I really hate how much I'm supposed to eat.

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pyrowill
pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Without exercise MFP says I should eat about 1900 cals a day. Howeve, I've started cycling to work (12 miles each way) which according to my HRM is clocking in about 800cals each way. I've gone for a lunch time walk today (300 cals). And I have P90x in the evening to do. Tonight is Yoga which I burn about 800cals in.

So...
MFP says 1900
Cycling both ways 1600
Walking 300
P90x Yoga 800

Total 4600cals. Just to be where I should be for the day.

I really hate this. I want to train my body to eat less in general. Because there are plenty of days where I don't exercise but overeat. I know its healthier to eat more when you start exercising, but damn I hate it.
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Replies

  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    Well, given your activity level, perhaps you should set your activity level higher on MFP and NOT eat back your exercise calories. That would spread the calories more evenly throughout the week.
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
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    If you want to maintain that workout schedule, then you need to eat. What you are doing in exercise is a CRAZY HEAVY workout. 4600 calories for that schedule is not bad at all.

    You are just starting exercising?

    That's a lot of workout for the beginner. You really need to worry about burnout.
  • NicoleFlieger
    NicoleFlieger Posts: 2
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    yes, I agree with omma_to_3 In order to lose weight or see changes in your body you need to have a negative calorie burn to calories by the end of the day. MFP adds back your exercise to make you realize how much you "should eat" in order to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight don't add in your exercise calories until the end of the day, then you will be able to stick to your daily calorie goal easier.
    Hope that helped
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
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    Well, given your activity level, perhaps you should set your activity level higher on MFP and NOT eat back your exercise calories. That would spread the calories more evenly throughout the week.

    But the activity level on MFP is about my daily non exercising activity level surely? Which I have about right. And if I increased that then surely I would have to eat even more?
    You are just starting exercising?

    That's a lot of workout for the beginner. You really need to worry about burnout.

    No I'm not only just starting, I've done plenty just not continuously or with any amount of perseverance. I'm just trying to stick to it now.
  • Gilbrod
    Gilbrod Posts: 1,216 Member
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    Do what you feel like doing. Look at my past diaries and you will see I almost never eat all my workout calories. Then again, I'm trying to lose the last 5 pounds which are the hardest.
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
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    yes, I agree with omma_to_3 In order to lose weight or see changes in your body you need to have a negative calorie burn to calories by the end of the day. MFP adds back your exercise to make you realize how much you "should eat" in order to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight don't add in your exercise calories until the end of the day, then you will be able to stick to your daily calorie goal easier.
    Hope that helped

    Forgive me but now I'm a bit confused. So lets say i clock up 2000cals of exercise in a day. But don't log it till the end. And I've eaten enough to make me on target for MFP, then add the calories from exercising suddenly I'm going to be on minus 2000. That can't be right surely.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    I think you are overestimating your calories burned. I am a 5'11, 200 lb man and I can only burn 200 calories doing P90X yoga. Also, your body adapts to exercise, so riding to work won't burn as many calories in the future as it will today.

    BTW, why would you want to train your body to eat less? Would you rather want to start gaining weight at 3000 calories or 2000 calories? I love how I can eat 3500 calories and not gain.
  • b_fit4life
    b_fit4life Posts: 120 Member
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    yes, I agree with omma_to_3 In order to lose weight or see changes in your body you need to have a negative calorie burn to calories by the end of the day. MFP adds back your exercise to make you realize how much you "should eat" in order to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight don't add in your exercise calories until the end of the day, then you will be able to stick to your daily calorie goal easier.
    Hope that helped

    This also depends on how you have your goals set in MFP too. You can adjust how much weight you want to lose each week (assuming weight loss is your goal). Then it builds in a deficit so you can eat back your exercise calories and still lose the goal amount of weight.

    You are working out HARD. I would say, worry less about eating back all your calories and worry more about just eating healthy, filling options when you're hungry. Your body will tell you when to refuel. You just need to learn to listen closely and respond. It will get easier!!
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,269 Member
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    yes, I agree with omma_to_3 In order to lose weight or see changes in your body you need to have a negative calorie burn to calories by the end of the day. MFP adds back your exercise to make you realize how much you "should eat" in order to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight don't add in your exercise calories until the end of the day, then you will be able to stick to your daily calorie goal easier.
    Hope that helped

    Actually, if you use the default "set up" in MFP, it already gives you a deficit in which you will lose weight. The default is set up so you DO eat back your exercise calories because you already have a built in deficit to work with. If you don't eat back your exercise calories then you are most likely eating WAY below what you need to to lose weight. This can drop you so low at times that you are not even getting enough calories to fuel basic bodily functions.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    Well, given your activity level, perhaps you should set your activity level higher on MFP and NOT eat back your exercise calories. That would spread the calories more evenly throughout the week.

