Eating back exercise cals does not wok for me

PhattiPhat

I don't think eating more to lose more is anything more than anecdotal. Keep doing what works for you. Less calories can only equal more weight loss (unless you're too hungry to work out- which doesn't sound like the case with you).

I always hear people talk about how they needed to eat more to lose more, it never seems to be coming from anyone particularly fit.

Umm....fo realz?

bagge72

Honestly you aren't making good food choices. I think you are taking the saying, "you can eat what you want, and still lose weight" too literally. Looking at your diary some days you are having 2,000 calories in just ice cream, or a bunch of hot dogs, or pizza, or Jack Daniels pulled pork, or rotisserie chicken, there isn't a day where you make a healthy choice. So pretty much every day you are having high sodium, high carb meals, and way over estimating your calories burned. On days I run 6-7 miles, I don't have that many exercise calories burned. You really need to reevaluate what you are eating, because they aren't good choices to have every single day, you need to pick and choose what days you can have those foods, and stop over estimating your calories just so you can go back to eating the way that made you gain weight in the first place.

BeachIron

1. You eat more than you think
2. You burn less calories than you think

put 1 and 2 together and you got weight gain. stop lying to yourself when you log your food and exercise.

Maybe not the nicest way to put it, but nonetheless the most truthful advice.

Weigh and measure absolutely everything you eat, don't forget to weigh even a teaspoon of oil, ketchup, dressing, that one cracker or handful of chips you grab from the pantry, etc. because those calories add up quickly.

The calorie burn is off with a lot of the cardio listed. A good estimate if you don't want to get a HRM is 350 calories/hour for intense, 300 for moderate exercise. Obviously that is not accurate for everyone, but it's a good estimate. Calories burned from exercise are very hard to estimate because it is different for everyone based on age, weight, fitness level, hormones, etc.

^ This. So many people get it wrong by not accurately logging and overestimating their exercise calories burned. Buy a kitchen scale and measuring cups, and a heart rate monitor.

Edit: I just took a look at your diary. You're not even close to trying yet. I'd be happy to help, as would many other people here on MFP, but you have to try first.

smalls9686

I've read the topics here on eating back exercise cals and had some comments that said I needed to eat more. But I'm here to say that eating back the cals is making me gain. I've put on five pounds and it's NOT muscle.

I'm going back to what was working, 1200-1400 cals a day and keeping my workout cals burned to boost my fat loss.

The theory sounds good, eat more and lose, but it's not happening for me.

I also think that MFP way inflates the cals earned during exercise.

Funny I posted about this (sorta) of last night. I am seeing a doctor for "supervised medical weight loss" and was advised to eat 900-1100 and eat more if I felt hungry 300-400 more of healthy foods to replace some exercise calories if my body "told me" I needed to. But that I shouldn't feel compelled to eat just because MFP said so. I think as long as you make sure you are getting in good amounts of protein in (I adjusted my goals to make my protein intake 35-40%) and you are getting in some strength training you will be fine as far as the lost of muscle goes.

You WILL experience MORE plateaus with not eating the exercise calories back IMHO but as long as you are patient and keep in mind that your weight will eventually catch up as long as you continue to keep doing what your doing just don't give up!

Good luck to you!

mscolleen2003

I wear a body media on my left leg at all time. It has really given me an accurate picture of what I am burning. But could I eat all them back no way. But I do eat some back.

trogalicious

I wear a body media on my left leg at all time. It has really given me an accurate picture of what I am burning. But could I eat all them back no way. But I do eat some back.

bodymedia is, if I'm thinking correctly, part of what you're burning through the course of the day.. just by existing. IF that's the case, how are you not feeding your body those calories to keep the base functions of your body working? Those aren't EXTRA calories.. those are "HI Colleen, I'm your spleen and I'm working. I'll need you to pay me 200 calories to keep on going, mkay?" calories. You're paying your guts to keep working.

rbn_held

eating them all back worked for me when I was first starting out but now that I am getting closer to my goal I am finding that it is not working for me as well. I usually still try to eat half of them back but it just depends. Everyones body is different, you have to find out what works best for you. Usually I stick to 1200-1400 calories a day unless I can't get in a workout that day and then I try not to go over 1200.

tracymnx

Im sorry but honestly I dont think you are burning anywhere near 2000 cals a day. If you were, and if you were only eating 1200-1400 cals a day then its a miracle you are even able to get out of bed in the first place. The ONLY way to accurately measure cals burned is with a HRM combined with religiously weighing and logging EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth.

RunForChai

Ive just taken a look at your diary, what exercise are you doing to burn up to 2000 calories a day?

Food wise, days like Sun May 12th look quite good (good amount of protein, carbs and fats). Maybe add another snack into a day like that or eat a bigger portion if youre doing a lot of exercise. Much better than the day where you had chips for lunch (chips arent a meal!)

