Not eating enough cals

jpace00
jpace00 Posts: 55
in Health and Weight Loss
Some days when I have time I am burning a good amount of calories. Today for instance I burned 1725 cals and ate 1500 cals. So I netted -225 cals. How bad is this really? I can't imagine I could have eaten another 1800 or so calories to hit my daily goal without eating total garbage. What are some ways on days like today I can add in high calorie but healthy foods that are not filling to compensate for the exercise?

Replies

  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    It's pretty bad. The bigger your calorie deficit, the more lean mass you lose as a percentage of total weight lost. And trust me, you want to keep as much lean mass as you can. It's really, really hard to get it back once it's gone.

    Anyway, how did you burn 1725 calories? That's a huge number, and probably not even close to accurate. I'm guessing you're relatively out of shape and using an HRM?
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  • jpace00
    jpace00 Posts: 55
    I was using the exercise calculator on this site. I did about 30 mins weights circuit style and played a round of golf carrying the bag (both the calculator on this site and the one that my golf gps uses put that around 1300+ cals which seems excessive to me)

    I am still trying to get a hold of my diet. Some days I'm good but when I'm bad I'm really bad. When I go out and have a few drinks it always seems to go with some really bad food. I'm working on making better choices when I go out.
  • lina011
    lina011 Posts: 427 Member
    1725 cal burnt " maybe slow up on the exercising so you maybe let your body consume some calories"!!!
  • lannasster
    lannasster Posts: 49
    From experience, I have found that having a calorie deficit is EXTREMELY detrimental. When I first started on MFP, I was doing the same thing. I was having 200-500 calories left over each day. At first, I lost weight like crazy (1/4 of my goal weight loss in 3 months,) but having a calorie deficit eventually caught up to me. I switched up my exercise routine to a higher intensity and stalled. I was working out harder than ever, but I maintained my weight for 2 months. No loss in inches or weight on the scale. When I brought it up with my trainer, I showed him my food logs and he told me I was under eating by 500-700 calories a day. When I readjusted my calorie intake, I started losing weight again. Not as fast as when I was in an extreme deficit, but my trainer told me that was to be expected.

    So the gist of it is: you should never have a negative net value of calories. MFP calculates your activity level and sets a goal for you. If you workout 5 days a week, but you set your activity level to "sedentary" or "light", then you need to log in your exercise calories and EAT THOSE BACK. I would rather be over my goal calories than under. And to be honest, I find MFP's calorie settings to be inaccurate, at least for me. I figured out all of my calorie needs on my own and have been doing fine. If I were still eating according to MFP's suggestions, I would probably still be wondering why I wasn't losing weight anymore.

    As for having a hard time getting that many calories in, I would suggest protein shakes. The powder I use is about 200 calories with almond milk and everything and I have two of those a day. When I saw that I was supposed to be eating 2500 calories a day, I thought there was NO WAY that I could eat that much "healthy food", but I haven't had a problem this far. I always have one big meal after my workout because it leaves me so hungry.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    I was using the exercise calculator on this site. I did about 30 mins weights circuit style and played a round of golf carrying the bag (both the calculator on this site and the one that my golf gps uses put that around 1300+ cals which seems excessive to me)

    I am still trying to get a hold of my diet. Some days I'm good but when I'm bad I'm really bad. When I go out and have a few drinks it always seems to go with some really bad food. I'm working on making better choices when I go out.

    Yeah 1700 is...... wildly optimistic. 30 minutes of weight machines is probably like 100, depending on how big you are. A round of golf carrying clubs maybe 600, 700. Depends on your size and how many hills.

    Eat a lot of protein and don't run a huge calorie deficit. Be conservative entering exercise calories.

    Also, think about using freeweights instead of machines for weight training. They are far, far, far, far more effective and efficient. Check out Starting Strength and Stronglifts. Get familiar with a barbell.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Some days when I have time I am burning a good amount of calories. Today for instance I burned 1725 cals and ate 1500 cals. So I netted -225 cals. How bad is this really?

