Should I exercise less?

Admiral_Derp
Admiral_Derp Posts: 866 Member
edited January 8 in Health and Weight Loss
Not sure how to approach this. I'm a fat lad....that much is clear. MFP sets my calorie goal at 2890. Being as big as I am, I also burn a lot of calories when I exercise (between 800 to 1200 a day). This tacks almost another thousand calories onto my goal. I'm supposed to eat most, if not all of those back in order to keep my BMR up right? If that's the case...holy crap. My wife and I tend to eat fairly low cal (though my menu today doesn't reflect it). We're just not that into the chips, candy, and soda. That being the case, it's pretty stinking hard to eat almost 4000 calories. It's ridiculous in fact. I think so anyway. So should I exercise less to keep a better balance between my BMR and my calorie deficit? Should I cut way back on my cardio and just do more strength? (Which is the exact opposite of another question I posted on the exercise board.) Curious about opinions...

Replies

  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
    Try eating more calorie dense foods if you need to.. no low fat, fat free stuff. If that fails, I probably would scale back to a more moderate exercise regimen.
  • Admiral_Derp
    Admiral_Derp Posts: 866 Member
    The problem with a more moderate cardio exercise regimen is that for me, this means walking 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes. Which sucks, because I like walking.
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
    I dont have an appetite at all, my binge consists of maybe 800 calories tops - so I have to eat more calorie dense foods.

    Lucky for me my metabolism is really high, so I skip cardio 90% of the time. If any I just do hill sprints - but never on lifting days.
  • Tanja_CHH
    Tanja_CHH Posts: 216 Member
    Nuts, Seeds, Full-fat milk, avocado, olive oil (put it in everything!) And more healthy fats!
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    Probably not burning the 1000 calories everything says you are. Eat back 30% of your calories and see how you get on.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
    how do you measure your calorie burn - if your using the MFP exercise charts you are probably over calling your actual burn. Look at other online sites and compare or get a good HRM. Or only eat back a portion of what MFP gives you.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Not sure how to approach this. I'm a fat lad....that much is clear. MFP sets my calorie goal at 2890. Being as big as I am, I also burn a lot of calories when I exercise (between 800 to 1200 a day). This tacks almost another thousand calories onto my goal. I'm supposed to eat most, if not all of those back in order to keep my BMR up right? If that's the case...holy crap. My wife and I tend to eat fairly low cal (though my menu today doesn't reflect it). We're just not that into the chips, candy, and soda. That being the case, it's pretty stinking hard to eat almost 4000 calories. It's ridiculous in fact. I think so anyway. So should I exercise less to keep a better balance between my BMR and my calorie deficit? Should I cut way back on my cardio and just do more strength? (Which is the exact opposite of another question I posted on the exercise board.) Curious about opinions...

    There are nutrient and calorie dense foods many of which you should be eating anyway for health - very oily fish like mackerel, nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, hard cheese, dried fruit, block creamed coconut, cocoa powder.
  • trichezzer
    trichezzer Posts: 2 Member
    The simple answer is that you do not need to eat all of your exercise calories! You do need to eat all of your daily allowance without the exercise as that provides you with your daily amount of required nutrients but you don't have to eat all of your exercise calories, these are free weight loss.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Note that online calculators never assume that an obese person has a lot of fat. While you are obese, it is not as important to eat back your exercise calories. Your daily goal is a minimum and the exercise calories are there for you if you are feeling run down and need the energy.

    Please, do not cut back on your exercise, it is as important to your overall health as your food choices.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Funny, I have no problem eating 4000 calories a day. If I did, I would have never gotten fat.
  • Admiral_Derp
    Admiral_Derp Posts: 866 Member
    Most of the food that we do eat is very calorie dense. Especially with avocado, nuts, olive oil, etc. I keep track of my exercise calories using Endomondo. I've compared the burns it posts with my HRM (chest strap, the good kind) and it's never more than 10 or 20 calories off. As far as the calories I eat, I check the labels and use what MFP has listed if it matches.
  • Admiral_Derp
    Admiral_Derp Posts: 866 Member
    Funny, I have no problem eating 4000 calories a day. If I did, I would have never gotten fat.

