1200 calories isn't enough for me

luvlee884

Well then you aren't going over because you're supposed to eat your exercise calories so you're good. Just keep it to the 1200 on days you don't exercise. Eat really low calories things like scrambled egg whites with parmesean cheese (79 calories in 3 egg whites) or salads dressed only with lemon juice and seasoning. Oatmeal is really filling- i eat it for lunch alot and there are ton of flavor options all under 200 calories. Good luck!

oatmeal does not fill me up... at all...

meg0112

thanks for bringing this up. I have the bad habit of not eating enough during the day, then going and doing a 1600 calorie workout after work, leaving me way way too many calories to eat after my workout. Comments such as this are helping me to eat more earlier BEFORE I go burning all those cals that i havent even eaten yet!

Umm...what do you do that burns 1600 calories? I want to start doing it to!

banks1850

thanks for bringing this up. I have the bad habit of not eating enough during the day, then going and doing a 1600 calorie workout after work, leaving me way way too many calories to eat after my workout. Comments such as this are helping me to eat more earlier BEFORE I go burning all those cals that i havent even eaten yet!

Umm...what do you do that burns 1600 calories? I want to start doing it to!

Yeah that's rough. For me that's about 1 and 3/4 hours of running at 80% max heart rate (about 8.5 minute mile for me). ahh, I can do that for about 4 miles or so, but I wouldn't even attempt to do it for over an hour. I know I burn that playing a double header in baseball, but that's including pitching one of the games.

AJCM

my numbers are 1.4lbs a week to lose according to MFP - that is exercising 3 times a week for 40 mins

I have so far only managed to exercise twice a week for 50 mins (cardio only) first thing in the morning - I just can't get my *kitten* out of bed that early 3 times a week it seems

I've lost 4 lbs but I should have lost a lot more by now as I tend to overeat at the weekends- I'm slowing cutting back and getting my will power stronger bit by bit but it's taking a while.....

Are those the numbers you mean - or do you mean my height how much I want to lose etc?

Thanks so much for your help- I'm off to read about BMR now!

GTOJudge - eat more girl! If your weight loss is slowing, I would work with the numbers a bit.

Irish - IMHO 1200 calories is WAY too little for you!! At 5'9" you are probably already within the "healthy weight" range. I'm with Banks and the others, try and create a 250-500 calorie daily deficit, which will result in a 0.5 to 1 lb loss of fat per week.

I recently UPPED my calories, and the scale started moving again. I basically eat my maintenance calories, and then count on my workouts for fat loss (I DONT eat these calories! - but I usually burn between 300 and 600 cals in a workout). I have about 5lbs left to lose, but I figure if it takes me 5 months, that is fine!

See Banks' post on "1000 Calorie Deficit Not for People with Healthy BMIs" and good luck!
:flowerforyou:

iluvsparkles

hi all! i just got a chance to come back to this thread. I already sent a private message to Meg, but i thought i would just go on and summarize what i told her here, for others if it might help.


i do alot of cardio about four days a week....three of those days are at classes at the gym.

the days that i burn 1600, i do 1 hour of zumba class and 1 hour of step/strength training class.

Zumba is a high energy latin dance aerobics class. It keeps my heart rate way up the entire time. (by way up, i mean about 60-70% of my maximum heart rate, which for me is about 160-170bpm i think)

I use a Heart Rate monitor to keep track. I usually burn about 700 calories by the end of zumba, however it took about a month for me to get to that number (my metabolism was really low when i first joined mfp and started working out) at first i burned about 400 calories per class. All of those numbers are with me doing the most high impact version of every step and move.

I then have strength training which starts with more cardio doing like, step aerobics. Then we do some toning exercises with weights, and sit ups.

I have found, and i think it is proven somewhere, that once you get your heart rate up, the longer you let it remain elevated, the more calories and fat that you burn. So that means that second hour is critical for serious fat burning, even tho its so time consuming. The first thirty to forty minutes is like getting the engine started, and the rest of the time is just burning gas like crazy. Well worth it for me!

i know this was long and drawn out, but i felt i needed to explain how i get to such a high amount of calories every MWF.....

AJCM

hi all! i just got a chance to come back to this thread. I already sent a private message to Meg, but i thought i would just go on and summarize what i told her here, for others if it might help.


i do alot of cardio about four days a week....three of those days are at classes at the gym.

the days that i burn 1600, i do 1 hour of zumba class and 1 hour of step/strength training class.

Zumba is a high energy latin dance aerobics class. It keeps my heart rate way up the entire time. (by way up, i mean about 60-70% of my maximum heart rate, which for me is about 160-170bpm i think)

I use a Heart Rate monitor to keep track. I usually burn about 700 calories by the end of zumba, however it took about a month for me to get to that number (my metabolism was really low when i first joined mfp and started working out) at first i burned about 400 calories per class. All of those numbers are with me doing the most high impact version of every step and move.

