major calorie burn, no loss?

missnatlyn
missnatlyn Posts: 15 Member
in Getting Started
For the last 3 weeks I have burned 1900-2200 calories a day walking 12 miles a day at my job. Normally I sit at a desk all day but I have been helping in another dept. Why am I not losing weight?? I do eat my calories allowed and sometimes just over.??? Any ideas

Replies

  • missnatlyn
    missnatlyn Posts: 15 Member
    I have also included more fruit and veggies into my diet as well. And reduced my soda intake to very little.
  • ShellF415
    ShellF415 Posts: 182 Member
    Where are you getting the calories lost from? The calories on MFP estimate pretty high.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    For the last 3 weeks I have burned 1900-2200 calories a day walking 12 miles a day at my job. Normally I sit at a desk all day but I have been helping in another dept. Why am I not losing weight?? I do eat my calories allowed and sometimes just over.??? Any ideas




    Walking 12 miles a day will burn less than 1200 calories for most people.

    Walking generally burns 70-90/mile and running 110-130/mile.

    So you eat your calories you are allowed and sometimes over? That "sometimes over" speaks volumes, and also if you think you are burning 1900-2200 from the walking and eating them back, even just half, you are not going to see much weight loss. If you eat half of those approx 2000 back you are at 1000 calories when you are burning only 1000-1200 or even less.
  • spmcavoy1
    spmcavoy1 Posts: 60 Member
    Have you done your TDEE? What activity level are your "base calories" tied to?

    If you are "very active" and eat back all of your logged exercise, there in could be your problem - you're double counting those walking calories during the day.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    You are overestimating your calorie burn.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    For the last 3 weeks I have burned 1900-2200 calories a day walking 12 miles a day at my job. Normally I sit at a desk all day but I have been helping in another dept. Why am I not losing weight?? I do eat my calories allowed and sometimes just over.??? Any ideas

    Can you open your diary?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    ^^I agree with a lot of the advice users have posted about re: your calorie burns.

    I'm also going to ask if you're using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing your portion sizes? I don't believe that a food scale is absolutely necessary to lose weight, but it might be helpful to double check that you're logging as accurately as possible for a little while.

    Opening your diary might help you get more specific advice.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
    i ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) back in may and didn't burn what you burn walking. i think you're over estimating your calorie burns.
  • ShellF415
    ShellF415 Posts: 182 Member
    You can buy a heart rate monitor/calorie burn tracker that will give you a much more accurate estimate of what you are actually burning.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    You are maybe burning 1000-1200, but normally you would be doing at least sone walking in your normal daily living. This is just adding on.
  • November_Fire
    November_Fire Posts: 165 Member
    1900 burned on a walk would mean walking for like... a week. Non-stop.

    Your estimates are about 1000% too high.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    For the last 3 weeks I have burned 1900-2200 calories a day walking 12 miles a day at my job.
    Sounds unlikely unless you are very, very heavy.
    Suggest you try a few online calculators to verify your numbers.
  • CCSavage88
    CCSavage88 Posts: 191
    You're NOT burning that many calories..no way!...Buy a heart rate monitor and I assure you that you will have a reality check of what your honestly burning...veggies are high in carbs, fruits are high in sugar you have to watch everything including what society says is "healthy,healthy,healthy"
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    You can buy a heart rate monitor/calorie burn tracker that will give you a much more accurate estimate of what you are actually burning.

    Heart rate monitors are really only meant to track steady-state cardio. Tracking walking done at work might be better achieved through something like a Fitbit or pedometer.
  • dewsmom78
    dewsmom78 Posts: 498 Member
    You can buy a heart rate monitor/calorie burn tracker that will give you a much more accurate estimate of what you are actually burning.

    Heart rate monitors are really only meant to track steady-state cardio. Tracking walking done at work might be better achieved through something like a Fitbit or pedometer.

    Yes, get a heart rate monitor. I have a Polar FT4 and love it. MFP is not accurate.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    One thing I dont really count as excercise is whatever I do on any of my various jobs. I look at any of that activity, and strenous yardwork and such, as just a bonus to regular exercise.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    You can buy a heart rate monitor/calorie burn tracker that will give you a much more accurate estimate of what you are actually burning.

    Heart rate monitors are really only meant to track steady-state cardio. Tracking walking done at work might be better achieved through something like a Fitbit or pedometer.

