liftingbro wrote: »I suggest never eating exercise calories at all. Simply pick a calorie intake level and eat that everyday.
Estimating calories burned can be wildly inaccurate or difficult to do consistently.
IMO, people who eat exercise calories tend to have more problems losing weight.
Well, meet an exception! Granted, I eat back 50% and leave the rest as a cushion against inaccuracies. But I've been dropping weight pretty darn steadily over the last 13 months because by eating back some of my calories, I've got the energy to exercise more. And I seldom get hungry.4 -
kcn2bluesky wrote: »Here is another thought for you - are you sure you are eating enough food? I know when I don't eat enough I don't lose. Than get me going on eating less and less and than my body goes in starvation mode until I eat enough. Be honest with yourself and make sure you are eating the proper amount of food and the right foods.
It is a tough struggle I hear you, don't give up, look at others diaries and get food choices that way. Just maybe it will help, but maybe you also need more calories especially on work out days!
I see this posted often on the forums....that a person is not losing weight because they aren't eating enough food. That's just not going to be the reason someone isn't losing weight. Think about it logically. Eating more food is going to cause you to gain weight. The OP in this thread has stated she isn't weighing and logging all of her food, and is only logging protein. Properly accounting for the calories she is eating is the starting point for her.
The problem with this linear type of thing is that the body doesn't maintain a standard TDEE. So often, by eating greater amounts of calories, one will increase the EE through a variety of means: spontaneous increase to NEAT, TEA (burn more calories through exercise), and TEF. In fact, this happened to me by going from 1800 to 2300 calories and I can't show you others who have increased as much as a 1000 calories and still seeing weight loss.
And while I agree that the OP should weigh her foods, she also really shouldn't be aiming for 1200 calories since she is not very over weight and workouts about 5 hours a week. If anything, she would benefit from a higher calorie diet and potentially incorporate refeeds every so often.
When I was trying to go to maintenance I found this to be true. I thought my maintenance would be very low considering I was losing little to no weight at 2,100 calories...I upped and then I upped again...then upped again and kept losing weight at a faster rate than when I was on 2,100.
I thought my maintenance was going to be more like 2,300...I petered out around 2,800. My workouts became more productive and I just had more energy throughout the day...involuntary movements increased, had a hard time sitting still, etc.5 -
There definitely are answers to be found both in diet breaks AND in accurately measuring your fats, starches & sugars, and proteins.
Yes enough fruit and vegetables can make a difference. I have an MFPeop who eats ~1500g of fruits and vegetables a day. Ya think they count for her?
But, if you don't count your vegetables because it doesn't make a difference.... how many more times a day do you not count something else because it would hardly make a difference?
How accurate are you with your dressing, or peanut butter, or coffee cream, or the oil or butter you cook with? The bite you stole, or sample you tried? What about that half gulp of wine you tasted?
So yes, you probably need to look into both diet breaks and logging.
Including being mentally able to eat at a healthy maintenance level!
All of this! ^ But particularly the bolded.1 -
kcn2bluesky wrote: »Here is another thought for you - are you sure you are eating enough food? I know when I don't eat enough I don't lose. Than get me going on eating less and less and than my body goes in starvation mode until I eat enough. Be honest with yourself and make sure you are eating the proper amount of food and the right foods.
It is a tough struggle I hear you, don't give up, look at others diaries and get food choices that way. Just maybe it will help, but maybe you also need more calories especially on work out days!
I see this posted often on the forums....that a person is not losing weight because they aren't eating enough food. That's just not going to be the reason someone isn't losing weight. Think about it logically. Eating more food is going to cause you to gain weight. The OP in this thread has stated she isn't weighing and logging all of her food, and is only logging protein. Properly accounting for the calories she is eating is the starting point for her.
The problem with this linear type of thing is that the body doesn't maintain a standard TDEE. So often, by eating greater amounts of calories, one will increase the EE through a variety of means: spontaneous increase to NEAT, TEA (burn more calories through exercise), and TEF. In fact, this happened to me by going from 1800 to 2300 calories and I can't show you others who have increased as much as a 1000 calories and still seeing weight loss.
And while I agree that the OP should weigh her foods, she also really shouldn't be aiming for 1200 calories since she is not very over weight and workouts about 5 hours a week. If anything, she would benefit from a higher calorie diet and potentially incorporate refeeds every so often.
In addition to the great points made above, eating too little can stress the body increasing cortisol. This can cause water weight gain that can mask fat loss. Also, eating too high a deficit can cause lean body mass loss. The OP should look at all of this in addition to tightening up her logging.3
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