Should I eat these calories?

snowbab

Hey everyone. I've been on MFP since about last September. I've only lost 6 pounds so far from 140.6 to 134.6 But I'm keeping at it!

Anyway I hit a huge plateau hece this small weight loss so I've upped my calories. I am set at sedentary and to lose 0.5 a week because I only have abou 10 pounds left to lose.

According to MFP i therefore need to eat 1540 a day.

My question is, if I'm set at sedentary, should I log walking? I don't mean all walking but for example I walk 25-30 minutes every week day from college. Should that be logged, oris my body going to be so used to it that it doesn't count? I also walk around college and town a bit on these days but I'd never count that as it's not that much. I already always log high intensity exercise such as dancing.

Also should I eat back all these calories or just 1/4 or 1/2 etc...

Just wondering. Thanks!

psuLemon

Hey everyone. I've been on MFP since about last September. I've only lost 6 pounds so far from 140.6 to 134.6 But I'm keeping at it!

Anyway I hit a huge plateau hece this small weight loss so I've upped my calories. I am set at sedentary and to lose 0.5 a week because I only have abou 10 pounds left to lose.

According to MFP i therefore need to eat 1540 a day.

My question is, if I'm set at sedentary, should I log walking? I don't mean all walking but for example I walk 25-30 minutes every week day from college. Should that be logged, oris my body going to be so used to it that it doesn't count? I also walk around college and town a bit on these days but I'd never count that as it's not that much. I already always log high intensity exercise such as dancing.

Also should I eat back all these calories or just 1/4 or 1/2 etc...

Just wondering. Thanks!

www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com


If you do a lot of walking, you dont need to log it, but it may be advisable to make your lifestyle lightly active instead of sedentary.

lizard053

I would log anything you do that is above and beyond the call of duty. As in walking where you could drive or take a bus.

Eating back calories is a must to some, and no-no to others. It is up to you to decide what works best for you. Personally, I don't. But that's what works for me. Others tell me I'm nuts for doing that.

TeaBea

I would up you activity level at the very least. I remember those days toting heavy books everywhere. It's not the most strenuous .... but it's definitely not nothing.

snowbab

Hmmm I might change to lightly active, i just don't know if I'm THAT active...On college days it probably adds up to 1-1.5 hours walking generally. But on weekends I'm on my butt constantly haha (except sometimes wii zumba and rowing on a Sunday morning) so maybe it evens out to sedentary? IDK :S a

If I DID chage to light activeity would I still log extra exercise then?

(sorry for all thequestions, I'm just desperate not to stay in a plateau that i've been in since practically the start of december! Must make sure I'mdoing everything right!)

psuLemon

Hmmm I might change to lightly active, i just don't know if I'm THAT active...On college days it probably adds up to 1-1.5 hours walking generally. But on weekends I'm on my butt constantly haha (except sometimes wii zumba and rowing on a Sunday morning) so maybe it evens out to sedentary? IDK :S a

If I DID chage to light activeity would I still log extra exercise then?

(sorry for all thequestions, I'm just desperate not to stay in a plateau that i've been in since practically the start of december! Must make sure I'mdoing everything right!)

I sit at a desk every day, but try to walk the stairs when I have to see customers. I eat 3000 calories a day and continuously cut body fat and lose weight. Try it for a month, if you aren't losing, swithc it back.

snowbab

Hmmm I might change to lightly active, i just don't know if I'm THAT active...On college days it probably adds up to 1-1.5 hours walking generally. But on weekends I'm on my butt constantly haha (except sometimes wii zumba and rowing on a Sunday morning) so maybe it evens out to sedentary? IDK :S a

If I DID chage to light activeity would I still log extra exercise then?

(sorry for all thequestions, I'm just desperate not to stay in a plateau that i've been in since practically the start of december! Must make sure I'mdoing everything right!)

I sit at a desk every day, but try to walk the stairs when I have to see customers. I eat 3000 calories a day and continuously cut body fat and lose weight. Try it for a month, if you aren't losing, swithc it back.

