I burn like a wet matchstick
Beckilovespizza
Posts: 334 Member
Hi everyone,
I am after advice and a chance for a mini rant. I seem to burn very little when i work out. I went for a 90 min cycle yesterday, i rode at a good pace and a mixture of up hill/down hill, i set my Endomondo to my height/weight/age etc and found I only had burnt a measly 400 calories.
I like to skate on our seafront, i walk 30 mins at a good pace, an hour of skating and then another 30 mins home, once again the burn is small and comes in around 380 cals for 2 hours of hard slogging. I am 154cm, currently 51.3kg and only really workout so i can eat more (my tdee is crap too thanks to being small).
Some of my MFP buddies burn this amount for 45 mins of walking, i do understand that everyone is different due to shapes and sizes. I really want to burn more so i can eat more, any ideas or suggestions please?
Thanks in advance!!
I am after advice and a chance for a mini rant. I seem to burn very little when i work out. I went for a 90 min cycle yesterday, i rode at a good pace and a mixture of up hill/down hill, i set my Endomondo to my height/weight/age etc and found I only had burnt a measly 400 calories.
I like to skate on our seafront, i walk 30 mins at a good pace, an hour of skating and then another 30 mins home, once again the burn is small and comes in around 380 cals for 2 hours of hard slogging. I am 154cm, currently 51.3kg and only really workout so i can eat more (my tdee is crap too thanks to being small).
Some of my MFP buddies burn this amount for 45 mins of walking, i do understand that everyone is different due to shapes and sizes. I really want to burn more so i can eat more, any ideas or suggestions please?
Thanks in advance!!
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Replies
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A lot of people will log there exercise calories by adding the exercise on MFP. It is just an estimate, not a true reading of what they burned and a lot of time it is grossly over the actual burn.0
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Chances are, your MFP friends are grossly over estimating their burns. (either by guessing or just using the MFP database, which is usually wildly high)
400 calories for 90 mins cycling sounds realistic to me. Very heavy/overweight people will burn more calories during exercise than a smaller person too, so if you're small, your expenditure will burn fewer than your bigger friends.
Do you wear a HRM to figure out your burns?0 -
Start lifting. You're not going to get the instant massive extra calories that you're after, but it will help your resting metabolism, allowing you to eat a bit more without fat gains!0
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I just like the "burn like a wet matchstick" phrase, thanks for making my Monday!0
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MFP estimates are generally too high and people who rely on them solely are likely overestimating their burn. If you are wearing an HRM, that will be a much closer read.
We don't burn as much as we think when we exercise. One of the reasons why people have a hard time losing weight when they incorporate exercise is because they overestimate the burn and eat too much. Or say, "I just ran 5k, so I can eat whatever I want," which isn't really true at all. A 5k run for me only burns 500 calories.
Exercise has fantastic benefits, including calorie burns, but the average person cannot out exercise a bad diet.0 -
Chances are, your MFP friends are grossly over estimating their burns. (either by guessing or just using the MFP database, which is usually wildly high)
400 calories for 90 mins cycling sounds realistic to me. Very heavy/overweight people will burn more calories during exercise than a smaller person too, so if you're small, your expenditure will burn fewer than your bigger friends.
Do you wear a HRM to figure out your burns?
Thank you for your reply. No i haven't purchased a HRM yet but am looking into it. I just use the Endomondo app on my Blackberry. I noticed if i enter my gym workouts on MFP it is always well over what the gym equipment states so tend to round down.0 -
you're small. (US units you're 5' tall and 113 pounds). you're not going to be burning a lot of calories because you don't have to move as much weight as some of us.
to get the most accurate burns, you will need a heart rate monitor.0 -
Start lifting. You're not going to get the instant massive extra calories that you're after, but it will help your resting metabolism, allowing you to eat a bit more without fat gains!
Lifting does help you burn more calories at rest and there are a lot of great body comp benefits from lifting.
That said, this approach is dangerous. There's no good way to measure the burn from lifting and most people will end up eating too much.0 -
Doing exercises for the sole purpose of what the burn is or may be would drive me insane. Find something you like to do and stick with it.0
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I just like the "burn like a wet matchstick" phrase, thanks for making my Monday!
Lol! Thank you, i thought it up yesterday!0 -
You burn less because you are not that heavy. Many of the people on this site are overweight and a good bit taller than you. Simple laws of physics dictate that it will take more energy to move them the same distance at the same speed than it will take you.
