Burning lots of calories & cant eat them back!

herownkindofwonderfull

Hey all... so, first things first... most days I honestly will burn anywhere from 400 calories on a "rest day" (usually I take a nice walk those days), to 3,000... probably around 2,000 calories on average. And before you suggest it, NO working out less is not an option. This is a HUGE stress reliever for me and honestly, I still have TONS of energy to burn after these workouts. Crazy, huh? For more info on these workouts and my current diet per se, check out my latest blog...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/lovemissheather/view/30-day-push-my-plan-to-build-a-better-me-251800

Now, I know, I know... "food is fuel". My issue doesn't stem from not wanting to eat... it stems from not having the ABILITY to, as I am full beyond my means after eating about 2,000-2,400 calories of clean foods. I do try to meet (or come close to meeting) my protein goal, as well as my fats and carbs.

I typically eat things such as whole grain pasta, whole grain bread, tuna, salmon, peanut-butter sandwiches, homemade vegetarian "taco salads", triscuits, fruits, veggies, what have you.

the point is, for me to reach eating over 3,000 calories would KILL ME!!!!!



So... question A... how terrible is it (really..) to not get all of these calories in if my body is not craving them?

question B... does any one have any suggestions as to higher calorie foods that are still clean and healthy that I can add into my diet to make this more healthy? I did well for a week or so last week, but I was also eating loads of junk food such as pizza, potato chips, etc. etc. I started a 30 Day Push challenge where I am working out HARD 5-6 days a week, and will continue to do so... I just want to eat CLEAN and HEALTHY at the same time, without "starving" myself... even though I honestly don't feel starving at all... :X

Yeah.. any advice...
It'd be awesome right about now..

herownkindofwonderfull

Anyone?

frankiesats

How are you measuring your burn? Do you use a HRM?

herownkindofwonderfull

How are you measuring your burn? Do you use a HRM?

I have a Polar chest strap that syncs for my cardio with all of the machines I use, so that is with that. I do have a HRM but it's a POS and is inaccurate. I am saving up to get a polar. The strength training/walking outdoors is through MFP calculations.

frankiesats

I think MFP is way way way out. It sometimes gives me double/triple estimates of the treadmill and when I was using a HRM even up to three times of that. So be really cautious of how accurate your burns are.

I think that eating healthily and until you are satisfied is fine.

If you are doing such huge burns (congrats to you for managing it!) make sure you feel well and healthy before every exercise - always rest and make sure you get plenty of sleep!!

Do what feels right for your body - avoid trying to under eat by massive amounts but if YOU feel like you're healthy and your still losing weight at a sensible pace (2 lb a week) then you should be fine.

I wouldn't say eating unhealthy foods is the best way to go forward - a treat is a great thing. Everything in moderation. Eat 'good' carbs, try snack frequently on high calorie foods - nuts, dried fruits etcetc.

myfitnessnmhoy

Make sure your calories are being eaten in reasonable proportions (fats, carbs, and proteins) - in other words if you are meeting your carb allotment every day and really short on proteins or fats, focus on foods that provide those. For example, if you're eating half your calories, make sure at least you are eating approximately half your carbs, half your fats, and most importantly half your proteins.

Are you drinking lots of water?

If your diet is in balance and you're hydrated, your body will be more able to tell you what it needs. Then, hunger indicates the actual need for food, and not (for example) a craving for quick pick-me-up sugars because you don't have solid complex carbs, fats, and proteins supporting you, or thirst.


Here are the important factors to determine if you are eating properly, though.

1. Are you losing weight at a reasonable pace (1-2 pounds a week)? If it's a lot faster and sustained over a period of time, it may be unhealthy in the long term. Given that you've lost 21 pounds in somewhere between 2-3 months according to your ticker and sign-up date, I'm thinking you're sustaining a pretty healthy weight loss pace.

2. Are you energetic and do you find that each workout is a slight incremental improvement over the last one? You should be building stamina in cardio workouts, and if you find that you're getting more tired at the end of them, you may either be overdoing it or underfeeding your body. Based on your comments, I don't think you have a problem there. If you can sustain heavy workouts and feel good after them, it's unlikely you are starving yourself.

