do you think i’m overdoing it?
trulyhealy
Posts: 242 Member
(brief background: i’ve been eating at a 500 calorie deficit a day on average and i’ve been doing that for two and a half weeks how but i’m now starting to introduce excercise. im 5 foot 5 and 165 pounds)
sorry for the question but i need advice incase i burn myself out but basically im planning on doing an hour and a half ish work out video at home 3 times a week and i just started it this week and today i want to go on a 40 min walk back from college 2 times a week.
would you say that’s too much to burn myself out? would walking even be that effective? my legs are sore from working out yesterday for the first time in a long time.
sorry if this question is obsessive but it’s a genuine question incase i ruin my progress and this is similar to a question i posted a few days ago but the main point of this post is the walking aspect
sorry for the question but i need advice incase i burn myself out but basically im planning on doing an hour and a half ish work out video at home 3 times a week and i just started it this week and today i want to go on a 40 min walk back from college 2 times a week.
would you say that’s too much to burn myself out? would walking even be that effective? my legs are sore from working out yesterday for the first time in a long time.
sorry if this question is obsessive but it’s a genuine question incase i ruin my progress and this is similar to a question i posted a few days ago but the main point of this post is the walking aspect
1
Replies
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I would say that, unless you have specific medical issues or medical advice to the contrary then walking 40 mins twice a week would not in any way be overdoing anything. I’m quite surprised that you’d have thought it might be.
Walking is good exercise, you could walk 40 minutes every single day if you wished and still not be overdoing it. You’re not hugely overweight at that height so it’s not as if you should have any health issues from simply walking.8 -
Walking is very good for your health, and will help loosen up tight muscles, so continue that. 90 minutes of exercise video is a lot for a beginner. I would start with 30 minutes three times a week and increase from there gradually. There are a lot of workout videos online you can use to get started.10
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I think your plan sounds like a good one.
Make sure you log that exercise in the Exercise tab here and eat a bit more on those days.4 -
BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »I would say that, unless you have specific medical issues or medical advice to the contrary then walking 40 mins twice a week would not in any way be overdoing anything. I’m quite surprised that you’d have thought it might be.
Walking is good exercise, you could walk 40 minutes every single day if you wished and still not be overdoing it. You’re not hugely overweight at that height so it’s not as if you should have any health issues from simply walking.
i guess i was worried bc i overworked myself in 2016 when i lost a stone by like far too much excercise eating at most 1,200 calories a day on average but i’ve gained twice the amount of weight i lost so i’m scared i make the same mistakes
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Walking is great to do the day after a hard training session. Active recovery. Just be sure you are eating enough to fuel your activity level while at the same time maintaining your deficit. Also, be sure your deficit is appropriate. Once you hit the 10 - 20 pounds to lose phase it is advisable to go from 1lb (500 cal deficit) to 1/2lb (250 cal deficit)...5
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Agree that the walking is fine, and good in general.
The workouts may be a bit long if you're just getting started. Agree with the poster above to start out with more like 30 minutes (plus your walking) and build up from there.3 -
Walking is great to do the day after a hard training session. Active recovery. Just be sure you are eating enough to fuel your activity level while at the same time maintaining your deficit. Also, be sure your deficit is appropriate. Once you hit the 10 - 20 pounds to lose phase it is advisable to go from 1lb (500 cal deficit) to 1/2lb (250 cal deficit)...
Why is that @J72FIT0 -
HoneyBadger155 wrote: »Agree that the walking is fine, and good in general.
The workouts may be a bit long if you're just getting started. Agree with the poster above to start out with more like 30 minutes (plus your walking) and build up from there.
Agreed. Scale that back to 30 min. No need to KO yourself before you have a chance to gain momentum. That said, there is really no reason to train that long anyway...1 -
strongernurse wrote: »Walking is great to do the day after a hard training session. Active recovery. Just be sure you are eating enough to fuel your activity level while at the same time maintaining your deficit. Also, be sure your deficit is appropriate. Once you hit the 10 - 20 pounds to lose phase it is advisable to go from 1lb (500 cal deficit) to 1/2lb (250 cal deficit)...
Why is that @J72FIT
Why is what?
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warnongbri wrote: »trulyhealy wrote: »(brief background: i’ve been eating at a 500 calorie deficit a day on average and i’ve been doing that for two and a half weeks how but i’m now starting to introduce excercise. im 5 foot 5 and 165 pounds)
....
would you say that’s too much to burn myself out? would walking even be that effective? my legs are sore from working out yesterday for the first time in a long time.
You're on the right track. Walking is a low intensity exercise and generally anything that's low-moderate intensity elicits at least 50% (sometimes more)* of the energy requirement from fat tissue. An acronym often used in the industry is LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) to classify fat burning low intensity activities like walking. Very effective!
The other side of the spectrum is of course HIIT which is probably more effective but needs to be worked up to.
On the calorie side, when you say deficit, what would the total calories add up to per day?
