Eating tons of excercise cals & still loosing?

Mely

Just curious for those who excercise a TON -- do you eat all your excercise calories and still loose weight? I'm talking about someone whose excercise calories are say over 800 a day.

Just curious. I'm eating most of my excercise calories but I burn a lot less and was wondering if someone really looses if they eat that much. I know the theory, just wondering about the reality.

Mely

Just curious for those who excercise a TON -- do you eat all your excercise calories and still loose weight? I'm talking about someone whose excercise calories are say over 800 a day.

Just curious. I'm eating most of my excercise calories but I burn a lot less and was wondering if someone really looses if they eat that much. I know the theory, just wondering about the reality.

TamTastic

Hey!

I burn quite a lot when I work out....and will usually eat at least half of them back. It's hard to eat all of them since I burn like 1000-1100 cals on 4 days of the week. I mean, that is A LOT of food. On non-workout days, I eat 1400 cals...and on workout days, I will eat AT LEAST 1900.

greeneyedgirl

I burn about 1300 everytime I exercise and I agree with Tami, I eat about half or maybe a bit more but not them all because that is a lot of food to consume and I have toned and lost some weight so it does work and as you can see by Tami's profile, it works awesome for her!

Mely

I think I remember that Weight Watchers has a formula for eating excercise calories. I think it's half. I'll have to look that up.

IAM125lbs

Wow!! Tami you are sliding into home base in lightening speed!! Congratulations on that ticker moving again. I too finally loss weight after increasing my calories ( some of the food was not intentional:bigsmile: ) but I lost the most ever....3lbs. So yes it does work. Congratulations again my shero!

clairegl

Hey!

I burn quite a lot when I work out....and will usually eat at least half of them back. It's hard to eat all of them since I burn like 1000-1100 cals on 4 days of the week. I mean, that is A LOT of food. On non-workout days, I eat 1400 cals...and on workout days, I will eat AT LEAST 1900.

Ladies, ladies, what are you doing? I do an hour on the elitical and burn about 800 then some weights and stretching but 1100 and 1400? holy moses?! That's astounding.
Honestly, I NEVER have a problem covering my calories as I'm currently only 1200 on my non workout days....
Tell me your secret workout regimes.... pretty please.

ashleyjea1985

i dont use the exercise calories....

in that case id be eating 3000 calories a day!

mlillie

I get soooo confused about this.

I see "diet plans" and they are around 1200. I hear about some of you eating 1200, some around 1400 and some eating exercise cal and some half and some not.

I guess I just need to continue to play around with my own numbers but it is really hard for me to figure it all out.

So for those of you who dont eat them- you eat like 1400 everyday without fail?
those of you that do eat them- when you only burn 400-450 do you eat all of those but dont eat them all when it is like a multi hour bike ride or hike??
When I look on weight lifting sites- they dont even seem to pay attention to cal burned at all. It is very interesting.

I wear a HRM so I know really close to how much I burn. I just cant figure out the rest of it. I think I am a MFP flunkie! ha

Mely

I looked up what I used to do when on WWs. Their old rule was that you can earn up to 4 activiy points (I think that's about 240 calories of excercise a day). That's it. If you excercise more, you can't eat it.

I read up on their current boards and seems that is now outdated. They say you can eat as many as your earn through excercise. As was mentioned though, if you excercise a lot it is probably physically diffucult to eat that quantity of food (assuming it's healthy food, junk is easier to eat more of). I guess everyone just has to do what works for them.

TamTastic

Hey!

I burn quite a lot when I work out....and will usually eat at least half of them back. It's hard to eat all of them since I burn like 1000-1100 cals on 4 days of the week. I mean, that is A LOT of food. On non-workout days, I eat 1400 cals...and on workout days, I will eat AT LEAST 1900.

Ladies, ladies, what are you doing? I do an hour on the elitical and burn about 800 then some weights and stretching but 1100 and 1400? holy moses?! That's astounding.
Honestly, I NEVER have a problem covering my calories as I'm currently only 1200 on my non workout days....
Tell me your secret workout regimes.... pretty please.

Hey, I was burning around 800 as well doing an hour on the elliptical...but as I am now getting into "healthy weight" territory, I knew I needed to bump up my routine since my body isn't going to want to shed it so easily! hehe SO, I still do that hour on the elliptical (I am up to level 19 on the interval/random setting and I REALLY push myself)...then I add more time on other things to switch it up. Like the bike or treadmill....and I will burn 200-300 more calories plus weights. Even just switching it up can be helpful.

TamTastic

Wow!! Tami you are sliding into home base in lightening speed!! Congratulations on that ticker moving again. I too finally loss weight after increasing my calories ( some of the food was not intentional:bigsmile: ) but I lost the most ever....3lbs. So yes it does work. Congratulations again my shero!

Thank you!! I have a fire lit under my butt or something!! :laugh: :laugh: (actually, its called wanting to start trying for baby #2 around the end of October and wanting to get as close to my goal as possible by then!)

Good for you! I am glad people are realizing you don't have to starve and in fact, can eat quite a lot and still lose weight! :flowerforyou:

Mely

Tam - just curious, how tall are you and what's your goal weight? You are doing unbelievable!

TamTastic

Tam - just curious, how tall are you and what's your goal weight? You are doing unbelievable!

I'm 5'5", currently weigh 160.5 and my goal weight is 135. I hope to be at least in the 140s by the time I get pregnant. We shall see! The healthy weight range for my height is 115-155 or something like that....so I figured 135 is right in the middle...but I know I will at least be in a healthy weight range and BMI pretty soon!! YAYYY!!! My BMI is 26.7 right now! SOO close to "healthy" and not "overweight!"

