Exercising away my calories

pixietwilight

I have been doing wonderfully this week. I was wondering if what I am doing is OK? I have been keeping my caloric intake between 1100 to 1300. Drinking at least 10 glasses of water. My calories have lots of Protien, carbs and fiber. I have been exercising 1 hour and 15 min on my elliptical which estimates I burn about 1000 to 1500 calories. For the past 5 days I have been losing a pound a day. I feel great but I want to make sure I am not going sabotage myself in anyway I have alot to lose. Any insight?

Tamishumate

well you shouldnt be doing that. if you are working out that much, you need to eat more. the second you start eating , you will gain it back. You can not lose a pound a day and have it be healthy.

they say, you should eat your exercise calories back.

doing good with the working out and the water. you just need to eat more! :flowerforyou:

pixietwilight

I was on a plateau for about 10 days and then I added more cardio and that is why I have been losing like this. But let me get this right, if I don't exercise tomorrow and eat 1200 calories I will gain weight back?

JennyVirginia

Your body is going to go into starvation mode and you are going to see a complete halt to all weight loss - ask any doctor or nutritionist. You want to rev up your metabolism while exercising. If you are burning that many calories a day you are going to want to eat about 1800-2000 calories a day. On days you don't exercise heavily you could cut your calories to 1200-1500. I know it seems weird but it truly works. You aren't going to see dramatic losses per week but you should only be losing 1-2 pounds a week to keep yourself healthy. Dramatic weight loss is not healthy at all - it puts A LOT of stress on your heart and other vital organs. Keep up the good work but please be safe.

amymeenieminymo

Are you eating any of your exercise calories? If I am doing the math right, it sounds like your burning off the same amount that your taking in, which equals zero net calories. How are you not starving all day? Forgive me if I have that wrong.

Unless you have a LOT to lose, losing a pound a day doesn't sound very good. I mean, it sounds good, but not very healthy. Losing weight too rapidly could lead to a lot of problems, such as having loose saggy skin, going into starvation mode and the tendency to burn out and then gaining all the weight back. It's recommended that you only lose a pound a week. Slow and steady wins the race.

Without knowing exactly what your eating and how your measuring your calories burned, its hard to say. I myself don't use the elliptical, so I am not sure what average rates are, but 1000-1500 calories burned sounds like a lot to me. I typically do 30 minutes run/walk on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the bike and that usually burns around 480. Do you have an HRM, or are you going by what the machine says?

wannbAhottie

I am kinda curiouse about the exercise calories also. I stay around 1100 calories and exercise is coming slowley due to time(I am working on that) by the time I execise..... not a whole lot at this time about 3-500 calories I don't have an appitite and struggle to get in those extra calories. I have finally stopped making myself get those extra calories in, but I don't want to sabotage my wieght loss either. What to do?

pixietwilight

I honestly am not starving at all! I am about net 200 calories. Here is the deal I am on a biggest loser type challenge. I I still have another 55 lbs I need to lose so I am not on a fast weight loss plan nor do i plan to lose the 55 lbs in the next 2 months I am fully aware to be healthy I need for my weight loss to be slow. I only plan to do this craziness for another 15 lbs and then I will resume regular weight loss 2 lbs a week. So maybe this zero to 200 net calorie thing for another 10 days. Is it really that horrible I would like to win this competition.

GiGi76

I try to exercise away the calories that will put me over my 1200 calorie goal..... but u need to take in at least 1000-1200 calories a day more if u are exercising as much as u are.... 1-2lbs a week is healthy and u are more likely to keep that weight off. 5lbs in 5 days is unhealthy. What you are doing is not safe, and u will gain some of the weight back if u dont start eating like u should! Your body will be in starvation mode and everything u eat will be stored as fat, working out is good but take in extra calories on the days u workout!

mctex

Not sure about the rest of it, but I can definitely say that 1000 to 1500 calories burned in 75 minutes on an elliptical seems REALLY high to me. You might want to sanity check that... plug in 75 minutes into the exercise here on MFP for treadmill stair trainer and it will give you a more accurate estimate.

