Punishing myself with exercise in order to eat more

2

Replies

  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    its not a punishment but a reward for me.

    Yeah, and I think it works for a lot of people. I really enjoy exercise, but some crazy stuff happens when I start to think of exercise as a way to eat a normal amount of food.

    Exactly. This happened to me, too. I've been sticking to TDEE for a while now and exercise is something fun again. I recommend going back to the TDEE method. :)
  • dejamos
    dejamos Posts: 53 Member
    Yes, I would hardly say 400 calories is "punishing yourself." ??? I eat 2100+ calories per day but I exercise about 8-12 hours per week. However, I do activities I love so it's not punishment; it's part of a lifestyle I enjoy.

    I don't think of exercise as punishment. I think of exercising as a way to eat a normal amount of food as punishment. It is just my personal experience. Being active isn't the issue, I'm just struggling with MFP's "burn so you can eat a normal amount of food". It works for lots of people, I don't doubt that. :)

    That is not how I have interpreted MFP's intent. For me, it's not "burn so you can eat a normal amount of food," but "make sure you eat enough for your body to support the burn that you do." That works for me.
  • vwbug86
    vwbug86 Posts: 283 Member
    IDK if this has been asked. But what's your activity level and weekly lose goal for MFP?
  • kittykat1994
    kittykat1994 Posts: 149 Member
    How do you work out TDEE? I'm 188lbs and 161cm tall. MFP calculated me to each 1410 cals a day. I'm eating way healthier yes, but I am always hungry! Which does make me fall off the wagon from time to time (usually by reaching for the blimin pizza hut menu!)

    I'm sure it's a simple beginner question for you however I really need to put some work into this now as I have back problems now (and the extra weight doesn't help!)

    Thanks :)
  • SerenaKitty
    SerenaKitty Posts: 142
    IDK if this has been asked. But what's your activity level and weekly lose goal for MFP?

    Moderately active, 1.5-2/week.

    I know that I could get a higher amount of calories from MFP if I lowered my weight loss per week goals. I'm still finding MFP's method bad for me.

    I think I'm going to go with my gut and follow the advice to go back to TDEE -20% and start enjoying exercise again.
  • kittykat1994
    kittykat1994 Posts: 149 Member
    In reply to the person the requested a woman needs 1200 to lose weight, I disagree. I tried this once and after a week I gave up. I had no energy and felt ill (Especially as I worked a lot on my feet at the point and I used to cycle to work etc)
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    How do you work out TDEE? I'm 188lbs and 161cm tall. MFP calculated me to each 1410 cals a day. I'm eating way healthier yes, but I am always hungry! Which does make me fall off the wagon from time to time (usually by reaching for the blimin pizza hut menu!)

    I'm sure it's a simple beginner question for you however I really need to put some work into this now as I have back problems now (and the extra weight doesn't help!)

    Thanks :)
    You can calculate your TDEE at http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/. As far as working out with back problems, I have had a couple of back surgeries, and I stick to no-impact workouts like the elliptical and the arc trainer, this keeps you from jarring your back. Also if you are having back problems, run any exercise programs past your doctor first to be safe.
  • kittykat1994
    kittykat1994 Posts: 149 Member
    How do you work out TDEE? I'm 188lbs and 161cm tall. MFP calculated me to each 1410 cals a day. I'm eating way healthier yes, but I am always hungry! Which does make me fall off the wagon from time to time (usually by reaching for the blimin pizza hut menu!)

    I'm sure it's a simple beginner question for you however I really need to put some work into this now as I have back problems now (and the extra weight doesn't help!)

    Thanks :)
    You can calculate your TDEE at http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/. As far as working out with back problems, I have had a couple of back surgeries, and I stick to no-impact workouts like the elliptical and the arc trainer, this keeps you from jarring your back. Also if you are having back problems, run any exercise programs past your doctor first to be safe.

    Thank you!
  • Stripeness
    Stripeness Posts: 511 Member
    Part of the mental block for you is thinking of exercise as punishment. That's awful and negative and will not help you long-term.

    Diet is for weight management, whether trying to lose, increase or maintain and for nutrition.

    Exercise is for body recomposition and for general health and well-being.

