the counting calorie question.....again

peej76

Alright, so I know about a week ago, I said it was time to get back on track.....I lied, I continued to eat like a pig. But now I'm ready, really ready. I promised that I would never get near the 200 mark again, but slowly I'm creeping up there. I have been on this site since March and haven't really lost any weight. I lost 10 but 5 came back.

Since I joined the site, I never ate all my calories, because in the past I lost weight by just eating three meals a day, and the only exercise I did was walking for about a half an hour a day. Now I do cardio for about 30-60 minutes, and was eating the three meals a day, with no success. I'm assuming it's because I'm burning more calories now then I was, and eating around the same.

Anyway, I'm going to try eating all my calories, and my exercise calories as well. But, what I'm afraid of is this. I don't have an hrm (not affordable to purchase one right now), so all my workouts are estimated calories burnt. So what if I'm not burning as many calories as it says I burnt. Is it going to make a huge difference? I'm not a slacker as far as exercise is concerned but I'm not a star athlete or anything either. I'm just really scared of gaining weight, I'm just finally taking a positive outlook on life, and don't want anything to interfere with my new found happiness. So just say that I estimate burning 500 cals, but in reality only burnt 300. If I eat the extra 500 calories is that going to put weight on? I hope your not confused lol, cause I really need answers!!

peej76

Alright, so I know about a week ago, I said it was time to get back on track.....I lied, I continued to eat like a pig. But now I'm ready, really ready. I promised that I would never get near the 200 mark again, but slowly I'm creeping up there. I have been on this site since March and haven't really lost any weight. I lost 10 but 5 came back.

Since I joined the site, I never ate all my calories, because in the past I lost weight by just eating three meals a day, and the only exercise I did was walking for about a half an hour a day. Now I do cardio for about 30-60 minutes, and was eating the three meals a day, with no success. I'm assuming it's because I'm burning more calories now then I was, and eating around the same.

Anyway, I'm going to try eating all my calories, and my exercise calories as well. But, what I'm afraid of is this. I don't have an hrm (not affordable to purchase one right now), so all my workouts are estimated calories burnt. So what if I'm not burning as many calories as it says I burnt. Is it going to make a huge difference? I'm not a slacker as far as exercise is concerned but I'm not a star athlete or anything either. I'm just really scared of gaining weight, I'm just finally taking a positive outlook on life, and don't want anything to interfere with my new found happiness. So just say that I estimate burning 500 cals, but in reality only burnt 300. If I eat the extra 500 calories is that going to put weight on? I hope your not confused lol, cause I really need answers!!

LokiFae

I don't have a HRM either, and just estimate my workouts, and I've lost 19 pounds since I've started. Eating all your calories and exercise calories (even if they're estimated) really really works. Good luck!

mphnkids

I wish you nothing but success in your decision to come back and work hard. I know the exercises on here estimate calories burned on an average. I purchased a HRM on ebay for much less than buying one retail. I would check there. Also, try Craigslist.
My HRM surprisingly gives me lower cals burned than the HRM built into the machines at the gym. I would say if you enter your exercises, change the number of cals burned to a lower number, maybe start by lowering it by 50. Just a suggestion, I don't know if that would be acurate either, but I would say to estimate conservatively.

gabi_ele

Ok I'm no expert but I have been on a lot of diet's , lost a lot of weight all to gain it back and then some. If I understand right we are already working on a 500 calorie defizit, so if you was tro eat 500 cal. and only working off 300 you would still be loosing weight but slower.
Now you want your body to burn good fuel and at his best performance you will have to give it enough and premium food. I eat 4 to 5 times a day, I eat mostly what I want, lean protein, compex carbs and drink at least 64 oz of water. What I have noticed is I am hungry in the morning and at lunch and for dinner. I do not eat fried food and limit my processed carbs ( pasta, white bread , sugar rice) but if I want it I make sure I have the calories for it. This is a lifetime change and if we want to succed we can not look at it as a punishment but as a way to succeed. Most of our thinking is already messed up... we think that if we eat more b/c we work more we will gain anyway, and think that if we eat only once a day well be skinny. But our bodies are not made that way . I will post the links from Banks that helped me the most and try it ... it is working very well for me... I even went up the steps to the post office yesterday without pain and without having to stop .
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
I wish you sucess and if you want to vent I'm on yahoo with the same name and we can chat:drinker:

lotusfromthemud

Before I got my HRM, I always took about 50-100 calories off of what the machine "said" I burnt. Now that I have my HRM, for me that was pretty spot on. So, if you're worried, I'd leave about 100 calories at the end of the day on my workout days. Alternately, you could chop time off when you log (this is what I usually did, because I'm obsessive about seeing that equation balanced at the end of the day) so, if you walk for an hour, log 45 minutes, etc.

I really think that "eating all my calories" was a huge help for me. I notice now that my metabolism seems to actually be working correctly (for the first time in a long time). . .I get hungry, I eat, I get full, then later I get hungry again. Actual physical hunger. I think I'd forgotten what it felt like.

ranibauer

I have an idea. Lets say you go for an hour walk at 3.5 miles per hour on no incline. I would put that in as your exercise on MFP, but maybe while you are doing the walk do some intervals. Jog for 1 minute in five minute intervals, or raise the incline something like that. That way you would probably be burning more calories than you logged in MFP, and it wouldn't be too extreme calorie buring that would hurt your body by not eating those extra calories. That would be a safety net.

frankp

I set my goal at 1/2 pound per week which for me yields 1780 calories per day before excercise. If I had set my goal at 1&1/2 pounds per week my daily calories would be 1280.

So, that's a pretty big margin before any worries. I just make sure I eat more than 1400 calories and less than my 1780 + excercise which is usually around 2000.

It's really easy this way and since my expectation is only 1/2 pound a week I end up real happy with my weekly results. And 1/2 pound per week adds up quickly (and I often beat the 1/2 pound goal).

IndigoElectron

I've NEVER counted calories and I've been dieting on and off for over 10 years (hopefully this time I will keep it off!). I've lost 14 pounds this time round and am 7 pounds away from my goal, and I've done this without counting any calories or exercising (apart from walking 30 minutes 5 times a week, and that's a fairly recent thing).

I joined this site and put in what I was eating on an average day, and it was WAY over the 1200 calories recommended for my height and weight, but I have lost weight eating this way. It's taken a long time though, so now I'm keeping a closer eye on things and trying to stick to within the calorie limit (but I've upped my exercise so I can eat more, no way could I survive on 1200 calories a day!), and hopefully I can get the last 7 pounds off, which I know is going to be the hardest bit.

My point is, I wouldn't get too obsessed with calories - I've never watched them and I have been successful. If you don't mind losing weight fairly slowly (which is the best way in my opinion, though my rate of loss has been a little TOO slow for my liking!) then you can relax a bit and not worry too much about things.