An objective look at eating "exercise calories"

TavistockToad

tuesday is bump day!!!

cedarhurst2006

THank you for the explanation - it was very helpful I have been so confused about this. I have a question, though....

I lost 120 lbs. over a relatively short period of time without any exercise (I was using a walker/cane at the time). Per doctors orders, I reduced my caloric intake to 1800 then to 1500 then to 1200. I changed my whole life and really am living a healthy lifestyle. Then I hit a wall at my current weight. I joined a gym in January and I go almost every day. I couldn't even to 2 minutes on an eliptical. Now I do 30-40 minutes cardio and a little free weights as I've developed a hernia after using the machines. I burn between 350-600 calories per day. I have kept my caloric intake at 1200. Since joining the gym in January, I haven't lost one pound and am so frustrated that I can't figure this out!!! II feel like my body is saying to me "Whoa , I love this lighter version and I'm happy here at this weight." And I know I need to still get to onederland as I'm still considered obese (5'8" tall). My doc wants more weight loss and I want more weight loss. I tried increasing my calories by the amount I exercise and I've gained 3 lbs. I have a doc appt. in 2 days and will ask his help but you seem to be very knowledgeable. Any thoughts?

(PS - I feel like this is one of those problems in math when you were a kid............. two trains left the station one going 25 mph and the one traveling 13 mph................................)

seasonalvoodoo

THank you for the explanation - it was very helpful I have been so confused about this. I have a question, though....

I lost 120 lbs. over a relatively short period of time without any exercise (I was using a walker/cane at the time). Per doctors orders, I reduced my caloric intake to 1800 then to 1500 then to 1200. I changed my whole life and really am living a healthy lifestyle. Then I hit a wall at my current weight. I joined a gym in January and I go almost every day. I couldn't even to 2 minutes on an eliptical. Now I do 30-40 minutes cardio and a little free weights as I've developed a hernia after using the machines. I burn between 350-600 calories per day. I have kept my caloric intake at 1200. Since joining the gym in January, I haven't lost one pound and am so frustrated that I can't figure this out!!! II feel like my body is saying to me "Whoa , I love this lighter version and I'm happy here at this weight." And I know I need to still get to onederland as I'm still considered obese (5'8" tall). My doc wants more weight loss and I want more weight loss. I tried increasing my calories by the amount I exercise and I've gained 3 lbs. I have a doc appt. in 2 days and will ask his help but you seem to be very knowledgeable. Any thoughts?

(PS - I feel like this is one of those problems in math when you were a kid............. two trains left the station one going 25 mph and the one traveling 13 mph................................)

Do you eat back the calories you burn at the gym? If you are using the machines to tell you how many cals you have burned, you may want to eat some back but not all.

But at 1200 cals and working out, you may not be eating enough to fuel your body and workouts. You could try upping your calories for 2-3 weeks to 1500 and see if that gets you out of this plateau.

stroutman81

THank you for the explanation - it was very helpful I have been so confused about this. I have a question, though....

I lost 120 lbs. over a relatively short period of time without any exercise (I was using a walker/cane at the time). Per doctors orders, I reduced my caloric intake to 1800 then to 1500 then to 1200. I changed my whole life and really am living a healthy lifestyle. Then I hit a wall at my current weight. I joined a gym in January and I go almost every day. I couldn't even to 2 minutes on an eliptical. Now I do 30-40 minutes cardio and a little free weights as I've developed a hernia after using the machines. I burn between 350-600 calories per day. I have kept my caloric intake at 1200. Since joining the gym in January, I haven't lost one pound and am so frustrated that I can't figure this out!!! II feel like my body is saying to me "Whoa , I love this lighter version and I'm happy here at this weight." And I know I need to still get to onederland as I'm still considered obese (5'8" tall). My doc wants more weight loss and I want more weight loss. I tried increasing my calories by the amount I exercise and I've gained 3 lbs. I have a doc appt. in 2 days and will ask his help but you seem to be very knowledgeable. Any thoughts?

(PS - I feel like this is one of those problems in math when you were a kid............. two trains left the station one going 25 mph and the one traveling 13 mph................................)

Let's start with the most obvious.

Are you weighing your food? Put differently... how sure are you that your assumed 1200 calorie per day intake actually is 1200?

rubybeach

Very helpful! Thanks

JediMaster_intraining

this makes so much sense! thanks!

meggamix

Great info, glad I ran across this!

cedarhurst2006

THank you for the explanation - it was very helpful I have been so confused about this. I have a question, though....