    The two are pretty much unrelated. Although, many people pair them because they work together well. But, they don't have to. You can lose, gain, or maintain weight without exercise. And, you can exercise without giving two sh*ts about nutrition.

    The flaw with MFP, if you want to think of it that way, is the way they've paired the two things. For someone like you, it creates a bad relationship with dieting, in general, and sets you up for failure with exercise because you view it as punishment and a means to eat more.

    I highly recommend you go back to the TDEE method and eat, train, and progress. There is a group here by the same name, you should check them out.

    Excellent post! :drinker:

    Love this & agree!

    Also, MFP's "sedentary" setting (which is how most of us end up at 1200 cals) is incredibly low. When I bumped up the the next setting, I continued losing and have been much happier/healthier feeling. Despite being what I would call "sedentary"!

    Lastly, do try to be patient. If you were losing weight with the higher-calorie TDEE approach, why not keep doing that?

    The exercise-to-eat thing is imnsho a big gray area. I think you can have a very healthy internal bartering system (margarita for 10-miler - woohoo!) where you love both treats/exercise, or an unhealthy internal hostage situation (go run so you can have a normal dinner) where you kinda start to hate exercise and yourself for wanting to eat so much.

    It reminds me of the to weigh daily or not dilemma, and only you know which is really in your personal best interest.

    Sorry for babbling at you, and hope you find a successful solution!:flowerforyou:
  • aarar
    aarar Posts: 684 Member
    I think you are taking in too many calories. The average woman should have 1200 per day in order to loose weight. Try lowering your caloric intake.

    Uh no. This is very wrong. Although I'm shifting to maintenance, I'm still losing on 2200 + exercise calories and many, many other women are doing the same. The 'average woman' can eat much more than 1200 and still lose.
  • Linnaea27
    Linnaea27 Posts: 639 Member
    I have certainly felt the same thing at times. I haven't thought of it as "punishing" myself but I sure have made more of an effort to exercise longer or harder because I know then I will not be annoyed with myself for eating "too much." I try very hard not to let this thought pattern take hold, because I feel like it's pretty unhealthy. Although I find MFP an extremely helpful tool, this is my one big issue with the way it's set up. The way it calculates things, rewarding calorie burns with an increased amount you can eat in the day, definitely reinforces this kind of thinking for those of us who are susceptible to it.

    If I were you I'd probably stick to your TDEE method of tracking things. I like plugging my exercise into MFP and seeing the exercise calories, so I haven't done it that way, though I have been a little obsessive about the whole thing. I'm still deciding if I want to switch from doing it the way MFP recommends to the TDEE-20% method. I do like being able to eat more on days I've exercised a lot-- though the fact that food sort of becomes a reward for exercise bothers me. . . .

    So I understand your quandary! Basically it seems like doing whatever works best and encourages the fewest obsessive-type thoughts surrounding food and exercise for you, would be the best choice.
  • Linnaea27
    Linnaea27 Posts: 639 Member
    In reply to the person the requested a woman needs 1200 to lose weight, I disagree. I tried this once and after a week I gave up. I had no energy and felt ill (Especially as I worked a lot on my feet at the point and I used to cycle to work etc)

    I totally agree with you. I initially tried this when I started on here, and it was DREADFUL. Even though I have a desk job/am a student, and am barely over 5' tall, I still felt like this was far, far too little. I have my MFP set on "lightly active" rather than "sedentary" now and am losing weight and feel like I am eating a sane amount and am not starving all the time.
  • SerenaKitty
    SerenaKitty Posts: 142
    I have certainly felt the same thing at times. I haven't thought of it as "punishing" myself but I sure have made more of an effort to exercise longer or harder because I know then I will not be annoyed with myself for eating "too much." I try very hard not to let this thought pattern take hold, because I feel like it's pretty unhealthy. Although I find MFP an extremely helpful tool, this is my one big issue with the way it's set up. The way it calculates things, rewarding calorie burns with an increased amount you can eat in the day, definitely reinforces this kind of thinking for those of us who are susceptible to it.

    If I were you I'd probably stick to your TDEE method of tracking things. I like plugging my exercise into MFP and seeing the exercise calories, so I haven't done it that way, though I have been a little obsessive about the whole thing. I'm still deciding if I want to switch from doing it the way MFP recommends to the TDEE-20% method. I do like being able to eat more on days I've exercised a lot-- though the fact that food sort of becomes a reward for exercise bothers me. . . .

    So I understand your quandary! Basically it seems like doing whatever works best and encourages the fewest obsessive-type thoughts surrounding food and exercise for you, would be the best choice.

    Thank you! You understand perfectly what I mean. Exercise should not be a chore - I actually enjoy exercise, but MFP's way just doesn't mesh with my personality and eating issues.
  • nytrifisoul
    nytrifisoul Posts: 499 Member
    Im in the same boat except i am already below my goal weight. I am just maintaining my weight and exercising just so i can eat what i want.
  • gertudejekyl
    gertudejekyl Posts: 386 Member
    Exercise is not punishment ! It is building health. Burning 400 calories per day is no big deal - are you kidding ??
  • SerenaKitty
    SerenaKitty Posts: 142
    Exercise is not punishment ! It is building health. Burning 400 calories per day is no big deal - are you kidding ??

    Please read all posts.
  • jenifr818
    jenifr818 Posts: 805 Member
    I think you are taking in too many calories. The average woman should have 1200 per day in order to loose weight. Try lowering your caloric intake.

    I'm not going to be the only one to argue this, I'm sure. There are plenty of women in here that eat 1800+ and lose weight. I do bad, bad things when only eating 1200
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
    I think you are taking in too many calories. The average woman should have 1200 per day in order to loose weight. Try lowering your caloric intake.

    I'm not going to be the only one to argue this, I'm sure. There are plenty of women in here that eat 1800+ and lose weight. I do bad, bad things when only eating 1200

    Me too :laugh:
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
    I eat more so I can exercise more. Except when I'm forced to stop working out for some reason, and that's a spot of trouble.
  • airdiva1
    airdiva1 Posts: 198 Member
    First of all depending on what your weight and goals, your daily calories at first might seem high.
    When starting, my daily intake was 1,700 a day. Now it's 1290. As my weight changed, adjustments were made.
    Now for the other part, I admit when wanting to go into excess, I will exercise extra.
    I wanted to enjoy a 1lb ribeye steak. But those calories would take me way over my daily intake.
    I walked an additional seven miles that day to off set those extra calories.
    Was I tired? Yes! But boy was that steak so good :)!
    I only do this once in a while so I willing to walk and workout more.
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    First of all depending on what your weight and goals, your daily calories at first might seem high.
    When starting, my daily intake was 1,700 a day. Now it's 1290. As my weight changed, adjustments were made.
    Now for the other part, I admit when wanting to go into excess, I will exercise extra.
    I wanted to enjoy a 1lb ribeye steak. But those calories would take me way over my daily intake.
    I walked an additional seven miles that day to off set those extra calories.
    Was I tired? Yes! But boy was that steak so good :)!
    I only do this once in a while so I willing to walk and workout more.


    ^^^^What are your stats? 1,290 is probably too low, unless you lay around all day long, and don't do anything.
  • Marymoe138
    Marymoe138 Posts: 68 Member
    I definitely learned this is not the way to go, at least for myself. I pushed myself to the limit when I started in order to continue on the same eating patterns I begin with. My calories are 1460 a day @ 5'5, 152 lbs. There were days that I would exercise in excess of 1,000 calories a day to be able to eat what I wanted. I love to workout because it makes me feel great about myself but I also learned that injuring and killing myself is not the way to go either. I have found that for myself over the course of this journey, I begin to not eat as much when I started. I would usually average 2500 calories before exercising ( always netting at least my 1200) but now I find that I am comfortable eating between 1900-2100 calories ( netting around 1400 after exercise). I have also slowed down as I was killing myself to earn calories to eat. I have found a great balance that works for me. As everyone here has said, you have to find that is fun and enjoyable for you. There are so many ways to get in shape and the sky is the limit.
  • SerenaKitty
    SerenaKitty Posts: 142
    I definitely learned this is not the way to go, at least for myself. I pushed myself to the limit when I started in order to continue on the same eating patterns I begin with. My calories are 1460 a day @ 5'5, 152 lbs. There were days that I would exercise in excess of 1,000 calories a day to be able to eat what I wanted. I love to workout because it makes me feel great about myself but I also learned that injuring and killing myself is not the way to go either. I have found that for myself over the course of this journey, I begin to not eat as much when I started. I would usually average 2500 calories before exercising ( always netting at least my 1200) but now I find that I am comfortable eating between 1900-2100 calories ( netting around 1400 after exercise). I have also slowed down as I was killing myself to earn calories to eat. I have found a great balance that works for me. As everyone here has said, you have to find that is fun and enjoyable for you. There are so many ways to get in shape and the sky is the limit.