My boyfriend is almost 70 lbs heavier than me, 9" taller than me, and burns way way more calories than me when we run together. It's just a downside of being short and not heavy. I'd rather burn less calories on my run than be overweight and burn more on the same run though.0 -
Unfortunately, being small, we just don't burn as much as a bigger person. Just like we can't eat the same amount as a bigger person due to lower BMR/TDEE. Just a fact of life. It doesn't mean you shouldn't keep doing what you're doing. Great job being active!.0
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you're small.0
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Sometimes I think MFP can be just as much of a detriment as a benefit. I love having friends' support as I work toward better health and fitness, but when I see their burns and losses on my feed I get a little jealous. In fact my post for today was short and sweet: "Today's challenge: stop comparing my results to others'." I know I'm in a different place than many of my friends, because I'm working on more strength and less cardio, and I'm super close to my goal weight and not losing at all right now. Comparison is a motivation killer. Compare your results to the ones you got yesterday and the day before, not to the person next to you. And I'm saying that to myself as much as to you! :happy:0
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Start lifting. You're not going to get the instant massive extra calories that you're after, but it will help your resting metabolism, allowing you to eat a bit more without fat gains!
Lifting does help you burn more calories at rest and there are a lot of great body comp benefits from lifting.
That said, this approach is dangerous. There's no good way to measure the burn from lifting and most people will end up eating too much.
you can figure it out by monitoring your weight gain/loss over a period of time while logging how many calories you eat. Anyone who's ever done a bulk cycle while logging their food intake will know at what kind of calorie numbers they maintain and at what numbers they start to gain weight. So I don't see where the danger is to be honest, so long as you're logging accurately and monitoring whether your weight is moving in the direction you want it to move in.
In my experience (which includes the experience of friends on my friends list etc here that I converse with a lot) a lot of women tend to underestimate how much they burn when lifting, and when it comes to switching from cutting to bulking for the first time, are often surprised at how much they need to eat to start gaining
example: calorie calculators say I should maintain around 1500-1800 cals/day (depending on the calculator) - reality is last time I was doing cutting/bulking cycles, I had to eat 2100 cals/day to maintain and more like 2300 cals/day for bulking. I'm not very tall and wasn't that active, as in I didn't do cardio and spent a lot of the day sitting.. but I was doing stronglifts 3x a week.0 -
I've met you in real life...you're tiny
When I had a working HRM, I burned around 350 calories in a hardcore 45 minute hardcore spinning class, and I was around 155lbs at 5'6, so 400 for your cycle doesn't seem too bad. A HRM would be more accurate than the app thing you use, so chances are that you burn more.
I also see people on MFP who burn a lot more than I do for similar exercise, and also people who eat a lot more and still lose. No point comparing though.0 -
Sometimes I think MFP can be just as much of a detriment as a benefit. I love having friends' support as I work toward better health and fitness, but when I see their burns and losses on my feed I get a little jealous. In fact my post for today was short and sweet: "Today's challenge: stop comparing my results to others'." I know I'm in a different place than many of my friends, because I'm working on more strength and less cardio, and I'm super close to my goal weight and not losing at all right now. Comparison is a motivation killer. Compare your results to the ones you got yesterday and the day before, not to the person next to you. And I'm saying that to myself as much as to you! :happy:
Thank you, this is good advice and u have had an amazing loss (not that i am comparing or anything)0 -
Start lifting. You're not going to get the instant massive extra calories that you're after, but it will help your resting metabolism, allowing you to eat a bit more without fat gains!
Lifting does help you burn more calories at rest and there are a lot of great body comp benefits from lifting.
That said, this approach is dangerous. There's no good way to measure the burn from lifting and most people will end up eating too much.
you can figure it out by monitoring your weight gain/loss over a period of time while logging how many calories you eat. Anyone who's ever done a bulk cycle while logging their food intake will know at what kind of calorie numbers they maintain and at what numbers they start to gain weight. So I don't see where the danger is to be honest, so long as you're logging accurately and monitoring whether your weight is moving in the direction you want it to move in.
In my experience (which includes the experience of friends on my friends list etc here that I converse with a lot) a lot of women tend to underestimate how much they burn when lifting, and when it comes to switching from cutting to bulking for the first time, are often surprised at how much they need to eat to start gaining
example: calorie calculators say I should maintain around 1500-1800 cals/day (depending on the calculator) - reality is last time I was doing cutting/bulking cycles, I had to eat 2100 cals/day to maintain and more like 2300 cals/day for bulking. I'm not very tall and wasn't that active, as in I didn't do cardio and spent a lot of the day sitting.. but I was doing stronglifts 3x a week.