    Funny, we're not all fat because we gorge ourselves. Some of us are just really freaking lazy.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    The simple answer is that you do not need to eat all of your exercise calories! You do need to eat all of your daily allowance without the exercise as that provides you with your daily amount of required nutrients but you don't have to eat all of your exercise calories, these are free weight loss.

    Sorry but you are mistaken. Regular or intensive exercise can massively increase your body's need for every nutrient, when they do the multipliers for sedentary/ lightly active and so on for a client a fitness professional or dietician should increase vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids not just carbs, fat and protein. The recommended amounts are to cover average people with an average lifestyle.
  • joe_d
    joe_d Posts: 73 Member
    Here's my thoughts on cardio vs. strength training.

    For folks that are trying to lose weight to be healthier, I think you've got to do the combo platter. First, tackle the biggest risks (heart, diabetes, etc.) by building a good base of cardio activity--it's important to strengthen your heart muscle and keep those coronary arteries clean! You can then add strength training to continue to work on fat reduction and preventing loss of lean body mass.

    While there are lots of folks out here who promote strength training exclusively as the one true way to lose fat, there are plenty of people who manage just fine with a good cardio/strength combo. Your mileage may vary, but I spend my exercise time this way: 60% cardio and 40% strength/cardio (kettlebells). My view is the lipids roaming around in my blood will kill me a lot sooner than any lack of muscle definition will.
  • Admiral_Derp
    Admiral_Derp Posts: 866 Member
    Pretty much got it all resolved. I'm going to adjust my workouts so that I actually have more strength (around an hour to an hour and a half, 3 days a week with a 5 minute cardio warm up/cool-down) and then moderate/light cardio on the off days. That way I'm not burning so many calories that I can't eat most back. This should keep my deficit, my BMR, and all that much closer together. Thanks for all the help!
  • trichezzer
    trichezzer Posts: 2 Member
    The simple answer is that you do not need to eat all of your exercise calories! You do need to eat all of your daily allowance without the exercise as that provides you with your daily amount of required nutrients but you don't have to eat all of your exercise calories, these are free weight loss.

    Sorry but you are mistaken. Regular or intensive exercise can massively increase your body's need for every nutrient, when they do the multipliers for sedentary/ lightly active and so on for a client a fitness professional or dietician should increase vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids not just carbs, fat and protein. The recommended amounts are to cover average people with an average lifestyle.

    So are you saying that he should eat everything he is burning in -let's face it - fairly moderate exercise? He says that he is very overweight and that even fairly moderate exercise burns a fair number of calories, if he is then forced to eat those calories again his body is learning nothing about controlling his eating. There is also the issue about the accuracy of calorie burn. I use a Garmin to track my workouts (along with the HRM as part of it) but even so I feel it is a little over generous with the number of calories it says I have burned, given my rate of perceived exertion) I am training for a middle distance triathlon in June - 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile cycle and 13.1 mile run (I already compete in shorter distance triathlons) and I do between 12 to 14 hours a week training, which involves swimming, cycling, running and strength training in the gym. At this time of the year I am doing base training - all zone 2 workouts which do not stress my body at all and are designed to teach my body to burn fat as fuel rather than the usual first choice of muscle glycogen. I do not need to eat all of the calories I burn because I listen to my body and if I need more then I eat more. I do however choose plenty of vegetables, pulses and lower GI carbs as well as fats to support my body's nutritional requirement, given my exercise load. But additionally I do need to get rid of about a stone of off season fat, hence MFP.
    I do feel that if his body is to learn to burn fat efficiently it needs to seek it from his fat stores and not from the more readily available sources, and as long as he is not feeling tired and listless he should be consuming what his body needs. At his level of exercise he should not be massively depleting his vitamin etc stores, but that is just my opinion. Hey ho, who knows what is right!
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