    But the activity level on MFP is about my daily non exercising activity level surely? Which I have about right. And if I increased that then surely I would have to eat even more?

    What do you have it set at currently? If it's set to sedentary, they give you a lower daily NET calorie goal. Then you exercise and eat your exercise calories back each day. If you set your active level to the highest setting instead (thereby including your workouts in your typical daily activity) it would give you a higher daily net goal. However, then, DON'T eat your exercise calories back. That would allow you to easily spread the extra calories out throughout the week.

    For example, Currently, let's say you do a workout like you posted above 3 times a week and nothing else. Your daily goal is 1900 calories. So, 1900*7 + 2700*3 = 21,400 calories for the week that would be spread out like this:

    1900
    4600
    1900
    4600
    1900
    4600
    1900

    If you changed your activity level to the highest setting, let's pretend it gives you 2600 for a daily calorie goal. But then you don't eat your exercise calories so at the end of the week, you'd be at 2600*7 = 18,200. You'd have to mess with the numbers so you're not undereating, but I'm just suggesting to spread those extra calories out throughout the week rather than eat them all on workout days.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    yes, I agree with omma_to_3 In order to lose weight or see changes in your body you need to have a negative calorie burn to calories by the end of the day. MFP adds back your exercise to make you realize how much you "should eat" in order to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight don't add in your exercise calories until the end of the day, then you will be able to stick to your daily calorie goal easier.
    Hope that helped

    Forgive me but now I'm a bit confused. So lets say i clock up 2000cals of exercise in a day. But don't log it till the end. And I've eaten enough to make me on target for MFP, then add the calories from exercising suddenly I'm going to be on minus 2000. That can't be right surely.

    Yes, I was NOT recommending eating at your 1900 calories a day and not eating back exercise calories. That would be dangerous given your activity level!
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    Seems to me you have conflicting goals. If you want to eat less, eat less and don't exercise that much. If you're like me, and want to spend every moment of spare time being active, you need to eat enough to facilitate that.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Those calorie burn estimates look highly suspect to me. I think your HRM is putting one over on you. I would check those against an online activity database and see if they look reasonable to you. And check to make sure you didn't make any errors inputting your weight into your HRM.

    How long was that lunchtime walk? For 300 calories, I'd expect it would have to be 3-4 miles unless you're obese. I don't burn anywhere near what you do on my bike, per mile, but I'm female.

    Is the yoga in a heated room, like Bikram? That causes overestimated calories, too, in my experience.

    Also, if you're doing all that exercise to lose weight faster, don't eat it all back. There's no reason your body can't use your fat stores for fuel.
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
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    I trust my HRM, it's quite an old Polar though. I spend the entire cycle ride in the 170-180bpm mark so i think it's right. The walk was 3 miles. I still find this whole 'eat back or dont eat back' thing quite confusing and what MFP accounts for and not.
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
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    Brain....exploding....
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
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    Your HRM is broken. A 3 mile walk does not burn that much. Yoga does not burn that many calories. You need a new HRM or you need to confirm you've entered the details into your HRM correctly.
  • DonttrythatwithME
    DonttrythatwithME Posts: 214 Member
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    are you dropping in any protein shakes or supplements here that you could use on exercise days to help with calories/recovery/pre workout?
  • nettasaura
    nettasaura Posts: 173 Member
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    There is a reason that athletes eat 4000+ cals a day....you NEED to eat if you are going to be THAT active....otherwise you are going to end up in a world of hurt health wise. If you don't want to eat that much, cut the activity level.
  • BigMech
    BigMech Posts: 420 Member
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    When I losing weight, I was eating 2,200 calories a day. Now, with my activity level, I am maintaining at 4,000 day.

    I go to gym 5 days a week for 2.5 hours at a time and I also run 5 miles 3-4 days a week.

    A 3 mile walk could burn 300 calories, depends how heavy the person doing the walking is. At 6'6" and 230lbs, I easily burn 100 calories a mile. A quick google search seems to show an average of 100 calories per mile for 180lb person.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Your HRM is broken. A 3 mile walk does not burn that much. Yoga does not burn that many calories. You need a new HRM or you need to confirm you've entered the details into your HRM correctly.

    I respectfully disagree... I walked 4 miles at 4mph last weekend and burned 400 calories (wow, that's a lot of 4's). This was according to my Polar FT4 which I've had for just over 2 years. Just because someone's walking doesn't mean they're not getting a good workout - if they go fast, especially with hills involved, there is going to be a good calorie burn.

    OP, I wish I had an answer for you. Maybe protein shakes with PB added?

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