Exercise calories and not loosing weight: My 2 cents, on the
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mikeyrp
Posts: 1,616 Member
I've seen so many posts on this these topics now that I have actually written a stock response. I'm still open to other peoples views but I'm pretty convinced.
This is not based on science but on deduction/instinct... so take it with an appropriate pinch of salt ... but having read a lot of comments on MFP about exercise calories and starvation mode I have reached the following conclusions.
- If you don't do a lot of exercise then it is really important that you average 1200 calories per day minimum. Sure, some days can be over and others can be under but if you don't eat 1200 calories on average there is a good chance you are not getting sufficient nutrition.
- a caveat to the above is that if you had a perfectly balanced diet which is high in protein and carbohydrate and contains all the essential vitamins, minerals, essential oils etc then you could probably come in a little under: but the second you through in, say, a kit kat (personal favorite) you have got to go the whole 1200.
- another caveat: 1200 is a semi-random number - I mean men and women have different bodies and it should be different for them both - right? and a small woman compared to a large guy should be even more extreme. On this basis - listen to what your body is telling you: if you are feeling tired all the time eating 1200 then you are not getting enough nutrition! increase your intake!
- A really good way to work out what you should actually be eating is to go 24 hours wearing a heart rate monitor which calculates your bodies Calorie use. A 500 Calorie deficit per day will be approximately 1lb of fat. Given that the average man with a sedentary lifestyle would burn about 2000 Cals a day its simple to see that to loose more than a pound a week without exercise is going to be dangerous. The answer: do some exercise
Which brings me to the more controversial topic of exercise calories.
- Not all training does the same thing to your body and you should consider your personal goals: Gaining muscle is a really good way to loose fat as the muscles themselves will consume more calories even when they are at rest! In my opinion you don't really need to consume any more calories if you are just strength training – an hour in the gym is only going to be 300 calories… However it is important to ensure you are getting enough protein and carbohydrate both before and after training sessions (you will need to do some research to find out what ‘enough’ is for you). If the only way you can do this is to increase your overall intake for the day, do it! Failure to do so will result in your body cannibalising your muscles – so you will re-use leg muscle to build arm muscle and vise versa depending on the circuit you are doing. Not harmful but pointless!
- If you are doing CV then you will burn a lot more calories. Normally 600 per hour but up to 1000 depending on how hard you are working. As with the weights you need to ensure you are getting sufficient protein and carbs for that days work out – but I don’t believe you need to consume all the calories.
HOWEVER – If you are doing regular exercise then your base rate of calorie burn is going to increase – even on days you don’t exercise! In my experience, you start getting major fatigue if you don’t increase your base intake. It’s better to do this and eat the same way every day than to do constant adjustment based on your workout.
A final, really, really important point but slightly off topic: muscle is 18% more dense than fat. So, if you gain 1 kg of muscle and loose 1 kg of fat (4 blocks of butter) then you will be 20% smaller (3.2 blocks of butter). In other words – ditch the scale in favour of a tape measure if you are getting fit to get thin! Scales are only meaningful if you don’t change the amount of exercise you do.
This is not based on science but on deduction/instinct... so take it with an appropriate pinch of salt ... but having read a lot of comments on MFP about exercise calories and starvation mode I have reached the following conclusions.
- If you don't do a lot of exercise then it is really important that you average 1200 calories per day minimum. Sure, some days can be over and others can be under but if you don't eat 1200 calories on average there is a good chance you are not getting sufficient nutrition.
- a caveat to the above is that if you had a perfectly balanced diet which is high in protein and carbohydrate and contains all the essential vitamins, minerals, essential oils etc then you could probably come in a little under: but the second you through in, say, a kit kat (personal favorite) you have got to go the whole 1200.
- another caveat: 1200 is a semi-random number - I mean men and women have different bodies and it should be different for them both - right? and a small woman compared to a large guy should be even more extreme. On this basis - listen to what your body is telling you: if you are feeling tired all the time eating 1200 then you are not getting enough nutrition! increase your intake!
- A really good way to work out what you should actually be eating is to go 24 hours wearing a heart rate monitor which calculates your bodies Calorie use. A 500 Calorie deficit per day will be approximately 1lb of fat. Given that the average man with a sedentary lifestyle would burn about 2000 Cals a day its simple to see that to loose more than a pound a week without exercise is going to be dangerous. The answer: do some exercise
Which brings me to the more controversial topic of exercise calories.
