Questions about Exercise and calorie intake

evaeva28

Hi Everyone, I need some help from those of you who have been exercising for a while. I have been working to lose weight since December. I have lost 20 lbs total since then and now that I have picked up my exercising I have a few questions and concerns. Here is what I do weekly:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday - one of Leslie Sansone's 5 mile workouts with the boosts. I do high impact through at least 3 of the miles and then I added in weights to help firm up my arms. Then I also walk twice at work during my breaks. We do a very brisk pace about 4.5 MPH and about 1.5 miles.
On Wednesday only I also walk at night with my kids. We walk to the park and then I walk the path there which ends up being about 1.5 miles according to my pedometer. I do that at a pace of about 4.5 MPH.

Tuesday / Thursday - Leslie Sansone's bootcamp workout. 3 miles which are intervals of walk, jog, and strength training. Then I also do a very fast walk before work. We do about 1.7 miles in less than 20 minutes. Then I also walk twice during my breaks at the same pace and distance as on Monday.

Saturday OR Sunday - Leslie Sansone's Boot camp workout and house cleaning )

So my question is do you think this is too much? I feel good and I am actually depending on my workouts and walks for energy but I am not losing weight at the rate I would think I would be. I was thinking all this work should be at least 2 lbs a week ... which is what I was hoping for ... but it has only been 1 lb a week so far. Is it possible to work out too much?

So we talk food. I have noticed that my calorie intake has gone down only because of the choices that I am now making. Well the last 2 days I have felt like I am STARVING! From the minute I wake up to after dinner. I am trying to not eat so much but it is getting harder. Is this feeling of hunger all the time a bad thing? I don't starve myself and I try to eat fruit or a light yogurt when I get hungry between meals and snacks but I don't want to overdo it. According to the reports available here I am taking in between 1200 and 1400 calories a day. Could this be too little for the amount of exercise I am doing?

Thanks to everyone in advance for your help and responses! Have a great day!!
-Eva

erickirb

You should eat most of your extra calories burned through exercise, as per MFP. This will give you more energy to perform your workouts and should keep your metabolism running.

beutiful5678

I jut read this great post (from a couple of years ago) about eating your exercise calories. From the amount of exercising you're doing it sounds like you are not eating your exercise calories if you are only eating 1200-1400 calories. Please read the post because it delves into exactly why this is important. (It's a bit heavy in the scientific terminology but it was, I'm sure, quite simplified considering.)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

Azdak

There are some researchers who suggest that the more you reduce your body fat/lean mass ratio, the more your body makes up for a high caloric deficit by utilizing lean mass instead of fat. When body fat levels are high, the body will draw more on fat reserves in response to a large caloric deficit, but that changes as fat levels reduce. So what worked in the beginning may not work as well down the road.

In terms of exercise, I don't think you are doing too much. I would consider most of your walks as falling into the "casual activity" category rather than the "exercise" category.

So I would increase that calorie intake somewhat (I wouldn't try to eat back all the exercise calories, because the estimates of calories burned is only about 80% accurate at best, whether using MFP or a HRM).

And I would also look into being a little more aggressive in your strength training.

havingitall

You should not feel starving at any time. There are enough healthy foods out there that you can eat. I make sure I have breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid- afternoon snack and dinner every day. I never get to the starving zone then and I am not inclined to binge.

If I am doing a heavy duty workout ( 2 hours + at the gym burning around 1500 calories) I know I am going to be ravenous. I also know I have lots of extra calories to play with and I can fuel my body right.

The goal is not to come under your recommended calories. It is to come close to them

havingitall

There are some researchers who suggest that the more you reduce your body fat/lean mass ratio, the more your body makes up for a high caloric deficit by utilizing lean mass instead of fat. When body fat levels are high, the body will draw more on fat reserves in response to a large caloric deficit, but that changes as fat levels reduce. So what worked in the beginning may not work as well down the road.

In terms of exercise, I don't think you are doing too much. I would consider most of your walks as falling into the "casual activity" category rather than the "exercise" category.

So I would increase that calorie intake somewhat (I wouldn't try to eat back all the exercise calories, because the estimates of calories burned is only about 80% accurate at best, whether using MFP or a HRM).

And I would also look into being a little more aggressive in your strength training.

He brings up another good point. STart doing some workouts with weights. You will build lean muscle and that burns more calories. Don't worry about bulking up or the fact that muscle weighs more than fat.....you won't build that much muscle

evaeva28

I jut read this great post (from a couple of years ago) about eating your exercise calories. From the amount of exercising you're doing it sounds like you are not eating your exercise calories if you are only eating 1200-1400 calories. Please read the post because it delves into exactly why this is important. (It's a bit heavy in the scientific terminology but it was, I'm sure, quite simplified considering.)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I jut read this great post (from a couple of years ago) about eating your exercise calories. From the amount of exercising you're doing it sounds like you are not eating your exercise calories if you are only eating 1200-1400 calories. Please read the post because it delves into exactly why this is important. (It's a bit heavy in the scientific terminology but it was, I'm sure, quite simplified considering.)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

Thank you so much for this link! It answers SO many of my questions and now it all makes sense to me!!

Thank you everyone else for your responses! Here are my new goals for the weeks to come:
1. Eat more during snacks and meals to add more calories.
2. Incorporate some weight training into my day .. probably 3 days a week at home on our home gym.
3. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will chose a workout that has more strength training and firming in it.

Thanks again everyone!! It all makes SO much more sense now! Have a great weekend!!