need advise

Chadashley

ok, so according to MFP i am to eat 1950 cals a day. i have had a huge problem eating that many to start off with. MFP has me at a 900 cal difficancy, which i am fine with. but the problem comes up when i go out and exercise. seeing i am a 312 pound guy, anything to do gives me bookoo cals back. take today for instance. after going out to look at my old hunting ground with my father, which was burnt to a crisp earlier this summer, this morning i only had about 500 cals eaten. shortly after coming back home i went with my wife and kid for an hour long bike ride. we hit is hard and for a long time as well. when i got home and logged it in MFP it gave me 1133 back! see what i mean....

anyways what i am trying to get at is, is anyone else having this kind of problem and if so is it affecting their weight loss? if so what have you done to fix it? any advise that anyone has out there would be appreciated. thank you.

PatriceMG

you should invest in a heart rate monitor. I found that MFP wasn't giving accurate calories burned. It seems to overestimate in my case. A heart rate monitor is much more accurate.

nxd10

Yes, I have that problem sometimes.

First, someone posted a great article two days ago showing that if you don't burn your exercise calories, you tend to burn muscle, not fat. Sounded convincing to me.

Second, let's face it, it's easy to eat calories. That's how most of us got here. Eating something with carbs or fat. Refried beans, a big stir fry, anything with lots of cheese. Those calories are right back there. They don't even have to be unhealthy.

Third, you often can't eat all those calories in one day. When I go hiking I can eat a lot until I'm fill and still be negative. But eat them back over a few days and lose weight.

_stephanie0

you will get used to it. eat back what you can. it's okay if you cant always eat all your calories back. try adding in healthy fats to get your calories up... a few things could be

coconut oil (cook with)
olive oil
avocado (in salad)
NUTS!! (macadamia nuts are great)

also for veggies try more calorie dense ones like squash and sweet potatoes

toaster6

When you exercise, MFP tells you to eat back the calories because when you burn calories working out, it adds to you deficit. Some people eat their exercise calories back (and are still able to lose weight) while others can't. I personally don't eat back my calories because I don't like eating when I'm not hungry. Your body will let you know if you're giving it enough fuel. I think it depends on your body-- if you aren't hungry enough to consume back all the calories you burn off, then I'd recommend that you don't.

pinkyleigh83

With deficits like that I wouldn't worry about eating ALL of those calories back. A lot of days I find it hard to eat my maintenance calories and my exercise ones back fully & I don't burn nearly as much exercising.
I'd eat some back if possible but I am also a big believer in listening to your body. If you are truly hungry, eat. If not, then I wouldn't worry about it. Your body knows what it's doing.

Good luck!

Gloworm46

I thought you ate back the calories to maintain - guess I'd better look at that again!