help,eatting back calories...

offthedeependay

I have been eatting back my exercise calories for the last 2 weeks but I am gaining weight,getting discouraged and thinking of going back to just staying at my alotted calories as I was loosing weight when I was doing it that way,but saw all the talk on here about eatting back exercise calories and I was staying at the same weight so thought this would help me start loosing weight again,,its doing the opposite so far ,I will give it another week and if i am still gaining I will go back to the way I was doing it,anyone else having the same problem?

offthedeependay

NEED HELP and Advice

Pebble321

Give us a bit more info to go on- height, weight, cals/day before and after... and you'll probably get some good advice.
And search for the thread on "700 cals a day and not losing" - that might have some relevance for you.

offthedeependay

I am 5'10" I stared at 199 in mid Nov my last weigh in I was 165 ,I quit smoking after over 30 years 2 weeks ago,not sure if that has anything to do with it,I jumped on the scale today and read 170 I am at 1200 calories a day and have been eatting most of my exercise calories back.thinking my metabalizim might be changing because of quiting smoking ,not sure but getting discouraged gaining weight ,my dairy is open to look at ,,hope there might be some ideas out there

heybales

I am 5'10" I stared at 199 in mid Nov my last weigh in I was 165 ,I quit smoking after over 30 years 2 weeks ago,not sure if that has anything to do with it,I jumped on the scale today and read 170 I am at 1200 calories a day and have been eatting most of my exercise calories back.thinking my metabalizim might be changing because of quiting smoking ,not sure but getting discouraged gaining weight ,my dairy is open to look at ,,hope there might be some ideas out there

To literally gain fat, you would have to be eating over your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, not over your daily goal, not even above your maintenance level (which doesn't include exercise), but above your TDEE.

In this case, for 5 lbs over 2 weeks, that would mean 1250 calories over your TDEE every day.
So you would have to eat 1200, your exercise, all your other daily activity, and another 1250 calories everyday for 2 weeks to gain 5 lbs.

You know that didn't happen.

Your body is responding to the exercise.
You aren't gaining muscle, because you are probably eating below your BMR, so there is no energy left to actually grow it.
But it's probably getting better at storing glucose and attached water in your existing muscle - which is great.

Exercise is for body shaping and heart health.
Diet is for weight loss.

You seem to be focusing on exercise right now, so that is where you will see changes, but perhaps not weight for awhile.
When the body is done improving as best it can for the load you are giving it, then the fat loss by itself can continue.

offthedeependay

I am 5'10" I stared at 199 in mid Nov my last weigh in I was 165 ,I quit smoking after over 30 years 2 weeks ago,not sure if that has anything to do with it,I jumped on the scale today and read 170 I am at 1200 calories a day and have been eatting most of my exercise calories back.thinking my metabalizim might be changing because of quiting smoking ,not sure but getting discouraged gaining weight ,my dairy is open to look at ,,hope there might be some ideas out there

To literally gain fat, you would have to be eating over your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, not over your daily goal, not even above your maintenance level (which doesn't include exercise), but above your TDEE.

In this case, for 5 lbs over 2 weeks, that would mean 1250 calories over your TDEE every day.
So you would have to eat 1200, your exercise, all your other daily activity, and another 1250 calories everyday for 2 weeks to gain 5 lbs.

You know that didn't happen.

Your body is responding to the exercise.
You aren't gaining muscle, because you are probably eating below your BMR, so there is no energy left to actually grow it.
But it's probably getting better at storing glucose and attached water in your existing muscle - which is great.

Exercise is for body shaping and heart health.
Diet is for weight loss.

You seem to be focusing on exercise right now, so that is where you will see changes, but perhaps not weight for awhile.
When the body is done improving as best it can for the load you are giving it, then the fat loss by itself can continue.

So what I think you are saying is keep doing what I am doing and my body will eventually start to loss the wieght again but at the moment it is my muscule growing ,so r u saying i should still eat back my exercise calories ?

heybales

So what I think you are saying is keep doing what I am doing and my body will eventually start to loss the wieght again but at the moment it is my muscule growing ,so r u saying i should still eat back my exercise calories ?

