People with regular huge calorie burns

RiverDancer68

I just suffered a stress fracture in my right foot from (Irish) Dance...so I had to modify all of my other workouts and go easy (basic Yoga, rather than hard core stuff). I've gained weight...not a lot, but my clothes don't fit as well! Unfortunately my appetite was as high as ever and it was really hard for me to stop eating as much. I am back on track now with my foot...but now I'm kind of in a funk about it all :sad: I feel like I have to make up for the last 3 months, and I sort of lost my momentum!

Pinkigloopyxie

I can't afford the deficit of all those cals.

Some people begin their day at 4-5am to exercise though, that's hella dedication but you won't get me up before the sun except for the days I have an 8am class.

I haven't the drive to devote to such regular exercise, especially in the winter when I'd have to go to the dreaded, freezing, OUTSIDE to do vigorous exercising.

No thanks, I'll moderate my diet and stay curled up warm and happy in my blankets.

super_monty

I was burning 1000 - 1400 5 x week now around 600, i struggle to get over tdee some days.

robin52077

When I worked hard on my feet all day, I could eat 2000 a day and still lose a little.

Now I sit ALL day, and I maintain at 1400-1600.

I miss all that food! But being short and little, my body just doesn't need that much on it's own and I no longer have time to be running back and forth and lifting things 8 hours a day to earn more. It was nice when my job WAS my exercise!

bufger

On Sundays I'm around 800 calories, Mondays over 1000 burned (Basketball game) and tuesday, wednesday and thurs between 500 and 800 generally (basketball practice, P90X). Normally after an 800-1000 burn the next day i'm ravenous! I train late at night so it hits me the next day and i feel like i could eat everything. I normally go over my food count by a bit on a tuesday and wednesday because of this.

If i was out with an injury i dont think i'd be as hungry so i'd be able to manage my normal daily amount easily.

EvgeniZyntx

When I go for long bike rides or go trekking I end up with large calorie burns. These are not part of my current regular schedule but six months back it would not be abnormal to gave a 3000 or more calories burned Sunday.

While trekking or week long rides - if it is a long trip I'll end up losing a lot of weight because we do don't carry enough/eat at maintenance during those periods, eating 5000-7000 cals day when we are used to a third of that is hard! - Usually, the weeks that follow are recovery weeks and yes, the 10-15 pounds lost come back with friends. It is possible to control but takes a lot of effort.

The hunger settles down about 5-10 days after a big trip. Part of the reason I needed to lose was being a little too loose on the gains after some of these trips.

NocturnalGirl

Diet is the most important factor in weight control, and we adjust our calorie intakes to our activity level. If we workout less, our TDEE decreases and so we have to eat less to maintain.

GiddyupTim

For years, I played soccer every day, or went for a 5-8 mile run, or played tennis. Never thought twice about what I ate. Then, I injured my knee and had surgery. I was out of commish for about one and a half years. I gained about 20 pounds.
I think it was mostly the dinners. I had been accustomed to second, and even third, helpings to make up my calories. Also, I was accustomed to only eating high calorie foods. But, I never was a big snack eater and I did not become one.
I have since lost that weight as I have started running again. But I do not really think you can exercise off weight. For some of us, at least, our body tells us strongly what it needs to weight and we eat to that. We may regulate with activity, a bit, but really it is what we eat.
It was not so difficult for me to take off the weight, even though I had been used to eating heavy and well for about 50 years, because I felt really uncomfortable being heavier. Until I had gained this weight, I still weighed about the same that I had in college.
I think our bodies regulate our weight, and for some of us, that is stronger than for others. I think research has show that, if you gain weight, the body tends to establish that new, higher weight as its base point and it does not go back down even if you lose weight, at least not for a long while.
That weight regulation is much more important than any exercise.

Cyclink

I'm curious about folks who lose substantial amounts of weight through very vigorous exercise (cardio &/or heavy lifting). In the process, they might get very used to eating large quantities of food because they burn so much. What happens if something changes, such as an illness, injury, lack of time, lack of motivation....to keep up that former pace? Do they adjust their calories down and still maintain their weight? or is it easy to regain the weight because they got used to eating larger quantities? Has anyone struggled with this? I often consciously think about being moderate in my exercise for fear of this type thing happening to me.

As someone who's been through it: yes.

I'm usually training intensely on the bike for 10 to 12 hours a week, which amounts to around 6500 to 8000 calories burned from exercise each week.

I watch what I eat really closely. If I take an easy day on the bike, I don't eat as much that day. If I have a really hard day, I eat more that day.

When I stop training for whatever reason, I have to cut back on my eating immediately. When it's for any length of time (more than a week or so), I have to be really careful because all of my habits are geared around eating a lot more.

I managed to re-gain 12 pounds this spring/summer because of not paying attention after two injuries in a row.