EDIT: It also could be that MFP and/or the machines you are on are grossly overestimating your calorie burn. In which case, if what you are doing right now is working for you, KEEP DOING IT! It sounds to me, from what little I can determine, that you are doing a great job with energetic workouts and losing weight at a healthy pace. THAT is your guide.

myfitnessnmhoy

I think MFP is way way way out. It sometimes gives me double/triple estimates of the treadmill and when I was using a HRM even up to three times of that. So be really cautious of how accurate your burns are.

I've found it to be largely pretty accurate, maybe even under sometimes, but then again I'm 6' 3", 220 pounds, and in my 40s. Hauling this massive carcass around burns a LOT of fuel. I also use the elliptical, for example, specifically as a device to get my heart rate to the very tip-top of the cardio range and keep it there for 45 minutes. So my body is at "max burn" when I'm on the elliptical and I burn a lot at "max burn". MFP frequently underestimates my caloric burn when compared to the machine's calculations and several heart-rate-based calculators I've used online. But for someone who weighs half what I do and/or doesn't use the machine at "max burn" all the time, I could see where it would be WWWWWAAAAYYYY off.

That's the big problem with MFP's calculations of calories - they are based on a specific activity and a time - not taking into account how intensely you are working out, your age, your weight, etc. It's all an estimate anyway, but a heart rate monitor is really the way to go (I'm too cheap for that, and I'm losing weight at a reasonable pace so I figure the calculations are "close enough" for now).

c8linmarie

I usually have this for my mid-morning snack:

2 scoops whey protein powder
2 tbsp peanut butter
8 oz 2% milk
5 ice cubes
1/2 medium banana

Easily, 600 calories :drinker:

Sharonks

I think MFP is way way way out. It sometimes gives me double/triple estimates of the treadmill and when I was using a HRM even up to three times of that. So be really cautious of how accurate your burns are.

I've found it to be largely pretty accurate, maybe even under sometimes, but then again I'm 6' 3", 220 pounds, and in my 40s. Hauling this massive carcass around burns a LOT of fuel. I also use the elliptical, for example, specifically as a device to get my heart rate to the very tip-top of the cardio range and keep it there for 45 minutes. So my body is at "max burn" when I'm on the elliptical and I burn a lot at "max burn". MFP frequently underestimates my caloric burn when compared to the machine's calculations and several heart-rate-based calculators I've used online. But for someone who weighs half what I do and/or doesn't use the machine at "max burn" all the time, I could see where it would be WWWWWAAAAYYYY off.

That's the big problem with MFP's calculations of calories - they are based on a specific activity and a time - not taking into account how intensely you are working out, your age, your weight, etc. It's all an estimate anyway, but a heart rate monitor is really the way to go (I'm too cheap for that, and I'm losing weight at a reasonable pace so I figure the calculations are "close enough" for now).

I have also found MFP to often be low for my cal burn. If I'm sustaining an average of 160 bpm and use an online heart rate calculator it says I'm burning quite a bit more. I think MFP does account for weight. I am in a 30DS group and my burn is significantly lower than others even though many of us are using the same entry from the database in our exercise logs.

pixiechick8321

As others have said - nuts are great for high calorie, small package foods. Peanut butter, almond butter, coconut butter, etc are also good (smoothies, etc). Cheese is something else I really like and 1 oz is usually 90-120 calories so you can eat quite a bit if you want to make up a lot of calories. Bananas are high in calories as well and make great smoothie foods.

If you are looking for sweet stuff, chocolatecoveredkatie.com has a lot of good recipes that aren't all low in calories. Dates are another sweet treat but are high in calories.

Finally, as mentioned, if you aren't hungry, and you aren't loosing too much weight, then just eat what you want.

Lozze

How the hell do you have six hours spare to exercise? (and that's cardio only)

Honestly exercising that much is not healthy. Professional athletes don't exercise that much. Because their bodies are their income and they treat them with care. I don't know how long you've been doing this but when you crash it will be hard. You're also going to have a horrific time maintaining weight when you stop exercising like that.

If you NEED to exercise six hours a day to relieve stress then I suggest seeing a psychologist. That's ED territory right there.

