Confusion about my calories

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stongue
stongue Posts: 34 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm a little confused...I've read the post about eating your exercise calories...I have a total of 80 lbs to lose, have lost 11 so far. Is this weight loss goal significant enough that it would be better for me to eat only my minimum at this point, half of my exercise calories, or closer to all of the exercise calories? I'm not sure where I fit in in the general picture...Also if you want to look at my food journal and offer any tips or advice all will be appreciated:)

Replies

  • jenlhugg
    jenlhugg Posts: 141 Member
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    I don't always eat ALL of my exercise calories. On the days where I am hungry and I feel like I need it I will, but on the other days, I don't force myself to eat them, but always make sure my net is at least 1200. I took a look at you diary too, and it might be a good idea to keep track of your sodium. I didn't at first and then was HORRIFIED by how much salt I was consuming.
  • lildebbie
    lildebbie Posts: 2,068 Member
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    I had a total of 150 lbs to lose, down to 100 left now...I eat a majority of my cals, when i started working out alot , i was netting less than 1000 and not losing anything, i try eat 1/2 - all of them, but make sure i don't go below 1200 net ..
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    I usually only eat my exercise calories in 2 cases:

    I am hungry and want a snack and I have them to use

    or if I burned off so much I am netted below 1200 cals for the day, so I eat back over the 1200 cals
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
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    I found that I needed to 'shake it up" on a daily basis. My body quickly adapts to what Im doing and I stop losing. Since I have been making sure to eat varied amounts day to day I have consistently lost each week. Some days I eat most of my exercise calories, the next day only 1/2 of them, and then none of them. I find that when I make sure to eat different things each day, and get in a different amount of calories each day it seems to keep my body guessing and works.
    It took me a bit of time to figure this out, and to learn to listen to my body. Some days, in particular days you do strength training, I find Im a bit hungrier . . . some days im just not.
  • EKarma
    EKarma Posts: 594 Member
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    I don't tend to eat my exercise calories.. Every once in a while I'm happy that they are there, but I told my doctor that I was keeping my calories around 1200-1300 a day and exercising.. She said, "You're doing great.. Don't worry about it." She did a blood test on me and for the first time in my life everything came back normal.. (I had been diagnosed with high triglycerides about 3 yrs ago and was beginning to suffer high blood pressure) She was totally impressed with my weight loss..

    Always keep your cals at least 1200 a day.. In oct 2009 I started going under 1000 cals a day and didn't lose anything for a while.. Somebody on here "woke" me up and told me to get at least 1200 cals.. I've been losing ever since..

    Like I said. I don't eat my exercise cals.. It's been working out for me.. Hope that helps. love and light. xo
  • esmdaubney
    esmdaubney Posts: 2 Member
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    So I took a look at your diary...I will be blunt and honest here....no more mc donalds...or limit it to once a month, I really think that you need to NOT eat your exercise calories unless you have not hit at least 1200 calories yet that day...which it looks like you have hit the 1200 every day that I had looked at. I think also if you just change the types of food you eat/drink it should help you alot!!!! For instance...the big cookie thing that is like 410 calories....try Edy's slow churned vanilla ice cream only 100 calories for 1/2 cup, add some sugar free for fat free syrup and redi whip fat free and you can have a great sundea for around 170 calories or so. Cheese is another thing you have to watch...it can be very high in calories! If you are gonna make burgers at home..buy ground sirloin so you are anywhere between 95% and 97% lean...only around 130 calories for 4oz burger! As for your burger buns...there are some light buns i have tried that are 90 cal and taste pretty good otherwise just take some time to shop and look at every brand of what you are buying, you would be surprised in the difference! OH YAH the biggest thing that straightened me around and sent me losing faster is I WEIGH EVERYTHING that needs to be weighed, and I measure everything. When I shop I look at every single item and I try to find the lowest calories for the most amount of food! I still eat what I want and still losing. GOOD LUCK...you can do it!
  • stongue
    stongue Posts: 34 Member
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    So I took a look at your diary...I will be blunt and honest here....no more mc donalds...or limit it to once a month, I really think that you need to NOT eat your exercise calories unless you have not hit at least 1200 calories yet that day...which it looks like you have hit the 1200 every day that I had looked at. I think also if you just change the types of food you eat/drink it should help you alot!!!! For instance...the big cookie thing that is like 410 calories....try Edy's slow churned vanilla ice cream only 100 calories for 1/2 cup, add some sugar free for fat free syrup and redi whip fat free and you can have a great sundea for around 170 calories or so. Cheese is another thing you have to watch...it can be very high in calories! If you are gonna make burgers at home..buy ground sirloin so you are anywhere between 95% and 97% lean...only around 130 calories for 4oz burger! As for your burger buns...there are some light buns i have tried that are 90 cal and taste pretty good otherwise just take some time to shop and look at every brand of what you are buying, you would be surprised in the difference! OH YAH the biggest thing that straightened me around and sent me losing faster is I WEIGH EVERYTHING that needs to be weighed, and I measure everything. When I shop I look at every single item and I try to find the lowest calories for the most amount of food! I still eat what I want and still losing. GOOD LUCK...you can do it!

    Thanks so much for your honest and direct opinion. I do appreciate all you had to say. The bar that I am eating is a protein bar, Met Rx, recommended by my husband and also my chiropractor. I've found that it works great at work M-F for my two breaks, I divide it in half and use half at one break and half at another. Really fills me up. I'm not hungry at all M-F. Yep, gotta give up on the fast food I know...I'm doing much better but still have a ways to go on that one. I'm going to begin looking for the leaner cuts of ground beef, ground sirloin like you recommended. Right now I'm using 80% lean only because it costs less. We do a lot of grilling in the summer months and so I had better make that change. Fortunately, I am weighing and measuring everything out, and feel that I am the most honest about my food right now that I have ever been in my life. Thanks so much for caring enough to tell me the honest truths! This is what I want!
    I don't tend to eat my exercise calories.. Every once in a while I'm happy that they are there, but I told my doctor that I was keeping my calories around 1200-1300 a day and exercising.. She said, "You're doing great.. Don't worry about it." She did a blood test on me and for the first time in my life everything came back normal.. (I had been diagnosed with high triglycerides about 3 yrs ago and was beginning to suffer high blood pressure) She was totally impressed with my weight loss..

    Way to go! You are doing everything right! I appreciate your advice and experiences.
    I found that I needed to 'shake it up" on a daily basis. My body quickly adapts to what Im doing and I stop losing. Since I have been making sure to eat varied amounts day to day I have consistently lost each week. Some days I eat most of my exercise calories, the next day only 1/2 of them, and then none of them. I find that when I make sure to eat different things each day, and get in a different amount of calories each day it seems to keep my body guessing and works.
    It took me a bit of time to figure this out, and to learn to listen to my body. Some days, in particular days you do strength training, I find Im a bit hungrier . . . some days im just not.

    This is probably the best bit of advice that I've heard yet. It makes so much sense! I think that this is what I will try to do, so that I can keep my body guessing and working! I really appreciate your approach and hope that it is the right one for me as well.
  • stongue
    stongue Posts: 34 Member
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    Sorry, trying to learn how to use the quote feature:) Bear with me on this.
  • BethTucker
    BethTucker Posts: 21
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    What has helped me to lose 46 inches in 2 years is to not think of the total number of calories but rather the QUALITY of those calories. In fact there have been studies that show (I can't remember where I read it, maybe Runner's World) that poor quality calories are stored in the body as fat despite the total number consumed. In other words, that McDonald's meal for example, because it has no nutritional value is stored as fat because it can not be used to fuel your body. Try to think of everything that you eat as fueling your cells at the very basic level and decide before you eat it how it will benefit your body. I know this is extremely difficult at first but you will notice a difference. One thing that you can do is up the number of vegetables that you eat. Eat 5 cups of salad instead of 2 per day or eat vegetables with every meal. So, look at the food for it's basic components - processed food as chemicals and salad as a carbohydrate - and decide what will fuel your body the best.

    Hope this helps.
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    With that 410 cal, bar, I could eat 2 Fiber one bars for a lot less calories than that, and they are filling too, they run about 140ea and you can get carmel, choc and pb flavors. Just another suggestion. You dont really need a huge protein bar unless you are working out a lot.

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