You're right. Instead of no good way, I should have said no easy way. For people who are really dedicated to monitoring this closely, it can be done. But not everyone has the tools or dedication to know as much as your friends who are going through bulking/cutting cycles. Heck, I'm pretty into fitness and I don't even want to get into all that.
My comment was geared towards people who aren't as advanced or knowledgeable about burns. If you don't really understand it, or what your body is burning, it's dangerous to say "I can eat more because I'm lifting," without really knowing how much more.0 -
I've met you in real life...you're tiny
When I had a working HRM, I burned around 350 calories in a hardcore 45 minute hardcore spinning class, and I was around 155lbs at 5'6, so 400 for your cycle doesn't seem too bad. A HRM would be more accurate than the app thing you use, so chances are that you burn more.
I also see people on MFP who burn a lot more than I do for similar exercise, and also people who eat a lot more and still lose. No point comparing though.
Thank you Dawn, ur the queen of working out! xx0 -
I've met you in real life...you're tiny
When I had a working HRM, I burned around 350 calories in a hardcore 45 minute hardcore spinning class, and I was around 155lbs at 5'6, so 400 for your cycle doesn't seem too bad. A HRM would be more accurate than the app thing you use, so chances are that you burn more.
I also see people on MFP who burn a lot more than I do for similar exercise, and also people who eat a lot more and still lose. No point comparing though.
Thank you Dawn, ur the queen of working out! xx
Lol yes! I'm just thinking how I was 2 days from my due date when I met you so you probably seemed even smaller since I resembled a beached whale haha. X0 -
Great topic title!
I'm a guy, 70 kg (154 lb.), and to burn 500 calories in an hour of cycling, I need to be cycling at 25-30 km/h (16-18 mph) on flat ground, somewhat slower in hilly terrain. However, unless you're doing a lot of hills, or you're going slowly, weight is less important than speed for cycling; above about 20 km/h (12.5 mph), the majority of resistance comes from the wind, and wind resistance is proportional to your body's surface, not weight.
You can use the calculator at http://www.bikecalculator.com to estimate your energy expenditure in cycling. It might be a little higher than the 400 in 90 minutes that Endomondo calculated. A lot depends on your speed. Plugging in your weight, assuming a 12 kg bicycle and a fairly upright riding position, that site calculates that you would burn 400 calories in 90 minutes on flat terrain at an average speed of 21.4 km/h (13.3 mph).0 -
MFP estimates are generally too high and people who rely on them solely are likely overestimating their burn. If you are wearing an HRM, that will be a much closer read.
We don't burn as much as we think when we exercise. One of the reasons why people have a hard time losing weight when they incorporate exercise is because they overestimate the burn and eat too much. Or say, "I just ran 5k, so I can eat whatever I want," which isn't really true at all. A 5k run for me only burns 500 calories.
Exercise has fantastic benefits, including calorie burns, but the average person cannot out exercise a bad diet.
500 is great. My 5Ks give me a little less than a 300 burn.0 -
MFP estimates are generally too high and people who rely on them solely are likely overestimating their burn. If you are wearing an HRM, that will be a much closer read.
We don't burn as much as we think when we exercise. One of the reasons why people have a hard time losing weight when they incorporate exercise is because they overestimate the burn and eat too much. Or say, "I just ran 5k, so I can eat whatever I want," which isn't really true at all. A 5k run for me only burns 500 calories.
Exercise has fantastic benefits, including calorie burns, but the average person cannot out exercise a bad diet.
500 is great. My 5Ks give me a little less than a 300 burn.
Wow! On hills? How fast do you run it? It's hilly around here and I'm not a great runner, so it takes me 30 minutes.0 -
It's cause you're tiny. Not the worst problem to have! :drinker: I can relate, I weigh 123 and don't burn that many calories either. We just can't eat like big people...0
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Start lifting. You're not going to get the instant massive extra calories that you're after, but it will help your resting metabolism, allowing you to eat a bit more without fat gains!
Lifting does help you burn more calories at rest and there are a lot of great body comp benefits from lifting.
That said, this approach is dangerous. There's no good way to measure the burn from lifting and most people will end up eating too much.
you can figure it out by monitoring your weight gain/loss over a period of time while logging how many calories you eat. Anyone who's ever done a bulk cycle while logging their food intake will know at what kind of calorie numbers they maintain and at what numbers they start to gain weight. So I don't see where the danger is to be honest, so long as you're logging accurately and monitoring whether your weight is moving in the direction you want it to move in.
