When you can’t exercise...

montyeva1114

I find that I. My 50s that I occasionally will have my knee or hip literally give out on me. It happened this Sunday after my run/walk. I really count on moving but had to stop and rest my knee for a few days. I’m proud of myself for sticking with the food plan though. According to weight Watchers you really shouldn’t eat extra if you exercise after 50. You just don’t burn enough as you get older. Just curious what others think about that.

cmriverside

Are you following Weight Watchers or counting calories and using Myfitnesspal to calculate your goals and exercise?

MFP uses different calculations.

I lost 70+ pounds in my mid fifties using this site's calculations and I ate 300-500 calories more on days I did moderate exercise for an hour. I lost at the expected rate.

The numbers that work for YOU have to be calculated by you, over time and with consistency.

kgirlhart

If you are using mfp to get your calorie goal then you should eat back at least a portion if not all of your exercise calories. It doesn't matter if you are over 50 or not. You will burn some calories if you exercise. You may not burn as much as you did when you were younger, but you definitely burn some. I don't know how Weight Watchers figures your calorie goal, but if you are using mfp for your goal then you should eat back some exercise calories. If Weight watchers uses TDEE instead of NEAT for your goal then the exercise calories are already included.

montyeva1114

I’m currently doing MFP calorie counting. I’m trying to eat 1500 calories per and not eat extra for exercise. Even doing that I have lost very slowly. I dropped 4.1 pounds in 5 weeks. I honestly don’t think I would have lost any weight if I ate extra calories.. too scared to try. I don’t want to gain weight!

middlehaitch

Totally agree with @cmriverside, and my experience is very similar.

I lost weight at 54, ate back all my exercise cals, first MFP derived, then personal data, and thrived.
I burn ~200 cals per hr, I’m quite petite so less cals burnt.

Not eating them would have left me with less energy for everyday life, and I would have probably underperformed in the gym.

I also liked that when I took a break, choice or illness I knew just how many cals to eat.

Absolutely no truth in the over 50 assertion.

I will also add that both cmriverside and I are long term maintainers.

The MFP method of eating exercise cals back works well for loss and maintenance and teaches you a valuable lesson moving forward-
More movement needs more fuel.

If you are using an alternate method, TDEE, or however WW accounts for cals, make sure you know how to manage your variables like illness, exercise down time, and vacations or holidays wherevyou may want to eat at maintenance.

Cheers, h.

88olds

I don’t recall WW telling me not to add points for activity when I joined at age 55.

But I joined before the tracking gadgets. There were various guidelines to calculate activity points. Then I found an article buried in the WW website about using a heart rate monitor. I found mine in the back of the closet.

Using my HR, try as I might to convince myself otherwise, my almost daily trips to the gym were worth 2 or 3 points. I dropped the whole idea. It was too inexact and not worth it for 2 points.

I lost steadily on WW, dropping 30+ lbs in about 5 1/2 months. I think not adding food for activity was a good idea. If I had crossed the line into training, that may have been different. But my “workouts” were exercise or recreation, but not training.

And please, 4 pounds in 5 weeks is not “very slowly.” There’s no finish line. If you are satisfied with how you are living, it’s working fine.

cwolfman13

montyeva1114 wrote: »

I’m currently doing MFP calorie counting. I’m trying to eat 1500 calories per and not eat extra for exercise. Even doing that I have lost very slowly. I dropped 4.1 pounds in 5 weeks. I honestly don’t think I would have lost any weight if I ate extra calories.. too scared to try. I don’t want to gain weight!

Eating back exercise calories to account for that activity is how MFP is designed to work...however, there are things to consider...

- Accuracy of logging your food...most people are not good and being very accurate when it comes to food logging, even professionals.
- Accuracy of estimated calorie burns from exercise.
- Aggressiveness of your calorie deficit...having a large calorie deficit with your diet and compounding that with a bunch of exercise isn't a particularly good idea...you see this a lot with females eating 1200 calories per day and then going to workout for a couple hours everyday...essentially exercise bulimia.
- What you are doing exercise wise. Some exercise is going to result in fairly nominal calorie burns that aren't going to be detrimental if they go un-fueled. My mom was still doing sprint and Olympic triathlons in her late 50s...not accounting for her training activity with additional calories would have been detrimental to her health as well as her physical performance...that's quite a bit different than say jumping on the elliptical for 30 minutes.

acpgee

I always managed to do cardio even immediately after knee and ankle surgery. Walking with one leg on crutches is very strenuous. So is hopping behind a zimmer frame on your good leg. The entry for walking with crutches in MFP is very accurate according to my HRM. It was calibrated on an HRM by a friend who broke her ankle.

montyeva1114

I’m walking again! I confess it was nice to take a few days off! Im impressed how you kept going post surgery and injury!

montyeva1114

After reading all the responses my thinking is that I may not be accurately reporting my calories in or exercise calories out. I’m encouraged by what you all shared.

sijomial

montyeva1114 wrote: »

According to weight Watchers you really shouldn’t eat extra if you exercise after 50. You just don’t burn enough as you get older. Just curious what others think about that.

I think that's one of the most stupid and downright sad generalisations I've ever had the misfortune to hear recounted!

I'm 59 and just my sporting cycling burns 165,000 - 180,000 calories per annum. Then I've got gym work and social cycling to add on top. My exercise volume is far, far higher in my 50's than my 30's and 40's as I simply have more time to do the things I enjoy. Not fuelling my exercise would not only result in losing a load of weight I don't want to but would also hamper my exercise performance.

I'm just one of a large group of older people out on the roads and in the gym not just exercising but actually training seriously. I also see loads of riders in their 70's and 80's on the long distance (100km - 200km) events I ride in. Thankfully there's a lot of older people not buying into WW's depressing attitude to aging..


PS - for a low volume exerciser not getting the expected weight loss results over a significant amount of time by far the highest probability is that there is a problem in estimating food intake. An open diary helps enormously in spotting common mistakes.

montyeva1114

It’s quite possible that I misunderstood the weight Watchers plan at the time. I certainly believe in using common sense. The level of exercise and training described here obviously is going to require calories!

cmriverside

I think you will get the most benefit from this site by learning to use the FOOD page and Exercise estimates as consistently and accurately as you can.

That means doing the work of logging over TIME and adjusting if needed. It's not as simple as just, "Here's the numbers, now off you go."

Read through these logging threads, to start. The database is notoriously inaccurate so choose carefully.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10621050/how-to-use-the-usda-food-database-mfp-food-database-for-accurate-logging/p1

darklyndsea

You may want to ask your doctor for (or look up online) knee and hip strengthening exercises, if you don't already have some that you do. It might help reduce the amount your hip or knee gives out on you.

annliz23

I'm the same my knee , hip and back play up from time to time it's a pest but sticking to the food logging and trying to find alternative exercises where possible.

LyndaBSS

When my knees and hip started giving out before my various joint replacement surgeries, my surgeon said that that was my body's way of protecting itself from extraordinary pain. In my case, it was caused by osteoarthritis.

Since the surgeries, I haven't experienced it again.