Exeercise versus calories

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CelticDragon
CelticDragon Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone know how many, if any, of my excercise calories I HAVE to consume in a day to maintain weight loss?

I'm fat from lack of eating, not overeating. Now that I'm keeping tabs on my consumption I know I was previously eating between 700 and 1200 calories on an average day. Now MFP gives me 1890 a day and corrects me if I eat less than 1200. The problem is I'm also working out more, so I'm "earning" another 1400 or more a day.

I'm having a problem eating 3 meals a day, plus snacks, as it is. I need to know how much I MUST eat to lose weight. I have never eaten more than once a day on a regular basis.

I Really want to lose weight, but know this can be a deal breaker if I don't figure out the" magic formula."

Thanks for all your help!




I am a professional chef (love to cook, hate to eat), I eat whole, natural foods and very little fat (most days)! And I can't abide fast food. Rarely drink soda. I don't like to eat out, so our meals are all fresh, homecooked and never out of boxes and cans (except cereal, but that's a new thing so I'll eat breakfast).

If I eat fast food it's from boredom or exhaustion.

I also rarely eat red meat.

I have been adding a fresh smoothie every evening if I fail to eat enough throughout the day.

Replies

  • lordrahvin
    lordrahvin Posts: 20 Member
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    Here's an interesting article for you: http://www.spineuniverse.com/wellness/nutrition/eating-lose-weight

    It talks about how you need nutrients to build muscle, and those muscles in turn build fat. Under-nourishing your body may cause you to lose weight by losing those muscles that you need to burn fat, making further weight loss much harder.
  • abricklin
    abricklin Posts: 156 Member
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    it would be incredibly helpful for replyers to if your food diary was public and we could give you feedback. Yes, as a male, if you are told to eat 1890 to LOSE and burn 1400 calories exercising (this would take me roughly 3 hours on the elliptical and about 2 hrs running, holy cow!) you should be eating at least the 1890 calories to get the proper nutrients to fuel your body. What are you eating, more importantly, what are you NOT eating.

    Start slowly adding calories, add one piece of fruit today, say, a banana, and have one every day. Next week add a whole wheat english muffin to breakfast, another 100 calories, etc. if you feel you cannot handle adding 500 + calories all at once. 5-6 meals and snacks per day is key.
  • jessudd
    jessudd Posts: 133 Member
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    If you're having trouble reaching your minimum, add in some healthy, high calorie foods like almonds--good nutrients and it doesn't take much of them to pump up those calories numbers. Good luck!
  • CelticDragon
    CelticDragon Posts: 66 Member
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    I'm sorry, maybe I added too much superfluos information.

    The question isn't one of what to eat or making up my minimum.

    The question is," Do I HAVE to eat any or all of the extra calories I've "earned" from excercise?"

    Thanks again!





    And, I'm doing this while still cooking for my roomies, so there won't be much of a change in the dinner menus.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    You don't "HAVE" to. You don't HAVE to do anything. But, should you? That is another question. This site sets you up with a specific deficit based on your statistics and goals and you are expected to eat your exercise calories to maintain that deficit exactly.

    But there are a lot of variables here...

    How overweight you are affects whether you can sustain a higher deficit
    How well you track your food intake
    How accurate the calories burned are
    How do you FEEL when you work out?

    Ie: You need to fuel your body when you place higher demands upon it, thus many people find they absolutely NEED to eat their exercise calories. Some people eat part of them, and some eat none.

    Do you want to lose the weight in a healthy manner?
    Do you want to keep it off?
    Do you want to feel at the top of your form?

    Then eat enough to ensure adequate nutrition. This site will tell you exactly what you should be eating, as long as the data you entered is correct (age, gender, weight, goals, activity level, exercise, intake).
  • canstey
    canstey Posts: 118
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    I'm sorry, maybe I added too much superfluos information.

    The question isn't one of what to eat or making up my minimum.

    The question is," Do I HAVE to eat any or all of the extra calories I've "earned" from excercise?"

    Thanks again!

    The answer it "it depends on your body and your goals."

    If you are creating too large a calorie deficit then your body and mind will react causing you to think about food 24/7, feel like you are starving all the time, get a bit cranky or depressed, have the occasional uncontrollable binge eating session, and/or feel tired all the time like you have no energy. You need to listen to your body first so if you are not eating your exercise calories and show any of the above symptoms, you should eat them and see if things improve. If on the other hand you are not eating them and feel great then you probably don't have too but you may want to anyway depending on your goals.

    If your primary goal is simply weight loss and fitness is a distant second then you want to maximize your daily calorie deficit that you can sustain effectively and still feel good. This is typically up to 1000 calories a day deficit for normal healthy people but it can be lower or higher depending on your specific situation and how overweight you are. Given MFP's lower calorie limit of 1200 per day, your deficit may be much lower than 1000 a day without exercise so to get to 1000 you have to exercise and then not eat all of them back. There are many opinions on how much calorie deficit is too much but I haven't seen a study that shows it is possible to have too large a deficit and still feel good. Normally it is said the deficit is too high because you show symptoms listed in the first paragraph and then the number 1000 was created from the fact that most normal healthy people could go up to 1000 calories a day without showing those symptoms.

    If you want to lose weight but equally want to improve fitness then you want a deficit that allows weight loss but also restores enough energy so you can work out fully each time rather than feeling really drained and tired for days after a hard work out. Maximizing weight loss and maximizing fitness are competing goals so you have to balance the two.
  • CelticDragon
    CelticDragon Posts: 66 Member
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    Thank you, this is the most thorough explanation I've found and does help to answer my query. I want to maintain weight loss and not throw my body back into starvation mode.

    I was just hoping I didn't have to eat more as I've gone from one meal a day at 700 to 1200 calories max to three meals a day and snacks. I'm trying to maintain a calorie intake of 1800 - 2000, but not being used to eating on a regular basis, I'm finding it very difficult. I've never had seconds with dinner and I'm now finding I have to in order to meet my intake needs.

    For one who has not eaten 3 meals a day in over 25 years, all this eating is harder than I anticipated.

    But at 2000 calories a day plus excercise, my reports are indicating a, substantial, deficit. I feel no worse for wear, but want to be able to lose the weight and stay healthy.

    Thanks again!

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