Yes. Just wanted to show with math those 5lbs couldn't be real fat weight.

Only suggestion would be to allow your potential metabolism to burn as high as it can. Right now it could be 1476 or higher.

So you are suppressing it to 1200, so only 276 less calories burned, the kicker all other daily activity calories burned will be less on a slower metabolism too. So you can lose weight on a slower metabolism, just slower.

So would you like to eat almost 300 more calories a day, and lose faster on a faster metabolism?

So if you changed in Settings - Diet/Fitness Profile:
Activity level to Lightly Active
Weight loss goal to 1lb weekly,
you have a goal set to 1493 about, keeping you above your BMR.
Still eat back exercise so NET is above 1493.

You would likely lose more than 1lb weekly though when your body is done improving, and could give yourself a chance to actually build some muscle, not just store glucose.

But yes, just body improvements.

offthedeependay

So what I think you are saying is keep doing what I am doing and my body will eventually start to loss the wieght again but at the moment it is my muscule growing ,so r u saying i should still eat back my exercise calories ?

Yes. Just wanted to show with math those 5lbs couldn't be real fat weight.

Only suggestion would be to allow your potential metabolism to burn as high as it can. Right now it could be 1476 or higher.

So you are suppressing it to 1200, so only 276 less calories burned, the kicker all other daily activity calories burned will be less on a slower metabolism too. So you can lose weight on a slower metabolism, just slower.

So would you like to eat almost 300 more calories a day, and lose faster on a faster metabolism?

So if you changed in Settings - Diet/Fitness Profile:
Activity level to Lightly Active
Weight loss goal to 1lb weekly,
you have a goal set to 1493 about, keeping you above your BMR.
Still eat back exercise so NET is above 1493.

You would likely lose more than 1lb weekly though when your body is done improving, and could give yourself a chance to actually build some muscle, not just store glucose.

But yes, just body improvements.

thanks I will give this a try and see what happens..

offthedeependay

So what I think you are saying is keep doing what I am doing and my body will eventually start to loss the wieght again but at the moment it is my muscule growing ,so r u saying i should still eat back my exercise calories ?

Yes. Just wanted to show with math those 5lbs couldn't be real fat weight.

Only suggestion would be to allow your potential metabolism to burn as high as it can. Right now it could be 1476 or higher.

So you are suppressing it to 1200, so only 276 less calories burned, the kicker all other daily activity calories burned will be less on a slower metabolism too. So you can lose weight on a slower metabolism, just slower.

So would you like to eat almost 300 more calories a day, and lose faster on a faster metabolism?

So if you changed in Settings - Diet/Fitness Profile:
Activity level to Lightly Active
Weight loss goal to 1lb weekly,
you have a goal set to 1493 about, keeping you above your BMR.
Still eat back exercise so NET is above 1493.

You would likely lose more than 1lb weekly though when your body is done improving, and could give yourself a chance to actually build some muscle, not just store glucose.

But yes, just body improvements.

thanks I will give this a try and see what happens..

I changed all this but when i set goal it went to over 1600 calories so i went to custom and changed the calories to 1493,hope i did this right

Pebble321

Great advice here, give it a go.
That means eating 1493 plus your exercise calories (so your NET calories come in around 1493) and keep exercising.
Don't stress too much about the scale at this point - if you are eating a healthy amount, exercising AND quitting smoking you are making fantastic changes for your health and they will all combine to give you great long term results.

offthedeependay

Great advice here, give it a go.
That means eating 1493 plus your exercise calories (so your NET calories come in around 1493) and keep exercising.
Don't stress too much about the scale at this point - if you are eating a healthy amount, exercising AND quitting smoking you are making fantastic changes for your health and they will all combine to give you great long term results.

thank you for both of you helping,,I am relativly new to all this and am glad there are people like you 2 to help me with these problems,I already feel much healthier than I ever have ,it just keeps getting better.

heybales

I changed all this but when i set goal it went to over 1600 calories so i went to custom and changed the calories to 1493,hope i did this right

Strange.

49yrs, 70", 170 or 165 - BMR 1476 or 1454.

