Help! Eating back exercise calories... really?!

suzitkd

Hi all, I need your help. I've recently joined MFP after deciding to do Diet Chef for a couple of months. I've been so impressed that I put my husband's profile on here for him too - I know he wants to lose weight but didn't really have too many ideas about the best way to do it - we've both tried various methods before- slimming world etc. Hubby is a few stone overweight but is extremely strong and very fit! He teaches martial arts for a living - daily! When he decides he's going to try to lose weight he gets out and exercises and puts me totally to shame - he can go to the gym and workout for 1.5 to 2 hours every day, plus cycle, in fact the very least he will do every day is cycle for an hour - at quite a pace. But he doesn't ever really lose huge amounts of weight and soon loses impetus and we start to hit the take-aways and beer again! You know the story!

So I input his food today, he wanted to see how much he had to cut down. MFP said he needed to hit 1700 cals daily.. OK. I put in todays food - which was an average for him, and we were both surprised to see that it only came to about 1500 calories! Add on the 1 hour bike ride earlier - over 800 calories (REALLY? IS THIS REALLY CORRECT??), and we haven't even added anything for what he used up teaching four hours of martial arts tonight... so he's just gone off and made himself a big sandwich too but HE STILL HAS OVER 800 CALORIES TO EAT!!! He just can't do it!

So my question is this - is THIS why he has struggled to lose weight before? He hasn't eaten ENOUGH calories?? Really? Right now it looks like he should just carry on with the take aways and beer! Lol!

Advice anyone?!

staciekins

Let's say you were eating 3500 cals with no exercise every day and thats how you gained weight.
So now, you wanna lose as fast as possible. You eat 1200 cals a day with no exercise. That's your minimum NET. You add 400 cals of exercise. Your NET becomes 800. So you add back that 400 by eating it making it 1200 cals NET again. So, you eat a total of 1600 cals, with 400 cals exercise. (Remember that is the BARE MINIMUM! The more you lose, the more you need to intake.) That is still significantly less than what you were probably consuming before AND you don't risk putting your body into starvation mode nor do you risk being malnutritioned. WIN!

(For women, the NET is 1200 cals and men is 1500 cals minimum)

SimplyDeLish

There are many threads on this topic - on both sides. Best advice - do what feels right. I personally don't eat my exercise calories back (I work way to hard to burn them off - I'm not going to eat them back). It's worked for me.

This is a healthy lifestyle - not a diet. Eat healthy, exercise, and be in it for the long term. The weight will take care of itself.

Good Luck!

sarahbear1981

Get a heart rate monitor if you want a better idea of how many calories you are actually burning. MFP is pretty off for most people in terms of calories burned on exercise.

ladyhawk00

Might help to read these threads:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

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

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

suzitkd

Thanks for your replies. Our problem is that my hubby works out really hard and has done for a long time, and doesn't overeat that much though may have had a bit of a problem with portion size - but I just couldn't balance up the amount of calories that MFP said that he was burning (and has been burning for a long time!) due to his level of exercise. We're trying to work out the best way for him to lose weight, and why he hasn't lost much weight before considering his exercise levels - I was really trying to find out if it was possible that he wasn't losing weight because he hasn't been eating ENOUGH calories? That just sounds MAD to me!

I do understand how MFP works - it sets you the amount of net calories you need to aim at, you exercise, so add those to your calories that you can eat that day, makes sense, but he was heading for 3000 calories in a day! That's a heck of a lot! Is that why he hasn't been losing weight? Are the figures wrong? Confused!

ladyhawk00

Thanks for your replies. Our problem is that my hubby works out really hard and has done for a long time, and doesn't overeat that much though may have had a bit of a problem with portion size - but I just couldn't balance up the amount of calories that MFP said that he was burning (and has been burning for a long time!) due to his level of exercise. We're trying to work out the best way for him to lose weight, and why he hasn't lost much weight before considering his exercise levels - I was really trying to find out if it was possible that he wasn't losing weight because he hasn't been eating ENOUGH calories? That just sounds MAD to me!

I do understand how MFP works - it sets you the amount of net calories you need to aim at, you exercise, so add those to your calories that you can eat that day, makes sense, but he was heading for 3000 calories in a day! That's a heck of a lot! Is that why he hasn't been losing weight? Are the figures wrong? Confused!

