calories deficit question
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I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
Not a good idea long term.
but they do that on the biggest loser...0 -
I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
Not a good idea long term.
but they do that on the biggest loser...0 -
I'm confused about this as well. I just changed my goals to 1 pound a week instead of 1 1/2. MFP says I should net 1540 calories a day. If I exercise and burn 300 calories, should I be eating 1840? I don't understand this, what's the point of burning calories just to put them right back in? Also, 1840 seems ridiculously high. Since I've joined MFP I have stayed under my calories all week, exercised nearly every day, and drank tons of water. Today it's been a week since I joined and I've gained 3 pounds! Is this normal? I'm doing everything MFP is telling me too for the most part, except for going over my sodium a few times. I don't want to give up, but it is very disheartening to see that I've gained three pounds in my first week. I know I shouldn't expect results right away but still....
My Husband has had the same results as you. He is getting unmotivated too because he is not losing.
It could be a function of how far under your calories you are staying and if exercise was not part of your routine before. Your body may be entering starvation mode because you are not eating enough. This will lead it to retain water and calories. Also - sodium can be an issue depending on what you are eating too. Try eating your recommended number of calories. I am at 1825 plus I eat back 300 - 600 calories worth of exercise and I lost 3 lbs this week.0 -
someone else pointed this out an im gonna repeat. what iz tha point in exercising for weight loss if u just eat them all back? 1200-1500 is good if ur short. if ur taller then 1500-2000 is okay.
Oh, you are just confused, but never fear, many are.
Exercise is NOT for weight loss, exercise is for body improvement which is usually weight gain, but if done right can support weight and hopefully ONLY fat loss.
Diet is for weight loss, and if done right just fat loss.
You merely need to eat less than what you burn all day, and if you make the deficit reasonable and eat enough protein, you can encourage just fat loss.
Now, what happens on days when you exercise? Do you burn more or less than days you don't exercise? Why would you make the deficit bigger on days you exercise - the exact days your body really wants to make improvement from the exercise (or possibly within 24hrs of it)?
If you don't want improvement to your body from exercise - stop exercising.
So lets say you've set the goal loss to 1 lb weekly, that means you need 500 calorie deficit daily.
Let's say on non-exercise days you are estimated to burn 1800 calories - then you eat 1300 calories.
But on 2400 calorie exercise day - you eat now 1900 calories.
See what happened there - you got your 500 calorie deficit on both days.
And your body can make improvements from the exercise because you gave it enough.
If you are firmly of the belief that bigger deficit is better, and exercise making a big deficit and not eating much making a big deficit is better - then STOP eating, totally.
If bigger is better, that would be the ultimate right? And if you think that is stupid idea - why?0 -
I'm confused about this as well. I just changed my goals to 1 pound a week instead of 1 1/2. MFP says I should net 1540 calories a day. If I exercise and burn 300 calories, should I be eating 1840? I don't understand this, what's the point of burning calories just to put them right back in? Also, 1840 seems ridiculously high. Since I've joined MFP I have stayed under my calories all week, exercised nearly every day, and drank tons of water. Today it's been a week since I joined and I've gained 3 pounds! Is this normal? I'm doing everything MFP is telling me too for the most part, except for going over my sodium a few times. I don't want to give up, but it is very disheartening to see that I've gained three pounds in my first week. I know I shouldn't expect results right away but still....
My Husband has had the same results as you. He is getting unmotivated too because he is not losing.
It could be a function of how far under your calories you are staying and if exercise was not part of your routine before. Your body may be entering starvation mode because you are not eating enough. This will lead it to retain water and calories. Also - sodium can be an issue depending on what you are eating too. Try eating your recommended number of calories. I am at 1825 plus I eat back 300 - 600 calories worth of exercise and I lost 3 lbs this week.
Nobody is entering starvation mode unless they've been eating at a very low calorie for a very long time. Everyone will be different on the amount of weight they lose because it depends on exercise, total calorie intake, the size of the person to begin with, etc.
While I doubt anyone in this thread is entering starvation mode, I will hazard a guess that some are eating way below what they should be eating thinking they will lose weight faster. This isn't a speed game, it's more of a patient game. If you end up eating too little for too long, then you will screw with your metabolism. The human body is a wonderfully adaptive thing. It's primary goal is to survive. If you feed it too little it will adjust to make that little bit last as long as possible, which means slowing down the metabolism. What this does later on is requires you to keep as active as possible and continue to live on a lower calorie diet that you could be enjoying. IF you let things go too long, then you will gain what the body doesn't burn as a reserve, and when you want to lose it again, it will be much harder.