SGFlyinHi

I have never eaten any exercise calories. The main reason is I have been working with a trainer since I started this journey in October 2007, and she has me on a structured meal plan. The calories I take in are about 400 to 500 over what MFP would have me eating, plus her plan has worked very well for me so far, so I am sticking with her reccomendations.

But, unless you are working with a doctor, trainer or nutritionist, I suggest you stick with the way MFP has it laid out as it seems to work for most people. But, be careful of the workout calories that you put down, as most machines overestimate the calories burned. A Heart Rate Monitor is the best way to count your actual calories burned.

TamTastic

But, be careful of the workout calories that you put down, as most machines overestimate the calories burned. A Heart Rate Monitor is the best way to count your actual calories burned.

I definitely agree with this. I do eat some of them...but I deduct some from the number the machines give me. First, when it asks for my weight, I will enter in about 5 lbs less than I am...and then I deduct at least 10% from the final combined number on the machines. And then of course, I never eat ALL of them back just in case it is still off. This has been working well for me. I probably end up eating about the same as Shari (about 400-500 more on workout days than I have planned on MFP).

lotusfromthemud

The trick to eating all of the exercise calories is:

accurately reporting them. (a HRM or underreporting machine estimates, which are always over by 15% or so for most people)

and deducting you BMR calories from them. This gets a little tricky, but you have to figure what you burn in an average hour (for me it's around 65 calories) and subtract those calories from an hour of exercise. So, if I walk for an hour and "burn" 300, I subtract 65 for a net burn of 235. Because, sadly, exercise doesn't add an hour to my day. (it just feels that way in the energy department).

The main thing is to play around with things and find what works best for you. As much as we'd love this to be an exact science, it isn't.:flowerforyou:

clairegl

Hey!

I burn quite a lot when I work out....and will usually eat at least half of them back. It's hard to eat all of them since I burn like 1000-1100 cals on 4 days of the week. I mean, that is A LOT of food. On non-workout days, I eat 1400 cals...and on workout days, I will eat AT LEAST 1900.

Ladies, ladies, what are you doing? I do an hour on the elitical and burn about 800 then some weights and stretching but 1100 and 1400? holy moses?! That's astounding.
Honestly, I NEVER have a problem covering my calories as I'm currently only 1200 on my non workout days....
Tell me your secret workout regimes.... pretty please.

Hey, I was burning around 800 as well doing an hour on the elliptical...but as I am now getting into "healthy weight" territory, I knew I needed to bump up my routine since my body isn't going to want to shed it so easily! hehe SO, I still do that hour on the elliptical (I am up to level 19 on the interval/random setting and I REALLY push myself)...then I add more time on other things to switch it up. Like the bike or treadmill....and I will burn 200-300 more calories plus weights. Even just switching it up can be helpful.



Wow Tam, that's AMAZING. You're an inspiration to me (I bet you hear that all of the time though).
I just got home from the gym and did 75 minutes on the eliptical and then 10 minutes of stretching and I always round down, but not by the quantities you guys are saying. I've been a member here for a bit, but I'm literally just figuring out a way to make it work for me (working it) in the last few weeks so I am going to play around with the numbers and see what works.
Thanks for your input and wonderful modeling.
YOu rock!
Claire

BrandNewLaura

The trick to eating all of the exercise calories is:

accurately reporting them. (a HRM or underreporting machine estimates, which are always over by 15% or so for most people)

and deducting you BMR calories from them. This gets a little tricky, but you have to figure what you burn in an average hour (for me it's around 65 calories) and subtract those calories from an hour of exercise. So, if I walk for an hour and "burn" 300, I subtract 65 for a net burn of 235. Because, sadly, exercise doesn't add an hour to my day. (it just feels that way in the energy department).

The main thing is to play around with things and find what works best for you. As much as we'd love this to be an exact science, it isn't.:flowerforyou:

Okay now I have a question...I deduct my BMR calories, but I always assumed that my HRM was giving me a fairly accurate number of calories burned. Are you saying this isn't the case? I found that before I got my HRM I was constantly overestimating my exercise calories because I had no idea and just had to go by what I could find online. Is my HRM overcalculating my calories burned too?

OomarianneoO

But, be careful of the workout calories that you put down, as most machines overestimate the calories burned. A Heart Rate Monitor is the best way to count your actual calories burned.

I definitely agree with this. I do eat some of them...but I deduct some from the number the machines give me. First, when it asks for my weight, I will enter in about 5 lbs less than I am...and then I deduct at least 10% from the final combined number on the machines. And then of course, I never eat ALL of them back just in case it is still off. This has been working well for me. I probably end up eating about the same as Shari (about 400-500 more on workout days than I have planned on MFP).

Wow. This is extremely useful information from both of you! Makes me drool for a HRM. :frown:

songbyrdsweet

I eat mine, but I also fiddle with MFP's goals quite a bit. I've already had my BMR tested, and it's 1265; when I work out I burn anywhere from 500 to 1200 calories depending on the day (leg day is around 500, big cardio day is around 1200). So I use the custom goals to set my baseline calories to 1265, then add my exercise calories - my hourly BMR calories (54 cals/hr) to get what I need to eat. I have been experimenting with calories for the past few weeks, subtracting 250-500 from my BMR and then adding exercise calories because I have been just sitting at home, but now that I'm back at school and walking around a lot, I tend not to do that. A big deficit with this level of activity leaves me tiiiiired.