3000 for a man - especially if he's taller than average and/or exercises a lot - isn't actually all that much. I know guys on here who eat 4000+ and they aren't huge guys.

It is possible that MFP is overestimating (or underestimating) his cals burned. With something like martial arts, it is a bit difficult to estimate the cals because there can be a big uncertainty regarding the intensity of the exercise, and it depends on how adapted to the exercise he is. The best bet there is to get a good HRM with a chest strap to be more accurate on how much he's burning. Also, he could get a BodyBugg or Bodymedia to get a better picture of what he's burning throughout the day (HRMs do NOT accurately record cals burned when the heart rate isn't in an aerobic level). For some people, MFPs numbers are right on, some are under, some are over. A lot of it is very subjective (like intensity, etc).

There's a good chance your husband IS going to have to eat more than he's used to. It's less common in men, but men are just as susceptible to lowering their metabolism from underfeeding as women are. The good news is that after a week or two of a higher intake of healthy food, he'll adjust. As his metabolism increases, his appetite will too. And he doesn't have to necessarily increase volume a lot to increase cals in a healthy way. Increasing healthy fats (olive/canola oil, nuts and nut butters, avocado), increasing lean protein and going for nutrient dense foods will do it. Adding just 50-100 cals more per meal/snack adds up. And he can try drinking some cals: chocolate milk, protein shake, fruit smoothie, etc. It's often easier to drink something even when you aren't hungry.

ETA: For a guy who is overweight, especially if he's tall anyway, they can burn a LOT of cals.

Might also help to read this to understand ONE possible reason he's had trouble losing, if he's chronically undereating. Not saying this is the case with him, but it's a possibility.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works

crisanderson27

You might want to look at the types of foods he's eating, more than the amounts. All calories are not created equal! Additionally, some people have mild food allergies to things like wheat (gluten is a HUGE one), or eggs...etc. This can cause a person with a very healthy lifestyle to have a large midsection and/or excessive body fat in target areas...and leave them with no clue as to why.

Take a look at leanbodylifestyle on youtube. It's free, and has dozens upon dozens of recipes for healthy foods that you can utilize to create a base meal set for your husband. Make sure he's not eating two or three huge meals a day, but rather 5 or more medium and smaller meals. Try to compose the meals in a balanced manner (protien/carbs/fats...and remember, some fats are VERY good for you!), containing only one product ingredients (meaning no processed foods...chicken, home made rice flour gravy, virgin olive or sunflower oils...etc. If it comes out of a can and the ingredient list is a mile long...run away). If the weight still isn't coming off (and his exercise level is really as aggressive as you say!), look into the food allergies. Try cutting out all wheat/gluten based products first, as this is a very common one.

I think you'll be surprised at the results =D.

crisanderson27

Thanks for your replies. Our problem is that my hubby works out really hard and has done for a long time, and doesn't overeat that much though may have had a bit of a problem with portion size - but I just couldn't balance up the amount of calories that MFP said that he was burning (and has been burning for a long time!) due to his level of exercise. We're trying to work out the best way for him to lose weight, and why he hasn't lost much weight before considering his exercise levels - I was really trying to find out if it was possible that he wasn't losing weight because he hasn't been eating ENOUGH calories? That just sounds MAD to me!

I do understand how MFP works - it sets you the amount of net calories you need to aim at, you exercise, so add those to your calories that you can eat that day, makes sense, but he was heading for 3000 calories in a day! That's a heck of a lot! Is that why he hasn't been losing weight? Are the figures wrong? Confused!

3000 for a man - especially if he's taller than average and/or exercises a lot - isn't actually all that much. I know guys on here who eat 4000+ and they aren't huge guys.

It is possible that MFP is overestimating (or underestimating) his cals burned. With something like martial arts, it is a bit difficult to estimate the cals because there can be a big uncertainty regarding the intensity of the exercise, and it depends on how adapted to the exercise he is. The best bet there is to get a good HRM with a chest strap to be more accurate on how much he's burning. Also, he could a BodyBugg or Bodymedia to get a better picture of what he's burning throughout the day (HRMs do NOT accurately record cals burned when the heart rate isn't in an aerobic level).

