Asked my Trainer re eating back calories

meg7399

Awesome post - thanks for sharing... just out of curiousity (and not that I want to do this) but how in the world do they lose those big numbers on the biggest loser. I don't supposse they are eating back their exercise calories but they consistently do it every single week! I have just been always curious about that because technically they should be plateauing because their body is going into starvation mode for like 4 months!

My only thought is that they do not plateau as easily and hit starvation mode as easily since they are so large to begin with...also, you don't see every minute of their days....they might very well be eating back their calories, just in healthier ways than they did before.

Marmitegeoff

Thank you for posting

Mallory0418

What a great response! I get questions like this all the time and I always wonder if I'm answering clearly enough. She did a fantastic job of explaining the concept. Thanks so much for posting!

fitnfancy80

Thanks. That really helped.

Minkime

bump

DianneBoo

Thanks for posting. It is nice to see what I have been told explained in a way that is easily understood.

fakeplastictree

Glad this was shared so that people out there who eat 1200 and exercise will finally maybe hopefully eat back their calories.

bunnyboo24

Great response! Makes sense to me!

sparkie51

Great answer and read! Thanks for asking your trainer!

bellygoaway

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing this. I like the way it was explained. Just so you know, I am stealing this for future use

nataliefallbach

bump!

Babygirl928

Not sure why everyone is so impressed with the trainer's reply, especially since the trainer believes in "starvation mode" which simply DOES NOT exist. Let me say it again - it does not exist - unless you are at a Nazi Concentration Camp and have been ritually denied basic sustenance for months and months on end. Even Weight Watchers acknowledges it doesn't exist.

That being said, "eating back" you calories does not have to be an all or nothing proposition. I work out 7 days a week and 5 of those days I work out twice. What I know is that I - along with 95% of other people - grossly underestimate their calorie intake and grossly overestimate their exercise calories. Which means that MOST people will gain if they try to exactly eat back their calories. For example, does everyone wear a heart rate monitor? I do, and when I ran 5 miles Thursday MFP told me I burned 592 calories. My HRM told me I burned 375 - quite a difference. If I was eating back what MFP told me, I would be consuming at least 200 more calories that day.

There is a simple middle ground. MFP wants me to eat 1200 per day, even with "active lifestyle" checked. I changed it to 1400, and I am to eat 1400-1600 per day, every day, no matter what exercise I do. This is what works for me. You may have to experiment with what works for you. 199 pounds gone forever for me so far.

P.S. Google "starvation mode myth" and "muscle burns more per day then fat myth" and you will find hundreds of pages - with dozens of studies showing why this is not true.

:drinker: :drinker: 119 pounds...WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!! Congratulations :flowerforyou:

MinkyMoo13

Excellent thanks Would be interested to see what they say from the other side of the coin.. About trying to lose weight when you have been under eating for years.. Like they say in the answer if you starve yourself your body hangs on to every last shred of fat (and don't i know it!)

SwimTheButterfly

YES! Thanks so much for sharing this. I needed to read this.

jae6704

bump for later reading

Smashleymae10

Bump for Later...

PrncessBre

Bump

dare2love81

bump

AnninStPaul

bump

TheTallMan

Good info! Thanks!

ADM1979

This has been a HUGE help and something that I needed to hear. Thank you and you have a great trainer!

meme4d2

Thanks so much for posting! So good to have an explanation. :flowerforyou:

hbaby08

thanks for posting, it explains a lot

fishergreen

Great advice!

shell6469

I Love this place! Thanks.....

Shock_Wave

This was helpful but she didn't mention basal and resting metabolic rates which are what change when we eat too little. When we eat too little, our bodies reset the BMR to a lower leveel and all else remaining the same, it stays lower even when the famine is over and we eat "normally" and weight gain ensues. The only way to bring it back up is through exercise, decreasing body fat and increasing muscle mass. There was an article about a month ago in the NYTimes about how even with thosse chages, most formerly overwight and obese people will always need to consume fewer calories than an equal weight/age/gender/body fat person who has never had weight issues. The thinking is that the formerly overweight person becauw of failed past diet attempts has essentially permanently reset his or her basal metabolic rate. Also, there is thinking that our bodies set a desired fat % point in our young adult years below which, the body simply does not want to go (again the survival in the face of famine response).

I have that one here ya go NY Times Mag. article - "The Fat Trap"...

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.xml

juicemoogan

Finally a trainer who is rational and intelligent.

I've seen so many "my trainer told me" posts that were just ridiculous and shouldn't have come out of the mouth of a trainer.

mlkiel

Great info, thanks:flowerforyou:

savannahgur

bump

HotCuppaJo

That was a GREAT read...very informative! Thanks so much for posting this! :flowerforyou: