Guilty?

jessicagrieshaber

Yesterday I ran for 37 minutes at 7.0mph and walked at 3mph for 20 minutes. MFP told me that I burned over 400 calories, but I STILL felt guilty when I ate ~1400 calories.

Why do I feel guilty when I eat over 1200 calories, even if I worked out for the day? I'm not exactly trying to lose weight, I just want to gain strength.

BigT555

just the mentality of things, were taught that overeating causes weight gain so eating more than the ordinary seems troubling to many people even if it still allows them to be in a deficit. its tough, but you gotta learn to fight this way of thinking

maizerage66

You're probably still in the mindset that you'll gain unwanted weight from overeating even if you really aren't. If you're trying to gain strength, then the best way to do that is to eat at maintenance or right around it because you can't really gain significant strength in a caloric deficit. Your body needs fuel to be able to do that. You're just still in that mindset just like many other people when they start to eat more towards maintenance. What I want to know is how you only bur 400 calories after an hour of running and walking. I'd easily burn 1,000 doing that, granted that I'm about twice your size but still lol. And also, unless you're trying to gain strength in your legs then running isn't a good workout for building overall strength. You need to start lifting to be able to build significant strength. You will not get bulky I promise you. Lifting weights doesn't get you bulky, a massive caloric surplus does so you should lift while eating the amounts that you're eating to be able to gain strength. And just work on telling yourself that you are not going to gain the weight that you don't want by eating over 1200 calories. Find a workout and eating plan, see how your body responds, and adjust if you need to. Trial and error helps you to see what works for you and what doesn't while trying to reach your goals.

BoxerBrawler

You're probably still in the mindset that you'll gain unwanted weight from overeating even if you really aren't. If you're trying to gain strength, then the best way to do that is to eat at maintenance or right around it because you can't really gain significant strength in a caloric deficit. Your body needs fuel to be able to do that. You're just still in that mindset just like many other people when they start to eat more towards maintenance. What I want to know is how you only bur 400 calories after an hour of running and walking. I'd easily burn 1,000 doing that, granted that I'm about twice your size but still lol. And also, unless you're trying to gain strength in your legs then running isn't a good workout for building overall strength. You need to start lifting to be able to build significant strength. You will not get bulky I promise you. Lifting weights doesn't get you bulky, a massive caloric surplus does so you should lift while eating the amounts that you're eating to be able to gain strength. And just work on telling yourself that you are not going to gain the weight that you don't want by eating over 1200 calories. Find a workout and eating plan, see how your body responds, and adjust if you need to. Trial and error helps you to see what works for you and what doesn't while trying to reach your goals.

Yes... what he said.

If you don't want to continue to lose weight you should limit the cardio and replace it with lifting.

srslybritt

First things first, don't let guilt be an emotion you feel about food. Ever. You can regret a food decision and not feel "guilty" about it. By allowing yourself to feel guilty for eating, you're allowing yourself to make that action in and of itself a bad thing. It's *not* bad for you to eat, and it's a slippery slope once you buy a ticket for the guilt train.

Anyway, if you're not trying to lose weight, take a cue from the other posers... find out what your maintenance calories should be (TDEE) and eat near that. I'm going to guess that 1,400 calories is too low for you if you're not trying to lose weight. Good luck, OP!

Monkey_Business

^ What Briitt said, makes very good sense.

I think you also may not yet be comfortable with yourself yet.

goldthistime

What a wonderful smile. And fantastic pace on that run. I had a quick glimpse at your post history and am a little worried about you. Personally I think you should pick a TDEE number (something above 1800 I would guess) and stick to that. I also echo the advice to concentrate on lifting weights rather than cardio for a bit. If anything can make you happy with how you look, it's lifting. Good luck gorgeous!

jessicagrieshaber

I just found a TDEE calculator online and they're telling me to eat 2100-2300 calories A DAY! That's almost twice what I'm eating now. Are you sure that's right to maintain?

