To start, excersice AND cut calories? Am I doing it wrong?

DianaGabriela2013

According to MFP, i should be consuming 1,200 calories in order to lose weight. I am a female 5'4, starting weight 140 lbs.
I decided to also start walking at work for 30 mins, and doing some Zumba or other aerobic/toning excersice at home after dinner (for about 20-30 mins).
Should i be targeting 1,200 calories AFTER excersice has been considered?
Or am i doing this wrong? Should i stick to just limiting calories for now till I lose SOME weight and THEN add excersice?
I am wondering how other people have been succesful, just by cutting calories? Or also adding excersice that you didnt normaly do?
I also started eating healthier, I lost about 3 lbs initially and gained them back. Been doing this for 2 weeks.
Or am I just being desperate? How long does it take to start seeing the scale number go down?

aniqa109

I would love to get an answer to this question becz im confused.so many ppl have wriitten on forums not to eat 1200 calories. If u exercise then technically u have consumed less than 1200 because you would minus calories burnt.
I lost 1.5kg in first week and since lost nothing.
Im hoping someone answers ur question n explains it simply so i can know if im doing it right too

clambert1273

If you are using MFP's calorie goals then you target 1200 (after exercise) that is why it gives you more calories after you exercise. Given that, MFP's estimates on calories burned are normally very high. If you are doing cardio, I recommend a heart rate monitor to give yourself more accurate calories burned.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Eat the exercise calories. Net at least 1200 calories.

Mokey41

Ok, to start with you shouldn't have your weight loss goal set to more than 1 pound per week with the amount you have to lose. Next, you can log your exercise and eat those calories back but you have to be very careful about how you arrive at that number so I'd recommend not eating back more than 50% of what you calculate to allow for bad estimations. You should NET at least 1200/day.

Ninkyou

You can do whatever you want. Cut Calories. Exercise. Cut Calories + Exercise. It's all up to you.

Now for the calories, the way MFP works, is when you exercise you'll "earn" calories from it. So let's pretend your goal is 1200, and you Zumba with a calorie burn of 300 calories.

1200 (calories) + 300 (exercise) = 1500 Calories to consume (eat)
1500 (consumed calories) - 300 (exercise) = 1200 NET (calories)

You want your NET to be as close to your goal (before exercise) as possible.
If you decide not to exercise 1 day, then you consume 1200 calories and your NET is 1200 calories.

That being said, make sure you're getting adequate nutrition/calories. Really, it depends on how much weight you need to lose, but you're already in a healthy BMI. The closer you are to your "goal" weight, the slower/harder it is to lose weight. You should not, however, go with an overly aggressive goal, so think about setting your goal a little higher.

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

Good luck.

bethiewilliams

Hi
I tend to eat back half the calories I earn as I don't exercise every day - some days I do nothing and eat my 1290, other days I do swimming which is 505 cals (45 mins laps) and I eat back 250 or so. This way I lost 1-2lbs each week and have bags of energy. any less and I wain and am tempted to pick.
If you did 500 cals of exercise and only ate 1200 you would net 700 which is not enough and not sustainable - you would end up eating stupidly or having no energy.
Also eat good food to make up 1200 cals - 3 mars bars would give you the right cals but would not fill you or make you healthy.

Hope this helps, good luck

trudijoy

I'm a HUGE advocate of TDEE - %.

Basically you work out two numbers. They are your BMR (basal metabolic rate - what your body burns without trying) and yout TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).

You work these out based on your own height, weight, age and activity level.

You then eat a percentage of your TDEE - most people seem to start at 80% - as long as that number is above BMR, and don't eat back exercise calories.

geekyjock76

MFP uses a net calorie system. Thus, calories eaten minus exercise calories is your daily calorie goal. So if you burn 300 calories in exercise, and you need to net 1200, you'd eat a total of 1500 calories.

MFP is designed for people to lose weight without exercise. It treats everyone as if they were non-exercisers and does not factor in exercise calories into the equation when telling you how much you'd need to eat to maintain weight based on your stats. Thus, as an exerciser, you start with a negative calorie balance before entering any information at all.

Let's say you have 15 lbs to lose. You should choose the 0.5 lb weekly weight loss option in this case since you don't have much to lose. MFP will automatically deduct 250 calories from your estimated maintenance calories (excluding exercise). You need to add the deficit from exercise, however, to establish your total deficit. If you burn 300 calories in exercise, then your total deficit is 550 calories. If you tell MFP you burned 300 calories in exercise, it will kindly tell you, 'Hey, I already gave you a 250 calorie deficit to help you lose the desired 0.5 lb per week. You need to eat an additional 300 calories to to remain at a 250 calorie deficit.'

Regarding exercise, it is not necessary for fat loss. However, there are many benefits of including exercise while reducing calories.

One: it increases fitness levels.

Two: exercise allows you to eat more.