ETA: That would explain why it is that you aren't hungry. I'm guessing you're really only burning about 500 calories in that time.

dragonfli_24

Hi, I'm really new to all this and totally confused! I've only recently got my head around what calories are. I thought you had to burn more than you consumed in order to lose weight. So if my 'goal' calorie intake is 1200 daily, how many calories should I be aiming to burn through exercise daily/weekly to lose weight?

amymeenieminymo

I honestly am not starving at all! I am about net 200 calories. Here is the deal I am on a biggest loser type challenge. I I still have another 55 lbs I need to lose so I am not on a fast weight loss plan nor do i plan to lose the 55 lbs in the next 2 months I am fully aware to be healthy I need for my weight loss to be slow. I only plan to do this craziness for another 15 lbs and then I will resume regular weight loss 2 lbs a week. So maybe this zero to 200 net calorie thing for another 10 days. Is it really that horrible I would like to win this competition.

Not being hungry can be a sign of starvation. Netting 0 to 200 calories a day IS horrible. That is like eating two granola bars. Do you think your body can perform well by eating just two granola bars a day? (I realizing you are eating more, but then when you go and burn that off plus some, you're really not). Your health is way more important than a competition, please don't continue with this dangerous diet (because 200 calories a day shouldn't be a lifestyle, so it's really just a very unhealthy diet). And also, if you continue with this craziness for another 15 pounds, you won't be able to resume slow and healthy weightloss, your body will pack on the weight as soon as its starts getting a decent amount of calories again.

pixietwilight

Thank you all for your help! Slow and steady wins the race. I will continue my progress slowly and happy. I might not win the race but I will win in the end regardless. I have a lot of weight I need to lose and I do not want to sabotage my health or 2lbs a week weight loss.

kdiamond

I agree with what all of the others say. I would eat back at least 1/2 of your exercise calories. Also I would say you probably burn about 1/2 of what you reported - maybe 600 calories. The elliptical trainer doesn't burn quite as much as say, running, or heavy duty weight training.

lvfunandfit

It depends on how much you weigh to determine calories burned. A 120 lb person would not burn as much as a 220 lb person doing the same exercise at the same intensity for the same amount of time.

A heart rate monitor that you wear would give you a better estimate. Those aren't even perfectly accurate. On the Arc trainer (similar to the elliptical) I can burn 280-300 calories in 20 minutes but when I run 5 miles outside, I burn 630-680 in 45-48 minutes.

The thing about exercise calories is this... MFP sets you up on a deficit so you can safely lose 1-2 lbs a week. It goes according to your life style that you set (not including exercise).

With me, my body needs 1730 calories just to maintain weight and keep my body functioning. For me to lose weight, it set me at 1200 calories per day. That's 530 calorie deficit just on a normal day with out exercise. When I run and burn 600 calories, that's 1130 calorie deficit. My net would only be 600 calories. That is not enough net calories. I would go into starvation mode if I did not eat back my exercise calories and start storing fat and burning muscle. .. Who wants to be a jiggle mess of fat? I want to keep my muscle. The more muscle I have the more fat I burn and the more tone, smooth and defined my body looks. You see people all the time on diets basically starving themselves... then they go back to eating normally and gain back what they lost PLUS more. You are starving yourself. You don't feel hungry because your metabolism is slow. I am hungry every 2-3 hours. My body is used to being nourished and therefore doesn't store as much fat as someone who doesn't eat often. Your body adapts to how you nourish it with food (fuel) and it reacts by storing fat to help you survive if you aren't taking in enough calories. Your body thinks, "HEY! I better hold onto this because I don't know when I'm going to eat again." and your body stores more. When you throw exercise into the mix, your body needs even more fuel to sustain life. That is why you need to eat back your exercise calories. Eating more (healthy calories) helps you lose weight. I know it can be exciting to see the numbers go down on the scale. But losing 1 pound a day is not a healthy life style.