I lost 120 lbs. over a relatively short period of time without any exercise (I was using a walker/cane at the time). Per doctors orders, I reduced my caloric intake to 1800 then to 1500 then to 1200. I changed my whole life and really am living a healthy lifestyle. Then I hit a wall at my current weight. I joined a gym in January and I go almost every day. I couldn't even to 2 minutes on an eliptical. Now I do 30-40 minutes cardio and a little free weights as I've developed a hernia after using the machines. I burn between 350-600 calories per day. I have kept my caloric intake at 1200. Since joining the gym in January, I haven't lost one pound and am so frustrated that I can't figure this out!!! II feel like my body is saying to me "Whoa , I love this lighter version and I'm happy here at this weight." And I know I need to still get to onederland as I'm still considered obese (5'8" tall). My doc wants more weight loss and I want more weight loss. I tried increasing my calories by the amount I exercise and I've gained 3 lbs. I have a doc appt. in 2 days and will ask his help but you seem to be very knowledgeable. Any thoughts?

(PS - I feel like this is one of those problems in math when you were a kid............. two trains left the station one going 25 mph and the one traveling 13 mph................................)

Let's start with the most obvious.

Are you weighing your food? Put differently... how sure are you that your assumed 1200 calorie per day intake actually is 1200?
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I weight my food and eat very little carbs. I am very much a creature of habit so once I find something I like I stay with it so my food journals I kept in May of 2010 is very similar to the one I have now. I ready my labels and keep good portion control, I think.

stroutman81

By weigh food... I mean everything. Every day of the week. Sorry to drone on about this... but this is typically the issue at play and it's the most obvious fix.

So you need to be sure that you're consistent across the board with weighing morsel of energy that passes your lips.

Also, what's your current weight?

cedarhurst2006

By weigh food... I mean everything. Every day of the week. Sorry to drone on about this... but this is typically the issue at play and it's the most obvious fix.

So you need to be sure that you're consistent across the board with weighing morsel of energy that passes your lips.

Also, what's your current weight?

Ok, will be more diligent. My current weight is 225.

stroutman81

By weigh food... I mean everything. Every day of the week. Sorry to drone on about this... but this is typically the issue at play and it's the most obvious fix.

So you need to be sure that you're consistent across the board with weighing morsel of energy that passes your lips.

Also, what's your current weight?

Ok, will be more diligent. My current weight is 225.

If you're truly eating 1200 calories each and everyday when you're an active 225 lb woman... something is seriously fubar. Even with a depressed metabolism, you should still be running a significant deficit at 1200.

And you better believe that there's a good chance you are running a depressed metabolism. Welcome to the double edge sword of significant weight loss. Congrats by the way.

When we lose 100+ lbs (more or less for some people), that whole "starvation mode" thing becomes a reality. No, it doesn't shut down your metabolism. No, it doesn't turn deficits into surpluses. No it doesn't make you store fat out of thin air.

But it does work to preserve your current weight, if not put more back on.

It does this by a) slowing down your BMR and b) reducing the activity expenditure.

It slows BMR down by toying with various components of your endocrine and autonomic nervous systems.

It lowers activity expenditure by making you unconsciously move less.

And this can account for an appreciable number of calories.

However, at 225, keeping in mind that you're relatively active... your maintenance should be approximately somewhere between 2700-3000 calories.

Now let's assume that your metabolic rate has fallen by 15% due to "stavation response," which is the largest recorded in the research, your maintenance would be lowered to 2300 or so.

I've seen some data that indicated higher drops once you factored in the reduction in movement, but this is typically offset with formal exercise. But even if you were moving less... say expending another 300 calories fewer... your maintenance would be 2000 or so.

So at 1200, you can see that you're still in a substantial deficit.

Which, going full circle, is why I'm telling you to really focus in on accurate calorie intake measurements. Once you're doing that, if things are still messed up, you'll be that much closer to finding a solution since you ruled out the most likely culprit.

cedarhurst2006

By weigh food... I mean everything. Every day of the week. Sorry to drone on about this... but this is typically the issue at play and it's the most obvious fix.

So you need to be sure that you're consistent across the board with weighing morsel of energy that passes your lips.

Also, what's your current weight?

Thank you for taking the time to help. I agree, eating 1200 calories per day should be making me drop and I'm not. Even if I were making a 700 calorie per day mistake, based on what you said, I should still see some drop. So my thoughts about what you wrote are that I'm eating too few calories? How do you jumpstart out of a starvation mode and all the things it does to your BMR? Is eating more the only way? I feel like I'm missing something............
Ok, will be more diligent. My current weight is 225.

If you're truly eating 1200 calories each and everyday when you're an active 225 lb woman... something is seriously fubar. Even with a depressed metabolism, you should still be running a significant deficit at 1200.

And you better believe that there's a good chance you are running a depressed metabolism. Welcome to the double edge sword of significant weight loss. Congrats by the way.

When we lose 100+ lbs (more or less for some people), that whole "starvation mode" thing becomes a reality. No, it doesn't shut down your metabolism. No, it doesn't turn deficits into surpluses. No it doesn't make you store fat out of thin air.

But it does work to preserve your current weight, if not put more back on.

It does this by a) slowing down your BMR and b) reducing the activity expenditure.

It slows BMR down by toying with various components of your endocrine and autonomic nervous systems.

It lowers activity expenditure by making you unconsciously move less.

And this can account for an appreciable number of calories.

