Remaining Calories

deniserenee_02

I have over 1,000 calories to eat left because I burned alot of calories doing 1 1/2 hours of cardio and 2 hours of yard work. What do you do if this happens?

Pebble321

Eat some more today, and plan better tomorrow.

LiviLou2011

Thats alot..i usually do nothing..i know some people say thats not the way to do it but if your not hungry and you have that many calories left..dont worry about it.

lisakyle_11

just have a bedtime snack (on the small side), and yes, plan better tomorrow (i.e. eat slightly bigger meals earlier in the day to get more of your calories in). don't sweat it though for just one day.

yuckidah

I don't eat any of my exercise calories - haven't dropped dead yet

(Edited to add...... Admittedly my extra cals aren't anywhere near as many as yours though)

DaltonsMom910

If you only eat the amount of calories that your TOTAL says, like mine I am allowed 1,260 calories per day, but you earn calories back by how many you burn. However, if you want to lose more weight, stick to your total and not your 'daily goal' b/c it gives you extra calories and if you keep eating more you wont lose as much. It's okay to have a lot of calories left over as long as you meet your total goal but don't go over your overall calorie goal. but if you have 1,000 calories left, I mean gosh it's not going to hurt to eat some more but again, it is good to have left over calories as long as you meet your recommended daily intake. I hope you understand that, it can be confusing!?

quiksandy

I just eat until I'm not hungry and maybe on a day like that I'll have an indulgence like a dessert or something. Honestly, I think it's kind of good to zig zag your calories...which you might be doing accidentally. it's good to have days where you are below and days where you are at your max or slightly above. Too much consistency and your body adapts and sometimes the weight won't come off (at least that's what I hear)

deniserenee_02

Thanks guys! I think I'll try and stick to my total calories for the day and see how that works. Is it good to burn so many calories in a day?

HonkyTonks

Just FYI you probably don't really need to do 1 1/2 hours of cardio - 30-45 mins of cardio is pretty sufficient, and if you work hard you can improve your fitness level as well. Lots of cardio and not enough food can hurt your weight loss efforts.

Pebble321

Thanks guys! I think I'll try and stick to my total calories for the day and see how that works. Is it good to burn so many calories in a day?

It's your call - but make sure you understand how MFP works and the possible effects on your body.

MFP gives you a calorie goal without taking exercise into account. It assumes that you will eat more if you exercise more (unlike most other methods of calculating calories).

If you eat back the calories you burn, you will have a moderate and consistent calorie deficit (500 cals/day if you chose "lose 1 pound per week". ) This would mean that you eat your 1200 a day plus 1000 extra or however many you burn through exercise. As long as these numbers and your logging is reasonably accurate, you should lose 1 pound a week doing this.

If you don't eat back the calories you burn, your caloire deficit will be much much larger. For some people this means that you lose weight quicker - it seems to particularly apply to people who are heavier and have lots of weight to lose.
Other people find that eating very low calorie means that their body starts to try to work as efficiently as possible with the small number of calories you are giving it, and weight loss can slow down or stall.

Remember that your body needs calories to fuel all the basic functions (breathing, pumping blood, firing neurons in your brain, digesting) etc as well as for walking around, talking, working etc. Then when you work out a lot, you burn a whole lot more calories again.

Whether doing it this way (eating little and exercising a lot) is a good thing, is a contentious issue here on MFP.
My personal opinion is that there is no point in eating so little - you risk not getting enough good nutrition to keep your body healthy. But, you're free to do whatever you want - just make sure you find something that is healthy and sustainable for you.

heybales

If you only eat the amount of calories that your TOTAL says, like mine I am allowed 1,260 calories per day, but you earn calories back by how many you burn. However, if you want to lose more weight, stick to your total and not your 'daily goal' b/c it gives you extra calories and if you keep eating more you wont lose as much. It's okay to have a lot of calories left over as long as you meet your total goal but don't go over your overall calorie goal. but if you have 1,000 calories left, I mean gosh it's not going to hurt to eat some more but again, it is good to have left over calories as long as you meet your recommended daily intake. I hope you understand that, it can be confusing!?

So let's think about this a minute, because a couple of posts seem to miss an important aspect.

You eat 1200 calories, every day, very good about it.
You do great with the long cardio every day and yard work, you burn 1000 calories.

1200 eaten, minus 1000 burned (lets say trustworthy calculation of calories burned) = 200 calories available for the body to use.

Is there an understanding of what BMR is? Basal metabolic rate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate
energy in this state is sufficient only for the functioning of the vital organs, the heart, lungs, nervous system, kidneys, liver, intestine, sex organs, muscles, and skin.

Is it understood this energy can NOT come from the body itself, it must be supplied.
BMR is not like some perpetual motion machine function, where the energy needed to supply to the body is somehow taken from the body that is needing to be supplied energy........

