Eating exercise cals...now gaining??

martymum

Hi

I have been eating back 1/2 my exercise cals for a couple of months as I found I couldn't just eat 1230 cals a day. My weight loss slowed to less than 2lb in a month. I was going to stop eating them again but then my hubby read this thread...

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

So I agreed to eat all my cals back for a month to see if it helped...and its bloody hard cos some day I burn 1000+.

Anyway here's where I need help...I started this a week ago and have netted 1230 or as close to and I weighed myself this morning....I have gained 3lb!! I am trying not to freak out but I wanted to know is this normal?? Should I expect to gain a bit before the loss starts again? I know the body takes time to adjust so I will keep on this for a month but I dread gaining every week.

Thanks for any help or advice.

martyxxx

Ps my diary is open but the last 2 weeks before this were naff due to a family bereavement and travel to funeral.

andrewrose

What are you eating?

Too much protein or too much fat will result in weight gain even if under your calorie count. Both are stored as fat and thus contribute to weight gain.

dakitten2

I cant really help out since I dont eat my calories. I talked to my dietician about it during my first week because I seeing some that did and some that didnt. She advised me not to eat my calories. Due to surgery earlier this year, I'm still under doctor's orders regarding my exercise level (knee placement). I only exercise twice a week and that is water aquatics that burns a little over 500 calories per session.

I see lots of people doing massive amounts of exercise every day and I can understand why they eat their calories. Maybe if my workouts matched theirs, my dietician might recommend otherwise. Actually I'll ask her about this when I see her next week.

I can understand why you would be upset with the gain and I know people much more knowledgeable than I will be able to help you with your question.

Stormyyy

Hi there, i ate my exercise calories for 6 weeks, no weight loss, i then ate half my exercise calories for 3 to 4 weeks with nothing and got very frustrated and then tried not eating any as a last resort and, hey presto, i am losing around 1lb a week or just under. Pretty peeved at not being able to enjoy those exercise calories but i was desparate to lose something...

Everyone is different, this is just my personal opinion if ur struggling, then try different things as another thing iv learnt is to change my activities every few weeks as when i changed from swimming to power walking i noticed a difference to my weight loss.

Goodluck and keep at it, you're worth it!

CarolynB38

It is probably just a blip as gaining 3lb of actual fat in a week is actually quite hard to do unless you are eating an extra 1500 cals a day more than you need. If you gain again next week then you may have to look at what you are eating. It's also possible that it is a result of your difficult couple of weeks catching up with you in which case things should start to settle down again soon.

You are eating fruit and veg which is good and we all need treats but perhaps you could reduce the treats a little. Sometime too many simple carbs can cause a problem so if you are eating bread and rice it can be better to go for wholemeal/wholegrain varieties. Some people find increasing their protein helps them to lose weight and also helps them to not get so hungry. You are eating snacks which is also good and again try to make them healthy snacks where possible.

Are you using a HRM when exercising to get a more accurate value of the calories you are burning? Sometimes MFP overestimates for some people - everyone's different after all. Also weighing and measuring your food for one week (if you don't already) can help as you may actually be eating more than you think.

See how you go over the next week and look at it again. If you are actually gaining weight and it's not just temporary or water weight then you probably need to look at what you are eating rather than how much.

Hope the scale goes down for you next week :happy:

When I say look at what you eat rather than how much, I mean that some choices have fewer calories but fill you up better. So if you need to eat less of your exercise calories choosing foods that are healthy can fill you up without using too many of those calories. And remember to drink plenty of water too. It really can help.

Naomi_84

Could be for many reasons:

1/ You may be over estimating your exercise calories. On the days of your diary that I looked at it says you've earned between 800 and 1000 calories from exercise. That seems like a hell of a lot. If your exercise calories are not accurate then you will be overeating.

2/ All that exercise may mean you are gaining muscle so use a tape measure and don't worry about the scale for a few weeks. Remember our muscles retain water when we exercise.