    Thank you! I agree that there are many options out there and finding a personal balance is all any of us can do.

    I think a few folks misunderstood my initial post. Like you, I enjoy exercise because it makes me feel great! But exercising in order to earn a certain amount of food does not work for some of us.

    I also appreciate those sharing their healthy mindset of "eat to fuel exercise" rather than "exercise to earn fuel". I admire that good common sense that I sometimes lack due to a past of disordered eating and body image issues.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member


    I think you are taking in too many calories. The average woman should have 1200 per day in order to loose weight. Try lowering your caloric intake.

    No!!!!!
  • SerenaKitty
    SerenaKitty Posts: 142


    I think you are taking in too many calories. The average woman should have 1200 per day in order to loose weight. Try lowering your caloric intake.

    No!!!!!

    Lol. I do understand why many people (especially women) think this way. They were raised to believe that 1200 is the magic number for weight loss. Just the other day, a girl asked a question about weight loss and an older lady said that no woman should need more than 1200 calories per day...even when maintaining their weight. Crazy stuff...
  • airdiva1
    airdiva1 Posts: 198 Member
    My goal is to lose 2lbs a week.
    So far that's what I'm doing. There are some weeks where it's 3 two times 1.
    But as I lose weight, I have the calories reset.
    I walk five miles average (sometimes more if I need something from the store) six days a week.
    I'm also using my glider.
    Long as I'm losing and not staving (some days I'm trying to get my food intake up to 1290) and feel good that's all counts.
    But when I was 291 and had a higher daily calorie goal and walking, still lost the weight.
    Everyone will have different numbers depending on the weight started, where you trying to get to and how active. We all not going to be the same numbers
  • tracieangeletti
    tracieangeletti Posts: 432 Member
    I think you are taking in too many calories. The average woman should have 1200 per day in order to loose weight. Try lowering your caloric intake.

    I ate like this for a long time. I was tired, grouchy, and miserable. Oh, and still fat. Skinny fat to be exact. Eat, stay within your macros, make sure you have plenty of protein, and exercise to your ability level and your enjoyment level. I too in the past have looked at exercise and calorie counting as punishments but that was because I didn't have a clear understanding on how to lose weight properly. You don't have to starve, eat nothing but veggies, and exercise like a fool to lose. Also, the tdee method works best for me. I like knowing that I can eat my 1700 calories whether I exercised or not that day.:smile:
  • tracieangeletti
    tracieangeletti Posts: 432 Member


    I think you are taking in too many calories. The average woman should have 1200 per day in order to loose weight. Try lowering your caloric intake.

    No!!!!!

    Lol. I do understand why many people (especially women) think this way. They were raised to believe that 1200 is the magic number for weight loss. Just the other day, a girl asked a question about weight loss and an older lady said that no woman should need more than 1200 calories per day...even when maintaining their weight. Crazy stuff...

    I'm 47 and yes that was exactly what I was taught, and it has only been in the past year that I have been able to change that mindset. Lo and behold it has only been since I've changed that mindset that I am finally on my way to achieving the body that I want.

    Have to say though that just a few months ago a very young pt told me that there was no reason a woman my age or size should ever eat over 1200 a day, regardless of my strength training and cardio. Told me if I got hungry to eat 1/3 of a cup of oatmeal. :-/
    Thankfully he no longer works at the gym.
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    punish? Dang... I look forward to the gym every day... and sometimes want to go back for a second session.
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
    i exercise because it makes me feel like a rock star, not for punishment. if you see it as punishment, i don't think it's going to be sustainable for you in the long term.

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