Started to consume exercised calories and stopped losing wei
gcedillo
Posts: 18
Hi Everyone,
As soon as I started to consume the exercised calories, I stopped losing weight. I was fine before (at 1500 cal/day) but I kept reading about how important it was to "consume what my body needed after exercising."
What the heck?
Remind me again why I should? I was doing just fine.
Thanks. : )
As soon as I started to consume the exercised calories, I stopped losing weight. I was fine before (at 1500 cal/day) but I kept reading about how important it was to "consume what my body needed after exercising."
What the heck?
Remind me again why I should? I was doing just fine.
Thanks. : )
0
Replies
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I think it all depends on the person really. Personally I don't eat my exercise calories. If I do a 'hard workout' day then I may eat a little more but not all of the exercise calories. I had the same problem when I did. I would listen to your body and do what works best for you : )0
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If you are using the calories burnt from the MFP estimates then it is likely that you are going over.
From what I have experienced MFP is far too high on calories burnt for exercise.
It also will depend on how many calories we are talking about! If you are only ever burning about 300 then that will give you a net of 1200 so all good to not eat them, if you are burning more than that then you need to eat at least some of them back.
So, try and confirm your calories being burnt either with a HRM or some other way.
MFP has sometimes said I have burnt 3 times the amount that my HRM has indicated.0 -
Ok- My two cents on the calories burned from exercise is- I eat like I always do each day... on the days I exercise I increase my water in-take but I do not eat all those lovely calories I spent burning away at the gym... if you do that, you completely void out the workout... so why do it?
I want to lose weight... not maintain.. and I am not working out to bulk up... I am working out to lose the weight and tone up.
Just think of those calories as the ones you destroyed working out at the gym
Destroyed as in ....YOU WIN! Like putting money away in your bank... only you don't want to spend this "money'......
Anyhow... just my thought on it GOOD LUCK! 0 -
Ok- My two cents on the calories burned from exercise is- I eat like I always do each day... on the days I exercise I increase my water in-take but I do not eat all those lovely calories I spent burning away at the gym... if you do that, you completely void out the workout... so why do it?
I want to lose weight... not maintain.. and I am not working out to bulk up... I am working out to lose the weight and tone up.
Just think of those calories as the ones you destroyed working out at the gym Destroyed as in ....YOU WIN! Like putting money away in your bank... only you don't want to spend this "money'......
Anyhow... just my thought on it GOOD LUCK!
If you understood how MFP works, you would understand why you're supposed to eat most of your exercise calories. MFP gives you the deficit needed to lose your chosen goal BEFORE exercise. MFP works under the idea that you want to lose weight safely and keep your deficit at a reasonable level. Any exercise calories increases your deficit above what you need to lose what you've chosen as your goal. For that reason, you need to eat most of those back to fuel you body and keep your deficit at a safe level. Eating exercise calories does NOT cancel/destroy your workout.
Here is a post explaining all of this (and more) by a very respected member of the MFP community: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
I've been eating 50-75% (occasionally higher!) of my exercise calories and have steadily been losing.
If eating them back causes you to stop losing, it could be one of a few things:
1) Overestimating exercise calories (VERY COMMON)
2) Underestimating food intake (also common)
plus several others - see the 1st link I posted a few posts up.0 -
You are right at the same calorie range as me. First, you have to remember that MFP over estimates how many cals you actually burn. I would only maybe eat back 1/2 of the cals.
But here is what i did, I lowered my weight loss goal to 1.5 pounds per week. that way, i would have less calories to work with and i eat healthier. Then, when i do eat back my exercise cals, i stay right around 1500.....just a thought 0 -
I agree that your exercise calories and food calories are both estimates. It's impossible for MFP to churn out numbers that suit everyone!
How many calories you burn will depend on your individual effort, as well as your metabolism, stamina etc.
