Tami's Secret to Skinny!!

TamTastic

A PM from Sassiebritches got me thinking and I had posted something on a recent "eating exercise calories" thread. I just copied and pasted it here to possibly help others who may want to know. Remember, the important thing is to be open-minded to your body. Trial and error can be the way to go sometimes to figure out what will work for you. But, just because something worked for one person doesn't mean it will work for you. Just like our finger prints are all unique, how we respond to various things will be unique as well and just having the patience and taking the time to figure it out can make all the difference!! :flowerforyou:

Anyway, here is what I had written on the "Exercise Calories" thread. If it helps even ONE person, it is worth it!!!


All I ever add to these threads is my own personal experience.

But first of all, I know it sounds strange but when you think about it, you start to understand better.
You decide to lose weight. You lower your calories to a certain amount. You then exercise and burn MORE calories than those you are already excluding from your diet. So, eating some back....yes, you are eating more than 1500 calories but that isn't what your body is "bringing in" due to the exercise.

Anyway, for ME. Non-gym days, I ate 1400 calories. (I never ate below that). At the end, that was Mon, Wed, and Fri. On workout days, I got to the point where I was burning over 1,000 calories and I would eat around 1,900 calories on those days. (I ate about half the workout calories back). That was Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun.

On the days I didn't go to the gym, I would do some lunges and squats and things at home and just stuck to my 1400 at the end.

I rarely had a plateau and when I did, I didn't stay for more than a week or two. I lost 135 lbs in 16 months (so even with plateaus or better weeks, worse weeks, etc...that averages out to about 8-10 lbs a month).

So, in MY personal opinion and experience....eating plenty and exercising plenty is what worked for me. And I think by doing the almost every other day thing, my body was kept at a constant burn and HAPPY!

It is all about finding what will work for you. It can be a trial and error thing. But also, making sure the calories burned are accurate is important as well. I never used a heart rate monitor. I did read in a fitness article that a good way to get an accurate reading on a machine like an elliptical (Which I used a lot), is when it asks for your weight, enter in a weight about 5-10 lbs LESS than you are. And at the end, deduct about 15% from the final number it gives you. That is what I did and it worked for me and I never ate ALL of them back.


Good luck! drinker

TamTastic

A PM from Sassiebritches got me thinking and I had posted something on a recent "eating exercise calories" thread. I just copied and pasted it here to possibly help others who may want to know. Remember, the important thing is to be open-minded to your body. Trial and error can be the way to go sometimes to figure out what will work for you. But, just because something worked for one person doesn't mean it will work for you. Just like our finger prints are all unique, how we respond to various things will be unique as well and just having the patience and taking the time to figure it out can make all the difference!! :flowerforyou:

Anyway, here is what I had written on the "Exercise Calories" thread. If it helps even ONE person, it is worth it!!!


All I ever add to these threads is my own personal experience.

But first of all, I know it sounds strange but when you think about it, you start to understand better.
You decide to lose weight. You lower your calories to a certain amount. You then exercise and burn MORE calories than those you are already excluding from your diet. So, eating some back....yes, you are eating more than 1500 calories but that isn't what your body is "bringing in" due to the exercise.

Anyway, for ME. Non-gym days, I ate 1400 calories. (I never ate below that). At the end, that was Mon, Wed, and Fri. On workout days, I got to the point where I was burning over 1,000 calories and I would eat around 1,900 calories on those days. (I ate about half the workout calories back). That was Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun.

On the days I didn't go to the gym, I would do some lunges and squats and things at home and just stuck to my 1400 at the end.

I rarely had a plateau and when I did, I didn't stay for more than a week or two. I lost 135 lbs in 16 months (so even with plateaus or better weeks, worse weeks, etc...that averages out to about 8-10 lbs a month).

So, in MY personal opinion and experience....eating plenty and exercising plenty is what worked for me. And I think by doing the almost every other day thing, my body was kept at a constant burn and HAPPY!

It is all about finding what will work for you. It can be a trial and error thing. But also, making sure the calories burned are accurate is important as well. I never used a heart rate monitor. I did read in a fitness article that a good way to get an accurate reading on a machine like an elliptical (Which I used a lot), is when it asks for your weight, enter in a weight about 5-10 lbs LESS than you are. And at the end, deduct about 15% from the final number it gives you. That is what I did and it worked for me and I never ate ALL of them back.


Good luck! drinker

heather0mc

thx chica! :flowerforyou:

Cindysunshine

Tami, Thanks for a great post! Congrats on reaching your goal! You Rock! Cindy

RachVR6

Makes perfect sense! Congrats on the weight lost and baby on the way! :flowerforyou:

Elita

Hi, thank you for your secret! I will start entering my weight with 10lbs less, I also use the elliptical a lot. Can you tell me your settings on it and for how long? (resistance and speed?)

kellch

Tami's my hero


Seriously lady you are my inspiration here!! :flowerforyou: Tops in my book :smooched:

Nich0le

Thank you for sharing that!