However, at 225, keeping in mind that you're relatively active... your maintenance should be approximately somewhere between 2700-3000 calories.

Now let's assume that your metabolic rate has fallen by 15% due to "stavation response," which is the largest recorded in the research, your maintenance would be lowered to 2300 or so.

I've seen some data that indicated higher drops once you factored in the reduction in movement, but this is typically offset with formal exercise. But even if you were moving less... say expending another 300 calories fewer... your maintenance would be 2000 or so.

So at 1200, you can see that you're still in a substantial deficit.

Which, going full circle, is why I'm telling you to really focus in on accurate calorie intake measurements. Once you're doing that, if things are still messed up, you'll be that much closer to finding a solution since you ruled out the most likely culprit.

cedarhurst2006

By weigh food... I mean everything. Every day of the week. Sorry to drone on about this... but this is typically the issue at play and it's the most obvious fix.

So you need to be sure that you're consistent across the board with weighing morsel of energy that passes your lips.

Also, what's your current weight?

Thank you for taking the time to help. I agree, eating 1200 calories per day should be making me drop and I'm not. Even if I were making a 700 calorie per day mistake, based on what you said, I should still see some drop. So my thoughts about what you wrote are that I'm eating too few calories? How do you jumpstart out of a starvation mode and all the things it does to your BMR? Is eating more the only way? I feel like I'm missing something............
Ok, will be more diligent. My current weight is 225.

If you're truly eating 1200 calories each and everyday when you're an active 225 lb woman... something is seriously fubar. Even with a depressed metabolism, you should still be running a significant deficit at 1200.

And you better believe that there's a good chance you are running a depressed metabolism. Welcome to the double edge sword of significant weight loss. Congrats by the way.

When we lose 100+ lbs (more or less for some people), that whole "starvation mode" thing becomes a reality. No, it doesn't shut down your metabolism. No, it doesn't turn deficits into surpluses. No it doesn't make you store fat out of thin air.

But it does work to preserve your current weight, if not put more back on.

It does this by a) slowing down your BMR and b) reducing the activity expenditure.

It slows BMR down by toying with various components of your endocrine and autonomic nervous systems.

It lowers activity expenditure by making you unconsciously move less.

And this can account for an appreciable number of calories.

However, at 225, keeping in mind that you're relatively active... your maintenance should be approximately somewhere between 2700-3000 calories.

Now let's assume that your metabolic rate has fallen by 15% due to "stavation response," which is the largest recorded in the research, your maintenance would be lowered to 2300 or so.

I've seen some data that indicated higher drops once you factored in the reduction in movement, but this is typically offset with formal exercise. But even if you were moving less... say expending another 300 calories fewer... your maintenance would be 2000 or so.

So at 1200, you can see that you're still in a substantial deficit.

Which, going full circle, is why I'm telling you to really focus in on accurate calorie intake measurements. Once you're doing that, if things are still messed up, you'll be that much closer to finding a solution since you ruled out the most likely culprit.

Thank you for taking the time to help. I agree, eating 1200 calories per day should be making me drop and I'm not. Even if I were making a 700 calorie per day mistake, based on what you said, I should still see some drop. So my thoughts about what you wrote are that I'm eating too few calories? How do you jumpstart out of a starvation mode and all the things it does to your BMR? Is eating more the only way? I feel like I'm missing something............

stroutman81

If you're truly consistent with weighing every morsel of energy that passes your lips and you're confident that each and every day you're consuming 1200 calories... then I'd say something is going on. You'd stake your life... or a little less dramatic... your house... on you being at least close to accurate day in and day out?

If so, I'd definitely get some blood work done to rule out anything medical that's causing an issue. Go to you family doc if you like him/her and get the ball rolling. They can typically order blood panels... and they might refer you to an endo.

If that doesn't identify an issue... I'm stumped.

In a last ditch effort I'd spend a month bringing calories systematically up to what should be a more normal maintenance. I'd hide the scale during that time too... since you may or may not gain some pounds... but a few steps back for many hopefully forward isn't a bad deal. Once your at this maintenance, park yourself there for a couple of weeks. And then start dieting using more reasonable deficits in the tune of 30% or so.

cedarhurst2006

Thank you for your guidance. I feel I'm pretty accurate with my food intake as I've been keeping a food diary the whole time and have been successful in losing weight already. In looking at other food diaries, I see others with the same weight, statistics as I eating more calories that 1200. I am going to try upping my calories to see if that will jump start something. I will also be seeing my doc tomorrow so he will be peppered with the same questions. I will share any revelations he may have.

stroutman81

I'll be interested in hearing what he has to say. I've heard some whacky stuff come from general practitioner docs... so don't get your hopes up. And in reality, he won't know much until he sees your lab results from blood work.

♥xenawarriorprincess♥

bump for refering back to

staceyseeger

Thanks for your info! It really helped me understand all of this! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

stroutman81

I'm glad and you're welcome.

aninamika

Cheers for the explanation!