Why is it that people on the Biggest loser etc

bikerbiz

Best post on the subject is right here...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

seabuckaroo

Do not starve yourself. It isn't a realistic long term resolution. I think, although I am not a doctor, that it is important to refuel your body after a workout. Maybe not the whole amount of calories but have an extra banana, cup of low fat yogurt or any other healthy type of 'snack'.....Good Luck!

Lisa__Michelle

you wont,...... the calories that you burned off from working out is just that....old calories....I do not eat my calories I burn off...defeats the purpose....that why they lose so much weight.....they actually aim for negative calories!! I eat my 1200 a day and workout as much as possbile. the more you workout, the more you will lose...just make sure you are getting lots of water, 90 grams of protein to keep your muscles and build more, and not too much sugar. High fat and sugars make you crave more of them, to get rid of cravings, keep these low! You can look at my goals and compare to yours....I'm actually signed u with jillian michaels.com to get good advice on diet excersise and since i'm incorporated what she says, I'm seeing the scale move more! Good luck

Do u realize that MFP already puts u in a 500 calorie deficit to start with? You are in the negatives already if u didn't work out at all and ate all 1200 calories a day? That is how people gain weight back when ending a program. That is definitely putting ur body in starvation mode bc u start in a deficit.

Meggie_pooh

and I dont mean to sound confused but yet i am some say you should eat some of your exercise calories and some say not to.. I just dont get which is best

for the most part, by the end of my day, I usually have at least 500 cals left. I really try to eat them back, but I haven't been hungry since I started MFP 2 weeks ago! I eat 6 small meals a day, so it's constant! It's OK it u don't eat them ALL back, but try to eat some of them back!

amymeenieminymo

and I dont mean to sound confused but yet i am some say you should eat some of your exercise calories and some say not to.. I just dont get which is best

Some do and some don't because I think those that don't just don't understand the concept (not trying to be snarky here). Yes, the common way of thinking about losing weight is to exercise to burn off calories. But you shouldn't reduce your calorie intake AND work out because then your body isn't getting enough fuel.

Think of it this way, say you need 2000 calories a day to stay the same weight you are. You need to eat 500 calories a day less in order to lose a pound a week. So MFP builds that calorie deficit into your daily plan so you are now eating 1500 calorie. Now you could just eat that 1500 calories and lose weight without exercise, but exercise is good because it tones and burns fat faster and improves your cardiovascular health. So if you're going to work out, you've got to eat those calories back so that you are getting enough food. If you burned off an additional 500 calories, your body is then getting a 1000 calorie deficit and your only netting 1000 calories, that's not enough.

Think of your body as a car that needs fuel, as you burn off that fuel, you need to replace it so it can continue to run properly.

amymeenieminymo

and I dont mean to sound confused but yet i am some say you should eat some of your exercise calories and some say not to.. I just dont get which is best

Some do and some don't because I think those that don't just don't understand the concept (not trying to be snarky here). Yes, the common way of thinking about losing weight is to exercise to burn off calories. But you shouldn't reduce your calorie intake AND work out because then your body isn't getting enough fuel.

Think of it this way, say you need 2000 calories a day to stay the same weight you are. You need to eat 500 calories a day less in order to lose a pound a week. So MFP builds that calorie deficit into your daily plan so you are now eating 1500 calorie. Now you could just eat that 1500 calories and lose weight without exercise, but exercise is good because it tones and burns fat faster and improves your cardiovascular health. So if you're going to work out, you've got to eat those calories back so that you are getting enough food. If you burned off an additional 500 calories, your body is then getting a 1000 calorie deficit and your only netting 1000 calories, that's not enough.

Think of your body as a car that needs fuel, as you burn off that fuel, you need to replace it so it can continue to run properly.

Time2getFit4Life

and I dont mean to sound confused but yet i am some say you should eat some of your exercise calories and some say not to.. I just dont get which is best

You have to find out what works best for you some people can eat them all back and continue to lose and then some eat them and lose nothing. The person who said lower your sugar and carbs wer right watch what you intake vice how much!!

Take a look at this video hope this helps:

http://www.thedietsolutionprogram.com/burnfatg.aspx?hop=seancollin&m=ad&r=aff

MooseWizard

and I dont mean to sound confused but yet i am some say you should eat some of your exercise calories and some say not to.. I just dont get which is best

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I eat my calories and it is working quite well for me. I only added exercise last month, and my weight loss rate is the same now as it was before.

mrb_9110

I don't get why eating exercise calories is so hard for people to grasp...??? It's built into the MFP program. If you look at the end of the day at the bottom of your food journal, IF you did any exercise, it will have your goal at your baseline (i.e. 1200) PLUS your earned workout calories (i.e. 450). So your goal calories eaten for the day will be baseline 1200 + exercise 450 = goal 1650. It's not that hard. Even when you first sign up and put in your information, the program says, "The more you exercise, the more you can eat!"

solid09

I haven't seen the show but people with a lot of weight to lose will lose it a lot faster than a person who have very little. Most the people on these shows have a couple hundred that can be dropped. Not to mention the meals that are planned for them are better portioned and all together more healthy than the contestants have eaten in god knows how many years.

ladyhawk00

so are you saying that the people on the biggest loser arent losing weight in a healthy way?

Remember that the people on these shows have HUGE amounts of fat to lose. The more fat you have to lose, the higher calorie deficit your body can withstand. Someone with 100+ lbs to lose can better handle a 1500-2000 cal deficit per day, whereas someone with only 50 lbs to lose CANNOT handle more than maybe a 1000 cal deficit, and probably only 500.

Also, keep in mind that a LOT of the people on the shows regain some or all of their weight (or more) after the show ends. AND, they are there for a very limited amount of time, the rate at which they lose is NOT that fast once they get home. Much as I appreciate the fact that BL and other shows inspire people to lose weight, trying to compare the average person's situation and rate of weightloss to the show is simply unrealistic. And, as noted, they are monitored by dieticians and doctors. Unless you are as well, you should NOT be attempting the same strategies.

Here are some great threads that explain metabolism and why eating too little will slow it down, not speed it up.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

MisdemeanorM

One post was right that the (short-term) rules do change some when you are jump starting the metabolism of a severely overweight person. But also, how long does the show take? A couple months? There are people who net 500 or 700 calories a day for years and can't figure out why they can't lose fat - that's a little different than 1 or 2 months. Shaking up your intake for a couple months, especially when you are that large, is different than say someone at 210 consistently eating 1200 calories a day and burning off 800 or more of them. I'm also not sure what the calorie intake for the show is. I know they are eating really balanced and good meals, but they might be eating a good 2500 calories a day, just because it's a salad or fish doesn't mean there are not some high calorie foods in there like nuts or avacados that are packing in some healthy calories onto the contestants.

Plus - Just remember - 1200 is NOT a magic #. I stall if I eat below about 1400 or 1500 net. Some people, based on their body, might be lower or higher a #. 1200 is just a general # people throw out there. The general concept of eating back your exercise calories is solid (or, in other words eating to your daily energy needs level, minus a small amount for weight loss - notice how if you list your activity level as "active" you get to eat more than if you are listed as "sedentary"? That makes sense right? Well, that is the exact same thing as eating your exercise calories, it just goes on the assumption that you exercise / are active every day so it builds it in.)

wolfchild59

I've never watched the Biggest Loser, so I can't comment on what they're doing.

But I look at this way, I watch the Olympics every two years. I love 'em, watch everything, including all of the random stories and news bits in between all the events. Every single time, there is at least one news story where they talk about the Olympic atheletes in training and how much they eat while in full training mode. Depending on the sport and the training, most of the atheletes days consist of 2500 all the way up to 4000 calories a day. I think that Michael Phelps was eating about 3500 a day when he was in full olympic training.

So if eating back a sizable chunk of their exercise calories works for Olympic atheletes, then it's probably a good enough for me to try.