I completely agree that eating all of your exercise calories may not be the best for every person and that relying on the machines to give us accurate calories burned is not the best resource.

:flowerforyou:

TamTastic

Hi, thank you for your secret! I will start entering my weight with 10lbs less, I also use the elliptical a lot. Can you tell me your settings on it and for how long? (resistance and speed?)

I slowly worked up. I started at level 3, random setting for 20 minutes.

By the end, I was doing over an hour at level 19 (random/interval setting). I moved really fast too!

kerrilucko

Tam I'm really glad that you wrote that. Lately I've seen a lot of "Tam has even said she doesn't eat all her exercise cals" in threads by new users asking if they should. I think some users were taking it the wrong way. Good post!

PS- you look great and the little bump is coming along so well :flowerforyou:

jdelisle

bump

GameOver

Tam - Thanks for this post! You're so inspiring. Congrats, too, on your new "bump" :flowerforyou:

hopetobeinshape

Thank you for the advice! Your posts are always so insightful :flowerforyou:

TamTastic

Thank you for the advice! Your posts are always so insightful :flowerforyou:

Thank you!! I really appreciate that! :happy:

TamTastic

Tam - Thanks for this post! You're so inspiring. Congrats, too, on your new "bump" :flowerforyou:

LOL Thanks!!! It's coming along!!!

Shannon023

Burn mode is key! :drinker:

Great post! :flowerforyou:

dewdrop

Thanks, Tami! :flowerforyou: I think it's important to keep in mind that you were strict about the 1400. I tend to go over quite often, so yeah I guess I am sabotaging myself :ohwell: . So are you on maintain now? Still watching the calories?

Once again, well done and thanks for sharing! :flowerforyou:

TamTastic

Thanks, Tami! :flowerforyou: I think it's important to keep in mind that you were strict about the 1400. I tend to go over quite often, so yeah I guess I am sabotaging myself :ohwell: . So are you on maintain now? Still watching the calories?

Once again, well done and thanks for sharing! :flowerforyou:

I am maintaining and pregnant........so I watch my calories still to make sure I don't go overboard with thoughts of "eating for two!!" :laugh:

tashjs21

You are awesome SL!!!!

Thanks for the reminder that everyone's body is different. :drinker:

TamTastic

You are awesome SL!!!!

Thanks for the reminder that everyone's body is different. :drinker:

Your welcome girl!!! :bigsmile:

farmgirlh

Thanks!!!

sassiebritches

Tam - Now thats what I call putting it out there for all to see. Thanks for sharing with me and then forwarding this along.........

:flowerforyou:

TamTastic

Tam - Now thats what I call putting it out there for all to see. Thanks for sharing with me and then forwarding this along.........

:flowerforyou:

Your very welcome. I really hope it was helpful to you! :happy:

I know how frustrating it can be and there were times I was screaming at the scale too!! :laugh:

I think over time, I just learned to chill out and listen to my body and give it a break. I mean, If I lose well for a certain period of time.......and my body takes a break for a week or two, how can I blame it?? I am sure all your organs and just your whole body chemistry needs an adjustment period here and there.

Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite part about my body is, I always say "The whole thing for putting up with the abuse (eating crap and not exercising and gaining so much weight), I put it through for SO long and still rewarded me when I actually started to do the work and treated it right!!

I am corny, what can I say!! :blushing:

MissResa

Bump!!!

xtina11179

Absolutely inspirational!! :flowerforyou: Especially that last statement. I imagine you'll be getting a LOT of friend requests (including myself!) after this thread!!

kimber607

Tami

You have done a FANTASTIC JOB...a true inspiration
The weight I lost doesn't touch a torch to what you've done (30 pounds)
BUT I just wanted to also add that when I first started on non work-out days I ate 1490 cals and on days I worked out about 1700-1800 cals

Kim

TamTastic

Tami

You have done a FANTASTIC JOB...a true inspiration
The weight I lost doesn't touch a torch to what you've done (30 pounds)
BUT I just wanted to also add that when I first started on non work-out days I ate 1490 cals and on days I worked out about 1700-1800 cals

Kim

That's great Kim. :flowerforyou:

Maybe what everyone who has had a lot of success or reached their goal can do is to post what they did to reach their goal. By seeing what different people have done, it might help others!

watch48win

bump......for "newbies" or for those confused

xtina11179

:sad: I still don't understand the "bump" thing. What does it mean??

sassiebritches

:sad: I still don't understand the "bump" thing. What does it mean??

It means that you are putting this topic at the top of the community forums, so other people read it and it doesn't get lost in the abyss of "stuff and such". Just gives others a chance to read it.

:flowerforyou:

Shannon023

:sad: I still don't understand the "bump" thing. What does it mean??

You have to run around your couch 5x. :laugh:

It means to "bump" it to the top of the topic's list. :flowerforyou: