eating back exercise calories and gaining weight?

coriella
coriella Posts: 17
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been following the recommendation to eat back calories burned with exercise, but all that's resulted in was a 4lb weight gain... and my lightheadedness whilst standing has gotten worse? Usually I burn ~650 calories through exercise, and even with trying to eat back calories end up with ~900 net for the day... what am I doing wrong? Is it possible that because I've increased exercise, the "weight gain" is just muscle and not fat?

Replies

  • sgarrard01
    sgarrard01 Posts: 213 Member
    If your feeling lightheaded whilst standing you NEED TO UP YOUR CALORIES, a 900 net for a day is dangerous over a sustained period, thats why your lightheaded, probably a combination of low blood sugar, dehydration and lack of energy to sustain even your most basic body functions.

    If your having trouble eating back your exersize calories, than reduce your exersize (in half) so your eating at a 1200 net and then see how you feel... or use some calorie dense foods (like peanut butter, nuts etc.) to bump up your calories.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    Agreed - you need to eat more, I know that goes against 'dieting wisdom' but its true. I'm 5'1 145lbs and eating at least 1500 net a day and losing 1lb a week. Believe us when we say eat more, net a minimum of 1200 cals and read this to work out what you should be eating:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It works for me :-D

    ps what are you stats? your lbs per week loss may be too harsh, give us your height, weight, sex and goal weight for more tailored advice.

    AND don't give up - it takes time to get it right in the beginning :happy:
  • coriella
    coriella Posts: 17
    Agreed - you need to eat more, I know that goes against 'dieting wisdom' but its true. I'm 5'1 145lbs and eating at least 1500 net a day and losing 1lb a week. Believe us when we say eat more, net a minimum of 1200 cals and read this to work out what you should be eating:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It works for me :-D

    ps what are you stats? your lbs per week loss may be too harsh, give us your height, weight, sex and goal weight for more tailored advice.

    AND don't give up - it takes time to get it right in the beginning :happy:

    I'm 5'3.5'', female, 152lbs, and my goal weight right now is 143lbs. I had been at 149lbs before I started eating back exercise calories... following the advice from the link you provided, I should be eating 2,297 calories, but that is very hard for me. Most days I struggle to get above 1,500 and it's hard for me without some kind of meal plan to follow.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Agreed - you need to eat more, I know that goes against 'dieting wisdom' but its true. I'm 5'1 145lbs and eating at least 1500 net a day and losing 1lb a week. Believe us when we say eat more, net a minimum of 1200 cals and read this to work out what you should be eating:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It works for me :-D

    ps what are you stats? your lbs per week loss may be too harsh, give us your height, weight, sex and goal weight for more tailored advice.

    AND don't give up - it takes time to get it right in the beginning :happy:

    I'm 5'3.5'', female, 152lbs, and my goal weight right now is 143lbs. I had been at 149lbs before I started eating back exercise calories... following the advice from the link you provided, I should be eating 2,297 calories, but that is very hard for me. Most days I struggle to get above 1,500 and it's hard for me without some kind of meal plan to follow.

    Eat smarter, not more. Eat higher calorie foods; nuts, avocado, cook foods in EVOO or eat peanut butter out of the jar. Or you can get a high calorie protein drink like muscle milk to drink post workout. Or you can decrease the amount of exercise you do. And if you don't heavy weight train, start. It's much better at cutting fat. And with as little weight as you have to cut, you can only aim for about 1/2 lb per week, 1 lb if you are lucky.
  • 1holegrouper
    1holegrouper Posts: 323 Member
    I would shoot for losing 1 pound a week. For most people this is fairly easy and your energy levels should be acceptable. Definately eat back your exercise calories. But, there are two common mistakes here that I would make double sure you are not making. One; that the calories you eat are being accurately measured. Two; that the calories you burn are being accurately measured. Sadly one is usually understated and the other is usually overstated. I'm not sure where the 900 calories a day come from but that seems to be a dangerously low level. If you weighed only 110 pounds that would still be too low. Crash diets never work. You want to be healthy and feel good about it when you get to your desired weight.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Agreed - you need to eat more, I know that goes against 'dieting wisdom' but its true. I'm 5'1 145lbs and eating at least 1500 net a day and losing 1lb a week. Believe us when we say eat more, net a minimum of 1200 cals and read this to work out what you should be eating:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It works for me :-D

    ps what are you stats? your lbs per week loss may be too harsh, give us your height, weight, sex and goal weight for more tailored advice.

    AND don't give up - it takes time to get it right in the beginning :happy:

    I'm 5'3.5'', female, 152lbs, and my goal weight right now is 143lbs. I had been at 149lbs before I started eating back exercise calories... following the advice from the link you provided, I should be eating 2,297 calories, but that is very hard for me. Most days I struggle to get above 1,500 and it's hard for me without some kind of meal plan to follow.

    Eat smarter, not more. Eat higher calorie foods; nuts, avocado, cook foods in EVOO or eat peanut butter out of the jar. Or you can get a high calorie protein drink like muscle milk to drink post workout. Or you can decrease the amount of exercise you do. And if you don't heavy weight train, start. It's much better at cutting fat. And with as little weight as you have to cut, you can only aim for about 1/2 lb per week, 1 lb if you are lucky.

    This!!!! if you drank a glass of 1% milk and a 1/2 cup of Pistachios that alone would net you 600 calories, 2 Tbps of peanut butter on a piece of bread would get you 240-280 calories.... calorie dense foods is the key to making up calorie deficits. I am consuming 3400 calories a day have no problem doing this.... Best of Luck....
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    The advice given is great - defo eat smarter as has been said. You should only be aiming for 0.5 - 1lb per week weight loss as you don't have much to lose and it will be harder. You definitely need to eat more.

    If you worked out that your TDEE is 2297 then you should aim for 1837 calories a day. (TDEE - 20%) If you find this hard just increase each week until you get there. Calories are not the enemy.

    Good luck :drinker:

    Feel free to add me if you want some support and helpful comments :flowerforyou:
  • YoYo1951
    YoYo1951 Posts: 370
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