No, it just slows down the metabolism. Want your weight loss to come to a screeching halt, following the advice above to totally undercut your BMR every day by not realizing that MFP ALREADY has included a deficit in your daily calorie goal, which is why there is a footnote on the Goals setup page regarding NET calories means you eat back exercise, and the fact you get credit back for the exercise you log.

Shoot, just search the forums for "stalled" and "plateau" and learn from other's experience regarding what will happen.

I just hope for the OP this is not a continuous thing, and I hope for the several posters on here you've had cheat days, which will probably save yourself despite probably hating you did it.

lauraemthomson

eat some of them anyway because u will find that exercise will casue u to feel more hungry and if u dont eat that little bit more then ur normal calorie count u might go well over ur count tomorrow.


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

heybales

Is it good to burn so many calories in a day?

You can burn as many calories you can in a day, but you should fuel it. Because the exercise WILL get the calories it needs to perform the work, even if you don't feed it.
Whatever is left over will be used by the metabolism required for life functions, which will suffer, as will you if done constantly.

deniserenee_02

I haven't changed my eating habits very much just my portions. I lost 2 lbs in 2 days just with 35 min of exercise a day. I ate alot durring superbowl almost 600 over my limit so I figured I'd work it off a lil longer at the gym today and worked on my garden. Then I entered my food and exercise and and here I am lol

I got 40 lbs to loose. I will take any advice I can. Thank you everyone for your support

kritterxx

Typically, you lose weight when there's a calorie deficit. The larger the deficit, the faster you lose weight etc. Don't feel obliged to fill that gap up - eat when you need to, eat until you're full. Never force feed yourself or make yourself eat more just to meet these calorie goals. Gut feeling and instinct go further than trying to match numbers

Just FYI you probably don't really need to do 1 1/2 hours of cardio - 30-45 mins of cardio is pretty sufficient, and if you work hard you can improve your fitness level as well. Lots of cardio and not enough food can hurt your weight loss efforts.

It depends on what stage you are in your weightloss. Intense cardio at the beginning is best for getting off excess fat, and then building in strength training later on helps sculpt you
It's not always about 'needing' to do a workout or making yourself do that amount, maybe the OP enjoys working out and did it for fun? Sometimes time flies when you're working out. You can work out for however long you like and are comfortable with.
It's about comfort; do you feel like you're eating enough? Do you get tired in the middle of a work out? If so, increase your intake to keep up with your out take. If your body's handling it well and you're experiencing no negative repercussions, then what harm is there in doing longer periods of exercise but with your normal intake? Really, it's going to get you faster results.

Gaaj4

Whenever that happens to me it says the following warning; "*Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum."

CallmeSbo

I burned 3000calories(if you believe MFP)sunday, running 20k. That day Mfp said i must eat 5000.I got home, have a huge breakfast, took a shower and went to sleep for 4hours. I slept through lunch, when i woke up it was dinner time. By the end of the day i had only ate 2000calories and there was no way in hell i was gonna force food i dont need down my throat. Thats how i got fat in the 1st place.

deniserenee_02

Here are my results for today's food and exercise

Totals 1,800 249 50 49
Your Daily Goal 2,708 373 89 102
Remaining 908 124 39 53
Calories Carbs Fat Protein

sorry, but it will not keep the format

heybales

I haven't changed my eating habits very much just my portions. I lost 2 lbs in 2 days just with 35 min of exercise a day. I ate alot durring superbowl almost 600 over my limit so I figured I'd work it off a lil longer at the gym today and worked on my garden. Then I entered my food and exercise and and here I am lol

I got 40 lbs to loose. I will take any advice I can. Thank you everyone for your support

Ohhhhh, 2 day balance isn't bad at all. Probably within the same 24 hrs actually, no problem.

Just the advice without that knowledge to do it, doesn't matter, concerned me.

heybales

Whenever that happens to me it says the following warning; "*Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum."

Very true.

Though I'd sure wish they would leave "starvation mode" out of it.

Suppressed metabolism sure, if done constantly.

Perhaps they should have some logic on that warning to do it after 10 consecutive days, or 10 out of 14 days, or something.

Then again, why do they do a warning about that, but more than happily follow request for goal loss and recommend a daily goal clearly under someone's BMR in the first place? Unless of course the math went under 1200, then stay at 1200.

douglasmobbs

Here goes today's "to eat back or not" post.

heybales

The larger the deficit, the faster you lose weight etc.

Not totally true or that simple. You can stall it going too large.

Gut feeling and instinct go further than trying to match numbers

Gut feeling and instinct is probably a very big part of why the majority would be using sites like MFP, that gut feeling was NOT great to be following, and good numbers would be good to try to reach, could save someone from themselves as they go to the opposite extreme.

