Plateau - and exercise calories are sometimes 2000

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iwatts3519
iwatts3519 Posts: 46 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have hit a plateau at 117kg - according to MFP, with no exercise, to lose 1kg a week, I should be eating about 1530 calories a day, and I can stick to this on a non exercise day. 3 days a week I run 5k, which burns about 600 calories, which again I can eat those extra calories too.

However, sometimes I do a 25 mile cycle, which burns around 2500 calories, and I might run or walk on those days too, which burns extra. Now there is no way I can healthily eat an extra 2500-3000 calories twice a week. I can't do it.

Am I getting something wrong.
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Replies

  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    Are you using a heart rate monitor to get your calorie burns?
  • CassieReannan
    CassieReannan Posts: 1,479 Member
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    What exactly are you eating back with the exercise?... Just curious.
    Salt possibly? Drinking enough water? Weighing the same time and same place every week? Are you stressed? Logging correctly? Maybe you need to stop exercising as much and give your body a break.
  • iwatts3519
    iwatts3519 Posts: 46 Member
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    No Heart rate monitor - there isn't a compatible one with my phone at the moment (not with endomondo anyway). Hopefully an update next week will change that.

    I'm eating back healthy foods - I easily drink enough water - possibly more than enough. I always weigh friday morning. Endomondo does the logging and is consistent (however accurate I cannot say) but for an 18.5 stone person doing 25 miles it doesn't seem too far off.

    My main problem is that I cannot eat all those exercise calories back, so sometimes I am going to bed still with 1500 calories that I should be eating. Should I really eat for the sake of it.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    there is no way I can healthily eat an extra 2500-3000 calories twice a week. I can't do it.

    Jar of peanut butter, spoon optional....
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    there is no way I can healthily eat an extra 2500-3000 calories twice a week. I can't do it.

    Jar of peanut butter, spoon optional....

    Hehehe, yes!!

    IMO, it's better to have a HRM (whether it syncs with your phone or not) for a better burn estimate. Until then, You should be eating at least the recommended minimum for men, which is 1800 calories. Which means, eat your exercise calories until you hit at least 1800 NET.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I agree with getting a HRM, otherwise just increase your daily average so you you can just eat more on days you don't cycle.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ is fantastic. Just set yourself at 5-6 hours of strenuous exercise and eat that.

    Not sure about your plateau, it's normal to have stalls of a couple weeks though. Just make sure you weigh all your food so you don't overeat.
  • jackielou867
    jackielou867 Posts: 422 Member
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    Are you in training for something specific. If you are you have to eat more, and you need carbs which you can quickly convert to energy. Your poor body must be in turmoil asking it to work so hard and not giving it the food it needs.

    If not in training for something specific, slow down, you don't need to push yourself so hard. I was spending an hour and a half in the gym but now I am doing no more than an hour a day, I alternate between cardio and weights and am getting some pretty pleasing results.

    Have you tried weights? Building muscle helps tone and strengthen the body. And muscle helps burn fat. You may not see the numbers drop so fast on the scales (muscle is heavier than fat) But you will see some nice changes in body shape.

    And peanut butter....Hell Yeah, If I am falling short at the end of the day I mix it into low fat Greek yogurt :-)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    http://chuck-wright.com/calculators/bicycle.html suggests your calories for cycling might be overestimated
  • DianneP6772
    DianneP6772 Posts: 272 Member
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    I cycle too and am a female so i know i don't burn as many calories as you, but 2500 seems excessive for a 25 mile bike ride.
    I don't use a HRM but i do sort of go by MFP calories burned with an exception. I know that MFP overestimates calories burned for cycling, so if i average 16.3 for a 25mile bike ride, i will count it as 14-16 mph. i count one level lower than my average. I am nowhere near 2500. I would guess it would come out to around 1000-1200. So possibly you aren't burning as many calories as you think?
  • jmayerovitch
    jmayerovitch Posts: 71 Member
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    I cycle too and am a female so i know i don't burn as many calories as you, but 2500 seems excessive for a 25 mile bike ride.
    I don't use a HRM but i do sort of go by MFP calories burned with an exception. I know that MFP overestimates calories burned for cycling, so if i average 16.3 for a 25mile bike ride, i will count it as 14-16 mph. i count one level lower than my average. I am nowhere near 2500. I would guess it would come out to around 1000-1200. So possibly you aren't burning as many calories as you think?