I ask just to point out that to preserve long term health of organs and other body functions, calories shouldn't dip below BMR by that much and certainly shouldn't stay in the 1300 and below range for any length of time. The metabolic damage can be quite significant. It's much much better to eat at or slightly (100-200 cals) below maintenance and exercise more than cut calories that much.
In any case, as you add your 3x workouts, you'll need to eat more to fuel the muscle growth and allow yourself energy to burn.
Cheers, good luck!
* Source: http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/the-bodyrsquos-fuel-sources
i was eating 1,300 calories on the weeks i wasn’t working out but until the 4th of september i plan eat 1,200 calolories or 1,300 calories depending on how i feel bc it’s my birthday on the 4th and in saving calories so i can go out for dinner and not make me gain weight (does this even work?)
i feel fine at 1,300 but i might raise it to 1,400 while excercisng
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HoneyBadger155 wrote: »Agree that the walking is fine, and good in general.
The workouts may be a bit long if you're just getting started. Agree with the poster above to start out with more like 30 minutes (plus your walking) and build up from there.
i do the whole dvd bc it’s really fun and it’s split up into sections. for example the high intensity part is only 10 mins0 -
Are you starting from quite out of shape, and planning that routine to start at first? If so, I think it's too much. (A 90-minute workout is pretty long, for a beginner.)
IMO, the best strategy for incorporating exercise and fitness into one's life permanently is to keep it manageable, practical, and fun. You want it to fit into your day without severely short-changing other things truly important to you (work, school, family, friendships, non-exercise hobbies, whatever), because life balance is a good thing.
You want it to be energizing for the rest of your (non-exercise) time, not exhausting or fatiguing. Doing exercise to the point where you carry fatigue into daily life activities can (perhaps unconsciously) lead you to do less, rest more, and therefore burn fewer daily-life calories, potentially wiping out a fair fraction of the caloric or fitness benefits of the exercise.
You want it to be fun, so that you actively want to do it. (Ideal is finding something that's so fun you'd do it even if it weren't good for you.
) Exercise you want to do is exercise that actually happens, rather than being put off or avoided at the slightest justification. Sub-ideal exercise you actually do will create more fitness and burn more calories than theoretically ideal exercise that you avoid doing because it's unpleasant to you.
IMO, a good strategy is to start out slowly, and add gradually. I don't know what your transportation situation is, but if you have a bus or something available, maybe start with walking one way or part of the way, for 20 minutes twice a week. If you'd otherwise drive, maybe start with 40 minutes once a week. See how it goes. If that's fun and manageable, increase it.
Start thinking about and looking for other workout activities you personally would find fun. It doesn't have to be gyms or machines (but it can be). Anything that moves your body more helps foster fitness, and burns calories. It can be active video games, it can be dancing (of any time), it can be games (frisbee, tennis, basketball, whatever), it can be swimming, biking, skating, jogging, playing with your dog or children. Just move more. As that starts to seem easy, and you have more time in your life (while maintaining good balance), increase the frequency, intensity or duration of what you do.
For some reason, a lot of people have the idea that if exercise isn't making you miserable and exhausted, it isn't doing any good. That's 100% false. Certain activities burn more calories than others, or help one or another of the many dimensions of fitness more than others, but the basic idea is to find an enjoyable routine that fits into your life, and helps you achieve your fitness/calorie goals.
Further, phasing things in recognizes that what you have going is not an instant solution to all problems (unrealistic), but rather a gradual and experimental process of finding a happy life routine that will not only get you fitter and lighter, but help you permanently stay fit and at a healthy weight while enjoying your life as much as possible.
I started on MFP around your size (5'5", mid-150s pounds) and lost 50 pounds in less than a year without changing my exercise routine significantly (I'd been very active for over a decade while obese, so exercise is not any kind of weight loss magic). Exercise is for fun and fitness. Eating the right amount alongside that exercise results in weight loss. Doing more exercise or just general life activity can let you eat more while losing weight, which is good, because eating also is pleasurable.
Best wishes!6 -
Walking is great to do the day after a hard training session. Active recovery. Just be sure you are eating enough to fuel your activity level while at the same time maintaining your deficit.
Also, be sure your deficit is appropriate. Once you hit the 10 - 20 pounds to lose phase it is advisable to go from 1lb (500 cal deficit) to 1/2lb (250 cal deficit)...strongernurse wrote: »Why is that @J72FIT
If you are referring to the rate of loss part of his post this might be helpful:
3 -
trulyhealy wrote: »BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »I would say that, unless you have specific medical issues or medical advice to the contrary then walking 40 mins twice a week would not in any way be overdoing anything. I’m quite surprised that you’d have thought it might be.