And I'll say this, I'd been completely plateaued for over a month when I was eating around 1400 calories a day - keeping in mind that was only netting me about 800-900 calories a day. So I upped it to between 1600-1800 a day, depending on the day and the workout. I wasn't eating back 100% of my exercise calories (since I don't have an HRM and use the machine readings after entering age and weight) since I wanted a buffer in case the machines were wrong. But I started losing again when I upped my calories.

idahogirl71

I have been watching the Biggest Loser for 10 seasons now and have tried out twice to go on the show. They work out an average of 6-8 hrs daily and they are consuming well over 1500 calories a day to have the energy to do so. Bob & Jillian both tell them when they have a low weight loss week that they need to get their calories. Most of the people on there were consuming well over 5000 calories a day at home. I mean there is one contestant this season that had a pizza delivered to his house every night for dinner, he didn't even have to call them, they just delivered it. He said it was a large with everything. And that was just one his meals.
3500 calories equals 1 pound so in order to drop one pound a week you need to eliminate 3500 calories from your diet each week. I went to a trainer & nutritionist who did a full-body evaluation on me. It showed that at my weight my body needs 1900 just to survive. I was placed on a 900-1000 calorie program and lost 36 during the first 45 days. It has slowed down since then and I am down 13 pounds since joining this site about 3 weeks ago. It is not what you eat that matters, but rather how much you eat. You can still eat treats, in fact it is recommended because if you deprive yourself you will give up.
And as they show on the Biggest Loser, it is not only about the food and exercise. It is also psychological. Anyone can lose weight, but to keep it off you must find out the reason you overate to begin with. I want to be a personal trainer/psychologist once I get my extra weight off. I am a Psychology major now working toward that and I can tell you from experience that once I got my emotional garbage out the way, the eating healthy followed suit.

nuttybuttersmommy

First of all I have read every ones comments and some are just plain rude... If your not going to post helpful things in a helpful way then you should keep your mouth shut....

Ok to answer the original post... Please do keep in mind that not every thing is going to be shown on the biggest looser, they may actually eat more than what they tell you they do...

But the way cals intake works is you have to have a min of 1200 cals a day... this website is designed to help you try and figure out about how many cals you need to eat a day... my intake is about 1450. my goal is to eat the 1450... if I exercise and earn 200 extra cals it is up to me if I want to eat them. some days I am hungry and i eat them others I am not so I dont... it really is up to you... I have spoke to my nutritionist and my Doc and that is what they have told me...

If your still confused I would suggest talking with your doc or a nutritionist...

MisdemeanorM

Depending on the sport and the training, most of the atheletes days consist of 2500 all the way up to 4000 calories a day. I think that Michael Phelps was eating about 3500 a day when he was in full olympic training.

Actually - it's 7000 -12000 per day. :noway:

wolfchild59

Depending on the sport and the training, most of the atheletes days consist of 2500 all the way up to 4000 calories a day. I think that Michael Phelps was eating about 3500 a day when he was in full olympic training.

Actually - it's 7000 -12000 per day. :noway:

Yeah, after I posted that I realized that I'd posted the non-Olympic training calories and was coming back to update it. *facepalm* But yes, the full Olympic training is just what you posted and Michael Phelps was somewhere around 11,000 or so.

I remember them showing his average day of meals and just having my draw drop in amazement. lol

ColeyCannoli

I don't get all the attacking on here. I don't eat my exercise calories cause I'm not hungry. Listen to your body. Eat what you need to and you'll be fine. I lose at least 500 a day at the gym and I'm not going to stuff myself just to meet some arbitrary number meant for THE MOST AVERAGE PERSON EVER.

Why is "do what is best for you and your body" so hard to grasp?

ladyhawk00

I don't get all the attacking on here. I don't eat my exercise calories cause I'm not hungry. Listen to your body. Eat what you need to and you'll be fine. I lose at least 500 a day at the gym and I'm not going to stuff myself just to meet some arbitrary number meant for THE MOST AVERAGE PERSON EVER.

Why is "do what is best for you and your body" so hard to grasp?

Um. Do what works for you. But the cal goals on MFP are NOT calculated for "the average person" - they're calculated for YOU, specifically, based on your height, weight, age, activity level and metabolism. It is far from arbitrary. It may need slight tweaking, but is quite a successful formula (Mifflin - St. Jeor equations), used by doctors, trainers, dieticians and health experts to determine your metabolic rate. It is hardly "pulled out of thin air."

chrisdavey

Do you want to lose weight or FAT?

Biggest Loser people don't care about fat loss hence they eat SFA and exercise a ****load. It's a competition at the end of the day about weight loss not body recomposition. If you wanted to look like a saggy skinned person then following the advice of the biggest loser is a great way to do that (obviously depends on individual circumstances).