How many calories you eat will also depend on your accuracy in weighing, measuring and logging! Let alone the fact that a lot of the database figures are misleading. And there was a prog on tv suggesting the whole calorie counting system is antiquated and inaccurate!
BUT, you can use these figures as a GUIDE!
I think you should always leave a contingency. A defecit to account for error on both sides. What that contingency is will be a matter of trial and error. It will be different for everyone, depending on height, weight, lifestyle, muscle mass, bone structure etc etc etc etc
If you're not losing eating ALL the cals, then drop it to eating SOME. You'll find your levels :bigsmile:
Good Luck :flowerforyou:0 -
Do what works but do not go too low!!!
For me, my beginning calories are only 1200. If I don't eat at least some of my exercise calories then my net dips really low. I don't lose weight then. However, I lose best if I only eat about half and keep my net at about 1200.
Based on my height, current weight, and age, with 1200 my deficit has me losing about 0.25 pounds per week. Some months I just want to lose more than a pound (ya'think?), so I eat less and exercise more.
Since you beginning calories are 1500, you have a bit more flexibility of how many of those exercise calories you can eat.
D
PS....I would like to add that the healthier that I eat, the more success I have.
Just read that you are male...you really might need those extra calories. Men and women are different. Sorry for the assumption...I should have looked before posting.0 -
Ok- My two cents on the calories burned from exercise is- I eat like I always do each day... on the days I exercise I increase my water in-take but I do not eat all those lovely calories I spent burning away at the gym... if you do that, you completely void out the workout... so why do it?
I want to lose weight... not maintain.. and I am not working out to bulk up... I am working out to lose the weight and tone up.
Just think of those calories as the ones you destroyed working out at the gym Destroyed as in ....YOU WIN! Like putting money away in your bank... only you don't want to spend this "money'......
Anyhow... just my thought on it GOOD LUCK!
It doesn't work that way!
Exercising to burn calories is a completely wrong way to approach exercise and easily leads to thinking that you can speed things up by skipping the exercise calories which in turn leads to eating too little and an unhealthy deficit.
Exercise is for maintaining and improving your physical health and, when added to a weight loss aimed diet, it also helps to minimize the inevitable associated muscle loss (given that you eat your exercise Cals, otherwise it'll only backfire).
Please read the excellent post that accountant_boi linked to to see a full explanation behind this.Here is a post explaining all of this (and more) by a very respected member of the MFP community: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo0 -
To answer the OP.
I have had weird experiences with exercise and exercise calories too. When I went to gym and only burned something like 400 Cals extra three times a week, my weight loss was like clockwork. Later I quit the gym and began doing martial arts and biking a lot meaning that nowadays a rest day during the week means 500 Cals of exercise calories and exercise day anywhere between 1000 - 2000 Cals of exercise Calories. Now my scale works in leaps! It can stay the same for weeks and then suddenly drop 2kg below my last recorded minimum weight (I record my minimum weight whenever I go below the last one), then it can jump back up several kilos and begin easing down to settle somewhere in the middle for weeks and start waiting for another mad lunge.. My average loss has been steady though and I see changes in the mirror all the time.
Don't be discouraged. It just normally take time too see results. Especially if you have only just began eating the exercise calories, a small up is expected. It will disappear as your body adjusts. You shouldn't pay mind to the fluctuations anyway. It takes time to lose fat and you can't really speed it up to any meaningful degree.0 -
Sometimes I just can't eat my exercise calories, it's to much food.0
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I agree with those that say that the MFP is too high so you are probably over eatting in reality. I have a polar f6 watch that has a band that goes around your waist to track your heart rate. When I started to use it I found I was burn half of the calories MFP was saying and half of what the machine I was on was saying. Everyones endurance level is different. I started to not lose as much weight and I was told to eat all my 1200 calories. Im working on doing that cause it can be a litte too much food for me. My exercise calories I leave alone unless I burned 600 or more. If I do that I take in another hunderd or so depending on how much I burned. I will see this week if my change works. My bf said to give it two weeks before I weigh in cause chances are my body will need that long to adjust.0
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Ok- My two cents on the calories burned from exercise is- I eat like I always do each day... on the days I exercise I increase my water in-take but I do not eat all those lovely calories I spent burning away at the gym... if you do that, you completely void out the workout... so why do it?