OK I'll try it out. Might as well Will dancing/rowing be on top of that or included?

psuLemon

You have two choices, you can eat back the exercise calories or you include them into your calculation and not eat them back (the second one is what I do). Below is guideline to how you would classified your lifestyle is. I do P90X2 so I am very active.


* Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
* Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
* Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
* Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
* Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

TeaBea

Lightly active should up your calories a bit ..... not tons though. See what kind of number MFP gives you, and figure out what the difference is.

Zumba & rowing can be quite the calorie burners so want to log those. BUT you could subtract out the difference in calories between sedentary & light active for the weekend days.

snowbab

psulemon: I'd say I'm light exercise with the walking, then additional sports 3+ times a week, burning around 200-400 calories each session. So that's moderately active then? I might do that it sounds easier tan worrrying about clculatng it all each day.


Teabea: Lightly active upped it from 1550 to 1690. 140 calories more which sounds about right for my week day exercise. Then I'd add if i did zumba etc with the cals from my HRM... Taking out the extra 140 after exercise sounds like a good idea.

Both good ideas! I'll think about it. Thanks very much though


(Mind you it's half term now which will mean less walking so i might change my plan after that...going to be studying indoors so not much walking around :S)

MaximalLife

Hey everyone. I've been on MFP since about last September. I've only lost 6 pounds so far from 140.6 to 134.6 But I'm keeping at it!

Anyway I hit a huge plateau hece this small weight loss so I've upped my calories. I am set at sedentary and to lose 0.5 a week because I only have abou 10 pounds left to lose.

According to MFP i therefore need to eat 1540 a day.

My question is, if I'm set at sedentary, should I log walking? I don't mean all walking but for example I walk 25-30 minutes every week day from college. Should that be logged, oris my body going to be so used to it that it doesn't count? I also walk around college and town a bit on these days but I'd never count that as it's not that much. I already always log high intensity exercise such as dancing.

Also should I eat back all these calories or just 1/4 or 1/2 etc...

Just wondering. Thanks!

Yes, log your walking, and yes, eat back all your exercise calories.

MFP calculates our total daily calorie intake WITHOUT exercise to lose 1 pound or so per week.
And after we log exercises, our daily calorie limit increases.
Why?
Because MFP telling us to eat our exercise calories.
Large deficits are unhealthy, because while you will lose weight, what's the quality of the weight loss?
In many cases you'll lose lean body mass - MUSCLE - which LOWERS your metabolic rate, making weight loss harder.
These crash diets work well for a season -- and sure enough, the pounds melt away. But when you eat so
few calories, you train your metabolism to slow down. Once the diet is over, you have a body that burns calories more slowly -- and you gain weight.
Be smart.
Exercise well both cardio and resistance, and eat back the calories.
The exercise will RAISE your metabolism and burn more fat at rest.

snowbab

Thanks I will eat back my exercise cals...maybe not all because I struggle to eat that much sometimes as i get full, but as many as possible

AntWrig

Hey everyone. I've been on MFP since about last September. I've only lost 6 pounds so far from 140.6 to 134.6 But I'm keeping at it!

Anyway I hit a huge plateau hece this small weight loss so I've upped my calories. I am set at sedentary and to lose 0.5 a week because I only have abou 10 pounds left to lose.

According to MFP i therefore need to eat 1540 a day.

My question is, if I'm set at sedentary, should I log walking? I don't mean all walking but for example I walk 25-30 minutes every week day from college. Should that be logged, oris my body going to be so used to it that it doesn't count? I also walk around college and town a bit on these days but I'd never count that as it's not that much. I already always log high intensity exercise such as dancing.

Also should I eat back all these calories or just 1/4 or 1/2 etc...

Just wondering. Thanks!

www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com


If you do a lot of walking, you dont need to log it, but it may be advisable to make your lifestyle lightly active instead of sedentary.

This is not true. If she does a lot of walking she should indeed adjust her caloric intake. Walking for conditioning is one thing, walking to burn fat is another. For example let's say she walks for over an hour a day and burns an extra 300kcal. 300 x 7 = 2100 kcal. Those extra 2000 calories are going to have to come from somewhere. All it takes is 3500kcal to loose a pound of fat. If she is already in a deficit, that walking is going to do more harm than good.