Am I burning or storing? Please Help!!!!!
michelle1_white
Posts: 9
Hi people
Can someone please confirm, if I am eating my 1200 cals per day - but then doing exercise and burning 500 -600 - do I have to eat more calories to avoid "starvation mode"..........???
Also - does an intense cycle for an hour burn 680 cals? I just plugged it in and thats what it says but I think that seems a bit high?
Trying to strike the right balance and loose weight.
thanks in advance
Can someone please confirm, if I am eating my 1200 cals per day - but then doing exercise and burning 500 -600 - do I have to eat more calories to avoid "starvation mode"..........???
Also - does an intense cycle for an hour burn 680 cals? I just plugged it in and thats what it says but I think that seems a bit high?
Trying to strike the right balance and loose weight.
thanks in advance
0
Replies
-
you didn't give enough info for people to answer intelligently. We need your age, weight, and height and your expected weight loss rate.
but yes, eat back the calories. If you suspect the calories burned, you can use an HRM to help get more accurate. 680 does sound high for biking for an hour, but it depends on your current weight and pace.0 -
thanks for answering and sorry re the details, im new to this...
im 30 years old 5ft,10inch height and 186lbs.............im trying to loose least 2lbs per week to acheive 2 stone weight loss.
So i shoulod eat back the calories? Will i still loose weight? sorry if these questions seem rather easy to answer...everythings easy when you know how
Thank you0 -
IMHO to start with, no don't eat back your calories. I started out at 186 too, actually. My diet was between 12 and 1300 a day and I did not eat back calories. And that burn might be a smidge high but for your height and weight it's probably pretty close if you are pushing yourself hard and sweating the whole time.
If you keep this up, you'll come to a point where you will need to raise your calories and work on eating some back. But for now, if I were you, I would not, so that you can burn off your initial fat.0 -
You need to eat back some - perhaps all - of your exercise calories to keep muscle and burn fat.0
-
Hi people
Can someone please confirm, if I am eating my 1200 cals per day - but then doing exercise and burning 500 -600 - do I have to eat more calories to avoid "starvation mode"..........???
Also - does an intense cycle for an hour burn 680 cals? I just plugged it in and thats what it says but I think that seems a bit high?
Trying to strike the right balance and loose weight.
thanks in advance
Maths iz hard0 -
At 5'10 and 186 you don't have much to lose, so 2lbs a week might be too much. Try for 1lb/week and eat more. Your body will thank you...
When I was losing I ate btw 1400-1600 calories and in 6 months lost 35 pounds. I'm 5'11 and started in January at 180. I'm now 147. It's not a race, the slower the weight comes off, the longer you'll be able to maintain it.0 -
Holy Cow YES eat back your calories. Food is fuel and when you are only eating 1200 per day, burning 600 that means your body is trying to survive on 600 calories.
Now in saying that, do not eat junk food. Eat it back in good, whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and very lean meats, such as chicken and some tuna. Boiled eggs are wonderful as well.
Do not listen to anyone that says it is okay to net less than 1200 calories per day, that is very unhealthy.
I, for one, did not lose the weight I wanted to lose until I started eating more than 1200 per day plus at least half my exercise calories back.
Food is your friend. But just like any friend, a good one is better than a crappy one any day of the week.
Eat clean, train dirty.0 -
At that height and weight, you have WAY too aggressive a goal and will very likely burn yourself out without losing anything.
At 186, you're only about 5-10 lbs off from when the BMI considers "healthy" for 5'10", which means you're probably not more than 10-20 lbs from your personal "ideal weight". This means that a) your body will be more resistant to giving up the fat, and b) your BMR and your energy expenditure (without exercise) are relatively close together.
I highly recommend changing your focus from weight loss to body composition. Check out strength training routines (pick up New Rules of Lifting for Women, or Starting Strength), change your food goals to maintenance or half-pound a week loss, ditch the scale and pick up the tape measure. By going for composition over sheer weight loss, you'll be more able to "tighten up," and get the hourglass type of figure and flat belly that most women strive for, and the weight loss will likely follow.
(As with all things, your mileage may vary and exact results will depend on body type, starting composition, etc.)0 -
Thanks guys, bit of a mixed take on it.
Problem is, I am eating breaky, lunch and then exersing early evening, then eating dinner - which would be normal 500 cals dinner, but if I have burnt 500 - I dont want to eat the additional calories at night,,,,feels like its just too much that late in the day?
good to hear all the experienced views.
thanks0 -
You do not have to eat back your calories to avoid the starvation mode... Brain function requires glucose and you must consume sufficient calories of glucose to supply your brain the necessary fuel. For muscle and other body functions the lipids that are stored within your body become your fuel as you do cardiovascular exercise. You must eat in excess of 1200 calories a day from the best sources including fruits, vegetables and lean proteins to provide the fuel for your brain. However, the rest of your body can run on stored fat. That is what you want to lose! Exercise, particularly cardiovascular exercise does a marvelous job removing the lipids from your body. The Amen Solution and the Blood Sugar Solution are both excellent reads for helping you to decide on the best fuels and total nutrient needs for your body. If you want your body to run like a garbage truck then whatever 1200 calories you dump in will leave you feeling like garbage. If you consume the best foods that are high in phyto-chemicals and complex carbohydrates your brain will function better and your body will respond more rapidly as you then burn off the fat stored in your body.0
-
ok, so your BMR is 1652 cal/day. You should always eat at least this many gross calories.
If you set up MFP using a sedentary activity level (my preference) your TDEE is 1982 cal/day. This is how many calories you need on a typical day to maintain your current weight. You want to lose 28 lbs (2st) total. A weight loss goal of 2 lb/wk means creating a 1000 calorie/day deficit. In order to do this and not eat less than your BMR in gross calories, you need to exercise for 670 calories every day.
Numbers:
TDEE: 1982
Deficit: -1000
Exercise: 670
Gross Calories Eaten: 1652
If you can burn more than 670 per day, eat the calories back. However, remember that this is EVERY day. I personally think that goal is too hard, but that is your choice to make.0 -
I am 5'10, 126Ibs and burn between 460 and 520 an hour cycling, and that is with a hrm and doing quite a few hills and pushing hard so it is not unreasonable you would burn over 600 if you are putting in an effort and not just coasting along. Nevertheless, I would strongly suggest getting a heart rate monitor to be sure. Also, 1200 is way too low for you. I need at least 1800 to maintain, without additional workouts, and at a much lower weight than you. I suggest upping your calories to 1500 and eating back maybe half to 3/4 of your exercise calories, or your body will adjust to a lower intake and you will find you gain really easily when you hit maintenance.0
-
Again thank you all for taking the time to share your expertise, this is all really eye opening and brand new to me, so its brilliant to have so much help.
General feeling is that I am eating to few calories, so I may up them in line with advice,
When should I east the extra calories? through the day before exercising? as my typical exercise in the evenings..? I assume its not a good idea to eat all those additional burned calories at night>?0 -
i only eat some calories back if i am starving, which i've only done twice in one month and i still lost 6lbs. i weighed 310lbs, my initial lost was for 1lbs per week and then i reassessed and changed it to 1.5lbs per week after 3 weeks, 2lbs sounds alot for someone who is just starting out and dont have that much to lose, try for a couple of weeks at maybe 1lbs then assess after that, good luck0
-
You can eat back exercise calories whenever you want during the day. If I know the exercise I'm going to do ahead of time, I'll put it in my log so that I know how many calories I have for the entire day and then make food choices accordingly.0
-
Again thank you all for taking the time to share your expertise, this is all really eye opening and brand new to me, so its brilliant to have so much help.
General feeling is that I am eating to few calories, so I may up them in line with advice,
When should I east the extra calories? through the day before exercising? as my typical exercise in the evenings..? I assume its not a good idea to eat all those additional burned calories at night>?
Eating at night is not going to hurt you, as long as you do not go over your allotted allowance. You may find, that if you do not eat your calories back then you may be starving all day the next day. I always have a protein shake after my exercise, unless I am done right in time for lunch or dinner.
People generally say to not eat at night because they typically get enough calories by then. If you are spacing them apart you should be fine.0 -
thanks, i will most defo look into this, I have just been cycling/walking etc to shed pounds, and did think at some point i will have to consider strength/toning - didnt realise it would benefit both.
cheers0 -
Again thank you all for taking the time to share your expertise, this is all really eye opening and brand new to me, so its brilliant to have so much help.
General feeling is that I am eating to few calories, so I may up them in line with advice,
When should I east the extra calories? through the day before exercising? as my typical exercise in the evenings..? I assume its not a good idea to eat all those additional burned calories at night>?
Eating at night is not going to hurt you, as long as you do not go over your allotted allowance. You may find, that if you do not eat your calories back then you may be starving all day the next day. I always have a protein shake after my exercise, unless I am done right in time for lunch or dinner.
People generally say to not eat at night because they typically get enough calories by then. If you are spacing them apart you should be fine.
I have actually noticed that I wake up hungry, I thought it was all part of the starting phase, but would make sense if I am not eating enough, - thanks :00 -
Why don't you eat when you feel hungry or it fits into your schedule? It doesn't really matter when you eat, as long as you eat. Listen to your body. A post you might find helpful:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-120 -
At that height and weight, you have WAY too aggressive a goal and will very likely burn yourself out without losing anything.
At 186, you're only about 5-10 lbs off from when the BMI considers "healthy" for 5'10", which means you're probably not more than 10-20 lbs from your personal "ideal weight". This means that a) your body will be more resistant to giving up the fat, and b) your BMR and your energy expenditure (without exercise) are relatively close together.
I highly recommend changing your focus from weight loss to body composition. Check out strength training routines (pick up New Rules of Lifting for Women, or Starting Strength), change your food goals to maintenance or half-pound a week loss, ditch the scale and pick up the tape measure. By going for composition over sheer weight loss, you'll be more able to "tighten up," and get the hourglass type of figure and flat belly that most women strive for, and the weight loss will likely follow.
(As with all things, your mileage may vary and exact results will depend on body type, starting composition, etc.)
thanks, i will most defo look into this, I have just been cycling/walking etc to shed pounds, and did think at some point i will have to consider strength/toning - didnt realise it would benefit both.
cheers0 -
You have a lot of replies already, but I wanted to share experience too. I posted your exact same question a few weeks ago. I started an aggressive fitness program and am burning a lot of calories. I am 5'8" and 165 lbs. My goal is to lose about 20 lbs. I was only eating 1200 calories and burning 500-700 calories in exercise a day. I gained 8 pounds in my first week of eating 1200 calories a day and exercising! I met with a trainer and she told me to eat 1500 calories a day. Since I started eating 1500 calories a day I started shedding the weight. I don't eat back the calories I burn. (If you've also done the WW program, you know they'll tell you, "If you don't eat all of your points, you won't lose."
I read in a fitness magazine a while back to figure out your caloric intake to lose weight. Take your weight, subtract 10 lbs, then add 1000. That's how many calories you should eat. Ex. For me to stay 160 lbs, I would have to eat 1600 calories a day. But I weigh 160 and want to weigh 140. So I take my weight now (160), subtract 10 lbs (150) then add 1000 (1500), and that's your caloric intake for the day. Every time you lose 10 lbs, you have to do it again. So when I weigh 150, I'll take my weight, subtract 10 and add 1000, making my new caloric intake 1400 a day.
Going straight to 1200 calories for a girl your height and weight IS starvation mode, based on my personal experience and weight gain of 8 lbs by doing so!0 -
You have a lot of replies already, but I wanted to share experience too. I posted your exact same question a few weeks ago. I started an aggressive fitness program and am burning a lot of calories. I am 5'8" and 165 lbs. My goal is to lose about 20 lbs. I was only eating 1200 calories and burning 500-700 calories in exercise a day. I gained 8 pounds in my first week of eating 1200 calories a day and exercising! I met with a trainer and she told me to eat 1500 calories a day. Since I started eating 1500 calories a day I started shedding the weight. I don't eat back the calories I burn. (If you've also done the WW program, you know they'll tell you, "If you don't eat all of your points, you won't lose."
I read in a fitness magazine a while back to figure out your caloric intake to lose weight. Take your weight, subtract 10 lbs, then add 1000. That's how many calories you should eat. Ex. For me to stay 160 lbs, I would have to eat 1600 calories a day. But I weigh 160 and want to weigh 140. So I take my weight now (160), subtract 10 lbs (150) then add 1000 (1500), and that's your caloric intake for the day. Every time you lose 10 lbs, you have to do it again. So when I weigh 150, I'll take my weight, subtract 10 and add 1000, making my new caloric intake 1400 a day.
Going straight to 1200 calories for a girl your height and weight IS starvation mode, based on my personal experience and weight gain of 8 lbs by doing so!
Thanks, now that I had read all these comments, and some other interesting posts, I feel i have a much better understanding. I have been feeling hungry every night and waking up hungry every morning, and its obvious its because I am not eating enough( was guided by MFP allowances). Going to increase to at least 1500 and make sure i am eating good foods, not the quick convenient types. cheers0 -
When should I east the extra calories? through the day before exercising? as my typical exercise in the evenings..? I assume its not a good idea to eat all those additional burned calories at night>?
I don't think there's a problem with that so long as you can do it without feeling stuffed. Just don't feel like you must eat them all at night. There's no problem with eating some or all of them earlier in the day, or even applying them to the next day if you want to. I run every other day, usually late in the afternoon, and routinely save half or more of the calories so earned for the non-run days that follow. I find that's a lot easier than having to double the size of my dinner every other night. A lot of people around here have gotten good results by balancing the books on their exercise calories by the entire week rather than by the day, or 2 days at a time the way I do. In the end what you want to do is settle into an accounting method that works for you.0 -
You have a lot of replies already, but I wanted to share experience too. I posted your exact same question a few weeks ago. I started an aggressive fitness program and am burning a lot of calories. I am 5'8" and 165 lbs. My goal is to lose about 20 lbs. I was only eating 1200 calories and burning 500-700 calories in exercise a day. I gained 8 pounds in my first week of eating 1200 calories a day and exercising! I met with a trainer and she told me to eat 1500 calories a day. Since I started eating 1500 calories a day I started shedding the weight. I don't eat back the calories I burn. (If you've also done the WW program, you know they'll tell you, "If you don't eat all of your points, you won't lose."
I read in a fitness magazine a while back to figure out your caloric intake to lose weight. Take your weight, subtract 10 lbs, then add 1000. That's how many calories you should eat. Ex. For me to stay 160 lbs, I would have to eat 1600 calories a day. But I weigh 160 and want to weigh 140. So I take my weight now (160), subtract 10 lbs (150) then add 1000 (1500), and that's your caloric intake for the day. Every time you lose 10 lbs, you have to do it again. So when I weigh 150, I'll take my weight, subtract 10 and add 1000, making my new caloric intake 1400 a day.
Going straight to 1200 calories for a girl your height and weight IS starvation mode, based on my personal experience and weight gain of 8 lbs by doing so!
I find the fitness magazine's suggestions rather irresponsible and utterly wrong, to be honest. If I were to follow that, at 5'10 and 125/126Ibs, I would be eating only 1115 calories, when I actually lose weight eating any less than 1700, so yes. I don't think that calculation is advisable or accurate at all. I shall quite happily continue to maintain my weight with exercise, and eating 1800-2800 calories per day, tyvm and I would suggest others use more reliable methods to calculate their weight loss intake, such as calculating their TDEE then subtracting 10-20% from that.0 -
You have a lot of replies already, but I wanted to share experience too. I posted your exact same question a few weeks ago. I started an aggressive fitness program and am burning a lot of calories. I am 5'8" and 165 lbs. My goal is to lose about 20 lbs. I was only eating 1200 calories and burning 500-700 calories in exercise a day. I gained 8 pounds in my first week of eating 1200 calories a day and exercising! I met with a trainer and she told me to eat 1500 calories a day. Since I started eating 1500 calories a day I started shedding the weight. I don't eat back the calories I burn. (If you've also done the WW program, you know they'll tell you, "If you don't eat all of your points, you won't lose."
I read in a fitness magazine a while back to figure out your caloric intake to lose weight. Take your weight, subtract 10 lbs, then add 1000. That's how many calories you should eat. Ex. For me to stay 160 lbs, I would have to eat 1600 calories a day. But I weigh 160 and want to weigh 140. So I take my weight now (160), subtract 10 lbs (150) then add 1000 (1500), and that's your caloric intake for the day. Every time you lose 10 lbs, you have to do it again. So when I weigh 150, I'll take my weight, subtract 10 and add 1000, making my new caloric intake 1400 a day.
Going straight to 1200 calories for a girl your height and weight IS starvation mode, based on my personal experience and weight gain of 8 lbs by doing so!
Ummm, that math is way off, baby girl. Maybe it should have been: starting weight - 10 lbs x 10
If not, I would be at 1181 calories a day and I would be dyinggggg (because I heart food). =]
0 -
I read in a fitness magazine a while back to figure out your caloric intake to lose weight. Take your weight, subtract 10 lbs, then add 1000. That's how many calories you should eat. Ex. For me to stay 160 lbs, I would have to eat 1600 calories a day. But I weigh 160 and want to weigh 140. So I take my weight now (160), subtract 10 lbs (150) then add 1000 (1500), and that's your caloric intake for the day. Every time you lose 10 lbs, you have to do it again. So when I weigh 150, I'll take my weight, subtract 10 and add 1000, making my new caloric intake 1400 a day.
