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

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2

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  • JaySpice
    JaySpice Posts: 326 Member
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    The hell type of yoga you doing that's burning 800 flipping calories?!
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    Sorry but if you have decided that you are going to burn that many calories per day, you need to have adequate food. Do you want me to change the laws of physics for you?
  • minoraryan61
    minoraryan61 Posts: 9
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    I had some serious confusion about this topic. I went to speak to my company wellness contact (quailified nutritionalist and fitness in instructor).

    Her questions were
    How much are you eating regularly? 1400-1600 which is way under some excercise days
    How do you feel? good
    How much are you losing a week? 1-2 pounds

    Her advice was relax and listen to your body. If you are hungry eat and make good choices. Dont overthink.
  • sweetheart03622
    sweetheart03622 Posts: 928 Member
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    Totally agree... I switched things up once I got deeper into distance running. Now I eat a static amount each day (2100) and perhaps a bit more on my long run days (maybe 300 more). That way, you're eating the same amount each day, but over the week, it averages out to be what I need for the net amount. I'm not sure if this is making sense or not - PM me if you want more info, but I really like it!
  • myurav
    myurav Posts: 165 Member
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    that sounds like an overestimate of cals - biking burns maybe 350 cals/hour. yoga burns around the same amount, maybe less. same with walking. i would think you're burning a total between 1000-1400 cals...
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 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.

    My HRM is not broken. I weigh 230lbs and am 5ft9 with 33% BF. So I'm quite heavy. Also I would like to point out that the Yoga is a 90 minute session and its the P90x Yoga, which is ridiculously intense. And like I said in the cycle ride I am at 90-100% max heart rate for the entire hour.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    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.

    If you cycle everyday, and walk at lunch I would include these in your activity level, not exercise. So I would up your activity level to very active and not log the bike ride or the walk.

    If you are set as sedentary and don't bike or walk daily then do the following:

    The You are probably over estimating your calories burned especially with Yoga. HRMs will over estimate as it assumes you are doing cardio and using HR to gauge intensity. For everything else you should be backing out the cals you would have burned at rest, had you not worked out (Maintenance caloires). So if your maintenance is 2400/day without exercise you should take off 100 cals from what your HRM says for every hour worked, and I would cut the cals in half for yoga.

    I will assume the cycle ride is about 45 min each way, so back out 150 cals now 1450, assuming your walk is 30 minutes, back out 50 from the walk, now 250, cut yoga in half, now 400. So you should be eating
    1900+1450+250+400= 4000.
  • beamie2687
    beamie2687 Posts: 95 Member
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    I have a similar problem. I eat those calories though! The thing is that your body needs a number of calories every day to do basic functions like breathe and walk and talk (because you're using muscles to do all of those, right?). A calorie is just energy, so the basic principle of eating fewer calories than you burn to lose weight makes sense, because if you expel more energy than you take in, you're muscles will need to burn fat cells for the stored energy within them.

    When you do such extreme exercise (which, I'm sure will exhaust you fairly soon if you continue to do so much daily!), you're basically putting your body in risk of starvation - which means fat storage, lower performance, and slower weight loss. The number of calories a person needs to do basic things varies, but it's generally agreed that a person needs to NET 1200 cals a day in order to do the most basic bodily function (breathe, heart beat, etc). So, when you burn all those calories exercising, you need to eat more calories in order to NET 1200 or so.

    I find that it's easier to get my calories in if I snack all day. I never feel hungry, and it's just smaller meals (a lot of protein!) spread throughout the day. That actually might be easier for you to do anyway, if your schedule is so packed with workouts.
  • EDesq
    EDesq Posts: 1,527 Member
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    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.


    These are ONLY RECOMMENDATIONS...DO What YOU want to DO and TRACK IT. IF it does NOT work, try something else, if it works DO it until it does not work any more.
  • yo_andi
    yo_andi Posts: 2,178 Member
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    Brain....exploding....

    I took a different route and am quite happy with what I'm doing. The key is to find something you can live with, that won't make your brain explode, that gets you where you need to be.

    I calculated my total daily energy expenditure. Then, because I'm trying to lose weight, I calculated a 15% deficit off of that. I am highly active on a daily basis. I ride my bike to and from work, I walk a fair amount, I run, I play sports, I lift weights. Riding my bike and walking to and from places for a purpose, like going to the grocery store or whatever, I don't log as exercise, because I see it as transportation. Running, playing sports, lifting... I log. BUT, and here's the big difference, I don't eat back "exercise calories". I stay at a 15% deficit on my TDEE (which takes daily activity level into account). I am steadily losing weight and more importantly improving personal records and dropping inches so I know what I am doing is working for me. I am happy as a clam with this approach and I don't need to do crazy math. The less crazy math in my life, the better :laugh:
  • lizsmith1976
    lizsmith1976 Posts: 497 Member
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    You don't have to eat back all exercise calories. If you are not hungry, don't eat. I'm thinking your calories burned look a little high...
  • ladyace2078
    ladyace2078 Posts: 460 Member
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    Brain....exploding....

    I took a different route and am quite happy with what I'm doing. The key is to find something you can live with, that won't make your brain explode, that gets you where you need to be.

    I calculated my total daily energy expenditure. Then, because I'm trying to lose weight, I calculated a 15% deficit off of that. I am highly active on a daily basis. I ride my bike to and from work, I walk a fair amount, I run, I play sports, I lift weights. Riding my bike and walking to and from places for a purpose, like going to the grocery store or whatever, I don't log as exercise, because I see it as transportation. Running, playing sports, lifting... I log. BUT, and here's the big difference, I don't eat back "exercise calories". I stay at a 15% deficit on my TDEE (which takes daily activity level into account). I am steadily losing weight and more importantly improving personal records and dropping inches so I know what I am doing is working for me. I am happy as a clam with this approach and I don't need to do crazy math. The less crazy math in my life, the better :laugh:

    I agree with this and is the method I follow. MFP became confusing for me when I increased my activity level. It was much easier to understand TDEE and take a cut from that and then eat the same amount everyday. I'm seeing results, so it's definitely working for me.
  • shebaw79
    shebaw79 Posts: 15 Member
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    Great tip! Very helpful for me as I am struggling with the same thing.
  • uxbridgeheli
    uxbridgeheli Posts: 70
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    I have to agree with some of the others.
    There is no way some of that exercise burns that many calories.
    I would recheck all of that if I was you.
    Good luck though and hope it all goes well - h x
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
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    I've thought that before, but I'm getting the same sort of cal burn from 2 different heart rate monitors. I trust the HRM, nd my stats are correctly inputted. I'm just unfit.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Sorry but if you have decided that you are going to burn that many calories per day, you need to have adequate food. Do you want me to change the laws of physics for you?

    He doesn't need to burn off food eaten today to fuel today's activities. He has plenty in his fat stores. That's how weight loss works. We dip into those stored reserves.

    I think your HRM could be ok. 100 cals/mile is about average for a man.

    I totally agree with the person who said these are just recommendations. You don't have to eat at the level anyone recommends.

    That level of exercise could result in overtraining or injury or early burnout. Google 'signs of overtraining' and keep watch.

    Good luck!
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    Brain....exploding....

    I took a different route and am quite happy with what I'm doing. The key is to find something you can live with, that won't make your brain explode, that gets you where you need to be.

    I calculated my total daily energy expenditure. Then, because I'm trying to lose weight, I calculated a 15% deficit off of that. I am highly active on a daily basis. I ride my bike to and from work, I walk a fair amount, I run, I play sports, I lift weights. Riding my bike and walking to and from places for a purpose, like going to the grocery store or whatever, I don't log as exercise, because I see it as transportation. Running, playing sports, lifting... I log. BUT, and here's the big difference, I don't eat back "exercise calories". I stay at a 15% deficit on my TDEE (which takes daily activity level into account). I am steadily losing weight and more importantly improving personal records and dropping inches so I know what I am doing is working for me. I am happy as a clam with this approach and I don't need to do crazy math. The less crazy math in my life, the better :laugh:

    I agree with this and is the method I follow. MFP became confusing for me when I increased my activity level. It was much easier to understand TDEE and take a cut from that and then eat the same amount everyday. I'm seeing results, so it's definitely working for me.

    I concur as well. You may fall outside the typical range of MFP users the site is designed for. You can find your TDEE several places online, including

    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
    And
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Try a few different sites and take the average, take 15-20% off that number and see if that is doable.
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
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    I often get regular sized people commenting that my cal burn seems quite high. Since most people go by their own cal expenditure. A lot of people don't sem to realise, the heavier you are/unfit you are the more cals you burn.
  • bettyboop573
    bettyboop573 Posts: 610 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.

    the numbers did seem quite a bit high to me as well....
  • ladyace2078
    ladyace2078 Posts: 460 Member
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    I often get regular sized people commenting that my cal burn seems quite high. Since most people go by their own cal expenditure. A lot of people don't sem to realise, the heavier you are/unfit you are the more cals you burn.

    I don't think your burn is unrealistic. I say this because both my husband and I use the same brand of HRM and do very similar workouts. He burns nearly twice as many calories as I do in the same amount of time simply because he is much heavier than I am.

    But if you really feel crazy with how MFP is calculating what you eat, the TDEE cut method might work better for you. The scoobysworkshop site listed above is great because you can enter the number of hours of activity. Good luck!

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