How much to eat, workout, etc.

julieann89

Hi guys! So I'm needing some advice and help here. I just bought a recumbent stationary exercise bike. I really do enjoy using it as it isn't as hard on my knees as my treadmill. I screwed up both of my knees in high school but that's a different story.

I'm 5'8 and weigh 201 pounds. My goal weight right now would be 160. I started out at 211 pounds at the beginning of January but lost 10 pounds since then (yay). I haven't really been exercising at all I've just been counting my calories. I stay around 1200-1400 calories a day. I've heard that once you start exercising you want to increase your calorie intake so you don't plateau. Which as of lately I have plateaued and have actually started to gain back a couple pounds which has me extremely worried.

So I guess my questions are this:

1) How many calories should I eat a day if I plan on burning 500 calories on my bike plus water weight from sitting in the sauna afterwards to help relive muscle pain?

2) When is the best time to workout or does it matter? I really love working out at night a couple hours after dinner and before bed.

3) What type of diet should I aim for if I'm really just wanting to lose weight right now. Low carb?

I'm really just needing advice and help all around. I just want to make sure I go about all of this the right way to avoid plateauing and being frustrated. I don't want to give up again.

Thanks for your time

jonnythan

Don't worry about plateauing. Probably won't happen at all.

Since you're already losing weight, keep eating the same amount of calories you are now. HOWEVER, eat to replace the extra calories you burn exercising.

MFP makes this easy. If you go and burn 400 calories on the bike, enter 400 calories of exercise in MFP. MFP will automatically adjust your calorie goal. Done.

As for "when to exercise," the answer is "whenever you are happiest exercising." Really. There are minor differences between various times of day, but those differences are completely meaningless if you're not going to exercise at those times. It really doesn't matter.

As for diet, all you really need to worry about is hitting your calorie goal and getting 100+ grams of protein a day.

That's it. Keep doing what you're doing, except add exercise calories on top of what you're already eating.

I strongly, strongly, strongly suggest some strength training though. Look at the difference between someone who did strength training while losing weight versus someone who did not:

(These are obviously the same person but this is what the difference actually does look like. Notice that the thinner, shaplier one is heavier! Muscle is more dense and perky than fat - preserve muscle by doing strength training to get that toned look)

htimsm87

As for "when to exercise," the answer is "whenever you are happiest exercising." Really. There are minor differences between various times of day, but those differences are completely meaningless if you're not going to exercise at those times. It really doesn't matter.

This.. ^^^^
If you were training for the Tour De France on your bike it might be different. Whenever works best for you is the best time of day.