In my experience (which includes the experience of friends on my friends list etc here that I converse with a lot) a lot of women tend to underestimate how much they burn when lifting, and when it comes to switching from cutting to bulking for the first time, are often surprised at how much they need to eat to start gaining
example: calorie calculators say I should maintain around 1500-1800 cals/day (depending on the calculator) - reality is last time I was doing cutting/bulking cycles, I had to eat 2100 cals/day to maintain and more like 2300 cals/day for bulking. I'm not very tall and wasn't that active, as in I didn't do cardio and spent a lot of the day sitting.. but I was doing stronglifts 3x a week.
+1You're right. Instead of no good way, I should have said no easy way. For people who are really dedicated to monitoring this closely, it can be done. But not everyone has the tools or dedication to know as much as your friends who are going through bulking/cutting cycles. Heck, I'm pretty into fitness and I don't even want to get into all that.
My comment was geared towards people who aren't as advanced or knowledgeable about burns. If you don't really understand it, or what your body is burning, it's dangerous to say "I can eat more because I'm lifting," without really knowing how much more.
*rolling eyes*
If you're weighing yourself once every week or two and using a tape measure once a month, and not being silly with eating 500+ calories in excess a day, you're going to see it, whether or not you're "advanced or knowledgeable about burns." (Please define "burn" for me, too...)
Lifting to develop even a bit more LBM especially when the OP is quite petite and at or near GW will give her a little extra room for enjoying a bigger portion or a treat or two, which is I think what she was asking for. You don't have to perfect the science to be successful at this.
OP, if you're interested in starting to lift, I really liked ChaLEAN Xtreme program (I am not a BB coach), or get yourself a few sets of dumbbells (8lbs, 15lbs, 25 lbs might be good starting weights for a petite female) and look into body weight resistance (push ups, planks, squats, etc.) I do think these types of exercises have a more sustained effect on metabolism than just 60 minutes straight cardio.0 -
Start lifting. You're not going to get the instant massive extra calories that you're after, but it will help your resting metabolism, allowing you to eat a bit more without fat gains!
Lifting does help you burn more calories at rest and there are a lot of great body comp benefits from lifting.
That said, this approach is dangerous. There's no good way to measure the burn from lifting and most people will end up eating too much.
you can figure it out by monitoring your weight gain/loss over a period of time while logging how many calories you eat. Anyone who's ever done a bulk cycle while logging their food intake will know at what kind of calorie numbers they maintain and at what numbers they start to gain weight. So I don't see where the danger is to be honest, so long as you're logging accurately and monitoring whether your weight is moving in the direction you want it to move in.
In my experience (which includes the experience of friends on my friends list etc here that I converse with a lot) a lot of women tend to underestimate how much they burn when lifting, and when it comes to switching from cutting to bulking for the first time, are often surprised at how much they need to eat to start gaining
example: calorie calculators say I should maintain around 1500-1800 cals/day (depending on the calculator) - reality is last time I was doing cutting/bulking cycles, I had to eat 2100 cals/day to maintain and more like 2300 cals/day for bulking. I'm not very tall and wasn't that active, as in I didn't do cardio and spent a lot of the day sitting.. but I was doing stronglifts 3x a week.
+1You're right. Instead of no good way, I should have said no easy way. For people who are really dedicated to monitoring this closely, it can be done. But not everyone has the tools or dedication to know as much as your friends who are going through bulking/cutting cycles. Heck, I'm pretty into fitness and I don't even want to get into all that.
My comment was geared towards people who aren't as advanced or knowledgeable about burns. If you don't really understand it, or what your body is burning, it's dangerous to say "I can eat more because I'm lifting," without really knowing how much more.
*rolling eyes*
If you're weighing yourself once every week or two and using a tape measure once a month, and not being silly with eating 500+ calories in excess a day, you're going to see it, whether or not you're "advanced or knowledgeable about burns." (Please define "burn" for me, too...)
Lifting to develop even a bit more LBM especially when the OP is quite petite and at or near GW will give her a little extra room for enjoying a bigger portion or a treat or two, which is I think what she was asking for. You don't have to perfect the science to be successful at this.
OP, if you're interested in starting to lift, I really liked ChaLEAN Xtreme program (I am not a BB coach), or get yourself a few sets of dumbbells (8lbs, 15lbs, 25 lbs might be good starting weights for a petite female) and look into body weight resistance (push ups, planks, squats, etc.) I do think these types of exercises have a more sustained effect on metabolism than just 60 minutes straight cardio.
Listen, everyone here has different goals. Not everyone wants to track that thoroughly. I don't. I don't weigh and measure myself frequently at all.