I want to lose weight... not maintain.. and I am not working out to bulk up... I am working out to lose the weight and tone up.
Just think of those calories as the ones you destroyed working out at the gym Destroyed as in ....YOU WIN! Like putting money away in your bank... only you don't want to spend this "money'......
Anyhow... just my thought on it GOOD LUCK!
[/quote
I agree with you!!!
love the bank example, if we keep spending what we put in savings how will we ever get ahead?? same on weight loss. I also don't eat my exercise calories, not saying I haven't ever eaten some of them, but I never eat all of them, and I try to stay close to my 1200 allowed. Its working for me!!
and I definately agree that everyones body's are different and you have to find what works for YOU.0 -
It does overestimate the calories, I never use all mine. If I exercise for an hour then I reward myself with a 100 cal treat0
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A lot of people all ready answered your questions well, I think. But I'll throw in my .02.
First of all, for me, MFP is generally pretty close to how many calories I've burned. When I used an HRM, it proved that. And that's always an option - use an HRM while you work out. You can get decent ones pretty cheap. I actually think I may get another one (lost my old one when I moved).
Second of all, if you're using MRP's calories burned, subtract about 50 for each hour you work out. So, for example, if MFP says you burned 400 calories for an hour of cardio, make it 350. Then, when you enter your food, overestimate. If you had one serving, but 1.5. If you had 4 oz of chicken, make it 6.
Just suggestions. 0 -
Awesome, you nailed it. I think I am counting way too many exercise calories. Treadmill is lying and also I was not counting the "default" calories burn by my body by just "existing".
So basically, for a week I ate my full calories (instead of 500 less).
Question, does the ''bodybugg'' takes into consideration the ''defualt''calories? I think I will get one.0 -
You may be overestimating exercise calories. If you're aiming for a 1 lb/week loss (500 cal deficit) and eat back most of your exercise calories, overestimating by only 50 or 100 cals/day could have a big effect on your progress. I use a bodybugg-type device, and find that sometimes MFP and the gym machines significantly overestimate my burn. Ex - 30 min on an elliptical for me is over 400 cals per MFP, but my bodybugg says it's only a little over 200 on a recent visit. The problem is that MFP and machines use very generic formulas that don't always take into account your effort/intensity of your workout.
Awesome, you nailed it. I think I am counting way too many exercise calories. Treadmill is lying and also I was not counting the "default" calories burn by my body by just "existing".
So basically, for a week I ate my full calories (instead of 500 less).
Question, does the ''bodybugg'' takes into consideration the ''defualt''calories? I think I will get one.0 -
Question, does the ''bodybugg'' takes into consideration the ''defualt''calories? I think I will get one.
When entering exercise calories on MFP, you do still have to back-out the normal calories ("Default calories") burned from the time period you are exercising, because the BodyMedia Fit / BodyBugg (same thing, 2 different brands) just gives you your total calorie burn for any given time period. I used MFP's "Normal daily calories burned" divided by 24 to get my hourly "default calorie" rate - it matched the results from my BodyMedia FIT quite accurately. This gave me a 90 cals/hour "default" burn that doesn't count as exercise. I would back that out of whatever calorie count the BodyMedia FIT calculated during my workouts.0 -
You may be overestimating exercise calories. If you're aiming for a 1 lb/week loss (500 cal deficit) and eat back most of your exercise calories, overestimating by only 50 or 100 cals/day could have a big effect on your progress. I use a bodybugg-type device, and find that sometimes MFP and the gym machines significantly overestimate my burn. Ex - 30 min on an elliptical for me is over 400 cals per MFP, but my bodybugg says it's only a little over 200 on a recent visit. The problem is that MFP and machines use very generic formulas that don't always take into account your effort/intensity of your workout.