Lightly Active is BMR * 1.35 = 1993 or 1963 daily maintenance.

That minus 500 = 1493 or 1463.

Not sure how it came up with 1600. Except you may have selected Active instead of Lightly Active. Which would be 1608 or there-abouts.

Since you set it up manually - you need to remember as weight drop 10 lbs, go back and recalc what current BMR is, and make manual goal above that by a tad.

Or try setting the MFP settings again for auto-adjust as needed. I think the difference was selecting Active instead of Lightly Active, that's all.

offthedeependay

I changed all this but when i set goal it went to over 1600 calories so i went to custom and changed the calories to 1493,hope i did this right

Strange.

49yrs, 70", 170 or 165 - BMR 1476 or 1454.

Lightly Active is BMR * 1.35 = 1993 or 1963 daily maintenance.

That minus 500 = 1493 or 1463.

Not sure how it came up with 1600. Except you may have selected Active instead of Lightly Active. Which would be 1608 or there-abouts.

Since you set it up manually - you need to remember as weight drop 10 lbs, go back and recalc what current BMR is, and make manual goal above that by a tad.

Or try setting the MFP settings again for auto-adjust as needed. I think the difference was selecting Active instead of Lightly Active, that's all.

it is set at lightly active ,oh well did it manually so that will work..first day at it today ,how long do u figure before i start seeing results ,2 weeks or so?

heybales

I changed all this but when i set goal it went to over 1600 calories so i went to custom and changed the calories to 1493,hope i did this right

Strange.

49yrs, 70", 170 or 165 - BMR 1476 or 1454.

Lightly Active is BMR * 1.35 = 1993 or 1963 daily maintenance.

That minus 500 = 1493 or 1463.

Not sure how it came up with 1600. Except you may have selected Active instead of Lightly Active. Which would be 1608 or there-abouts.

Since you set it up manually - you need to remember as weight drop 10 lbs, go back and recalc what current BMR is, and make manual goal above that by a tad.

Or try setting the MFP settings again for auto-adjust as needed. I think the difference was selecting Active instead of Lightly Active, that's all.

it is set at lightly active ,oh well did it manually so that will work..first day at it today ,how long do u figure before i start seeing results ,2 weeks or so?

Very interesting, looks like MFP has gone and changed their activity level multiplier for Lightly Active like the did Sedentary a month ago - thanks for confirmation.

Could you help me out.
On your Goals page, since you selected Lightly Active, what do they show as your Calories Burned from Normal Daily Activity? And what is the weight currently in MFP so I can see what BMR they started with?
Thanks.

Depends on how much you are working out. If your focus is on exercise, and you are correctly feeding your workouts so your BMR is not suppressed, then your body will change first before weight drops.

If you are doing little or very calm exercise, weight loss will be first.
Also depends on how long it took to get to little or no weight loss. If 2 weeks, it could be that fast, if it took longer, may take longer.

offthedeependay

I changed all this but when i set goal it went to over 1600 calories so i went to custom and changed the calories to 1493,hope i did this right

Strange.

49yrs, 70", 170 or 165 - BMR 1476 or 1454.

Lightly Active is BMR * 1.35 = 1993 or 1963 daily maintenance.

That minus 500 = 1493 or 1463.

Not sure how it came up with 1600. Except you may have selected Active instead of Lightly Active. Which would be 1608 or there-abouts.

Since you set it up manually - you need to remember as weight drop 10 lbs, go back and recalc what current BMR is, and make manual goal above that by a tad.

Or try setting the MFP settings again for auto-adjust as needed. I think the difference was selecting Active instead of Lightly Active, that's all.

it is set at lightly active ,oh well did it manually so that will work..first day at it today ,how long do u figure before i start seeing results ,2 weeks or so?

Very interesting, looks like MFP has gone and changed their activity level multiplier for Lightly Active like the did Sedentary a month ago - thanks for confirmation.

Could you help me out.
On your Goals page, since you selected Lightly Active, what do they show as your Calories Burned from Normal Daily Activity? And what is the weight currently in MFP so I can see what BMR they started with?
Thanks.