There's a good chance your husband IS going to have to eat more than he's used to. It's less common in men, but men are just as susceptible to lowering their metabolism from underfeeding as women are. The good news is that after a week or two of a higher intake of healthy food, he'll adjust. As his metabolism increases, his appetite will too. And he doesn't have to necessarily increase volume a lot to increase cals in a healthy way. Increasing healthy fats (olive/canola oil, nuts and nut butters, avocado), increasing lean protein and going for nutrient dense foods will do it. Adding just 50-100 cals more per meal/snack adds up. And he can try drinking some cals: chocolate milk, protein shake, fruit smoothie, etc. It's often easier to drink something even when you aren't hungry.

Exactly lol! I think we posted at the same time =D.

chris0912

So I input his food today, he wanted to see how much he had to cut down. MFP said he needed to hit 1700 cals daily.. OK. I put in todays food - which was an average for him, and we were both surprised to see that it only came to about 1500 calories! Add on the 1 hour bike ride earlier - over 800 calories (REALLY? IS THIS REALLY CORRECT??), and we haven't even added anything for what he used up teaching four hours of martial arts tonight... so he's just gone off and made himself a big sandwich too but HE STILL HAS OVER 800 CALORIES TO EAT!!! He just can't do it!
Advice anyone?!

if your hubby teaches martial arts on a daily basis, then those calories should not be entered as exercise... those are part of his lifestyle. check his settings and make sure he's been entered with the correct activity level. whatever he does above and beyond his everyday routine should be entered as exercise (cycling).

suzitkd

Brilliant, thank you! We don't eat any red meat - only chicken/turkey, though he has to be very careful of how much of that he eats (one portion a day max) because he suffers big time with gout if he over does it - he has tofu instead to get his protein. Interesting what you say about allergies, he was told he had lactose allergies years ago but went back on to milk a few years ago... he suffers with asthma and sinus problems too.. hmmm. He does however have a habit of eating two/three large meals a day rather than smaller meals with snacks. I think I'm definitely going to get him to add healthy snacks (fruit and a handful of whole nuts and/or protein shakes) and see if that helps to kick his metabolism into action! He does use a HRM fairly often though not whilst teaching martial art - I think what you say about his body being used to the exercise could be right - he's been doing it for thirty years! I suspect he actually doesn't burn that many calories whilst teaching!

So, smaller meals, add in more snacks/protein shakes, keep up the exercise... I'll let you all know how he gets on! I would sooo like this to work for him, he works out so hard, it doesn't seem fair!

I wonder if doing a completely different type of workout would help? I was thinking of trying the 30 day shred - maybe I'll get him to do it with me (might be a squeeze in our living room lol!)!

ladyhawk00

Brilliant, thank you! We don't eat any red meat - only chicken/turkey, though he has to be very careful of how much of that he eats (one portion a day max) because he suffers big time with gout if he over does it - he has tofu instead to get his protein. Interesting what you say about allergies, he was told he had lactose allergies years ago but went back on to milk a few years ago... he suffers with asthma and sinus problems too.. hmmm. He does however have a habit of eating two/three large meals a day rather than smaller meals with snacks. I think I'm definitely going to get him to add healthy snacks (fruit and a handful of whole nuts and/or protein shakes) and see if that helps to kick his metabolism into action! He does use a HRM fairly often though not whilst teaching martial art - I think what you say about his body being used to the exercise could be right - he's been doing it for thirty years! I suspect he actually doesn't burn that many calories whilst teaching!

So, smaller meals, add in more snacks/protein shakes, keep up the exercise... I'll let you all know how he gets on! I would sooo like this to work for him, he works out so hard, it doesn't seem fair!

I wonder if doing a completely different type of workout would help? I was thinking of trying the 30 day shred - maybe I'll get him to do it with me (might be a squeeze in our living room lol!)!

With lactose intolerance and gout issues, it's understandable that he's probably undereating. And in a case like that, where his metabolism might have slowed down, the occasional binge on processed carbs or high fat (bad kinds) can undo whatever progress he's made. He may need a pretty delicate balance for macros (protein/fat/carbs), and it should be really complex carbs and good fats.

As for the exercise, I'd go ahead and have him wear the HRM for a day or two of martial arts to try to get an idea of what he's burning with that. Then adjust the activity level accordingly and as the other person said, don't enter it as exercise. And yes, doing some different exercises will definitely help. Breaking up the routine can make a big difference. And include weight lifting/resistence 2-3 times a week. 30DS would be a good place to start.