Awesome, you nailed it. I think I am counting way too many exercise calories. Treadmill is lying and also I was not counting the "default" calories burn by my body by just "existing".
So basically, for a week I ate my full calories (instead of 500 less).
Question, does the ''bodybugg'' takes into consideration the ''defualt''calories? I think I will get one.
Love my BodyBugg. It doesn't lie about calorie burn! :bigsmile:
As I've gotten closer to goal, I've had to tweak more and more and getting the BodyBugg has helped me keep on track.
My only complaint is the food data base is much smaller than MFP.
I'm a little neurotic so I enter food on both locations and usually end up within 100 calories of eachother.
HTH0 -
Question, does the ''bodybugg'' takes into consideration the ''defualt''calories? I think I will get one.
When entering exercise calories on MFP, you do still have to back-out the normal calories ("Default calories") burned from the time period you are exercising, because the BodyMedia Fit / BodyBugg (same thing, 2 different brands) just gives you your total calorie burn for any given time period. I used MFP's "Normal daily calories burned" divided by 24 to get my hourly "default calorie" rate - it matched the results from my BodyMedia FIT quite accurately. This gave me a 90 cals/hour "default" burn that doesn't count as exercise. I would back that out of whatever calorie count the BodyMedia FIT calculated during my workouts.
The default calories idea is something I have never even considered. I just changed my workouts up quite a bit, so I am not working out for as long or as hard, but I burn more fat. However, I usually burn a little over 1000 calories per workout and have been eating back almost ALL of those calories. And the scale hasn't budged, in fact, I have gained. I use a Polar F6 to track my calories and enter them manually in MFP. But, after reading about the default calories, I think I have found why I am not losing. So, starting today, I took the time to do the math and manually entered in my calories burned. Needless to say, it is quite a difference in the amount of calories I have left for the day. I'm going to try doing the math for a while and see if I can get the scale moving again, hopefully in the right direction.0 -
Question, does the ''bodybugg'' takes into consideration the ''defualt''calories? I think I will get one.
When entering exercise calories on MFP, you do still have to back-out the normal calories ("Default calories") burned from the time period you are exercising, because the BodyMedia Fit / BodyBugg (same thing, 2 different brands) just gives you your total calorie burn for any given time period. I used MFP's "Normal daily calories burned" divided by 24 to get my hourly "default calorie" rate - it matched the results from my BodyMedia FIT quite accurately. This gave me a 90 cals/hour "default" burn that doesn't count as exercise. I would back that out of whatever calorie count the BodyMedia FIT calculated during my workouts.
The default calories idea is something I have never even considered. I just changed my workouts up quite a bit, so I am not working out for as long or as hard, but I burn more fat. However, I usually burn a little over 1000 calories per workout and have been eating back almost ALL of those calories. And the scale hasn't budged, in fact, I have gained. I use a Polar F6 to track my calories and enter them manually in MFP. But, after reading about the default calories, I think I have found why I am not losing. So, starting today, I took the time to do the math and manually entered in my calories burned. Needless to say, it is quite a difference in the amount of calories I have left for the day. I'm going to try doing the math for a while and see if I can get the scale moving again, hopefully in the right direction.
Hope it helps! Many people on MFP don't do it, but I don't see why we shouldn't. I've always done it, and have lost weight steadily. I know I tend to estimate on the lower end for exercise calories, but I would rather underestimate a little and lose more than I "should" than overestimate and stall my weight loss. I eat most of my exercise calories, so I am not concerned about going into starvation mode.
