Exercise calories

keodell1966

I’ve been on my MFP for almost 3 years and eat half my exercise calories. I want more calories though, so I was thinking of eating all of exercise calories.... thoughts?
Also, I’m only at losing half pound right now. When I first started I was all for losing 2 pounds a week, now I can’t do it. My summer so far has been”screw it” and I haven’t done as well as I want. I was hoping having a few more calories would give me the motivation to keep at it. Help!

malibu927

How much do you have to lose? If it's not much then 2 pounds a week would be too aggressive. But the other thing is if you do start eating more calories back, you'd probably negate your deficit altogether. Make sure you're logging everything as accurately as possible.

keodell1966

I’ve logged for almost 1150 days, I log every little bit. At one point on MFP I lost almost 35 pounds. I know I can’t do 2 pounds at this point, I’m to close to goal, I just want more food. . I exercise to eat sometimes.

middlehaitch

Can you switch to eating at what your maintenance will be at your goal weight?

Are your maintenance calories at goal weight enough to satisfy you long term? If not you may have to readjust your goal weight so you get sufficient calories.

Have you adjusted your calorie goal to your current weight and to 0.5 lbs a week, or is this just a gradual weight loss decline on the initial calorie goal that you were given?

If you are eating only 50%of your exercise cals back, and are losing at 0.5lbs a week (250 a day deficit), you will lose even slower by eating more of them.

Cheers, h.

Lillymoo01

If you are losing at 1/2 pound a week while currently only eating back half of your exercise calories how much do you think you will lose eating all of them back? At the moment your deficit is around 250 a day.
My suggestion is to play around with your macros to find the right ratios to help you feel fullest because even eating at maintenance won't be giving you too many extra calories. Finding that right balance is very individual but the first place I'd start is reducing processed carbs (white bread, cake, cookies etc) and added sugar and increasing protein as protein is what most find the best of satiety. If this doesn't work then increasing either fiber, fat, whole grains or starch is the way to go. Maybe you find you are a volume eater. If this is the case then add plenty of low calorie foods. It is not uncommon for volume eaters to consume at least 10 serves of vegetables a day.

keodell1966

To be honest, I’ve lost nothing this summer, because i said screw it. Lol
But before that, yes I’ve lost at 1/2 lb. a week, same amount of exercise.
I log everything even tho I’m messing up. I know what I need to do, just don’t feel like doing it. 😬

middlehaitch

OK, when you are ready do it.

Cheers, h.

ahoy_m8

During your 1150 days of logging, have you taken full diet breaks like this https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html? It sounds like that’s what you’re doing this summer, in essence, without intentionally eating at maintenance. It is a good idea periodically.

PokeyBug

Have you considered ramping up your exercise for more calories? Sometimes, I walk an extra mile or two if I know I'm going to have a treat later. (I burn 320 calories for half an hour of walking and try not to eat more than 160 of that back, but if I walk for a full hour, I can eat up to 320 calories back.)

yirara

Hey, keep in mind: as you lose weight your body needs less calories. Thus the lighter you are the slower the weight loss, and the lighter you are the more careful you have to be with logging, double checking entries and making sure you use a food scale for everything. Thus eating more might get you out of a deficit.

TavistockToad

I agree with a diet break, then go back to your deficit.

keodell1966

Even though I logged all this time, mentally I started again yesterday.
Maybe the break was what I needed. Thanks for advice everyone!

cmriverside

Those last 15 pounds took me nearly a year to lose, because hungry.

I was logging everything, exercising 3-5 days per week, making all my own meals. It's a bit of a slog, but worth it once I got here.

Keep going.