Calorie deficit for dummies (a little long)

jljean07

BUMP:)

arewethereyet

bumping the banks today!! :flowerforyou:

arewethereyet

felt like bumping Banks this morning:blushing:

arewethereyet

bump

emmyvera

thanks! will read when i get home :bigsmile:

RunConquerCelebrate

Great post but every time I read one of these I just get more confused and it makes me wonder if I am doing the right thing with calories.
I try really hard to understand but whenever I think I got it post like these come around and confuse me more :laugh:

SHBoss1673

Great post but every time I read one of these I just get more confused and it makes me wonder if I am doing the right thing with calories.
I try really hard to understand but whenever I think I got it post like these come around and confuse me more :laugh:

what are you confused about? We're here to help. After you've read it, and still have questions, we're more than happy to try to help you make sense of it.

JoyousRen

You're so helpful!

Mindful_Trent

Great post - how haven't I seen this one before? I understand this stuff already, but this is a well-written, fairly easy to understand explanation of all of it. I'll have to remember to refer people here...

cardbucfan

(quiote)As to when to eat, days of the week are a mental thing we impose on our selves. With all due respect to circadian rhythms, ideally, you want to eat relatively soon after you work out (for anaerobic work) or an hour or so before you work out (for aerobic work, cardiovascular work). Why? because cardio doesn't really increase your EPOC (google EPOC for more info), and anaerobic work (weight training, any training that causes muscular failure or the fatigue "burn" where you can't do another rep.) requires muscles to rebuild post workout, which requires fuel AND protein (I.E. carbs and protein).
[/quote]

Banks I love your posts, very informative. Now, I have a question about fueling the body. My workout this morning was a 60 minute cardio sculpt class (very similar to a body pump class)-low impact cardio, light weights (3-5 lbs.) many, many reps. Excellent for toning as well as building strength. Then I went to a 45 minute spin class. So for that type of workout, how should I fuel? I get up at 6 a.m. but don't start working out until 8 due to kid chauffering. I'm at the gym until 10:15 or so and usually home by 10:30 (unless there are errands). Since it's such a big mix of exercises, am I better off to eat a lot before I workout out? A little first thing then a lot afterwards? I'm one of those people who are hungry in the morning when I wake up and I'm ready to eat when I get home. Come to think of it, I'm pretty much always ready to eat!

lastchance2010

bump!

i was still confused but after i continued to read the posts...THE LIGHTBULB IS FINALLY ON!!! This makes me sooo happy!! thank u!!!

PJilly

bump

I think we need a specific "Banks Bump" graphic.

TheMaidOfAstolat

bump

AwMyLoLo

bump for later

cmriverside

bump

I think we need a specific "Banks Bump" graphic.

he has one, it's really scary - and I bet he'll be posting it now.

SHBoss1673

bump

I think we need a specific "Banks Bump" graphic.

he has one, it's really scary - and I bet he'll be posting it now.

you mean ?

SHBoss1673

Banks I love your posts, very informative. Now, I have a question about fueling the body. My workout this morning was a 60 minute cardio sculpt class (very similar to a body pump class)-low impact cardio, light weights (3-5 lbs.) many, many reps. Excellent for toning as well as building strength. Then I went to a 45 minute spin class. So for that type of workout, how should I fuel? I get up at 6 a.m. but don't start working out until 8 due to kid chauffering. I'm at the gym until 10:15 or so and usually home by 10:30 (unless there are errands). Since it's such a big mix of exercises, am I better off to eat a lot before I workout out? A little first thing then a lot afterwards? I'm one of those people who are hungry in the morning when I wake up and I'm ready to eat when I get home. Come to think of it, I'm pretty much always ready to eat!

I would say with that much going on that early, try to eat something pretty much as soon as you get up, something with some carbs. but not to much, say 250 cals or so (maybe some whole grain toast or something). then right after something with a little sugar in it like a banana or apple paired with some protein like a little chicken or some egg whites, just to replenish any protein. doesn't need to be a lot, but at least 8 or 10 grams of protein after. You can go with nuts if you like, but generally, I would avoid high fat nuts as fat doesn't help that situation (it doesn't hurt either though).