Por2gueseMama

I wish i had that much time to work out...

bombedpop

How the hell do you have six hours spare to exercise? (and that's cardio only)

That was my thought - do you not work?

all4derby

Basically I'm just going to reiterate what a couple of other posters have said:

Find some calorie dense foods like nut butters or nuts
Maybe try to add another stress relieving activity to mix in with the exercise because, sure exercise is great for you, but overtraining is not.
You could definitely hit a wall (speaking from experience)

My story: I skate about 12 hours a week, do intervals on the treadmill 2 days, and lift 3 days. For a while I was eating around 1400 calories and then after a while I had trouble eating 1000 calories. Basically I've learned that when I stop being hungry and food actually seems disgusting to me, I've shut down my metabolism. I now eat 2700 calories (I don't worry about exercise calories now) and I'm losing and I have energy for all of my activity.

morgansmom02

How the hell do you have six hours spare to exercise? (and that's cardio only)

That was my thought - do you not work?

That is nuts! Speaking of nuts, eat more of them.

GeekyGirlLyn

But the post to the link to her fitness routine shows she works out at 3 hours, maximum. And at least half an hour of that is stretching. So 2 and a half hours of exercise per day is not a bad thing. Many people on here do that. One and a half hours in the AM and one hour at night. That isnt as bad as you all are making it seem to be.

Salvi30

How the hell do you have six hours spare to exercise? (and that's cardio only)

Honestly exercising that much is not healthy. Professional athletes don't exercise that much. Because their bodies are their income and they treat them with care. I don't know how long you've been doing this but when you crash it will be hard. You're also going to have a horrific time maintaining weight when you stop exercising like that.

If you NEED to exercise six hours a day to relieve stress then I suggest seeing a psychologist. That's ED territory right there.

I agree! You're abusing your body.

meggonkgonk

You could just try to burn less. :flowerforyou:

purpleipod

Actually yes, working out less is an option, you just choose to not make it one. Too much exercise can be counter productive and bad for your body, it can also become an addiction.

SirBen81

Peanut Butter. Or butter made from any nut. Almond butter is my favorite. 1 tbs = 100 calories of fat/protein.

Before I go to bed I do a calorie count and see if i'm under. If it's only a couple hundred calories then I'll simply eat a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter.

If I'm 3,000 under...well...I'd make up those too, but over the course of the week.

Hernandeak11

Actually yes, working out less is an option, you just choose to not make it one. Too much exercise can be counter productive and bad for your body, it can also become an addiction.

I can't help but agree with this.

AlyRoseNYC

You can exercise less, as others have mentioned.

Also, if you are eating nonfat/reduced fat foods you can switch to full fat for the calories.

That's all I've got lol. Good luck!

marycmeadows

How the hell do you have six hours spare to exercise? (and that's cardio only)

Honestly exercising that much is not healthy. Professional athletes don't exercise that much. Because their bodies are their income and they treat them with care. I don't know how long you've been doing this but when you crash it will be hard. You're also going to have a horrific time maintaining weight when you stop exercising like that.

If you NEED to exercise six hours a day to relieve stress then I suggest seeing a psychologist. That's ED territory right there.

If you look at her exercise diary - a lot of the long days of 'working out' she's logging 100+ minutes of cleaning (not just exercising)

jusniq

I would suggest scaling back. Its the only reasonable thing I can think of. I do about 3 hours, and I find that its alot. (the last hr is strength stuff). If you need to be active, maybe you can take up a hobby?

lizsmith1976

Where did someone get 6 hours? I see around 3 a day in her exercise plan, which is my goal (hard to reach though, I have a job, kid, friends, etc).

I think your estimated calorie burn is WAY too high. In 3 hours or less, that would be ridiculously high intensity to get to 3,000+ calories burned. I ran a 10K in under an hour with my HR between 180-190 most of the time, and I only burned 800 calories. If some of what you are doing is walking/stretching/elliptical, no way is your HR that high. I rode my bike from Houston to Austin the weekend before last for a charity ride, and the first day in 8 hours (with hills, plus into 15-20 mph headwinds, I still burned less than 4,000 calories, and I was working hard the whole time. If you are not hungry, I think that is another good sign your calories burned estimate is too high.