And I think you know what I mean by burn. Let's not be dramatic. It's a commonly used phrase on the boards. But, since you want to be pedantic, how about calorie expenditure? Is that better for you?
When you are small, you have a small window between losing, maintenance and gaining. People who want to go ahead and eat more calories because they are lifting should go ahead and do that. People who want to go ahead and bulk or cut should go ahead and do that. But, not everyone wants to get that granular. It's a pretty common diet mistake to overeat because of miscalculated calorie expenditure. The comment that I originally replied to told the OP to just "eat a few more calories" without any kind of methodology. That's not helpful to the OP or lurkers who are watching the board.
I don't really think I'm saying anything that new or outrageous. But, hey, eyeroll all you want if it makes you feel important.
ETA: There are a lot of people on the forums that have no knowledge about this stuff...yet. So, yeah, I mean by advanced or knowledgeable about how bodies take in and expend calories. You kind of need to have an understanding about how that works. And, before you tell me that's dumb, when you answer your 1800th post about "why am I not losing" and "walking my dog burned 1000 calories" and "what fad diet works best" you come to realize that this is a learning process and everyone is at a different stage.0 -
Then increase your intensity. Working out shouldn't be approached like a leisurely meandering tourist fresh off the boat in a new port city.Hi everyone,
I am after advice and a chance for a mini rant. I seem to burn very little when i work out.0 -
A "measly" 400 cals? :huh: That's actually a pretty standard burn for a woman who's already fit. The fitter and stronger you get, the harder you'll have to work out to get the same burn.0
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Start lifting. You're not going to get the instant massive extra calories that you're after, but it will help your resting metabolism, allowing you to eat a bit more without fat gains!
Lifting does help you burn more calories at rest and there are a lot of great body comp benefits from lifting.
That said, this approach is dangerous. There's no good way to measure the burn from lifting and most people will end up eating too much.
you can figure it out by monitoring your weight gain/loss over a period of time while logging how many calories you eat. Anyone who's ever done a bulk cycle while logging their food intake will know at what kind of calorie numbers they maintain and at what numbers they start to gain weight. So I don't see where the danger is to be honest, so long as you're logging accurately and monitoring whether your weight is moving in the direction you want it to move in.
In my experience (which includes the experience of friends on my friends list etc here that I converse with a lot) a lot of women tend to underestimate how much they burn when lifting, and when it comes to switching from cutting to bulking for the first time, are often surprised at how much they need to eat to start gaining
example: calorie calculators say I should maintain around 1500-1800 cals/day (depending on the calculator) - reality is last time I was doing cutting/bulking cycles, I had to eat 2100 cals/day to maintain and more like 2300 cals/day for bulking. I'm not very tall and wasn't that active, as in I didn't do cardio and spent a lot of the day sitting.. but I was doing stronglifts 3x a week.
+1You're right. Instead of no good way, I should have said no easy way. For people who are really dedicated to monitoring this closely, it can be done. But not everyone has the tools or dedication to know as much as your friends who are going through bulking/cutting cycles. Heck, I'm pretty into fitness and I don't even want to get into all that.
My comment was geared towards people who aren't as advanced or knowledgeable about burns. If you don't really understand it, or what your body is burning, it's dangerous to say "I can eat more because I'm lifting," without really knowing how much more.
*rolling eyes*
If you're weighing yourself once every week or two and using a tape measure once a month, and not being silly with eating 500+ calories in excess a day, you're going to see it, whether or not you're "advanced or knowledgeable about burns." (Please define "burn" for me, too...)
Lifting to develop even a bit more LBM especially when the OP is quite petite and at or near GW will give her a little extra room for enjoying a bigger portion or a treat or two, which is I think what she was asking for. You don't have to perfect the science to be successful at this.
OP, if you're interested in starting to lift, I really liked ChaLEAN Xtreme program (I am not a BB coach), or get yourself a few sets of dumbbells (8lbs, 15lbs, 25 lbs might be good starting weights for a petite female) and look into body weight resistance (push ups, planks, squats, etc.) I do think these types of exercises have a more sustained effect on metabolism than just 60 minutes straight cardio.
Adding LBM will give you an increase in metabolic calorie expenditure, but the amount is completely negligible.
If you add 1 lb of muscle to your body, your BMR will increase by 5-10 calories per day. That's not enough to make up a snack.
Sure, over the period of 5 years, you might be able to eat a small cup cake every day, but that's not a realistic value to consider.0 -
Your heart rate, vo2 max rate, and your resting heart rate will determine your estimate of calories burned when using a calorie calculator like the one shape sense provides online.
Never compare yourself to others
Happy training0
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