exercise calories/ net calories/ what the heck????

lreed

ok, so I am confused! I use a HRM to calculate my exercise calories and they are very close to what MFP says for the same types of activities (which is great) But what I don't understand is the whole net thing, well actually I do understand it, but something may be wrong. This is the deal I eat calories of 1280 per day (net) which calculates to 1 1/2 pounds a week loss. (which would be great) but I am really stalling here. I eat pretty high protein amounts 130 grams per day, carbs between 150-200 per day. I exercise every day for 75 minutes-140 minutes. So what do I do? March I only lost 3 pounds, April I am at zero. I still have 25-40 lbs left to lose. I know muscle weights more (slightly, so I really am not buying it) the thing is I am eating in the end about 1600-1900 calories a day netting to about the 1280-1400 a day. I am getting frustrated, and guess what, I am hungry. I also have 3 1/2 weeks left for a challenge with my bootcamp, I can't afford to be stalling here, I need to lose at least 3 pounds now for the balance of the challenge (see nothing crazy) Do I go up in calories? Do I cut more out? Help all you big exercisers and MFP gurus! Thanks!

funkyspunky871

Well, if this helps at all (I'm not an expert and probably read your question wrong, but here's some general advice), I don't eat back any of my exercise calories. When you enter exercise, MFP says that you know have some extra calories. I don't buy it. What's the point of exercising if I'm going to eat the calories right back? So I follow my own goal of 1400 calories (as close as I can) and exercise for 30 minutes at least 5 times a week. No eating back calories; I've never even heard of doing that before MFP.

Maybe try that? But I'm new to dieting, so don't completely trust me! Good luck!

abatres7

MFP is already calculating a deficit with the food..which is why you are able to eat the exercise calories. When I was new this was very confusing to me until I understood the goal is to have a 3500 calorie deficit at the end of the week to meet one pound loss. Some people like to exercise a little and then eat less. Some dont exercise and just eat less. It is all up to you how you want to get to the 3500 by end of week. I have noticed eating 1400 to 1600 calories and exercising 4 times a week works for me. We are all different. Find what works for you. Good Luck.

sheri3762

A while back I switched up what I do too. I was constantly worried about eating back calories at the end of the day, especially if I worked out extra long. I don't always know when I'm going to be able to work out and for how long so I went to a calculator site and figured out how many calories I would burn a day with excericise and given my activity level. I then just set my calories at 1540 a day and try to stay close to that number over a 7 day week, regardless of whether I work out or not. Since I started doing this I've averaged about a 1 1/2 pound a week loss which is fine since I've lost 39 pounds to date. I haven't weighed in a couple weeks so I'm hoping I'm still on track. If I'm not, I'm gonna have to switch something up again I also zig-zag. I eat more one day and less the next and so on to confuse my body. example: I make Saturday a bigger calorie day. Hope my experience gives you some ideas regarding what to try next!!! Good luck!!!.

lisawest

Have you read the posts on the "General" board that are stickied? They have lots of great info in them, and some address just this thing!

I'll try my best to help here. The way I'm understanding it, you ARE eating all the exercise calories MFP is allowing you. Right? Here's what I've found, I've had to change up that part of the equation a couple times. I started out eating them. Then I hit a plateau and went to eating about 1/2 of them. Bam, another plateau so I quit eating. Now I am back to eating whatever I'm hungry for. So I always tell people to do what's working, until it doesn't, and then switch.

If you are eating all of those calories, you're still hungry AND you're not losing, I would re-evaluate my goals. If you are set at 1.5 lbs per week, try changing it to 1 lb per week for a few weeks. It'll give you a few extra calories and may be just what your body wants. I was stuck at the same weight for amost a month recently. I tried switching what I was doing with my exercise cals. Didn't help. So I went and changed my goal from 1 lb per week to 1/2 a pound per week. At the end of one week I had finally dropped a pound. Coincidence? Possibly, but you should think about it.

Another thing is to check out your sodium and potassium numbers. If you're frequently over on sodium, and rarely even close on potassium, that may be part of the problem, too. (Raw foods have lots of potassium and only a little sodium.) Also make sure you're drinking LOTS of water. Easiest way to tell if you're getting enough water is by the color of your pee. Gross, I know, but a great indicator! The lighter it is in color, the better.

Well, that's probably enough to think about. Let me know if you have any questions about any of this!

Good luck figuring out what works!

StrengthInPain

Ireed, i've seen you on forums before, so i know you know why you are supposed to be eating your exercise calories... perhaps you aren't eating enough calories. Recently, i have tried the "zig-zagging," and so far have seen results. Basically, I will eat +300 above my normal calories for 2-3 days.. then back down to my normal calorie intake for 3-4 days. This may help you. Keep in mind that since you are already in a deficit, an extra 300 calories for 2-3 days will not cause you to gain weight as long as they are healthy calories. Good luck.

lreed

Thanks! I understand I need to eat my exercise calories, I think my bigger question is people have talked about taking out your resting calories for the time the you exercise, I.e. if you exercise for 1 hour and your heart monitor says that you did 454 calories, that you would back out your resting calories of like for me 120 calories, so then the exercise calories that you put in would actually be 334. Am I really shorting myself 120-200 calories a day and is that stalling things? I work out every day? I just really need to bust through this plateau in the quickest smartest way and playing with the calories always freaks me out. I may try the zig zag.

StrengthInPain

i had that thought one day about the resting calories that ... then i figured that nothing is that exact anyway... everything is an estimate, from the calories in foods to the calories burned on the treadmill to resting calories... so i figure in the end, those calories balance themselves out.

dinos

I thought this was interesting and made sense, so I wanted to share:

Busting Plateaus by Jillian Michaels

There is nothing more discouraging than stepping on the scale after a week of diligent dieting and grueling workouts and not seeing any drop in the number. The plateau is a common problem among dieters and can typically be waited out, but there are measures you can take to keep your metabolism fired up even as you reduce your caloric intake.

The best way to break a plateau is to keep your salt intake below 2,000 milligrams a day and drink lots of water. Make sure you're not eating any processed carbs, period. That's right — no chips, sugar, white flour, and so on. And hit the gym hard! The boost in exercise will make your body swell and hold fluids for a few days, but after a week you should see the benefits on the scale.

You can also try playing around with your caloric intake a bit, varying it from day to day throughout the week while keeping the same weekly total. The body can't slow its metabolism to adjust to a reduced caloric intake if the intake isn't fixed from one day to the next. For instance, to bust my plateau, I might have 1,200 calories on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then eat 1,500 calories on Tuesday, 1,600 on Thursday, 1,400 on Saturday, and 1,700 on Sunday. Get it?

The plateau effect can sometimes simply be a matter of flagging resolve. If mixing up your caloric intake just isn't working, make sure you're not slipping up on your diet or slacking off in your workouts. I'm serious; it happens.

As with any program, there will be highs and lows, but stay with it. Your body is trying to adjust to the weight loss. Don't get scared or discouraged. Just be patient and know that you are worth it!