I checked your blog, that sounds like a huge one month commitment. Congrats on wanting to do it, don't let missing some things by a little mess you up. I am going to add you as a friend so I can see your progress, hopefully you will add back. I will be supportive and encouraging and I want to help you if you get discouraged.

If you are not hungry and are eating lots of healthy foods and getting all of the macros that your body needs, why eat more?

Good luck!!!

autumnk921

Protein Powder (I use chocolate) with skim milk will help you get some calories & will of course give you great numbers for protein...You can add anything you like in it as well to add calories like peanut butter....HTH!


But - don't MAKE yourself eat if you are not hungry....Just eat every 3 hours or so to keep your metabolism at full speed & that should help you as well....I wish I had the energy that you have - I would love it.

Mercenary1914

How the hell do you have six hours spare to exercise? (and that's cardio only)

Honestly exercising that much is not healthy. Professional athletes don't exercise that much. Because their bodies are their income and they treat them with care. I don't know how long you've been doing this but when you crash it will be hard. You're also going to have a horrific time maintaining weight when you stop exercising like that.

If you NEED to exercise six hours a day to relieve stress then I suggest seeing a psychologist. That's ED territory right there.

Where does it say she works out six hours in a day? I missed that part

Mercenary1914

How the hell do you have six hours spare to exercise? (and that's cardio only)

Honestly exercising that much is not healthy. Professional athletes don't exercise that much. Because their bodies are their income and they treat them with care. I don't know how long you've been doing this but when you crash it will be hard. You're also going to have a horrific time maintaining weight when you stop exercising like that.

If you NEED to exercise six hours a day to relieve stress then I suggest seeing a psychologist. That's ED territory right there.

If you look at her exercise diary - a lot of the long days of 'working out' she's logging 100+ minutes of cleaning (not just exercising)

yea...that's what I saw..I don't know how they read 6 hours? I read that she even have 30 minutes of her time streteching and doing thing like yoga...Nothing in her workout regimen seems too much to me...if she has the time, energy, and proper diet...I think she is fine.

sarajo16

I looked at your blog - 3 hours in the gym! How do you have time for that. Fair play. I'm lucky to get 30mins in front of my tv with Jillian Michaels

foxbat2828

In terms of eating back the calories, you don't need to eat back all of the calories; however, there should definitely be some "eating back." A very simple starting point for you would be making sure that:

1. Calories in are less than calories out ... which is what you are doing and
2. Consume at least your BMR

A lot of folks talk about the 1,200-calorie threshold, but the more I've been looking into this, the more I've been finding that the 1,200-calorie number misses several things like body size, age, current weight, etc. The BMR, tends to be more tied to the individual, to a greater degree, so it's probably going to be more applicable to any given individual than the 1,200-calorie number that folks toss out there.

I'm one of those folks that eats back almost all of my calories; however, last month, due to surgery issues, I was fairly restricted in my exercise. While I managed to eat below the MFP-recommended calories to lose a pound a week, when I reviewed my diary, I realized that I was consistently also eating below my BMR. In the four previous months, I'd lost 10 lbs. a month or more eating back my calories, but in April when I was eating just under BMR, I only lost 3 lbs. Could be completely coincidental, but I will end up testing the theory in May.

BTW, if you are looking to consume calories without eating a lot, nuts are the way to go. Plenty of protein, plenty of good fats, mono- and poly-, and about 170 calories in just an ounce of things like almonds.

lizziebeth1028

Wow that is quite the impressive calorie burn?!??! How are you doing that? How many hours are you putting in at the gym? what types of cardio exercises are you doing? are you a marathon runner? I'm curious to see your work out routine detailed out....I'll do a 60 minute cardio session and walk for 45 minutes on my lunch and I don't come close to those types of numbers!!!!!

Anywho - if you feel that number accurately reflects your daily exercise - to up your calories for starters I noticed in your diary you are eating a lot of 'fat free', 'lite', 'skinny', low fat foods. I would ditch that and go with full fat, full calorie. Also try to simply increase your portions too. Add Olive oil, nuts and avocados to your diet as well they are packed with calories.