Muffie22

I think for me it's because i compare myself to others... hear people beating themselves up because they were ‘bad’ and ‘allowed' themselves to have a packet of crisps or some cheese or some other 'bad' food, and talking about how they need to now punish themselves for the rest of the week with exercise even though they're barely eating 1000 calories. Then I feel like a massive fatty for eating1400-1500 a day for my daily cheese habit. Even though i can rationalise that there's nothing wrong with it and that I can still have some ice cream if i really want and still lose weight as long as it's within my goal I still feel massively guilty. I'm still losing like 1+lbs a week most weeks, and that's probably even too much at this point really! Doesn't help that we're surrounded by all these 'get thin quick' fad diets that promote the idea that the less you eat the better you are as a person or that replacing all your meals with low calorie shakes somehow makes you an amazing goddess of self control and the master of weight loss, and that you have to be miserable and never eat anything tasty ever again if you want to lose weight [/rant]

Muffie22

I just found a TDEE calculator online and they're telling me to eat 2100-2300 calories A DAY! That's almost twice what I'm eating now. Are you sure that's right to maintain?

How tall are you? Your maintanance is almost definately be over the 1400 that you say i'm eating... i'm only 5'2 and that has me losing. My TDEE is estimated at about 1800

maizerage66

I just found a TDEE calculator online and they're telling me to eat 2100-2300 calories A DAY! That's almost twice what I'm eating now. Are you sure that's right to maintain?

Well, what did you put for your activity level? It takes a lot of energy to keep up with all the running that you're doing...

jessicagrieshaber

I just found a TDEE calculator online and they're telling me to eat 2100-2300 calories A DAY! That's almost twice what I'm eating now. Are you sure that's right to maintain?

How tall are you? Your maintanance is almost definately be over the 1400 that you say i'm eating... i'm only 5'2 and that has me losing. My TDEE is estimated at about 1800

I'm 5'5", turning 22 in a week and a half, and weigh somewhere between 120-125lb (don't own a scale). I generally work out 5-6 times a week.

Muffie22

I just found a TDEE calculator online and they're telling me to eat 2100-2300 calories A DAY! That's almost twice what I'm eating now. Are you sure that's right to maintain?

How tall are you? Your maintanance is almost definately be over the 1400 that you say i'm eating... i'm only 5'2 and that has me losing. My TDEE is estimated at about 1800

I'm 5'5", turning 22 in a week and a half, and weigh somewhere between 120-125lb (don't own a scale). I generally work out 5-6 times a week.

The numbers you said sound about right then. The average woman needs about 2000, you're about average height but a lot more active than the average woman if you work out 5-6 times per week, so makes sense that you'd need more . Only way to know is to experiment though. maybe try gradually increasing by like 100 at a time and seeing how/if your weight changeswith each increase. Once your weight has been pretty much steady for a few weeks eating the same amount then theoretically that should be your TDEE?

maizerage66

I just found a TDEE calculator online and they're telling me to eat 2100-2300 calories A DAY! That's almost twice what I'm eating now. Are you sure that's right to maintain?

How tall are you? Your maintanance is almost definately be over the 1400 that you say i'm eating... i'm only 5'2 and that has me losing. My TDEE is estimated at about 1800

I'm 5'5", turning 22 in a week and a half, and weigh somewhere between 120-125lb (don't own a scale). I generally work out 5-6 times a week.

The numbers you said sound about right then. The average woman needs about 2000, you're about average height but a lot more active than the average woman if you work out 5-6 times per week, so makes sense that you'd need more . Only way to know is to experiment though. maybe try gradually increasing by like 100 at a time and seeing how/if your weight changeswith each increase. Once your weight has been pretty much steady for a few weeks eating the same amount then theoretically that should be your TDEE?