    It depends how you burned those calories, and how big your fat stores are. If it was at low intensity and you have lots of fat, then you might not be too badly off. If it was at moderate or high intensity, or if you're already lean, you're basically screwed. No long term damage, but you're going to crash, hard, unless you refuel.
  • teresa77447
    teresa77447 Posts: 87
    I have never played golf but that sounds like a lot to me. Maybe buy a HRM and see if it is the same. I do the same thing sometimes and I am just not hungry for more food. I think its odd to force yourself to eat more just because you worked out a lot when your not even hungry. I choose to listen to my body.
  • jpace00
    jpace00 Posts: 55
    I am using free weights. I rotate exercises from one to the other with no rest. So I did seven sets (random number I know) rotating exercises without rest the entire time. I was winded and sweating my *kitten* off.

    I'm trying to use these tools but if they're so far off idk how to go about it.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    I have never played golf but that sounds like a lot to me. Maybe buy a HRM and see if it is the same. I do the same thing sometimes and I am just not hungry for more food. I think its odd to force yourself to eat more just because you worked out a lot when your not even hungry. I choose to listen to my body.

    I hate that phrase.

    If we were good at listening to our bodies we wouldn't need MFP. My body wants a whole pizza and a couple beers every night.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    I am using free weights. I rotate exercises from one to the other with no rest. So I did seven sets (random number I know) rotating exercises without rest the entire time. I was winded and sweating my *kitten* off.

    I'm trying to use these tools but if they're so far off idk how to go about it.

    You should be resting between sets. The entire point of strength training is to maximize the weight you lift. That's how muscle is built or maintained. If you are limited by your cardiovascular system by not resting you impair your lifting ability.

    Look into Starting Strength and Stronglifts. These are good effective programs. Whatever you're doing now sounds less than optimal.
  • jpace00
    jpace00 Posts: 55
    It's a program I read about in Men's Fitness. Each set is one exercise for a different muscle group. Chest, biceps, shoulders, triceps. So in essence you are giving rest to each muscle group between, you're working a different muscle group in that time. In a way it's similar to what your p90x and insanity programs are doing.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    If we were good at listening to our bodies we wouldn't need MFP. My body wants a whole pizza and a couple beers every night.

    Yeah. This.

    Damn, now I'm hungry again...
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member

    I hate that phrase.

    If we were good at listening to our bodies we wouldn't need MFP. My body wants a whole pizza and a couple beers every night.

    My body wants a garlic bread to go with that pizza :-)

    Actually, my body used to be in synch with my appetite for a while and then I hit 30 and whoohoo slowly but surely I moved less and ate more and here we are.
  • teresa77447
    teresa77447 Posts: 87
    Well I think we can at least agree that you know that a whole pizza is not a wise choice. What I mean by listen is to realize when I am full. I gained weight because I just ate and when I was satisfied I kept going till I was full sometimes stuffed. So I now take my time eating so I can give my body time to realize I'm satisfied with what I put on my plate and I don't have to go back for another serving of whatever I am eating.
  • Buffedncut
    Buffedncut Posts: 3
    uh. thats bs my friend. there is NO WAY that, lets say you lost 5lbs in one week that 4 of them would be muscle. HELL NO!

    now to what you were saying about having a really low calorie deficit. IF you keep your protein adequate your carbs very low and your cals very low, you will generate FAT LOSS not muscle loss. IF there is any muscle lost, your looking at a very small percentage which is easily gained back once the "keto diet" is finished. I have about 9.4lbs letf to lose AND i am on a very strict keto diet. DO you honestly think that of those 9.4lbs 8 of them will be fat? 5 maybe? nope nope and nope. UNless im doing HIIT 7 days a week for the few weeks that i will be on my keto diet for. then maybe the over loss will be fat but will also contain a lot more muscle loss because of the low cal, low carb , if you have low protein + hiit = stupid

    but other factors are also involved such as if the person has been doing this for months and years. then its a problem. but for a few weeks , hell even 8weeks is okay. you're not going to lose much as far as muscle. I know this because all you have to do is look at my profile pic. i dont need to explain anything else.


    p.s. this was all directed to what Johhnython wrote
  • jpace00
    jpace00 Posts: 55
    I don't consistently run a caloric deficit. I might have that happen 1-2 days per week when my golf days and workouts are on the same day. The rest of the days I stay right around the 1600 cal intake myfitness recommends for me. I can also tell when I'm really not getting enough to fuel my body because I will get very lethargic and just feel crappy. Generally I stick with high protein.

    As to what a few people were saying though, how accurate are these exercise calculators really?

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