Walking is good exercise, you could walk 40 minutes every single day if you wished and still not be overdoing it. You’re not hugely overweight at that height so it’s not as if you should have any health issues from simply walking.
i guess i was worried bc i overworked myself in 2016 when i lost a stone by like far too much excercise eating at most 1,200 calories a day on average but i’ve gained twice the amount of weight i lost so i’m scared i make the same mistakestrulyhealy wrote: »warnongbri wrote: »trulyhealy wrote: »(brief background: i’ve been eating at a 500 calorie deficit a day on average and i’ve been doing that for two and a half weeks how but i’m now starting to introduce excercise. im 5 foot 5 and 165 pounds)
....
would you say that’s too much to burn myself out? would walking even be that effective? my legs are sore from working out yesterday for the first time in a long time.
You're on the right track. Walking is a low intensity exercise and generally anything that's low-moderate intensity elicits at least 50% (sometimes more)* of the energy requirement from fat tissue. An acronym often used in the industry is LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) to classify fat burning low intensity activities like walking. Very effective!
The other side of the spectrum is of course HIIT which is probably more effective but needs to be worked up to.
On the calorie side, when you say deficit, what would the total calories add up to per day?
I ask just to point out that to preserve long term health of organs and other body functions, calories shouldn't dip below BMR by that much and certainly shouldn't stay in the 1300 and below range for any length of time. The metabolic damage can be quite significant. It's much much better to eat at or slightly (100-200 cals) below maintenance and exercise more than cut calories that much.
In any case, as you add your 3x workouts, you'll need to eat more to fuel the muscle growth and allow yourself energy to burn.
Cheers, good luck!
* Source: http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/the-bodyrsquos-fuel-sources
i was eating 1,300 calories on the weeks i wasn’t working out but until the 4th of september i plan eat 1,200 calolories or 1,300 calories depending on how i feel bc it’s my birthday on the 4th and in saving calories so i can go out for dinner and not make me gain weight (does this even work?)
i feel fine at 1,300 but i might raise it to 1,400 while excercisng
Sounds to me like you got burned out because you weren't eating back the calories you earned from exercise. 12-1300 is rather low to start with, and should be net calories rather than gross calories.
Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated for them and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
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I’m eating at a 500 deficit and hike up hill 10-20km 5 days a week, plus HIIT gym classes, cycling, boxing and weights. I’m yet to experience burnout so you should be fine just listen to your body7
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Hannahwalksfar wrote: »I’m eating at a 500 deficit and hike up hill 10-20km 5 days a week, plus HIIT gym classes, cycling, boxing and weights. I’m yet to experience burnout so you should be fine just listen to your body
Does not really give enough context in regards to the OP...4 -
Oh sorry I’m similar to the op’s stats hence my comparison. Of course we’re all unique. Im 5’4” f on 1200 daily. Have been hiking like this for 6 months now. More recently added some of the gym classes1
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warnongbri wrote: »trulyhealy wrote: »
i was eating 1,300 calories on the weeks i wasn’t working out but until the 4th of september i plan eat 1,200 calolories or 1,300 calories depending on how i feel bc it’s my birthday on the 4th and in saving calories so i can go out for dinner and not make me gain weight (does this even work?)
i feel fine at 1,300 but i might raise it to 1,400 while excercisng
So the link I posted provides the info; but the implication is that for every gram of carb that gets stored as glycogen, your body will store upto 2-3 grams of water. If your calorie cut is coming from carbs then yes, you will lose the associated water and consequently drop weight and look thinner. Ok for your birthday for looking *thinner* short term but not necessarily true for weight gain mathematics. In any case, after a short while your body will need to replenish that energy store. The weight will come back, as it should, to remain healthy.
Psychologically though, if you're not aware that this is just a normal reaction to eating much lower calories than is healthy, you might think your diet is failing you. Don't get disheartened if that happens or try and cut more. That leads to a bad cycle and pretty dangerous results!
Keep that in mind and as long as you go back to ~1600 ( I think from your info, your maintenance is ~17-1800 calories) every day while you work out AND you keep increasing your workout intensity, things should look good.
Good luck
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/
for the birthday thing i don’t want to look thinner bc i’m already fat it’s just saving calories from other days to make sure that when i go out for dinner i don’t gain weight1 -
warnongbri wrote: »Hannahwalksfar wrote: »Oh sorry I’m similar to the op’s stats hence my comparison. Of course we’re all unique. Im 5’4” f on 1200 daily. Have been hiking like this for 6 months now. More recently added some of the gym classes
Seems low. How does it feel with gym classes added?
Great. I eat back approx 50-70% of my exercise calories and am losing at a steady rate whilst toning up and increasing fitness.
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warnongbri wrote: »Hannahwalksfar wrote: »warnongbri wrote: »Hannahwalksfar wrote: »Oh sorry I’m similar to the op’s stats hence my comparison. Of course we’re all unique. Im 5’4” f on 1200 daily. Have been hiking like this for 6 months now. More recently added some of the gym classes
Seems low. How does it feel with gym classes added?
Great. I eat back approx 50-70% of my exercise calories and am losing at a steady rate whilst toning up and increasing fitness.
Oh ok, that makes more sense. So it's higher than 1200 once you eat back your cals.
I net 1200 but gross about 1500-1700 depending on my workouts
3
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