Calories are fuel, either you take in enough fuel to keep your body functioning right or you body will adjust to the fuel you give it. When you eat less than your body burns in a day (or week) then the body will pull from the energy stores it has, this is both fat and muscle. Exercise and specifically heavy lifting to help maintain the muscle so the body will focus more on the fat stores. While eating less calories makes people think that the body will "attack" the fat more, that's not exactly the case, we need to feed the body properly and it will take care of the rest.0 -
Exercise isn't for weight loss, folks. It's for fitness (very different from weight loss) and health.
90% of weight loss is diet, poor nutrition and a ton of exercise still leaves you fat. No exercise and great nutrition will result in weight loss.
Sure, if you don't eat all of the calories back exercise aides weight loss but it's fairly insignificant. Think about it.. If you are a 200 pound male you'd have to exercise an hour a day for 7 days to burn one pound of fat. OTOH, you can simply eat 500 calories less than maintenance and burn 1 pound per week.
Also, look at it this way. In a month if you are in a 500 calorie per day deficit you will create a deficit of 15000 calories, that's 4.3 pounds. If you workout 4 days per week for 45 minutes, that's 6400 calories per month or not even 2 pounds.
Take that over a year that's 52 pounds from diet, 22 from exercise and that's assuming you never miss a workout.
Personally, I eat some of the calories back but not all of them.0 -
I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
Not a good idea long term.
but they do that on the biggest loser...0 -
Exercise isn't for weight loss, folks. It's for fitness (very different from weight loss) and health.
90% of weight loss is diet, poor nutrition and a ton of exercise still leaves you fat. No exercise and great nutrition will result in weight loss.
Sure, if you don't eat all of the calories back exercise aides weight loss but it's fairly insignificant. Think about it.. If you are a 200 pound male you'd have to exercise an hour a day for 7 days to burn one pound of fat. OTOH, you can simply eat 500 calories less than maintenance and burn 1 pound per week.
Also, look at it this way. In a month if you are in a 500 calorie per day deficit you will create a deficit of 15000 calories, that's 4.3 pounds. If you workout 4 days per week for 45 minutes, that's 6400 calories per month or not even 2 pounds.
Take that over a year that's 52 pounds from diet, 22 from exercise and that's assuming you never miss a workout.
Personally, I eat some of the calories back but not all of them.
ur the only one who actually explained it properly. :glasses:0 -
someone else pointed this out an im gonna repeat. what iz tha point in exercising for weight loss if u just eat them all back? 1200-1500 is good if ur short. if ur taller then 1500-2000 is okay.
Oh, you are just confused, but never fear, many are.
Exercise is NOT for weight loss, exercise is for body improvement which is usually weight gain, but if done right can support weight and hopefully ONLY fat loss.
Diet is for weight loss, and if done right just fat loss.
You merely need to eat less than what you burn all day, and if you make the deficit reasonable and eat enough protein, you can encourage just fat loss.
Now, what happens on days when you exercise? Do you burn more or less than days you don't exercise? Why would you make the deficit bigger on days you exercise - the exact days your body really wants to make improvement from the exercise (or possibly within 24hrs of it)?
If you don't want improvement to your body from exercise - stop exercising.
So lets say you've set the goal loss to 1 lb weekly, that means you need 500 calorie deficit daily.
Let's say on non-exercise days you are estimated to burn 1800 calories - then you eat 1300 calories.
But on 2400 calorie exercise day - you eat now 1900 calories.
See what happened there - you got your 500 calorie deficit on both days.
And your body can make improvements from the exercise because you gave it enough.
If you are firmly of the belief that bigger deficit is better, and exercise making a big deficit and not eating much making a big deficit is better - then STOP eating, totally.
If bigger is better, that would be the ultimate right? And if you think that is stupid idea - why?0 -
exercise iz not for weight loss?....my life iz a lie
yes. all 15 years of it.0 -
exercise iz not for weight loss?....my life iz a lie
yes. all 15 years of it.0 -
Thank you for your post0
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Do MFP developers look at these posts!? This is a frequent question and it would be awesome if the app itself had some kind of obvious indicator to inform people about exercise calories and whether they should eat them back.0
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Do MFP developers look at these posts!? This is a frequent question and it would be awesome if the app itself had some kind of obvious indicator to inform people about exercise calories and whether they should eat them back.
They do obfuscate the info, that's for sure.
But really, people are blindly following an eating goal already, they rarely know why it's whatever it is. "MFP told me ....". Without knowing it's their selection of activity level and weight loss goal that made it whatever.
You log exercise calories, that goal goes up.
Why wouldn't you blindly follow that new goal amount?
You had no idea what the original was based on, so the fact you may not know why it changed shouldn't matter either.
Just blindly follow it.
I think it's because so many already know about the idea of 1200 calorie diets - they screw themselves over thinking they know what's right when they have no clue.0
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