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Weight Loss Confusion

alisonengland
alisonengland Posts: 110 Member
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Sorry if this is a stupid question but...

If my daily target is 1200 and I eat that and do NO exercise I will lose, according to MFP 1.3lbs a week. If I do a hell of a lot of exercise (which i am doing) and eat ALL or most of my exercise calories then I will lose....1.3lbs a week!
I am keen to get fit and have gotten to love the gym (I go 5 x a week) so I am not looking for an excuse to lie on the couch but I just don't get how this can be the case?

If there were identical twins who weighed the same and one exercised and ate the exercise calories and one ate the recommended calories but did no exercise would they (assuming a comparable metabolism) lose the same amount of weight??

Thanks, Ali x

Replies

  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    No, not necessarily, because they're 2 different people. Yes, they have the same gene pool but it's the same case as with brothers and sisters: Me, my oldest brother & my sister all have to watch what we eat and exercise to maintain our weight. Our other brother can eat whatever he wants and exercise and be ripped. We all have the same genes but not EXACTLY the same makeup.

    Everyone loses weight differently. MFP doesn't take into account our genes and family medical histories or personal medical problems so it can't TELL you how much you'll lose. It can only generate how much you should lose, should you have the perfect family history, perfect gene pool, perfect metabolism, etc.

    And yes, you should lose the same amount, exercise or not. Food is your fuel. If you burn off some of it, that's fuel used. Think of it this way: If you fill up your car and don't go anywhere, you don't need any more gas, right? But if you drive around all day, you'll probably be left with about half a tank, and then guess what? You need more gas!! When you use what's replenishing and nourishing your body (as your body is supposed to do), you have to put it back. It's like borrowing something. If you borrow something from someone... you have to give it back.
  • jenjen84
    jenjen84 Posts: 117 Member
    Yes, if you both were eating 1200 calories but only one was working out you would both lose weight but the other one would be healthier and would be losing fat, but you would be losing more muscle, so you would be basically all fat. It's like people who are anorexic, yeah they are 80 pounds but they are 80 pounds of fat.

    At least that is how I understand it! Hope that helps!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Yes, but one twin would be in much better shape, and probably have much lower body fat %. MFP sets you up in a caloric deficit based on your goal. i.e. 1 pound per week. if you exercise and don't eat the calories you may loose more than the 1 pound goal, or your metabolism may slow down, due to not enough fuel, and you may actually loose less than the 1 pound per week.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    No, not necessarily, because they're 2 different people. Yes, they have the same gene pool but it's the same case as with brothers and sisters: Me, my oldest brother & my sister all have to watch what we eat and exercise to maintain our weight. Our other brother can eat whatever he wants and exercise and be ripped. We all have the same genes but not EXACTLY the same makeup.

    Actually siblings are only a 50% genetic match, identical twins are a 100% match, so the poster's theory should be correct.
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    No, not necessarily, because they're 2 different people. Yes, they have the same gene pool but it's the same case as with brothers and sisters: Me, my oldest brother & my sister all have to watch what we eat and exercise to maintain our weight. Our other brother can eat whatever he wants and exercise and be ripped. We all have the same genes but not EXACTLY the same makeup.

    Actually siblings are only a 50% genetic match, identical twins are a 100% match, so the poster's theory should be correct.

    Ah, I see. I didn't realize she wrote identical. He's right.
  • donna56
    donna56 Posts: 412

    And yes, you should lose the same amount, exercise or not. Food is your fuel. If you burn off some of it, that's fuel used. Think of it this way: If you fill up your car and don't go anywhere, you don't need any more gas, right? But if you drive around all day, you'll probably be left with about half a tank, and then guess what? You need more gas!! When you use what's replenishing and nourishing your body (as your body is supposed to do), you have to put it back. It's like borrowing something. If you borrow something from someone... you have to give it back.

    I think this is the best explaination I have heard for those who wonder about eating their excercise calories. Thank You :flowerforyou:
  • mabear74
    mabear74 Posts: 248

    And yes, you should lose the same amount, exercise or not. Food is your fuel. If you burn off some of it, that's fuel used. Think of it this way: If you fill up your car and don't go anywhere, you don't need any more gas, right? But if you drive around all day, you'll probably be left with about half a tank, and then guess what? You need more gas!! When you use what's replenishing and nourishing your body (as your body is supposed to do), you have to put it back. It's like borrowing something. If you borrow something from someone... you have to give it back.


    I used this explanation with my Teenage Daughter, and it was the first thing that really seemed to hit home with her.
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
    MFP gives estimates only of calories burned DURING the actual workout time. Exercise results in Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), which can raise metabolism for a period AFTER the workout. Certain ways of working out (high intensity interval training and resistance training, for example) can have the potential to raise metabolic rate quite considerably for a period of several hours following a workout. So, the twin who is exercising will likely not be burning the exact same amount of calories while at rest as the twin who is not exercising, depending upon what is counted as "exercise".
  • alisonengland
    alisonengland Posts: 110 Member
    Yes, if you both were eating 1200 calories but only one was working out you would both lose weight but the other one would be healthier and would be losing fat, but you would be losing more muscle, so you would be basically all fat. It's like people who are anorexic, yeah they are 80 pounds but they are 80 pounds of fat.

    At least that is how I understand it! Hope that helps!

    Thanks for all the replies..especially this one. :noway: Gee...I got this awful image of myself wobbling around like a big fat jelly!!
    I just want one big week...one biggest loser week to spur me on....I crawl back from the gym every night and some weeks I have lost half a pound and want to sob as it seems all for nothing!
  • Yurippe
    Yurippe Posts: 850 Member
    One pound of fat equals 3500 calories. Divided that by seven (days in a week) and that would equal 500 calories a day. So if you know how many calories your body burns in a day and you put yourself at a 500 calorie deficit every day you *should* lose 1 pound per week. That deficit can come from food or exercise and the body gets the deficit calories it needs to function by eating itself. LOL
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