3/ As someone said previous;y, it is very unlikely to put on 3lbs of fat in a week, it is probably water retention.

Keep up the good work, hope you find what works for you

x

gashinshotan

IMO it could be the fact that MFP really exaggerates calories burned during exercise..... I eat most of mine back but I kinda trick MFP because I run up steep hills for half my run so it balances out when I record it as regular running without an incline.... the best way though is to get an accurate heart rate monitor that can calculate calories burned like the polar ft4/7 - most people find out they burn up to HALF of what MFP claims they were..... someones gotta fix this issue on MFP....

CarolynB38

IMO it could be the fact that MFP really exaggerates calories burned during exercise..... I eat most of mine back but I kinda trick MFP because I run up steep hills for half my run so it balances out when I record it as regular running without an incline.... the best way though is to get an accurate heart rate monitor that can calculate calories burned like the polar ft4/7 - most people find out they burn up to HALF of what MFP claims they were..... someones gotta fix this issue on MFP....

Definitely, although it seems to be pretty accurate for me compared with my HRM but I've always been a little strange, lol.

indrani1947

Keep in there, maybe your body has been in starvation mode as you were not eating your exercise cals, more protein will help as any excess carbs go straight into fat stores I know I've been there I now trick my body by zig zag calories over a seven day period I have a couple of high days a couple of low days and a couple in the middle to balance what my body needs over the seven day period good luck

rileysowner

What are you eating?.

Too much protein or too much fat will result in weight gain even if under your calorie count. Both are stored as fat and thus contribute to weight gain.

I don't know where you get this information, but it is wrong. In fact of all the macro nutrients Protein is the most difficult for our bodies to turn to fat. Fats and Carbs are much easier.

To the original poster, yes this can be normal in the short term. I you are in a calorie deficit it is highly unlikely you put on 3 pounds of fat. That would require eating more than 10000 extra calories over your maintenance calories (BMR plus activity level).

My questions are, how much sodium was in this food you are eating, and what are you using to calculate you calorie burns?

asyouseefit

Could be for many reasons:

1/ You may be over estimating your exercise calories. On the days of your diary that I looked at it says you've earned between 800 and 1000 calories from exercise. That seems like a hell of a lot. If your exercise calories are not accurate then you will be overeating.

2/ All that exercise may mean you are gaining muscle so use a tape measure and don't worry about the scale for a few weeks. Remember our muscles retain water when we exercise.

3/ As someone said previous;y, it is very unlikely to put on 3lbs of fat in a week, it is probably water retention.

Keep up the good work, hope you find what works for you

x

I second the overestimating exercise calories. 800-1000 cals is a lot! How are you measuring your calories burnt? If it isn't through a HRM, I'd suggest only logging 60-70% of what MFP suggests.

LorinaLynn

IMO it could be the fact that MFP really exaggerates calories burned during exercise..... I eat most of mine back but I kinda trick MFP because I run up steep hills for half my run so it balances out when I record it as regular running without an incline.... the best way though is to get an accurate heart rate monitor that can calculate calories burned like the polar ft4/7 - most people find out they burn up to HALF of what MFP claims they were..... someones gotta fix this issue on MFP....

Definitely, although it seems to be pretty accurate for me compared with my HRM but I've always been a little strange, lol.

I've been looking at your exercise diary, and a big chunk of your calories seem to be from cleaning. Now, I know cleaning is hard work, and I know that your using a HRM, but it seems to me to be way off. One hour of cleaning often burns about 450 calories. That's approximately the number of calories burned in a 4.5 mile run. I'm a little more whooped after a 4.5 mile run than after an hour of cleaning. And I've never done Curves circuit training, but again, 450-ish calories in a half hour seems really, really high.

Personally, unless it's "the inlaws are visiting from out of town and they're allergic to cats and we have seven so I have to move all the furniture to clean under it" type of cleaning, I never log it. If you're doing 30-60 minutes or so of cleaning every day, I'd bump up your activity level to lightly active to include it there instead of as exercise. And if you've already included your normal daily activity in your activity level, it's double-dipping to count it as exercise, too. (Also, can I have some of your motivation to clean as much as you do? )

I know everyone always says, "Get a HRM!" but I've seen just as many cases where it overestimates as cases where MFP overestimates.

FitForLife81

Yup I am willing to bet your calories burned is wayyy off! I can do Insanity which is hardcore cardio for an hour and only burn 300 calories. Get a HRM it will be accurate and I bet you will see you can eat your exercise calories!

3dogsrunning

I cant really help out since I dont eat my calories. I talked to my dietician about it during my first week because I seeing some that did and some that didnt. She advised me not to eat my calories. Due to surgery earlier this year, I'm still under doctor's orders regarding my exercise level (knee placement). I only exercise twice a week and that is water aquatics that burns a little over 500 calories per session.

I see lots of people doing massive amounts of exercise every day and I can understand why they eat their calories. Maybe if my workouts matched theirs, my dietician might recommend otherwise. Actually I'll ask her about this when I see her next week.

I can understand why you would be upset with the gain and I know people much more knowledgeable than I will be able to help you with your question.

Your dietician uses a different formula to decide how many calories you should eat than MFP does.
Dieticians will figure out your how many calories you burn by living (without doing anything at all), figure out how many you burn per day doing every day activities, then figure out how many you can expect to burn while exercising dependings on how active you are. They will create a small deficit, and that is your number. They already account for the exercise calories, which is why they will tell you not to "eat them back".
MFP estimates how many calories you burn by living, estimates how many you burn per day doing every day activities, create a small deficit, and that is your number. It does not take into account how many you expect to burn in exercise which is why you are supposed to "eat them back".
It really ends up being pretty much the same thing. But if you are using MFP's numbers, you should be eating back at least a portion of exercise calories. If you are using the dieticians guidelines, then don't. It is not likely the two calorie numbers are the same.
For example, MFP suggests for a pound a week weight loss for me that I eat 1400 or something like that. My trainer has put me on a meal plan where I eat around 1800 calories per day and work out 5 days a week, no need to count, I just eat the food and I don't "eat back" calories with her meal plan. When I calculate it on here, my average net intake (net = calories eaten - calories burned) puts me right around 1400. So its the same whether I follow MFP's guidelines and "eat back" my workout calories, or follow hers and just workout.

martymum

HI

Thanks for the replies so far...

I use a HRM for my burns except at curves where the curves-smart computors calculate it. I have also had to cycle uphill to to curves the last couple of weeks whilst my lift was away. I expect my burns to settle to 750 a day approx next week.

The only cleaning I log is anything not in my normal day...the mad cleaning the last couple of weeks was to stop me thinking about our loss and because someone was coming to housesit whilst we went to the funeral so it did involve moving furniture, curtains etc...essentially like a spring clean.

I know my snack and treat choices are not the best...was trying to madly eat my cals but all that sugar made me feel nauseous so bought some rice cakes and fruit.

I just wondered if the weight gain was normal....I suspect I havre had too much sodium as i don't always remember to add salt from cooking and at the table...wil try to log that more accurately. I do weigh my food mostly as I am terrible at guestimating always underestimate.

thanks

martyx

dakitten2

I never count my everyday cleaning, cooking, etc as calories burned. I was doing all that same stuff before counting calories. I've always considered exercise as something above and beyond your normal daily housework duties. I asked my nutrionist about this and she said that my line of thinking was correct. So I only count things that I never did before such as acquatics. I dont know if I'm saying it right but why count those things now when you were doing them before and was gaining weight (speaking for myself of course).

servilia

What are you eating?

Too much protein or too much fat will result in weight gain even if under your calorie count. Both are stored as fat and thus contribute to weight gain.

This is not true.

Silverkittycat

What are you eating?

Too much protein or too much fat will result in weight gain even if under your calorie count. Both are stored as fat and thus contribute to weight gain.

This is not true.

I agree, not true. You'd have to be in a caloric surplus.

Silverkittycat

Anyway here's where I need help...I started this a week ago and have netted 1230 or as close to and I weighed myself this morning....I have gained 3lb!! I am trying not to freak out but I wanted to know is this normal?? Should I expect to gain a bit before the loss starts again? I know the body takes time to adjust so I will keep on this for a month but I dread gaining every week.

I would try it for another few weeks, 1 week just isn't enough time. IMO.

CoraGregoryCPA

Do you have a HRM? Your calorie burn counting could be incorrect causing you to eat more than your burning.

Also, this method doesn't work for everyone. Were you losing weight before you decided to eat your exercise calories back (just because someone else thought it was a good idea)?

Make sure your calorie burning is accurate and try eating only 1/2 of your exercise calories back just to see if that will work.

I used to eat my exercise calories and I use an accurate HRM, I never lost weight until I increased my calories a little bit and stopped eating my exercise calories. (You could also see this as I am eating 1/4 of my exercise calories back)

A lot of good posts on here. I don't understand why people log cleaning as an exercise. Did you also log that you are sedentary? If not, then you are cheating yourself. I brush my teeth everyday, but I don't log that. Sorry, but Curves wouldn't burn that many calories either. It's just strength training. I burn 75 calories in 30 minutes of strength training-if I'm lucky.

Jess5825

Give it some time. It took me a solid month of eating my exercise calories for the scale two move, and yes I was up a tiny bit during that time.

andrewrose

What are you eating?.

Too much protein or too much fat will result in weight gain even if under your calorie count. Both are stored as fat and thus contribute to weight gain.

I don't know where you get this information, but it is wrong. In fact of all the macro nutrients Protein is the most difficult for our bodies to turn to fat. Fats and Carbs are much easier.

I dunno where I got it either. I've read it does. I've read that it doesn't. I just tried to find a single reliable source that said one way or the other and every other article contradicted every other article. It really should be a simple case of either it does or it doesn't. It seems like it's possible but you'd have to eat more protein that humanly possible, perhaps.

I tend to think, though, as I read some of the other responses that it is probably a case of overestimating the caloric burn of exercise.

Silverkittycat

I dunno where I got it either. I've read it does. I've read that it doesn't. I just tried to find a single reliable source that said one way or the other and every other article contradicted every other article. It really should be a simple case of either it does or it doesn't.

You are so right. Can't do it, every conclusion I pull up has one to contradict it.

Acg67

What are you eating?.

Too much protein or too much fat will result in weight gain even if under your calorie count. Both are stored as fat and thus contribute to weight gain.

I don't know where you get this information, but it is wrong. In fact of all the macro nutrients Protein is the most difficult for our bodies to turn to fat. Fats and Carbs are much easier.

I dunno where I got it either. I've read it does. I've read that it doesn't. I just tried to find a single reliable source that said one way or the other and every other article contradicted every other article. It really should be a simple case of either it does or it doesn't. It seems like it's possible but you'd have to eat more protein that humanly possible, perhaps.

I tend to think, though, as I read some of the other responses that it is probably a case of overestimating the caloric burn of exercise.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/excess-protein-and-fat-storage-qa.html

andrewrose

What are you eating?

Too much protein or too much fat will result in weight gain even if under your calorie count. Both are stored as fat and thus contribute to weight gain.

Enough with telling me that it's not true. I get it. I was wrong or at least the all the articles I read that said too much protein results in fat storage were wrong. Or perhaps the all of the articles that said all those articles were wrong were really wrong.

I don't care.

I almost never eat back my exercise calories. I don't get the point in that.

indrani1947

Try this link from another thread it is really informative and should help

http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/

howekaren

Bump

strawberrie_milk

MFP tends to overestimate how many calories you burn while exercising.