I would never cut down on training because of a fear of what might happen to my weight if I stopped. That's like saying that someone should not get married for fear of divorce.

elizabethis

The OP asks a fantastic question. That is precisely the reason one should base their weight loss goals around a sound eating plan, NOT around prolific amounts of vigorous exercise. Losing weight is about what you eat, not what you do.

The exercise you do should be about making a physical change in your body. Strengthening muscles and joints, enhancing cardiovascular fitness, increasing endurance capacity, building bigger or better looking muscles. These activities will burn calories, but the "burn" is not the reason to do them.

Note: the general confusion about this concept is what fuels my constant, futile hrm rants. Exercise is for fitness, eating sensibly is for losing weight. Connected, but different.

This makes good sense to me. If exercise is seen primarily as a means to grow your calorie allotment, I think there is danger ahead when trying to maintain weight - especially if your exercise has been a drudgery. Thank you for posting this.

PINKinquisition1908

I've just started doing really intense workouts...about 800-1200 calorie burn 4x's a week. I do the workout at night, come home eat a snack (sometimes) and go straight to bed. This way I don't eat all the calories back. The weight is coming off well, but I've only been at it 4 weeks. I'm not sure what the long term result will be. Does anyone else do this??

erikmsp72

On days I can't work out, or on days when I work out less-intense-ly, I eat according to my allotted calories. It's just a discipline.

composite

I watch what I eat really closely. If I take an easy day on the bike, I don't eat as much that day. If I have a really hard day, I eat more that day.

When I stop training for whatever reason, I have to cut back on my eating immediately. When it's for any length of time (more than a week or so), I have to be really careful because all of my habits are geared around eating a lot more.

I'm pretty much in the same boat, as I'm training for endurance mountain biking. If I'm not doing 4-10 hour rides, I'm doing high intensity intervals so either way there are some serious calorie burns.

I always "eat back" or more accurately "eat forwards", so I'm fuelled and ready to go. On very long rides (longer than 4 hours) I'm eating while I ride. I estimate (from experience) what I'm going to burn and try to eat forwards about 60%-70%. Depends though on the time of day I'm training the length of ride and how much I'm aiming to eat during the ride.

Ultimately though yes I eat more on training days and less on rest days, however I also carb load on days before huge rides.

jdm_taco

when i'm less active, I eat less. Real simple. Its easier for me to lose weight than gain now.

crista_b

The OP asks a fantastic question. That is precisely the reason one should base their weight loss goals around a sound eating plan, NOT around prolific amounts of vigorous exercise. Losing weight is about what you eat, not what you do.

The exercise you do should be about making a physical change in your body. Strengthening muscles and joints, enhancing cardiovascular fitness, increasing endurance capacity, building bigger or better looking muscles. These activities will burn calories, but the "burn" is not the reason to do them.

Note: the general confusion about this concept is what fuels my constant, futile hrm rants. Exercise is for fitness, eating sensibly is for losing weight. Connected, but different.

This makes good sense to me. If exercise is seen primarily as a means to grow your calorie allotment, I think there is danger ahead when trying to maintain weight - especially if your exercise has been a drudgery. Thank you for posting this.

Yes! I think a lot of people are so focused on the numbers (scale, calories) that they try to get their burns as high as possible just so they can shove more food down. While that may lower the number on the scale, I don't feel like it's a very healthy or sustainable way to look at things. Calories should be taken in to keep your body running and healthy, and exercise should be a way to keep you fit (and I think it should be fun, not forced). I think that's one of the reasons that TDEE appeals to some people. They don't have to think about forcing themselves to burn an extra 300 calories to have a slightly bigger dinner or an extra snack because they won't be eating back exercise calories anyway. TDEE method will have them naturally at a higher calorie intake when they're working out a lot, then if something happens and they aren't working out, they can recalculate, and their calorie intake will be lower anyway.

chrisdavey

If I have a low volume week, my appetite decreases and if I have a high volume it increases. So it all seems to work itself out.

tburkett1915

The first time I started workouting out to lose weight, I didn't track my caloires, just what I ate. Since it was a drastic change of lifestyle, I lost about 40lbs. I gained most of it back because I wasn't sure what how to change my diet and didn't want to count calories. When I started back my workouts, I went super hard. I weight lift, insanity, turbo jam, zumba. However, nothing changed. I ate back my calories so my weight never changed. Now since I'm committed to losing weight, I'm taking a more balanced approached. I still workout, but not with the same intensity all the time. Since weight lose is more about diet change, I try to focus more on my caloric intake. My workouts are moderate for the most part. I make sure I exercise 4-5 days a week, no less than 30mins at a time. It's only been 2 weeks and things are going well so far. I want to make sure my lifestyle change is sustainable.