I then have strength training which starts with more cardio doing like, step aerobics. Then we do some toning exercises with weights, and sit ups.

I have found, and i think it is proven somewhere, that once you get your heart rate up, the longer you let it remain elevated, the more calories and fat that you burn. So that means that second hour is critical for serious fat burning, even tho its so time consuming. The first thirty to forty minutes is like getting the engine started, and the rest of the time is just burning gas like crazy. Well worth it for me!

i know this was long and drawn out, but i felt i needed to explain how i get to such a high amount of calories every MWF.....

Oh girl, to be so young and energized again... good for you!!!! I recall my 20's when I would go to step class for an hour (okay, it was the 90's) and then do a full cardio and strength session. I have two babies, so if I can get in an hour everyday, it's a miracle!

All your hard work is paying off - those abs look pretty terrific!!!!
:flowerforyou:

banks1850

hi all! i just got a chance to come back to this thread. I already sent a private message to Meg, but i thought i would just go on and summarize what i told her here, for others if it might help.


i do alot of cardio about four days a week....three of those days are at classes at the gym.

the days that i burn 1600, i do 1 hour of zumba class and 1 hour of step/strength training class.

Zumba is a high energy latin dance aerobics class. It keeps my heart rate way up the entire time. (by way up, i mean about 60-70% of my maximum heart rate, which for me is about 160-170bpm i think)

I use a Heart Rate monitor to keep track. I usually burn about 700 calories by the end of zumba, however it took about a month for me to get to that number (my metabolism was really low when i first joined mfp and started working out) at first i burned about 400 calories per class. All of those numbers are with me doing the most high impact version of every step and move.

I then have strength training which starts with more cardio doing like, step aerobics. Then we do some toning exercises with weights, and sit ups.

I have found, and i think it is proven somewhere, that once you get your heart rate up, the longer you let it remain elevated, the more calories and fat that you burn. So that means that second hour is critical for serious fat burning, even tho its so time consuming. The first thirty to forty minutes is like getting the engine started, and the rest of the time is just burning gas like crazy. Well worth it for me!

i know this was long and drawn out, but i felt i needed to explain how i get to such a high amount of calories every MWF.....

I do envy you girl.
I have neither the time or the energy to work out for 2 hours after (or before for that matter) work. I could do it on weekends, but during the week, oh no, that would kill me.
You are right about keeping the heart rate up. The longer you do it, the better the burn. Oh, and you don't even need 30 to 40 minutes warm up, for the average person it's about 12 to 15 minutes to get the heart and bloodstream pumping the max amount of oxygen through the system, at that point you get full aerobic burn, which means full fat burning. What you want to watch for, and try not to let happen is getting way out of breath, oxygen depeltion causes anaerobic burn, which burns glycogen (blood sugar) and doesn't burn fat (well, not very much at least). Anaerobic activity has a place in exercise, an important place actually, but it's not the best vehicle for burning fat. When you are running and you finally pass the "wall" that's the point where you are really starting to burn fat, that's when the immediate glycogen level are depleted (food you have recently eaten), and the body starts grabbing glucose from stored energy (mostly fat), which also releases endorphins that give you your "second wind". This is why it's good to get that heart rate up in the 70% range, you're body doesn't burn glucose as efficiently at this level, but it burns more per minute, so if you can hold that level or higher for a long period, you are definitely burning fat.

that's my tip for the day.

-Banks

iluvsparkles

wonderful information banks.

I have to say that there is nothing like getting married to motivate a woman. (well this woman at least!)
i was never much of a work out person, tho i have always watched what i eat fairly closely. When i joined mfp, the more i read the more i realized that I would be helping myself out so much just to go to the gym a couple of times a week, and then, like alot of people do, i got addicted!!

the way i figure it, is, I want to look back on my wedding photos and say "dang i looked good!"

If i didnt, i knew i would regret it for the rest of my life as something i could've done, but was too lazy to get my butt in gear for.

And what better goal as an upcoming wedding (which isnt even planned yet, but iwanted a head start for my best friends wedding) , so that I was well into my healthy lifestyle by the time i get preggers and become a mom!

anyway, i know this is probably one of the last chances i will get to spend two hours a day at the gym, and before mfpcame around i would have called myself crazy! but now that im used to it, i love it and want to continue until time constraints wont allow anymore! (tho at this point im not getting out of the gym until 7;30 and i live 30 min. away from work/gym also...so i guess really after we get married I probably will slow it down a good bit and hopefully by then i will be in maintain mode.


ANYWAY! Today is the five K. It starts at 8, and seeing as i live 30 min away from the race, i better get going (yes, you live 30 min. away from EVERYTHING when you live in the Appalachian mountains! Im not going to win, but just to finish! Love you guys!