One thing to think about - you said your weight recently went up a little - it very well could be due to overestimating exercise calorie, but it could also be due in part to normal weight fluctuations, time of the month, water weight, not drinking enough water, too much sugar, too much salt...or all sorts of other stuff. It's amazing how sensitive our bodies are! Just a few things you may want to consider. :flowerforyou:0 -
Hi Everyone,
As soon as I started to consume the exercised calories, I stopped losing weight. I was fine before (at 1500 cal/day) but I kept reading about how important it was to "consume what my body needed after exercising."
What the heck?
Remind me again why I should? I was doing just fine.
Thanks. : )
So before you were fine and then when you ate more you stopped losing? Answer, go back to what you were doing when it worked, simple.
Some people eat all their exercise calories and get on just fine, others eat none and are fine, some people eat some of them and are fine. Stick any of those people into a different way of eating those exercise calories though and they might find their beloved weight loss is another story.
The same thing does not work for everybody, people need to understand this. Eating when you are stuffed just to use up your calories is not sensible. They are stuffed for a reason and yet still force more in, why? because others have said they MUST eat their exercise calories.
With you, you were doing just fine before, go back to what works for you and forget what everybody else is shouting. They shout it because it suits them, but it may not necessarily suit you as you have found out :flowerforyou:0 -
Everyone needs to remember that MFP is a guide. Just because it tells you to eat 1200 calories a day doesn't mean that's all you can eat. I do a custom version because MFP had me set up on too low of calories I can't function with 1200-1350 calories. I set my own up if you look at what MFP has you set with calories/macro/fiber percents it's low. I change all mine so my fiber is 25 grams a day, my macros are 40/40/20, and my calories are 1600. I don't eat what i burned because i have them. I only eat if I am hungry! Sometimes the feeling of hunger is that I'm actually thirsty. I'm okay with going to bed hungry though. you have to find what works for you. If you go on any calorie counting site you will be told different numbers of the amount of calories that you should be eating. Find what works for you and go with that.0
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Question, does the ''bodybugg'' takes into consideration the ''defualt''calories? I think I will get one.
When entering exercise calories on MFP, you do still have to back-out the normal calories ("Default calories") burned from the time period you are exercising, because the BodyMedia Fit / BodyBugg (same thing, 2 different brands) just gives you your total calorie burn for any given time period. I used MFP's "Normal daily calories burned" divided by 24 to get my hourly "default calorie" rate - it matched the results from my BodyMedia FIT quite accurately. This gave me a 90 cals/hour "default" burn that doesn't count as exercise. I would back that out of whatever calorie count the BodyMedia FIT calculated during my workouts.
Hey guys, just wanted to update anyone out there that is following the default calories method for exercise calories. I have been using this system and reducing my calories burned (from my HRM reading) and while my actual weight hasn't decreased much, my body fat has reduced two percent in the past two weeks. Not sure if that is a lot or what, but it is nice to see some numbers going down!! Is anyone else following this little method and having success??0 -
Don't forget the added weight from new muscle (which is much heavier than fat). This can make it seem like you aren't losing weight as quickly, but really you could be losing the same amount of fat and building muscle at the same time! Which would be very desirable 0
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I didn't really think about that. I guess I am just a little too consumed with numbers at the moment. I haven't noticed my clothes fitting any looser nor am I seeing any greater definition in my muscles, so I'm guessing it's internal fat (fat deposits around my organs, etc.) that I am losing. But, I have noticed that using the default calories method, I am more aware of just what my calories are coming from and I've consistently been able to stay under my calories daily and not be hungry. Before, I would just plow through my exercise calories and not pay attention to just what foods those calories came from.0
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Building muscle with minus calories is a myth. Bottom line is that it is nearly impossible for a world class competing bodybuilder supervised by personal trainers and nutritionists. Most likely cause is water retention. I have seen this happen myself for weeks now. I can see results in the mirror but not on the scale. It doesn't really matter. The scale will follow eventually. Great that you can see fat% go down! I'd like to have that measured myself but I'm broke.. :laugh:0
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