Three: Weight training (with adequate protein intake and a reasonable deficit) can help preserve lean mass which leads you to a more favorable body composition once goal weight is achieved.

Four: Exercise makes maintaining goal weight and body composition easier.

DianaGabriela2013

"The closer you are to your "goal" weight, the slower/harder it is to lose weight. You should not, however, go with an overly aggressive goal, so think about setting your goal a little higher. "

Thanks! I also thought that might be a problem, Maybe because i don't have THAT much weight to lose, it is not as easy to lose it?

Elafacwen

In my experience, I lost 60 lbs between November 2012 and August 2013 just by reducing calories to average 1200 per day. This means some days I would only eat 800 calories, but a few days later I would be somewhere past 1400, but by the end of the week if you did the math, I averaged around 1200 per day for the week.

My weight loss really started to slow down by the time summer hit, which I when I decided to incorporate four to five hours of exercise (in my case Taekwondo) into my routine. I DID NOT and still DO NOT eat my exercise calories. I tried this for two weeks and lost NOTHING. I am down 25 lbs since August when I started exercising and still maintaining 1200 calories with no consideration to the amount of calories I burned.

Unless you wear a heart monitor, there is really no good way to know how many calories you burned in a workout. There are many factors that determine how many calories you burned, and only your heart rate and the a mount of time it was at that rate can tell you that. Too many people go jump on 'X' piece of equipment and use it for 'Y' many minutes, put it into MFP, and assume the value they are given in terms of calories burned is an accurate figure, then they go and eat back 'Z' many calories. However, most of the time you are not burning as many calories as you think you are, and you end up eating back significantly more calories then you burned, which gets you nowhere.

I feel like if you are eating a clean, healthy diet, taking a multivitamin on a daily basis, and keeping yourself hydrated, there is no reason to eat back exercise calories if you are exercising to to shed fat.

diannethegeek

I'm just going to link you to the sexypants guide because it's one of the best reads for someone just starting out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

DianaGabriela2013

"I'm a HUGE advocate of TDEE - %.

Basically you work out two numbers. They are your BMR (basal metabolic rate - what your body burns without trying) and yout TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). "


How do i figure these numbers out? BMR and such?.. sorry I am so new to this. My sisters told me (and i can see it for my self) they lost weight just by following the NET 1,200 calorie goal. sometimes they excersiced, sometimes not. They made it seem so easy.

I have a feeling that my number will not budge. I dont mind a SLOW weight loss as long as I know it WILL happen. Even if it is just 0.5 lbs to 1lb a week. But i just don't see ANY change, started 2 weeks ago at 140.9, now I am at 140.4. slooow Okay fine that is half a pound in 2 weeks. I just feel like I am trying extra hard by eating very healthy.

clambert1273

Read this


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?hl=sexypants

DianaGabriela2013

ELAFACWEN - " I DID NOT and still DO NOT eat my exercise calories. I tried this for two weeks and lost NOTHING. I am down 25 lbs since August when I started exercising and still maintaining 1200 calories with no consideration to the amount of calories I burned. "

WOULD YOU SUGGEST THAT I NOT EVEN ENTER MY EXCERSICE IN MFP? Just hit my calorie goals (1,200) and excersice freely as long as i feel good? Like the good old days when we didnt have all this tech and calculation help? ha ha

trudijoy

]
How do i figure these numbers out? BMR and such?.. sorry I am so new to this. My sisters told me (and i can see it for my self) they lost weight just by following the NET 1,200 calorie goal. sometimes they excersiced, sometimes not. They made it seem so easy.

I have a feeling that my number will not budge. I dont mind a SLOW weight loss as long as I know it WILL happen. Even if it is just 0.5 lbs to 1lb a week. But i just don't see ANY change, started 2 weeks ago at 140.9, now I am at 140.4. slooow Okay fine that is half a pound in 2 weeks. I just feel like I am trying extra hard by eating very healthy.

Thats okay babes we all started somewhere. i use this http://thefitgirls.com/tdee-calculator.aspx

One thing I've learned is that you can't compare your progress to anyone elses. You don't know what it was like for them. Half a pound in two weeks might be the best that your body can do right now. You could be ovulating, you might be retaining water, could be a lot of things. Every positive step is changing your health for the better, so keep it up!

clambert1273

ELAFACWEN - " I DID NOT and still DO NOT eat my exercise calories. I tried this for two weeks and lost NOTHING. I am down 25 lbs since August when I started exercising and still maintaining 1200 calories with no consideration to the amount of calories I burned. "

WOULD YOU SUGGEST THAT I NOT EVEN ENTER MY EXCERSICE IN MFP? Just hit my calorie goals (1,200) and excersice freely as long as i feel good? Like the good old days when we didnt have all this tech and calculation help? ha ha

If you calculate your TDEE that is what you will do; however, I guarantee that you will be eating over 1200 calories AND losing...