- Not all training does the same thing to your body and you should consider your personal goals: Gaining muscle is a really good way to loose fat as the muscles themselves will consume more calories even when they are at rest! In my opinion you don't really need to consume any more calories if you are just strength training – an hour in the gym is only going to be 300 calories… However it is important to ensure you are getting enough protein and carbohydrate both before and after training sessions (you will need to do some research to find out what ‘enough’ is for you). If the only way you can do this is to increase your overall intake for the day, do it! Failure to do so will result in your body cannibalising your muscles – so you will re-use leg muscle to build arm muscle and vise versa depending on the circuit you are doing. Not harmful but pointless!
- If you are doing CV then you will burn a lot more calories. Normally 600 per hour but up to 1000 depending on how hard you are working. As with the weights you need to ensure you are getting sufficient protein and carbs for that days work out – but I don’t believe you need to consume all the calories.
HOWEVER – If you are doing regular exercise then your base rate of calorie burn is going to increase – even on days you don’t exercise! In my experience, you start getting major fatigue if you don’t increase your base intake. It’s better to do this and eat the same way every day than to do constant adjustment based on your workout.
A final, really, really important point but slightly off topic: muscle is 18% more dense than fat. So, if you gain 1 kg of muscle and loose 1 kg of fat (4 blocks of butter) then you will be 20% smaller (3.2 blocks of butter). In other words – ditch the scale in favour of a tape measure if you are getting fit to get thin! Scales are only meaningful if you don’t change the amount of exercise you do.
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Replies
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Well said. This is a personal journey with support. Each person must experiment with what works best for their bodies. I actually do wear a heart monitor during work hours to ensure that I do burn the number of calories MFP has me rated for. It has made me more aware of movements during the day, even if just walking a little faster or going up and down my small steps a few extra times!0
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Well said! I gave up arguing with people on here about eating back your exercise calories. It seems to be a very sensitive topic!0
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bump! Heres another post about it http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo0
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What do you mean exactly by A 500 Calorie deficit per day?0
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I love you for posting all of that!!! As a type A person that wants the world to fit into boxes and numbers on the scale to mean something it is important to use what you have posted as alternative guides to how your body is changing.
I think I am too obsessed with the scale and if I weighed myself under the exact same circumstances as I did the day before.
I have to trust myself to be able to do this.
I don't know why I have become a totaly basket case for the last 30 lbs when I was able to do this without much planning or worry for the first 50+lbs.0 -
Bump!
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Sorry, but I have to disagree with some of it.
First off HRM are not recommended to be worn all day. You are not going to get your true calories for a day that way.
You do want to fluctuate your calories on a daily basis. No one wants to eat the same thing everyday. I think it is a perfect way to teach people to eat according to their lifestyle that day.
I also think when you are working out and lifting weights you need more protien.
Just my two cents.0 -
Awesome post.. I agree with just about everything you mentioned.0
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Thanks for sharing! Good info!0
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Thank you for this post. I enjoyed reading it and it provides great advice that I plan to utilize!
Maybe you should write a book??
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One size does not fit all, you need a tool like MFP to determine the calories you need according to your present weight and according to your activity. There is also a differance between eating to lose weight and eating nutritious food to be healthy. MFP allows you to do all that. If you plan on loseing a lot of weight you need to learn how to handle plateaus.1
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Thanks for all the positive feedback... If I wrote a book it would be called 'my two cents with a pinch of salt' and would be quite broad reaching *joke*
dlaplume2: There is definitely some truth in what you say about having some days where you eat more - but I would say its the exception rather than the rule. A good example would be if you did a full day of gardening (thats about 2000 calories!) and you need the extra fuel to keep you gong all day - but if you do regular exercise - one or two hours every other day for example - I personally think you are better off averaging those calories out.
You might be right about the Heart Rate monitor too but I cant think of a better option. Maybe overnight then an average hour in the day multiplied up?What do you mean exactly by A 500 Calorie deficit per day?
The deficit is the difference between the calories your body burns over a day and the calories you consume. So for example my body burns about 2100 Cal per day when I'm not at the gym, so if eat 1600 calories per day I have a 500 Cal deficit which my body will get by burning off its fat reserves.0 -
bump! Heres another post about it http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
This really is an excellent post so anyone wanting something far more scientific but not really contradictory except when you hit extremes - read this!0
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