I swim about two miles per day. Some days more, rarely less. I've also been double digging a new garden and been at that for most of last week. Since the digging is well outside of my range of normal activities, I've added it as exercise. I've also started walking more, now that I m stronger than I was two months ago.

And I've looked at heart rate monitors, but haven't found one that will work underwater for that length of time. I do take my own heart rate and am consistently in cardio range or my age/ weight.

beachlover317

One of the main problems with losing weight is that we want to give ourselves the maximum calories burned for every work out and we want to underestimate how much we are really eating.

Food scale and heart rate monitor. You will NEVER really know what is accurate until you can accurately measure both exercise and food. Then the weight will come off. Until then, we're just shooting in the dark. Good luck.

ktliu

I peeked at your calorie vs exercise. I think the calories on exercise are kinda high, like 10 mins of breast stroke for over 200 calories that you logged.(not knowing your weight is kinda hard to gauge) The real thing is to get a Heart Rate monitor (HRM) and log it properly. And also your afternoon snack of dairy queen is what's problematic about your diet.

I'm on a 1200 calorie plan (with the aid of a diet pill) Heavy exercise. and I eat back most of my calories and (stay under my quota almost everyday). lost 30 lbs in 4 months. My starting weight is 208, now I'm 178. And I wear a HRM to exercise 95 percent of the time.

Also eating clean makes it easier to lose weight, High sugar,salt and fat. makes the weight harder to come off(nothing scientific on my part but personal experience)

The math is simple, but the data has to be correct.

I hope this helps, This is meant for helping and not criticizing , Hope I didn't come off to harsh.

Have a great day.

trogalicious

You need these.

NEED.

Crankstr

I don't think eating more to lose more is anything more than anecdotal. Keep doing what works for you. Less calories can only equal more weight loss (unless you're too hungry to work out- which doesn't sound like the case with you).

I always hear people talk about how they needed to eat more to lose more, it never seems to be coming from anyone particularly fit.

41 year old piano teacher...getting more fit every day...eating MORE than what i thought was necessary to lose weight.
So many people fail because they try to set a way low calorie number and restrict themselves too much, and wind up with difficulty adhering to it
Being happy is an important part of success, eating a little more but still at a deficit WORKS.


***that being said, I do think the OP needs to weigh and measure, and log more realistic calorie burns.

Bernadette60614

Everyone here is an individual and what works for one person may or may not work for another...I think that there are simply too many variables.

What I ate at 25 on a weekend (cheese pizza, cracker jacks, burgers, full fat chips) and still stay thin, would put 10 lbs on me by Monday now.

I just think your body changes over time...aging, hormonal shifts, et al.

Just see what works for you and go with that....

ktliu

There is no way that you are burning 2000 calories each day, my husband does a 5 hour cycle and he burn 2000... I am more than positive you aren't burning that much energy... I would suggest a heart rate monitor ... I find swimming doesn't burn as much as a 2 mile run!

It's higher than I would think , but I didn't know her weight.

ktliu

http://www.heartratewatchcompany.com/swim-watch-s/166.htm

read towards the bottom, it might solve your swimming HRM problem

4_Lisa

I was originally slated for 1450 calories when I started at 285lbs, I dont eat back exercise calories unless I'm hungry after my regular allowance, and then it's usually a protein shake or bar. I have lost almost 60lbs and still eat around 1450 calories. even though MFP keeps trying to drop my intake.

things don't always work for everyone, you know your body, and as long as you are not going without, and you have good healthy food that properly fuels your body, I don't see the problem. Good luck

kitka82

1. Yes. For most people the calorie burns may be inaccurate. Some may be higher, some maybe lower.

2. I'm glad you realize you didn't gain 5 pounds of muscle.

3. You should still eat back most of your exercise calories. The fact that you 'gained 5 pounds' doesn't mean it was 5 pounds of fat. So many things contribute to your weight that using only the scale isn't an accurate way to measure progress. You should weigh yourself once a week, and at the same time every week. You should also be taking waist, hip, and thigh measurements as well.

4. Not eating back your exercise calories will raise your cortisol levels and your body will be more likely to use muscle tissue as fuel than fat. This will eventually slow down your BMR and make losing weight even more difficult.

5. I would suggest that you a) remain patient b) slightly lower calories by 150-250 per week c) start taking measurements.

All of this and more. But you know what they say - different strokes for different folks. I lost 60 pounds using just a 10-15% deficit from my TDEE. I lost more steadily (1 pound a week) when I ate 1700-1800 calories than I did when I ate 1500 or lower. But that's just me.

shyroxxy82

I never understood WHY they want you to eat back those Cal you burned? Doesnt that defeat the purpose of burning them?? I mean in order to LOSE the weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume in a day! Just sounds so silly to me to eat them back, i never do!!

kitka82

You need these.

NEED.

I just bought my first food scale. LOVE it.