Depends on how much you are working out. If your focus is on exercise, and you are correctly feeding your workouts so your BMR is not suppressed, then your body will change first before weight drops.

If you are doing little or very calm exercise, weight loss will be first.
Also depends on how long it took to get to little or no weight loss. If 2 weeks, it could be that fast, if it took longer, may take longer.

From Normal Daily Activity

2,180 calories/day
weight is 164.7

heybales

49yrs, 70", 170 or 165 - BMR 1476 or 1454.

From Normal Daily Activity

2,180 calories/day
weight is 164.7

Holy cow! They used a multiplier of 1.5 in that case. That's what they use to use up around the option for Very Active.

They've really been messing with their settings - probably to save people from themselves.

Thanks for doing that.

heybales

49yrs, 70", 170 or 165 - BMR 1476 or 1454.

From Normal Daily Activity

2,180 calories/day
weight is 164.7

Holy cow! They used a multiplier of 1.5 in that case. That's what they use to use up around the option for Very Active.

They've really been messing with their settings - probably to save people from themselves.

Thanks for doing that.

Just ran through all the activity level selections, and unless they are doing things differently based on difference between current and goal weight, or something else, the multipliers are still all the same.

I'm going to test that theory now though, hmmmm. Just wanted to correct that post that changes occurred with MFP.
Nothing to do with your figures.

offthedeependay

49yrs, 70", 170 or 165 - BMR 1476 or 1454.

From Normal Daily Activity

2,180 calories/day
weight is 164.7

Holy cow! They used a multiplier of 1.5 in that case. That's what they use to use up around the option for Very Active.

They've really been messing with their settings - probably to save people from themselves.

Thanks for doing that.

Just ran through all the activity level selections, and unless they are doing things differently based on difference between current and goal weight, or something else, the multipliers are still all the same.

I'm going to test that theory now though, hmmmm. Just wanted to correct that post that changes occurred with MFP.
Nothing to do with your figures.

I changed my calories up to 1493 I also changed the times that I am eatting to every 2 hours or so and also eatting more protein as I think I wasnt getting enough,have a look at my diary today and see what you think of my changes...

heybales

I changed my calories up to 1493 I also changed the times that I am eatting to every 2 hours or so and also eatting more protein as I think I wasnt getting enough,have a look at my diary today and see what you think of my changes...

Wow, you are jumping in headfirst! Very brave compared to many.

I'd suggest that what you hit with protein for today, would actually be a better level to set it at. The goal level still seems low and perhaps MFP suggestion too.

50 % Carb / 30 Prot / 20 Fat might have you with better protein.

Good job hitting all the snacks with some protein in them. If you are going to eat frequently, at least eat the protein and fat before the carbs to keep the insulin spike down. No need going into fat storage mode more than needed.

offthedeependay

I changed my calories up to 1493 I also changed the times that I am eatting to every 2 hours or so and also eatting more protein as I think I wasnt getting enough,have a look at my diary today and see what you think of my changes...

Wow, you are jumping in headfirst! Very brave compared to many.

I'd suggest that what you hit with protein for today, would actually be a better level to set it at. The goal level still seems low and perhaps MFP suggestion too.

50 % Carb / 30 Prot / 20 Fat might have you with better protein.

Good job hitting all the snacks with some protein in them. If you are going to eat frequently, at least eat the protein and fat before the carbs to keep the insulin spike down. No need going into fat storage mode more than needed.

I set my levels at 50 % Carb / 30 Prot / 20 Fat that brought my protein up to 144 ,I will try this for a week or 2 and see what happens, appriciate your help with this,between you and Victoria Barclay I am making positive changes ,plus I have been reading up alot on higher calories and more protein,at this amount of calories I am never hungry ,changed up my diet today to ,more proyein,carbs and fats I wasnt eatting a very good breakfast ,start with steel cut oatmeal in the morning and eggs at 10 to 11 am,,more apples,green veggies ,more nuts ,cottage cheese ,chicken breasts,turkey breasts,steak with less fat for protein,natural peanut butter after i relized how much sugar is in the other stuff and milk ,,,that should round me out better,I thought i was eatting good till i had a real good look at it..