It depends on what stage you are in your weightloss. Intense cardio at the beginning is best for getting off excess fat, and then building in strength training later on helps sculpt you

Very wrong, unless by intense cardio you actually mean intervals specifically, which can help like weight lifting.
Cardio just improves your aerobic system mostly, and has been shown in study after study to NOT burn fat as well as weight lifting.
With cardio you burn calories during the workout, weight lifting you increase muscle which is burning fat all day long, besides the fat burn from the workout. Cardio useful, but weight lifting is best done early in the game.

If your body's handling it well and you're experiencing no negative repercussions, then what harm is there in doing longer periods of exercise but with your normal intake? Really, it's going to get you faster results.

Because you can slow your metabolism down.

You can find case studies all over the place.
Sorry to take the opportunity for some education.

http://www.exrx.net/Questions/StarvationEffect.html

A similar case study was published by Jampolis (2004). A 51 year old patient complained of a 15 lb weight gain over the last year despite beginning a strenuous triathlon and marathon training program (2 hours per day, 5-6 days per week). A 3 day diet analysis estimated a daily intake of only 1000-1200 Calories. An indirect calorimetry revealed a resting metabolic rate of 950 Calories (28% below predicted for age, height, weight, and gender). After medications and medical conditions such as hypothyroidism and diabetes where ruled out, the final diagnosis was over-training and undereating. The following treatment was recommended:

Increase daily dietary intake by approximately 100 Calories per week to a goal of 1500 calories
32% protein; 35% carbohydrates; 33% fat
Consume 5-6 small meals per day
Small amounts of protein with each meal or snack
Choose high fiber starches
Select mono- and poly- unsaturated fats
Restrict consumption of starch with evening meals unless focused around training
Take daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement
Perform whole body isometric resistance training 2 times per week

After 6 weeks the patient's resting metabolism increased 35% to 1282 Calories per day (only 2% below predicted). The patient also decreases percent fat from 37% to 34%, a loss of 5 lbs of body fat.

---

So her RMR went up over 300 calories. 2100 calories of free burn had been lost each week at the lowered BMR level. That's 2/3 lb.

douglasmobbs

And here is a study saying different

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

here is another one.

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v16/n5/full/oby200838a.html

I think the one thing that everybody agrees on is that you need to make sure you get enough nutrients.

lisa28115

okay ...so i am confused...do i eat back the calories i gain from exercise or not???
even though i always eat back my calories ...i haven't lost any weight and i am gettting discouraged :ohwell:

heybales

And here is a study saying different

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

here is another one.

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v16/n5/full/oby200838a.html

I think the one thing that everybody agrees on is that you need to make sure you get enough nutrients.

You probably should have read the post, and read the link - neither of which are saying there is starvation mode. The question at the link was from someone wondering about it, and they said NO, as your link indicates.
And nowhere was it ever mentioned regarding losing muscle either, which your link is making a big deal of debunking - that's fine.

Those soldiers are also not your typical yo-yo dieters that have a sensitive and messed up metabolism either, as to the speed to start getting messed up.

Now, the case study I copied above from that page in the post above, and you can go find more, clearly show that if you eat below BMR constant enough, or eat at and exercise below it constant enough, you will lower your BMR, metabolism.

In this case, she lost 300 calories from lowered metabolism. This is no study, it happened. And you can find this all over the place. Besides the personal experiences of many on MFP talking about their plateau and stall that occurs, and when they've taken the advice to eat more, they start losing again.

heybales

okay ...so i am confused...do i eat back the calories i gain from exercise or not???
even though i always eat back my calories ...i haven't lost any weight and i am gettting discouraged :ohwell:

Accurately estimated ones, yes.

Let me guess, MFP BMR estimated 1600.
MFP calculated maintenance based on your selection of sedentary - 1920
You selected goal loss of 2 lbs / wk which is 1000 / day deficit
MFP suggested daily net goal of 1200.

Notice the math their would have been 920 daily goal, but because of common safety concern, they stopped at 1200.
Sadly they have no such safety suggesting you eat 400 calories below your BMR.

Look at my post above. Lady ate 1100-1200 (her estimated RMR) and exercise obviously pushed her under that BMR by about 300 calories.

Because when she ate more to feed her exercise and BMR, her RMR came up 300 calories.

And while you might think, yeah, she ate 300 more, and is now burning 300 more, isn't that a wash out.
The fact is your daily activity and exercise burns more when your metabolism is higher. And now with a means for the muscle to be repaired properly and made stronger, the metabolism can go even higher.
She lost 5 lbs even during the recovery time, and even more body fat.

So why is it not working even though you are eating back your exercise calories - because you are already too far under. You've at least kept it from getting worse.

If my guesses above are wayyyy off, then it may not be that bad.