Opinions on how many calories I should be burning

4given4life

For about 6 weeks I have been seeing the personal trainer at the college I attend. I had a conversation with her recently about getting discouraged because I'm not seeing any weight drop although I am seeing a little difference in inches. My workout has consisted of an hour of cardio rotating elliptical/treadmill/stationary bike (not all on the same day though) and 30 min strength training. Per my HR monitor I usually burn between 1000-1300 calories per session depending on how hard I went on my cardio and I did this probably 4 times a week. I wasn't really tracking calories during this time, but I did try to make better choices. I told my trainer that I thought (and this is how my brain was rationalizing things) even if I didn't change the way I ate drastically, since I had added intense workouts 4 times a week that I should be seeing a difference on the scale. She told me I was expecting too much too soon (after 6 weeks! too soon for no weight loss??). She recommended I consider dropping my weight training for now and focus solely on cardio if I was wanting to see a difference in the scale (and of course clean up my diet). She says I am going to HAVE to do 1.5 hrs of cardio 6 days a week to see a difference. This seems so harsh to me. Granted I am a little older (just turned 36 and I do have 2 kids), but that does seem a little excessive. Anyway, I guess my question is if I am burning 1000 calories per workout and I've got my daily calories set at 1655, should I eat back all the exercise calories or just make sure I am netting 1200 or just play around with it? And what are your opinions on what my trainer told me? Am I expecting too much?

wanna_be_fit

Wow, if I had a trainer who told me to do 1 1/2 hours of cardio 6 days a week I would have to say goodbye because that definitely wouldn't fit my lifestyle!! I think that the best thing you can do now is make sure you track EVERYTHING you eat, and make sure to net at least 1200-1400 calories. Also, are you absolutely certain that your HRM is accurate? 1,000 calories is ALOT of calories to burn in a workout. I know that for me I will burn about 350 calories running @ 6mph for 30 minutes with my HR at about 80% of my max, and I am working HARD to burn those 350 calories. I know alot of people say not to count the calories burned during weight training--can't remember the exact reasoning, but maybe overestimating your burn is negatively impacting the weight loss? Another option may be to set your calories slightly higher (say 1800) on days that you are working out and just shoot for that target rather than eating back exercise calories. I hope the scale starts moving again, I know how frustrating that can be!!!

Helloitsdan

For about 6 weeks I have been seeing the personal trainer at the college I attend. I had a conversation with her recently about getting discouraged because I'm not seeing any weight drop although I am seeing a little difference in inches. My workout has consisted of an hour of cardio rotating elliptical/treadmill/stationary bike (not all on the same day though) and 30 min strength training. Per my HR monitor I usually burn between 1000-1300 calories per session depending on how hard I went on my cardio and I did this probably 4 times a week. I wasn't really tracking calories during this time, but I did try to make better choices. I told my trainer that I thought (and this is how my brain was rationalizing things) even if I didn't change the way I ate drastically, since I had added intense workouts 4 times a week that I should be seeing a difference on the scale. She told me I was expecting too much too soon (after 6 weeks! too soon for no weight loss??). She recommended I consider dropping my weight training for now and focus solely on cardio if I was wanting to see a difference in the scale (and of course clean up my diet). She says I am going to HAVE to do 1.5 hrs of cardio 6 days a week to see a difference. This seems so harsh to me. Granted I am a little older (just turned 36 and I do have 2 kids), but that does seem a little excessive. Anyway, I guess my question is if I am burning 1000 calories per workout and I've got my daily calories set at 1655, should I eat back all the exercise calories or just make sure I am netting 1200 or just play around with it? And what are your opinions on what my trainer told me? Am I expecting too much?

Fire her.

She just told you that building or maintaining lean muscle isnt worth it.

IMO youll see weight changes while dropping cardio.
But....i'm not your PT.

If it was me i'd focus on getting stronger and maintaining lean mass while cutting calories.
Probably only do cardio 2x a week for 30mins a session.

www.stronglifts.com

Cardio is great if you need to strengthen your cardiovascular health.
As for composition, it doesnt really help with gaining or maintaining lean mass.

Lean mass helps burn fat btw.

IveLanded

I agree......I think your HRM isn't working/you are over estimating your burn. I don't know what you weigh, but we are the same age (and I have 3 kids) and I started at 186. At that weight, I was burning about 500 calories for an hour of spinning/running/whatever cardio. I'm at 146 now, and I burn closer to 350-400 for the same time of cardio.

So, with that said, yes, I think you might be overestimating what you should have lost.

And I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is the whole "I don't track BUT I eat healthier". You would probably be surprised at how many calories you are taking in, how much fat, and how much sugar. If you aren't losing, you NEED to track IMHO so you can get that information. What most people think of as eating "healthy" is still pretty high in calories and sugar, which are both going to inhibit your weight loss.

4given4life

Thanks for the replies. I agree that I need to track my food. It's just making myself get back in the habit of doing it. It was so much easier when I was working and could log in every single day. I do have the app on my phone so I just need to stop making excuses and log my food.

I thought my HRM was accurate because it has a chest strap that monitors my HR the entire time, but maybe I just need to put it away. I think I will keep weight training in my workout schedule and decrease my cardio a bit. I know in time things will start moving if I just keep up with it. It's easy to get discourage though when you literally feel like your working you butt off and you don't see changes. I'll just keep it up and trust that my body will eventually respond.

Thanks again for the advice!!

jacksonpt

Can't answer that question without knowing how much you are eating. Knowing your TDEE would be really helpful to.

If you are eating too much, then you need to be exercising enough to burn off those excess cals. If you aren't eating too much, then there's no need to work out (for weight loss purposes, which seems to be your primary goal).

If you're losing inches, I wouldn't worry about the scale - losing inches is WAY better than lbs.