Extra exercise question

Carvendive
Carvendive Posts: 23 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Using MFP, I eat to my goal (pre exercise calories). That's 1500 cal. I average 500 cal of exercise per day but don't eat the extra. I'm going on vacation for 2 months where the activity will increasey daily from 500 up to 15-2500 per day (2 hr bike rides and free golf every day - yeah I'm the obsessive type).
My question: what percentage of extra "exercise calories" can I burn before I need to increase my food intake so I don't go into plateau?

Replies

  • Carvendive
    Carvendive Posts: 23 Member
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    I’m not sure I understand the question exactly but I think 0. Because you should be eating your exercise calories now.

    The caveat to that: if you don’t weigh your food (which means you’re likely eating quite a bit more than you think you are) and/or your exercise calories are not reasonable (eg 800 calories for 45 min on the elliptical), then you’re probably ok since you’re more balanced than your log reflects.

    But if you weigh your food so your intake is logged correctly, and your calorie burn estimates are reasonable, you should be eating them all now-whether it’s 200 or 2000.

    Plateaus happen because you’re eating at your maintenance.

    I started 1/1 at 268. I'm 66, male 5'9"+.
    4 weeks I'm down 15. Last two weeks I lost just under 2# each week (while not eating the extra"exercise calories" so I figure it's taking a bit for my metabolism to catch up) 1500 cal is a 2# a week goal when I input my stats and selected the least activity level. We weigh and measure EVERYTHING. Our fridge looks like the produce section. No added sugars has me with way less arthritis /bursitis AND no cravings.
    All that said, I was thinking that the answer might be to just up my activity level in MFP. But I'm not sure how many calories there are added to each activity level increase?
  • meritage5
    meritage5 Posts: 32 Member
    I wouldn't worry about calories on a biking vacation. Eat what your body needs for fuel and continue weight loss when you are home.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    @Carvendive Your fear of going into 'plateau' indicates that you believe a severe calorie deficit will, by some unknown mechanism, halt your weight loss. This is an unsupported belief which persists in society for no reason other than it allows people to politely refrain from suggesting that the person claiming plateau is not honestly and accurately logging their food intake.

    For a 2 month vacation, I do suggest you find a way to accurately log your food and exercise. The risk of neglecting to care is high when you combine the freedom and diversion of vacation with abandonment of logging.

    By the way, you can without penalty play with your mfp activity level settings. Change it and see what it says. If you want, change it every day.

  • Carvendive
    Carvendive Posts: 23 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    @Carvendive Your fear of going into 'plateau' indicates that you believe a severe calorie deficit will, by some unknown mechanism, halt your weight loss. This is an unsupported belief which persists in society for no reason other than it allows people to politely refrain from suggesting that the person claiming plateau is not honestly and accurately logging their food intake.

    For a 2 month vacation, I do suggest you find a way to accurately log your food and exercise. The risk of neglecting to care is high when you combine the freedom and diversion of vacation with abandonment of logging.

    By the way, you can without penalty play with your mfp activity level settings. Change it and see what it says. If you want, change it every day.

    Forgot. I log meals and exercise daily in MFP. Also, my plateau worry is based on being without a thyroid (cancer). I'm just concerned that if I go beyond 2-1/2# per week that my synthroid (a thyroid replacement hormone) won't balance my metabolism properly. So because my endocrine system is a balance with less variance are tolerance I'm concerned about intake vs burn.
    I wish I could go with the "how your energy level feels" because in the past by the time I feel it I'm in plateau mode and it usually takes me 3 weeks to get out.
  • dmkoenig
    dmkoenig Posts: 299 Member
    There's the food intake for losing weight and the food intake needed to fuel your body. Sounds like you have developed a very healthy and responsible way to eat quality food on a plan to lose weight. I'm not a nutritionist but 1500 cal/day for a guy seems to be as low as you want to go without causing energy issues or having your metabolism shut down. I'd recommend treating the two separately - keep on that weight loss regimen and separately feed your body the nutrition it needs to manage the level of activity you are doing, now and when you go on your vacation. The thing is, when you start introducing higher levels of exercise, it's not just a matter of counting calories but eating the right kinds of food needed for sustained energy and proper muscle recovery (carbs for glycogen and protein for muscle rebuilding). As healthy as your baseline weight loss diet may be, that may not be the right type of food necessary to support your desired activity level.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,745 Member
    If you don't eat back your exercise calories you will start losing muscle and won't have the energy to do the activities you plan for your trip. Other worse issues can happen as well. Your initial big weight loss was probably largely water, from reducing your carbs and sugars so much. The slowdown isn't because you are plateauing, but because your body has less water to lose and has come into a balance of water intake and out. Losing 2 pounds a week is an aggressive rate of loss. For your trip you might try reducing it to 1 pound a week so you can enjoy your travels, have energy for your bike rides, and learn how to eat so you don't regain the weight afterwards.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    Question 1: what is your long-term goal? Are you looking for sustainable, life-long weight loss that you can maintain?

    Question 2: can you define plateau? Typically a plateau is a period after an extended period of loss, where you have 6-8 or more weeks without a change in weight. But I think you might be meaning something different?