PJilly

Oh dear. :noway: :laugh:

cardbucfan

Banks I love your posts, very informative. Now, I have a question about fueling the body. My workout this morning was a 60 minute cardio sculpt class (very similar to a body pump class)-low impact cardio, light weights (3-5 lbs.) many, many reps. Excellent for toning as well as building strength. Then I went to a 45 minute spin class. So for that type of workout, how should I fuel? I get up at 6 a.m. but don't start working out until 8 due to kid chauffering. I'm at the gym until 10:15 or so and usually home by 10:30 (unless there are errands). Since it's such a big mix of exercises, am I better off to eat a lot before I workout out? A little first thing then a lot afterwards? I'm one of those people who are hungry in the morning when I wake up and I'm ready to eat when I get home. Come to think of it, I'm pretty much always ready to eat!

I would say with that much going on that early, try to eat something pretty much as soon as you get up, something with some carbs. but not to much, say 250 cals or so (maybe some whole grain toast or something). then right after something with a little sugar in it like a banana or apple paired with some protein like a little chicken or some egg whites, just to replenish any protein. doesn't need to be a lot, but at least 8 or 10 grams of protein after. You can go with nuts if you like, but generally, I would avoid high fat nuts as fat doesn't help that situation (it doesn't hurt either though).

I think I'm good then. I usually have a piece of double fiber toast with almond butter (and coffee!!) before driving the kids around and have egg whites and some type of meat (canadian bacon, turkey bacon or turkey sausage) when I get home. I'll add some fruit to it, I have the room in my calorie budget. thanks!

SHBoss1673

I think I'm good then. I usually have a piece of double fiber toast with almond butter (and coffee!!) before driving the kids around and have egg whites and some type of meat (canadian bacon, turkey bacon or turkey sausage) when I get home. I'll add some fruit to it, I have the room in my calorie budget. thanks!

the rule of thumb is carbs 2 hours before hard cardio (or as close to 2 as you can get) and protein/carbs immediately after resistance. If the cardio is over about 90 minutes, you should have a carbohydrate drink during it to keep your energy levels going.

If it's a mixed bag, you should probably treat it as such, I.E. eat the carbs before, then have a little protein and carbs after.

TheMaidOfAstolat

bump

healthydoseofglitter

bumping to read later

kim_mc

If I eat back the calories I burn off durning the day, aren't I then eating over my caorie goal for the day defeating the purpose of exercising?? Can someone help please?

Mindful_Trent

If I eat back the calories I burn off durning the day, aren't I then eating over my caorie goal for the day defeating the purpose of exercising?? Can someone help please?

As was explained in this post, MFP builds your calorie deficit into your daily calorie goal - exercise calories are "extra". Please read this for further explanation, if the original post of this thread didn't help.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

kim_mc

Thank you...I was under the impression that when the website asked how active I am and how many days a week I plan to workout, that it already was taking exercise into account. Yay for getting to eat extra calories! All the more motivation for me to workout!! Ha ha ha !!

Also, is there a way to calculate calories burned in my workouts, I do turbo fire.

bellinachuchina

People who have abused their body and are considered very obese or morbidly obese (starting somewhere around 35% body fat) have a different set of rules. Starvation mode generally doesn't apply, or applies less to these people because the extreme availability of extra fuel resources blunts the body's need for extra energy, and while people who are morbidly obese can still have a stunted metabolic rate, they can still generally sustain a large calorie deficit (over 1000 calories below TDEE) without further lowering their metabolism.

Yep. People who are obese, using this site for substantial weight loss, are often told by MFP forums that they will go into 'starvation mode'....laughable & ridiculous. Thanks for putting that into perspective.

kaits108

This post is great! Thank you!

SHBoss1673

People who have abused their body and are considered very obese or morbidly obese (starting somewhere around 35% body fat) have a different set of rules. Starvation mode generally doesn't apply, or applies less to these people because the extreme availability of extra fuel resources blunts the body's need for extra energy, and while people who are morbidly obese can still have a stunted metabolic rate, they can still generally sustain a large calorie deficit (over 1000 calories below TDEE) without further lowering their metabolism.

Yep. People who are obese, using this site for substantial weight loss, are often told by MFP forums that they will go into 'starvation mode'....laughable & ridiculous. Thanks for putting that into perspective.

eventually you'll realize that a lot of people say a lot of stuff on here without first asking about a person's individual situation. There are so many factors to weight loss that it's almost impossible to even give reasonable advice without first finding out about the person. You'll see a reoccurring theme in many of my reply posts, and they all ask basically the same thing, age, weight, height, activity level, goal deficit, and if they have any medical conditions. At least then I can make an informed guess on the situation. Even then, it's really thin to work off that little information.

TheMaidOfAstolat

Bump

deamacgray

Bump!