problem with calories/exercise..please help :(

alissaanne
alissaanne Posts: 34
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Here is the deal...I am not even near my calorie intake...I eat healthy and exercise at least 3 times a week. I never starve myself, I am just very sensible about what I put into my body. I work as a gymnastics coach...6 days a week, this includes lifting, holding, spotting gymnasts and also pushing, pulling, lifting and moving very heavy equipment. I also sometimes do the conditioning(abs, arms, legs, core) with the girls as well. I am usually dripping with sweat and exhausted by the time I leave work. By the end of the day after I have recorded all my food and exercise I sometimes have 1200-2000 calories left to eat!! There was 1 day that I tried to meet my calorie goal. I got pretty close but I felt disgusting, bloated, sluggish and just all around horrible about myself. AND I gained 3 lbs. I feel that if I ate that way everyday I would NEVER lose weight! What's the deal with that? I guess what I am asking your opinion on is....is it really THAT dangerous to keep doing what I am doing if I feel great, energetic and seeing results? I don't think I could handle eating much more...I would feel sick! Please give any advice you have, I would be very grateful :)

Replies

  • balance9
    balance9 Posts: 160
    Oops...somehow I managed to duplicate this below:blushing:
  • balance9
    balance9 Posts: 160
    First of all, congrats for logging everything...but, I think you are making this waaayyy too hard. The more exercise you log, the more you increase your margin of error in calculating calories. And it gets really overwhelming to log it all, doesn't it? Keep it simple.

    Eat around 1400-1500 calories a day.
    Log them.
    Exercise hard enough to break a sweat, but not so hard that you're gasping for breath -- 6 days a week -- for 45 mins to 1 hour.
    Strength train 2 days.
    Try a little yoga.
    Walk more, sit less.
    Eat breakfast.
    You will lose 1-2 pounds per week.
    You don't look like you have much to lose, so just be consistent and you will keep making forward progress.

    When you're down to your last 10 pounds, it gets a little trickier. But until then, keep it simple.
  • grouch201
    grouch201 Posts: 404 Member
    I've always thought of what MFP says as more of a guideline than a rule. I think the greatest lesson I am learning is how to listen to my body. It knows when the energy stores are running on low and when it needs more. So I just try to dial into that and then give it good material to work with. When the urge strikes, instead of heading to McDonald's, I'll hit up the fridge for a sandwich. If I've worked hard and my body is saying, "Hey, we need a tad more fuel," then I'll fix myself a smoothie.

    If you're working hard and feel like you are satisfied with what you have eaten, then I'd say not to stress too much about it. That said, there's the baseline of 1,200 calories for a minimum to keep your body functioning properly. Make sure you're keeping to that in what you're eating and then tune in to your body for the rest of what you need. It takes some fine tuning, but you've already seen what happens if you try to do too much and then eat too much. So find what works and stick with that.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I know some people have found that writing down every burst of movement and recording it as exercise is motivating for them and has helped them with their progress, and I definitely respect that. However, I also feel that one should be very wary of "overdocumenting" activity, because I think your situation occurs more frequently.

    This can be exacerbated by trying to use MFP calorie estimates. I like this site for food diaries and social support, but I never used it for tracking activity/exercise calories and would never have thought to do so.

    I seriously doubt that you are expending the calories you think you are, so I would (again) be wary of increasing your calorie intake above, say, 1400 cal/day.
  • alissaanne
    alissaanne Posts: 34
    Thank you! I will take your advice and run with it :)

    Balance9...thank you for the compliment! I agree, I do need to keep it more simple...I like your ideas..

    Azdak...I wondered that myself...I felt like I was working hard, but not hard enough to be burning the calories it was saying I was burning. I just went with it because it felt great to see it :) But I bet you are right!

    Grouch201...that sounds exactly right what you said about paying attention to my body's hints that it needs more fuel...I totally agree! You just know when your body needs more! :)
  • SouthernBell86
    SouthernBell86 Posts: 275 Member
    Hey, I think what people are saying is true. If you want a better idea of the calories you're burning, a Heart Rate Monitor would be a lot more exact that MFP. MFP doesn't know your personal fitness level like your heart and lungs do. If you are really in shape and have been doing the same forms of activity for a long time, the number of calories you burn from them will taper off because your muscles have gotten efficient at performing them. The human body is all about efficiency!

    If you ever do feel that you should up your calories a bit, the best thing would probably be to eat a few more small snacks during the day between lessons and such. Not a ton, but just energy boosts here and there.

    If you hit a plateau, then it's time to reassess. As long as you're eating above 1200 and feel energetic during normal days, you're doing great :)
  • alissaanne
    alissaanne Posts: 34
    Thank you for the advice. The problem is sometimes I don't even hit 800, but I feel great and feel full at most meals. I hope that is not too bad as long as my body is still running with plenty of energy! There are times however that I do feel low on fuel so I eat a snack and usually feel better.
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