Started to consume exercised calories and stopped losing wei

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  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
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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.

    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:
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
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    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:
  • mrsyac2
    mrsyac2 Posts: 2,784 Member
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    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.
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
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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??
  • hopeC12
    hopeC12 Posts: 38
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    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 :)
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
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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.
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
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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:

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