    Yes, get a heart rate monitor. I have a Polar FT4 and love it. MFP is not accurate.
    No don't use a HRM - wrong tool for the job.
  • JassiBear
    JassiBear Posts: 268 Member
    Don't eat that many calories....... and run instead of walk. thermogenisis= core body temperature increase= burn fat ........in other words.... walking is great but start adding some running in there which will get you burning even more. And lower calorie intake for your height and age. I would try 1600 instead of 1900.
  • RhysJones92
    RhysJones92 Posts: 18 Member
    Always remember that weight loss is around 80% diet and proper nutrition, and only 20% exercise. Studies have even shown that regular exercise doesn't lead to weight loss, sure it makes you fitter and healthier but you can't eat a rubbish diet and expect to lose weight with exercise alone. Exercise is more an adjunct to proper eating.

    If you do want to lose weight and body size through exercise, I suggest you read up about HIIT, whereby you do burst of intense exercise in a say 20 minute time-frame and studies have shown this to lead to weight loss (unlike regular exercise as you are mentioning)
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    You can buy a heart rate monitor/calorie burn tracker that will give you a much more accurate estimate of what you are actually burning.

    Heart rate monitors are really only meant to track steady-state cardio. Tracking walking done at work might be better achieved through something like a Fitbit or pedometer.

    Yes, get a heart rate monitor. I have a Polar FT4 and love it. MFP is not accurate.

    Heart rate monitors are really only meant to track steady-state cardio. Tracking walking done at work might be better achieved through something like a Fitbit or pedometer.
  • JassiBear
    JassiBear Posts: 268 Member
    Have you done your TDEE? What activity level are your "base calories" tied to?

    If you are "very active" and eat back all of your logged exercise, there in could be your problem - you're double counting those walking calories during the day.

    Exactly. I would only log exercise if I set my daily activity level to sedentary. You shouldn't count individual exercise as isolated incidents but then also factor them into your activity level because your accounting for those calories twice.
  • rsoice
    rsoice Posts: 212 Member
    You've gotten some great advice here, the other link is are you tracking your calories in? As in are you logging accurately? If you're eating back the calories you think you've added from walking, why?
  • aliakynes
    aliakynes Posts: 352 Member
    I think you're betting off switching your activity level while you're more active at work than adding them as exercise calories.
  • dpwellman
    dpwellman Posts: 3,271 Member
    General notes on walking (or any exercise for that matter)

    Walking might, also, not be sufficiently inefficient enough for one. Generally, walking versus running doesn't matter. Distance matters, but one is past the adaption phase, have to increase duration, frequency, or resistance
  • jeccawest91
    jeccawest91 Posts: 94 Member
    HRM, food scale and opening up your diary.
  • stephe1987
    stephe1987 Posts: 406 Member
    The problem is that you're eating too many calories.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    You are definitely overestimating your burn and are probably underestimating how much you're eating, too.

    This is why I recommend eating back no more than half of your exercise calories.

    Yes, there are people who eat more than that and still lose weight. But they're not losing as much as they could be. And a lot of them eventually stop losing weight or even gain weight.

    At first, people usually lose weight quickly as their body adjust to exercising. And then, depending on how big they are when they start, they have a bit of leeway as far as being able to eat extra calories and still lose weight. Deficits are huge because their TDEE is still high. But as one gets closer and closer to one's goal weight, the leeway disappears. It's important to get an accurate count of calories eaten and burned. As for me, I'd rather go under and lose a little more weight than expected, than eat too much and have a bad weigh-in.
  • ShellF415
    ShellF415 Posts: 182 Member
    Missed the part about walking over 12 hours; sorry for the heart rate monitor suggestion. :)
  • missnatlyn
    missnatlyn Posts: 15 Member
    Thank you all! I am constantly walking average of 7 hours a day. Reaching bending and squatting as well. I have my TDEE set to start because that is my normal day. I don't eat back 2000 calories!! It's usually not over 1900 on days where I walk all day. I will re evaluate my calorie burn.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    For the last 3 weeks I have burned 1900-2200 calories a day walking 12 miles a day at my job.

    12 miles walking for a 150 pound person is a little over 600 extra calories of burn.

    Sorry.

    PS A great way to guarantee a burn overestimate for walking is to use an HRM - they are not designed for that kind of activity and WILL give you wrong answers.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    are are you walking at a continuous, brisk pace or walking for a few minutes at a slower pace, stopping to work, starting again? if you stop frequently to do stuff, you give your heart rate time to go back down, thereby burning less calories. also walking at a slower pace burns less calories.

    btw, i'm short, overweight, over 50 and in not great shape, and my heart rate monitor thinks i burn 329 calories per hour walking briskly. most people burn less, and that's between 3.5 and 4 miles per hour. my husband, who's tall and much fitter burns a LOT less than that walking for an hour.

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