    I agree that your calorie estimate is probably very high. My guess is that if you got an HRM the 25 mile ride would be around 1000 cal and the 5Ks around 400.
  • iwatts3519
    iwatts3519 Posts: 46 Member
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    IMO, it's better to have a HRM (whether it syncs with your phone or not) for a better burn estimate. Until then, You should be eating at least the recommended minimum for men, which is 1800 calories. Which means, eat your exercise calories until you hit at least 1800 NET.

    If the recommended minimum for men is 1800, why does MFP have me on 1510 at the moment
  • iwatts3519
    iwatts3519 Posts: 46 Member
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    Remember that I am 18 and 1/2 stone, so that would add to the calories that I am burning. I will get a HRM as soon as I can and that would make hopefully it work more accurately. It is endomondo calculating, not MFP - so I want a HRM that works with endomondo.

    I tried http://chuck-wright.com/calculators/bicycle.html - While endomondo may be over, that seems under - it had me at about 400 calories. That seems way under for a 25 mile bike ride with steep hills.

    I will try and eat more for a eek or two and see what that does, while I stick to my exercise plan. If that doesn't work, I may tr and ease up on the exercise and see what that does.

    All very complicated.
  • WannabeStressFree
    WannabeStressFree Posts: 340 Member
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    hi
    does Endomondo allow you to manually input burned calories? I manually input my calories on MFP based on my Polar HRM readings.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    If the recommended minimum for men is 1800, why does MFP have me on 1510 at the moment

    that number (1800) was plucked out of the air I suspect.

    If you aren't losing weight that implies your food intake is in line with your energy expenditure, so the last thing to try is eating more.

    Did you see the Hairy Dieters on TV ? They're big lads and were put on about 1300 calories by Prof Roy Taylor from Newcastle Uni. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2368877/The-Hairy-Bikers-Si-King-Dave-Myers-tell-Jenny-Johnston-losing-weight-saved-lives.html

    If you're inclined to insulin resistance / diabetic tendencies you might lose weight better with a reduction in your huge carbohydrate intake. It would at least be worth a try.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    MFP does math, it expects you to supply common sense. It will spew out anything down to 1200 if you ask it the right questions.
  • p4ulmiller
    p4ulmiller Posts: 588 Member
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    The Polar H7 works with Endomondo on my iPhone.
  • rassha01
    rassha01 Posts: 534 Member
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    zephyr hrm works with Endo on android and iphone. I would suggest to drop some of the steady state cardio and add in some HIIT and/or weight training. It has definitely help me break through some plateaus while maintaining my lean mass.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
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    How long have you been at a plateau? If its only been for a few weeks or so, this might be an interesting read and could apply. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1098806-newbie-loss-plateaus-and-weight-loss-math-with-graphs?hl=Newbie+plateau&page=1#
  • mhematia
    mhematia Posts: 13 Member
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    Hey,

    What I usually tell my patients is to get a HRM to accurately see how many calories you are burning. If you don't have that, I would still log the exercise but I would not recommend eating the extra calories it allots for you as most of the time they overestimate (studies show that they overestimate calories burned by about 49-51%). So you could actually be undoing all your work by eating those calories if it is not an accurate and reliable HRM.

    Try getting a good HRM and see how it goes, but for now do not eat the extra calories.

    Cheers
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    If the recommended minimum for men is 1800, why does MFP have me on 1510 at the moment

    that number (1800) was plucked out of the air I suspect.

    If you aren't losing weight that implies your food intake is in line with your energy expenditure, so the last thing to try is eating more.

    Did you see the Hairy Dieters on TV ? They're big lads and were put on about 1300 calories by Prof Roy Taylor from Newcastle Uni. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2368877/The-Hairy-Bikers-Si-King-Dave-Myers-tell-Jenny-Johnston-losing-weight-saved-lives.html

    If you're inclined to insulin resistance / diabetic tendencies you might lose weight better with a reduction in your huge carbohydrate intake. It would at least be worth a try.

    I did not pluck it out of the air. It's recommended 1200 for women, 1800 for men by the American College of Sports Medicine http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/acsm-in-the-news/2011/08/01/metabolism-is-modifiable-with-the-right-lifestyle-changes

    Also, a quick google search will also yield similar results.

    This, of course, is just my opinion, that getting a HRM and setting his calorie goal to at least 1800 would be beneficial. I'm not an expert though, so it can only be my opinion.

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