Definitely. Only increase your calories by about 100 each week or half a week because if you do more than that then you'll gain just a little bit of weight mainly from water. It's just because your body isn't used to that much of an increase but if you increase it just a little bit at a time then that won't happen.

Anonycatgirl

I just found a TDEE calculator online and they're telling me to eat 2100-2300 calories A DAY! That's almost twice what I'm eating now. Are you sure that's right to maintain?

How tall are you? Your maintanance is almost definately be over the 1400 that you say i'm eating... i'm only 5'2 and that has me losing. My TDEE is estimated at about 1800

I'm 5'5", turning 22 in a week and a half, and weigh somewhere between 120-125lb (don't own a scale). I generally work out 5-6 times a week.

You're young, very active, and on the slim-but-not-skinny side of a healthy weight. I'd guess that's about right. Lucky you! No need to juggle nearly as much to fit in the occasional treat. You'll probably want to work up to it gradually. All these calculators are approximations and you might need a little more or less to maintain, and that will give your brain time to adjust to the idea it's all right to eat more.

Unknown

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sculli123

Age, height, activity, all contribute to TDEE. Can be hard to get right especially when you get old like me. lol

OP, that does seem high. I mean that's what I eat. What calculator are you using? There are a few different ones.

w734q672

I would say change your program up a little bit. Cardiovascular health is important and all, but there should be shift in the type of exercises if your goal is hypertrophy versus fat loss. Can I ask what you are currently doing for your goals?

jessicagrieshaber

I would say change your program up a little bit. Cardiovascular health is important and all, but there should be shift in the type of exercises if your goal is hypertrophy versus fat loss. Can I ask what you are currently doing for your goals?

Well I was always a cardio kinda girl. I love running, biking, walking, everything like that. Within the past year I started living relatively regular, about three times a week, but still continued with my cardio. For the past month or so, I've realized that I want to become stronger.

In order to do this, should I cut back on cardio and increase weight training? Aren't you supposed to leave yourself ample time in between strength training workouts though, to allow your muscles to rebuild themselves?

w734q672

I would say change your program up a little bit. Cardiovascular health is important and all, but there should be shift in the type of exercises if your goal is hypertrophy versus fat loss. Can I ask what you are currently doing for your goals?

Well I was always a cardio kinda girl. I love running, biking, walking, everything like that. Within the past year I started living relatively regular, about three times a week, but still continued with my cardio. For the past month or so, I've realized that I want to become stronger.

In order to do this, should I cut back on cardio and increase weight training? Aren't you supposed to leave yourself ample time in between strength training workouts though, to allow your muscles to rebuild themselves?

You can combine both cardio and weight together in what we call Anaerobic exercise, which is short duration, high intensity exercises lasting anywhere from merely seconds up to around two minutes. Some examples would include sprinting, Box blast-offs, ladder quick steps, double unders with a jump rope, etc. I can give you examples of a program if you want. You don't necessarily need to sacrifice cardio and increase weight training if you apply anaerobic exercises to your regular workouts.

The recovery time between the types of exercise you're performing will depend largely on your goals. For example, professional runners will have a more rigorous program that involves far less recovery time over high school runners. The same applies for strength training. Basically, recovery should be tailored to your schedule and goals

Rest for your strength training is definitely important to rebuild those muscles you've worked so hard to destroy. Does this mean we can only do strength workouts every other day? Well, this is not necessarily true. Your body has the amazing ability to heal/rebuild itself with the attention of proper nutrition, adequate amount of sleep/ reduction of stress, etc. Giving proper attention to these factors will allow you train a little bit more excessively and still have the potential to see gains. To maximize your utility when strength training, you can segment your workouts into certain muscle groups via a day focused chest/triceps and the next day focused on quads/calves. This can help in muscle recovery and aid in a more rigorous exercise schedule.

kdeaux1959

That long at 7.0 MPH should yield more than 400 calories at just about any weight... It is a mindset... Honestly, it is a mindset that needs revision.