I eat 1700-1900 (sometimes more) and I am on steady weight loss.. I lift weights 3x a week... mine will slow down and I am prepared but I had no success at 1200 except for being cranky and pissed off... I like this much better.. plus what is better than ice cream every day :bigsmile:

ETA: Trudi is right - you don't know how your body will respond or why you aren't "losing" right now. I adjusted mine every week until I found my sweet spot

SLLRunner

According to MFP, i should be consuming 1,200 calories in order to lose weight. I am a female 5'4, starting weight 140 lbs.
I decided to also start walking at work for 30 mins, and doing some Zumba or other aerobic/toning excersice at home after dinner (for about 20-30 mins).
Should i be targeting 1,200 calories AFTER excersice has been considered?
Or am i doing this wrong? Should i stick to just limiting calories for now till I lose SOME weight and THEN add excersice?
I am wondering how other people have been succesful, just by cutting calories? Or also adding excersice that you didnt normaly do?
I also started eating healthier, I lost about 3 lbs initially and gained them back. Been doing this for 2 weeks.
Or am I just being desperate? How long does it take to start seeing the scale number go down?

Yes, your NET calories need to be 1200, which means you eat your exercise calories back.

Also, it sounds like you don't have much to lose so 2 pounds a week might be too aggressive. You might want to reset your goals to lose 1 lb per week or less.

SLLRunner

If you are using MFP's calorie goals then you target 1200 (after exercise) that is why it gives you more calories after you exercise. Given that, MFP's estimates on calories burned are normally very high. If you are doing cardio, I recommend a heart rate monitor to give yourself more accurate calories burned.

Ditto on the heart rate monitor. I found MFP is almost 200 calories more than my HRM, and and about 100 more than the other workout machines.

Just got my HRM for my birthday last week and I love it!

emmanap91

According to MFP, i should be consuming 1,200 calories in order to lose weight. I am a female 5'4, starting weight 140 lbs.
I decided to also start walking at work for 30 mins, and doing some Zumba or other aerobic/toning excersice at home after dinner (for about 20-30 mins).
Should i be targeting 1,200 calories AFTER excersice has been considered?
Or am i doing this wrong? Should i stick to just limiting calories for now till I lose SOME weight and THEN add excersice?
I am wondering how other people have been succesful, just by cutting calories? Or also adding excersice that you didnt normaly do?
I also started eating healthier, I lost about 3 lbs initially and gained them back. Been doing this for 2 weeks.
Or am I just being desperate? How long does it take to start seeing the scale number go down?

Yes, your NET calories need to be 1200, which means you eat your exercise calories back.

Also, it sounds like you don't have much to lose so 2 pounds a week might be too aggressive. You might want to reset your goals to lose 1 lb per week or less.

I started at about 124, 5'3" and let me tell you, 1200 cals NET isn't 2 pounds per week, MFP just won't set it any lower than 1200 cals per day. For me it's more like 0.8 pounds per week, so for OP it's probably close to 1-1.5 pounds tops.

EDIT: I agree with you about the other stuff, though - NET 1200 is the goal.

heybales

ELAFACWEN - " I DID NOT and still DO NOT eat my exercise calories. I tried this for two weeks and lost NOTHING. I am down 25 lbs since August when I started exercising and still maintaining 1200 calories with no consideration to the amount of calories I burned. "

WOULD YOU SUGGEST THAT I NOT EVEN ENTER MY EXCERSICE IN MFP? Just hit my calorie goals (1,200) and excersice freely as long as i feel good? Like the good old days when we didnt have all this tech and calculation help? ha ha

1200 is the recommended minimum, not maximum, minimum, for a sedentary woman to get all her nutrition in with average style of eating.

It is for safety.

Much like minimum building codes are for safety. You can always build better than minimum. Minimum is not for performance, longevity, or aesthetics.

You want to perform better, live better, look better?

Don't do the minimum.

Anyone that tells you they lost great doing minimum, ask for proof of what was lost exactly.
Because you can go find the topics posted right now from many (mostly women) that are at goal weight and are very frustrated with the skinny fat they've become. Goal weight, muffin top, flabby arms, and barely eating anything and can't increase for maintenance, wondering how they can possibly eat less to lose that fat in places they don't want it.

Because they lost muscle mass at decent amount along with the fat.

In the old days you would likely be eating a better diet in general, and then just cut some food out to lose weight, and you were already active.

That is actually still the best solution now, eat normal, find 250 calories of something to leave out daily, and find 250 calories of exercise to do daily or at least on average daily. Then no logging is needed.

But people go gung-ho and totally switch everything up, diet totally different, level of activity totally different - they have no clue how much they used to eat to actually be able to intelligently compare calories to.
Would it surprise you that you probably ate over 2000 calories on average, and whatever level of activity you did?
And now you'll be doing much more, and dropping 800 calories?