  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Carvendive wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    @Carvendive Your fear of going into 'plateau' indicates that you believe a severe calorie deficit will, by some unknown mechanism, halt your weight loss. This is an unsupported belief which persists in society for no reason other than it allows people to politely refrain from suggesting that the person claiming plateau is not honestly and accurately logging their food intake.

    For a 2 month vacation, I do suggest you find a way to accurately log your food and exercise. The risk of neglecting to care is high when you combine the freedom and diversion of vacation with abandonment of logging.

    By the way, you can without penalty play with your mfp activity level settings. Change it and see what it says. If you want, change it every day.

    Forgot. I log meals and exercise daily in MFP. Also, my plateau worry is based on being without a thyroid (cancer). I'm just concerned that if I go beyond 2-1/2# per week that my synthroid (a thyroid replacement hormone) won't balance my metabolism properly. So because my endocrine system is a balance with less variance are tolerance I'm concerned about intake vs burn.
    I wish I could go with the "how your energy level feels" because in the past by the time I feel it I'm in plateau mode and it usually takes me 3 weeks to get out.

    This may be a question best taken up with your doctor.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    MFP is designed in a way so you should eat back your exercise calories in addition to your daily target, which should be based on your non-exercise activity level. Many people feel the exercise cals are overstated and prefer to eat back half their exercise cals. You can do this whether you are earning 500 or 2500 exercise cals, and continue losing at the same rate. I hope that answers the question.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,269 Member
    Carvendive wrote: »
    Using MFP, I eat to my goal (pre exercise calories). That's 1500 cal. I average 500 cal of exercise per day but don't eat the extra. I'm going on vacation for 2 months where the activity will increasey daily from 500 up to 15-2500 per day (2 hr bike rides and free golf every day - yeah I'm the obsessive type).
    My question: what percentage of extra "exercise calories" can I burn before I need to increase my food intake so I don't go into plateau?

    I think a more realistic question for you to ask would be "How long can I keep undereating at the current level before I get noticeably weak and fatigued?"

    Seriously.

    As a 5'5" woman, when age 59, starting only slightly into the obese range (183 pounds), Ilost most of 50ish pounds at 1400-1600 calories plus eating all my carefully estimated exercise calories. I admit to being a mysteriously good li'l ol' lady calorie burner . . . but you're male, 7" taller, and 80ish pounds heavier, and not eating back exercise.

    If you're truly eating 1500 (accurately logged), and burning 500, that's equivalent to eating 1000 calories. Even quite petite women would be ill-served by that routine. You've lost 15 pounds in 4 weeks, which would be an average of nearly 4 pounds a week. My only hope is that most of that was water weight, so that the more recent 2 pounds a week is more accurate, and your logging/estimating not actually very accurate. Otherwise, you're riding for a fall, IMO.

    To answer the question you did ask: You should eat enough calories to keep your actual weight loss at no more than 1% of your body weight weekly, and most people should lose even more slowly than that when within around 50 pounds of goal.

    I'd suggest that you strive to eat moderately but enjoyably on vacartion, fuel your higher activity level, and not strive for maximum weight loss. (I lost too fast when I first came to MFP, because it underestimated my calorie needs. I got weak and fatigued, and even though I corrected quickly, it took several weeks to recover. That wouldn't make for a very fun vacation.)

    If I sound grumpy, I apologize. I just like to see everyone stay strong and healthy, while achieving their weight goals! :)

    P.S. You won't go into a plateau from undereating. If that could happen, no one would ever starve to death, and sadly, people starve every day worldwide. If you undereat, you can lose unnecessarily large amounts of muscle while losing fat, experience fun side effects like thinning hair or gallbladder problems, and possibly become so fatigued that you rest and cut activities enough that you burn fewer calories in daily life, thus lose more slowly on the same amount of calories. But if you eat less than you burn, you'll lose weight. Eating too little is a health risk, and counter-productive.
  • Carvendive
    Carvendive Posts: 23 Member
    One of my posts are missing from this thread. It explained the thyroid issues and my goal - long and short.
    I'm targeting 1.5-2.0 per week.

    Thanks for the advice. I'll start trying to stay within 1-200 of the adjusted cal number. I suspect that the answer will ultimately be determined by the ability to continue the 1.5-2# loss rate.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,269 Member
    Carvendive wrote: »
    One of my posts are missing from this thread. It explained the thyroid issues and my goal - long and short.
    I'm targeting 1.5-2.0 per week.

    Thanks for the advice. I'll start trying to stay within 1-200 of the adjusted cal number. I suspect that the answer will ultimately be determined by the ability to continue the 1.5-2# loss rate.

    That approach (within 1-200 of the adjusted calories) sounds like a much better idea - good.

    One post about your thyroid is still here. While I do have a thyroid gland, it's not very functional: I'm severely hypothyroid (adequately treated with levothyroxine). Some people need medication adjustments during the weight loss process, but my thyroid condition had no observable effect on my weight loss, and my meds needed no adjustment. Individual results vary in that regard, of course.

    Enjoy your vacation!
  • Carvendive
    Carvendive Posts: 23 Member
    Free golf every day - Thanks, I will!

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