1st off, your(or mag's) math is wrong...
2nd I am not sure following a fitness mag generic calorie is such a good idea
(160 -10) +1000 = 1150 (which is under 1200)
not such a good idea
the math you might of been thinking of is
(160-10) x 10 = 1500
But for me it would
(287 -10) x 10 = 2770 which is close to 1 lbs every 2 months0 -
You have a lot of replies already, but I wanted to share experience too. I posted your exact same question a few weeks ago. I started an aggressive fitness program and am burning a lot of calories. I am 5'8" and 165 lbs. My goal is to lose about 20 lbs. I was only eating 1200 calories and burning 500-700 calories in exercise a day. I gained 8 pounds in my first week of eating 1200 calories a day and exercising! I met with a trainer and she told me to eat 1500 calories a day. Since I started eating 1500 calories a day I started shedding the weight. I don't eat back the calories I burn. (If you've also done the WW program, you know they'll tell you, "If you don't eat all of your points, you won't lose."
I read in a fitness magazine a while back to figure out your caloric intake to lose weight. Take your weight, subtract 10 lbs, then add 1000. That's how many calories you should eat. Ex. For me to stay 160 lbs, I would have to eat 1600 calories a day. But I weigh 160 and want to weigh 140. So I take my weight now (160), subtract 10 lbs (150) then add 1000 (1500), and that's your caloric intake for the day. Every time you lose 10 lbs, you have to do it again. So when I weigh 150, I'll take my weight, subtract 10 and add 1000, making my new caloric intake 1400 a day.
Going straight to 1200 calories for a girl your height and weight IS starvation mode, based on my personal experience and weight gain of 8 lbs by doing so!
Ummm, that math is way off, baby girl. Maybe it should have been: starting weight - 10 lbs x 10
If not, I would be at 1181 calories a day and I would be dyinggggg (because I heart food). =]
Whoa, same here. If I followed that logic I would be eating 1008 calories a day instead of 1700. I am 5'3 and 44 years old and ate between 1500 and 1600 per day PLUS exercise cals when I was in weight loss phase. When I was eating 1200 a day, I was hungry and not very nice. When I upped my calories, I was not hungry and my husband really appreciated my change in attitude.
The hardest part about eating more to weigh less is wrapping the head around it. Once you do that, you will never go back, or at least that is what happened for me.0 -
You have a lot of replies already, but I wanted to share experience too. I posted your exact same question a few weeks ago. I started an aggressive fitness program and am burning a lot of calories. I am 5'8" and 165 lbs. My goal is to lose about 20 lbs. I was only eating 1200 calories and burning 500-700 calories in exercise a day. I gained 8 pounds in my first week of eating 1200 calories a day and exercising! I met with a trainer and she told me to eat 1500 calories a day. Since I started eating 1500 calories a day I started shedding the weight. I don't eat back the calories I burn. (If you've also done the WW program, you know they'll tell you, "If you don't eat all of your points, you won't lose."
I read in a fitness magazine a while back to figure out your caloric intake to lose weight. Take your weight, subtract 10 lbs, then add 1000. That's how many calories you should eat. Ex. For me to stay 160 lbs, I would have to eat 1600 calories a day. But I weigh 160 and want to weigh 140. So I take my weight now (160), subtract 10 lbs (150) then add 1000 (1500), and that's your caloric intake for the day. Every time you lose 10 lbs, you have to do it again. So when I weigh 150, I'll take my weight, subtract 10 and add 1000, making my new caloric intake 1400 a day.
That equation does not equate to the numbers you've given us.
It actually equals to 1150.0 -
The term "starvation mode" should be banished form the English language. You will not store fat when eating at a caloric deficit.
When you eat at a significant caloric deficit your body will lose both fat and lean muscle mass and your body will adapt to the new normal hence the admonitions against extreme diets and the sage advice to exercise while "dieting".0 -
Apologies on my math everyone... I'm human!
The equation that has worked for me is:
Your weight (In my case is 160) minus 10 (in my case 150) then add a zero at the end (in my case 1500).
To continue losing: for every 10 lbs I lose, I subtract an additional 100 calories from my daily intake. Ex. When I weigh 150 lbs, I'll start to eat 1400 calories a day.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 427 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions