Gaining Weight After Eating Back Exercise Calories

Nan_
Nan_ Posts: 83 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This last week I've been eating back most of my exercise calories, or trying to anyway. MFP has me set at 1200 and I'm trying to lose the recommended pound a week. Previously I wasn't eating back my calories and lost ten pounds (2 pounds BEFORE starting to consistently log on here).

Due to some stomach issues I decided to try eating back half to nearly all of my exercise calories in hopes that it would help me feel better. I've done that for about a week now and I have gained two pounds. I am not going OVER the daily calorie limit and my exercise routine hasn't changed, so I can't account for the weight gain. In fact, my eating habits haven't really changed other than just eating a bit more fruits and vegies to fill out the extra calories.

My sodium intake is well within the amount allowed and usually on the low side even.

Does anyone know if the weight gain is supposed to level out? I am willing to wait it out if a weight gain is expected, as long as I can start losing again. Has anyone typically gained some weight back and then begun losing again? I know every body is different, of course, but I just don't want to gain it all back. Thanks for any help you can give!

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    This last week I've been eating back most of my exercise calories, or trying to anyway. MFP has me set at 1200 and I'm trying to lose the recommended pound a week. Previously I wasn't eating back my calories and lost ten pounds (2 pounds BEFORE starting to consistently log on here).

    Due to some stomach issues I decided to try eating back my exercise calories in hopes that it would help me feel better. I've done that for about a week now and I have gained two pounds. I am not going OVER the daily calorie limit and my exercise routine hasn't changed, so I can't account for the weight gain. In fact, my eating habits haven't really changed other than just eating a bit more fruits and vegies to fill out the extra calories.

    My sodium intake is well within the amount allowed and usually on the low side even.

    Does anyone know if the weight gain is supposed to level out? I am willing to wait it out if a weight gain is expected, as long as I can start losing again. Has anyone typically gained some weight back and then begun losing again? I know every body is different, of course, but I just don't want to gain it all back. Thanks for any help you can give!

    It's very common to gain "water" weight back once you start eating extra calories. It's your body not used to the addition calories. You have also probably increase carbs which means your body will store extra glycogen/water. This will level out within a month or less. Also, if MFP estimates your calories from exercise, eat 50-75% of them.
  • ouryear002
    ouryear002 Posts: 325 Member
    One week doesn't mean that much, so I wouldn't worry too much yet. That said, how are you tracking exercise calories burned? Are you using MFP or a heart rate monitor? MFP numbers are usually high for me, since I don't have a ton to lose and I'm a little older, so I go by the HRM numbers or don't eat all of the exercise calories back. Good luck!
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Yeah, don't worry about the extra weight at this point. If it constantly goes up, then worry. Extra carbs will mean extra glycogen stores, which require water as mentioned above.
  • Brent_J
    Brent_J Posts: 54
    I always try to overestimate my eating calories and underestimate my exercise calories. And I really try to avoid eating back ALL my exercise calories. Maybe 50% or so, but never all of them.
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    You lost weight because you were starving yourself. 1200 is not enough for most people and definitely not enough if you're exercising and NOT eating back... that means you were netting way under 1200 a day. That's called the anorexia plan.

    Other thoughts.

    1. If you're not wearing a good HRM with a chest strap, you are probably seriously overestimating what you're burning. If you're eating it all back now, you may be eating a lot more than you think.

    2. If you're not at least 50-75lbs overweight, you should not be setting your goal at 2lbs a week. If you're trying to lose your last 20, it should be at 1/2lb a week so you can start learning how to eat as a lifestile closer to your maintenance.

    3. I don't know your height/weight/age/activity setting etc.... all of that matters when figuring out your mfp settings.

    4. If you're still using the defaul mfp settings.. you might want to consider modifying them a bit. I changed mine to 40% protein, 30% carb, 30% fat - it works for me. The default MFP settings are completely opposite of what I want to eat ---
  • julielaurin
    julielaurin Posts: 2 Member
    I try to forget about the exercise calories - why waste the work you just did (just my thoughts). Keep going don't let this get you down!!!
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Jumping straight from not eating them back to eating them in one week may have been a shock to the system. If you are sure your burns are pretty accurate it may be as well to have a week eating 1/2 of them back, then 3/4 and then up to all.
  • nelsoji
    nelsoji Posts: 79 Member
    How are you calculating the calories burned during your workout? If I log a run on here, and say I am running at a 12 minute mile pace (which is about accurate for me right now), it says I will burn 642 calories in 30 minutes. I wear a Heart rate monitor and it tells me I burn roughly 300 calories - maybe 350 tops on any given day, so if I ate back what MFP said I burned, I would eat an extra 300 calories. On a 60 minute exercise routine - that could really over-estimate calories!!

    I know multiple people said that - so just thought I would throw out an example from my experience :-)
  • JamieAbnowski
    JamieAbnowski Posts: 18 Member
    FYI, The same thing happened to me. I kept getting the alert that I was eating too few of calories because I wasn't eating back my exercise calories. It sounds like I have a similiar diet to you as well and when I added back about 75% of my "exercise" calories, I gained a lot (4lbs) the following week. Like everything else, it will balance itself out in time.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    I try to forget about the exercise calories - why waste the work you just did (just my thoughts). Keep going don't let this get you down!!!

    This is OK if you only exercise a couple of hundred calories here and there but if you're burning lots of extra calories you need to eat more or else you just won't be getting enough nutrition to fuel your body healthily.
  • steelersfamily6
    steelersfamily6 Posts: 138 Member
    In the beginning I would never eat back my exercise calories & believe me I got a lot of crap for it but I had to try it to see what was going to happen. I truly believe we can not put our bodies into starvation mode as long as we have a higher fat percentage. I have struggled back & forth with the whole idea of eating back my exercise calories so for a little while I tried it and gained as well. I have lost 53.6 lbs in the past 6 months and I have never starved myself, I have listened to my body & if I am hungry then I will eat a small snack in between meals, if I am not I don't. You honestly have to find what works for you bc what might work for one of us, it won't work for you. If you feel like giving another week then do it but always remember that it takes 3500 calories to gain or lose a lb. Have you figured out what your BMR is? Check this website out http://www.everydayhealth.com/toolkit/bmr-calculator.aspx
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    You've already waited a week.......Id try switching things up again......Just keep switching them around till you get the results you want.
  • Shweedog
    Shweedog Posts: 883 Member
    It will even out. You'd have to eat 1000 cals/day above what your maintenance cals per day are in order to gain 2 lbs in one week. If you didn't do that then there's no way you gained 2 lbs of fat in a week.
  • Serenstar75
    Serenstar75 Posts: 258 Member
    Everyone has a theory about this, and there are MANY different theories floating around. I'm learning to pretty much listen to my body. Make sure you're also drinking plenty of water. I don't eat back most of my exercise calories. It depends on the day. I usually eat at least 1300-1600 calories per day every day regardless of exercise. My exercise never goes above 400 calories. I don't use MFP numbers for my calorie burns. I am far from starving. I'm usually very full and snack all day long. Nuts with low salt are a yummy snack with some yummy protein. I do that more than fruit.
  • jennadiane_
    jennadiane_ Posts: 36 Member
    I eat enough back just to meet the net 1200 calories MFP suggests. Since I started doing that the numbers starting going down much more steadily. I used to not eat back my exercise calories and was netting way under 1200 and was gaining weight! But these lovely folks instructed me you need to meet your goal at least. So eat back some, not all.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    It might be something as simple as water retention from some other factor than sodium, but I see in your diary that your calorie burns are very low numbers. I would suggest maybe trying to get more exercise if you want to up your calorie intake a little more. If you've been doing the same thing for a while, your body becomes used to that, and it might be time to kick things up a notch or two.

    Otherwise, if you're usually only burning 128 calories a day, not eating them back is definitely not something to be overly concerned about (its the really high calorie burns that are going to make your body NEED more fuel).
  • runnerchick69
    runnerchick69 Posts: 317 Member
    How are you calculating the calories burned during your workout? If I log a run on here, and say I am running at a 12 minute mile pace (which is about accurate for me right now), it says I will burn 642 calories in 30 minutes. I wear a Heart rate monitor and it tells me I burn roughly 300 calories - maybe 350 tops on any given day, so if I ate back what MFP said I burned, I would eat an extra 300 calories. On a 60 minute exercise routine - that could really over-estimate calories!!

    I know multiple people said that - so just thought I would throw out an example from my experience :-)

    I think MFP does over estimate what you actually burn. I have three calorie calculators that I use and I take the average from all three; ok so it sounds a little crazy but it works :wink: A lot of time when I'm on the bike for 90 to 120 minutes I even cut 100-200 off what it says I burn because I would rather underestimate than go over. We can track our food and that does help but I've read articles that say that can be up or down by 20% because portion sizes aren't exact. There is no real perfect answer so we just have to do the best we can and maybe run that extra mile just for some padding :smile:
  • AnneC77
    AnneC77 Posts: 284
    I also read somewhere that MFP overestimate calories burned during exercise, so I always put down what the exercise machine said I lost and even then I don't take that as gospel. If this is the case then you may have been eating more calories than you actually lost x
  • Nan_
    Nan_ Posts: 83 Member
    Thank you all so much for your help, I think it's really nice that you stopped and took the time to help me! I really appreciate all your advice. It's encouraging to know that YOU are all having success with this and that I can too.

    I have not been eating over my daily calorie amount (except for eating back the calories) so maybe it's either water weight or I just seriously overestimated my exercise. I did an online calculator thing and for my height, weight, age and lightly active (I exercise 5 days a week so assume that's lightly active) it said I should be eating 1222 calories to lose.

    I do not have anything that tells me the calories burned (I forget what it's called). I just pretended I was walking for 3.5 mph for 30 minutes and let MFP set the calories burned because that's what I used to do before my treadmill broke.

    Currently I alternate between doing Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 workout (and adding ten more minutes of cardio to make it an even 30 minutes) or I do Zumba for 30 minutes.

    I know that I am sweating and winded when I am done exercising but don't know how much I've burned. I don't think I'm burning a lot though.

    I used to do Zumba for 60 minutes but lately I just don't have the time, so I've been doing 30 minutes for the last month instead. Maybe I'd better look into getting one of those monitors.
  • Logsv
    Logsv Posts: 36
    I never eat mine back just to meet the MFP suggested goal. Sometimes I drink them back after a long day but thats a different story :P
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    I wouldn't bother with a heart rate monitor. Studies show even the good ones overestimate by over 30% for females (well, just one Polar model was tested). For a 30 minute workout I would just guess, if you have to log it at all. It should be 200-300 calories, it sounds like.

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