Weight loss seems more difficult because of exercise

Not really sure what you're expecting as far as advice goes....

You say you're not sure if you're in a calorie deficit. The only way to make sure is to log your food and exercise. If you refuse to do that, it's basically just guessing. So...?

BTW: I don't track calories and I won't start doing that now. It would require too much attention of me to get used to that habit, I don't have the time for that right now, unfortunately. I know that may be a good way to solve this problem. In 2 months I will have time because my studies will be over.

You do realize that working out creates a calorie deficit right? Not that you have any clue what you are putting into your mouth to track any sort of deficit? There's not alot people can do to help you if you aren't using the tools provided.

I can say that when I exercise a lot, I am a lot more hungry - beyond the number of calories I burn. And when I say exercise a lot, I mean training for century bike rides, half marathon, etc.

If I want to lose weight, I need to cut back on that level of training and focus on the weight loss. That is what I'm doing now and hoping to get back to endurance training next summer.

If you aren't tracking what you are eating, then it will be really hard to tell what is wrong. In the past, I have not tracked my food during intense exercise intervals, so going to do that next year when I am back on the bike.

Good luck!

It's very common to get more hungry after exercise, it's exactly what's supposed to happen! Which is one reason some suggest that exercise can be counterproductive to weightloss, I think Time had an article about exercise making you fat some time ago.

One way of countering this is to change what you intake, find foods that are more satiating. For example high fat and high protein. Obviously stay within calorie levels just try and fit in more protein and fat into that. (Don't do silly low carb though, unless there are serious medical issues it's a lot of nonsense).

BTW: I don't track calories and I won't start doing that now. It would require too much attention of me to get used to that habit, I don't have the time for that right now, unfortunately. I know that may be a good way to solve this problem. In 2 months I will have time because my studies will be over.

Continue to eat the way you are, chances are you are over eating but the only way you will ever know if you are in a deficit is to actually count calories. Why even come to MFP if you aren't going to use the tools?

Stop making excuses and suck it up.

Any thoughts on this / advice?

BTW: I don't track calories and I won't start doing that now. It would require too much attention of me to get used to that habit, I don't have the time for that right now, unfortunately. I know that may be a good way to solve this problem. In 2 months I will have time because my studies will be over.

Weight loss is taking in less calories than you burn. You burn more calories during the day when you add exercise. Can't help you because you don't track your food. That's half the equation of the Calories in vs Calories out.

If you've been doing this for a few weeks and haven't lost weight, then you probably do not have a deficit. If you are gaining, you likely are eating a surpus. If you are doing neither, then you are eating at maintenance.

Are you tracking your measurements at all? If you are eating near maintenance then you could lose inches without losing any weight. You don't have to track to lose (I lost almost all my weight without tracking before joining MFP), but you do need a deficit.

What does your typical diet look like? Do you eat enough protein? Enough fat? High fiber? I stay full longer if I eat moderate fat and protein and high fiber.

You have to find the happy balance between the 2. If I exercise too much, I get very hungry and can go over my calories. I try to exercise enough to stop lean muscle loss, but not make me so hungry I blow my deficit.

A conservative deficit would help with that, say 250 off for calories, and exercise the other 250 off for a total of 500 a day, or approx. 1 lb loss per week.

Edited to add: If you don't track your calories, you will never know if you have a deficit or not. I would track for 2 weeks to see if a deficit actually exists.

Tracking takes maybe 5 minutes per day. How do you not have time for that, but you have time to come and post here?

Sounds like the OP has more pressing business right now. If you're faithfully tracking and not eating the same foods every day, it takes energy and you always have to think about it. At least I do. That's why I track only loosely.

In my experience, if someone doesn't want to do something, they can usually come up with a pretty good reason to justify it.

There's nothing wrong with not having enough time to log your calories, but to ask for assistance on a forum without even taking such a minimal step?

Perhaps the OP should just revisit the whole fitness thing when he has more time to fit it into his busy life.

Anyways, I get quite hungry because all of this exercise and while I can keep myself from overeating, I am not sure that I have a calorie deficit. Weight loss was much easier when I didn't exercise this much, I did intermediate fasting and I don't see myself doing that now that I do sports.

I log everything, daily.

In an attempt to quantify how much exercise helps in losing weight, I have significantly increased my daily exercise burn. I track everything, so I know exactly what was happening before, with what is happening now. By adding ~800 calories of exercise while keeping my intake constant, the result should be an extra ~1.5 lbs of weight loss in a week - and no surprise, that's exactly what happened.

My daily intake is/was about 20% above BMR.

Tracking your input is absolutely vital to the process. If you don't know how much you are eating, or how much you are burning, you really have no way to logically plan any possible changes or pinpoint where the "problem" is.

I will say, I have eaten at maintenance and done a ton of exercise this month; my goal was to increase my endurance so I'll continue to be strong as I get closer to goal weight. There is nothing wrong with doing that, if you want to. However, if I had not been tracking my intake, I am willing to bet I would have gained a few pounds back as I am very hungry the morning after a workout. So far, my weight fluxes between .5-2 pounds higher than it was when I went onto maintenance. If I wasn't tracking, I wouldn't be able to see where my sodium was high, or of course my muscles are recuperating from yesterday's burn.

TL;DR Track your calories or you won't be able to reach your goal.

If you cannot track your calories - suggest you watch the type of food that you eat - avoiding greasy or fatty foods, junk and processed foods and artificial sweeteners. Also reduce dairy and butter/cheese products - no pastries, cakes, crisps etc - find really lightweight alternatives. Make sure that you fuel up on starches, rice and potatoes before your exercise

Good lock spacehopper!!

Don't be surprised by the results you don't get for the work you didn't do.


If you're trying to lose weight using MFP, this program requires you to log all of your food and exercise. If you're unwilling to do that, then you probably won't be losing weight. Tracking only takes a few minutes a day. Somehow you had time to post this thread, but no time to enter your breakfast? Does not compute.

Try again in a few months when you can make it a priority to do the work required to lose weight using MFP.

I don't track calories and I won't start doing that now.

Can't help you.

How can you say you keep yourself from overeating, but than say you're not sure if you're in a deficit?

Not sure what "athletics" is, but if it's a sport of some sort it is probably helping you maintain muscle mass. When you diet without some sort of routine to help maintain muscle mass, the lbs can come off quicker because you're losing both fat and muscle. When you mix a caloric deficit with exercise that helps maintain muscle mass you will lose WEIGHT slower, but inches faster because you're only losing fat. But if you're just guessing at what your intake is vs calories burned, weight loss stops, and you don't lose inches....you're probably not guessing very well.