I think I've been doing this all wrong.

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ElectricDame
ElectricDame Posts: 43
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been reading through all the forums and I'm thinking I'm either not eating enough or have my calories set wrong.

I'm 5'8", 29, and weigh 200lbs. I'm a pretty solid gal, but am a size 14 jean. I would like to get down to around 160lbs.

Right now, I kickbox for a very long, crazy hour 5 days a week. I have been counting calories and working out for about a month and a half and have seen nothing but a couple pound weight gain. My husband says it's muscle gain, but I'm not so sure. I have not been taping myself.

I've been eating well (I used to be carb obsessed) and have upped my protein increase (shake after a workout).

My calorie goal that MFP set for me was 1680, to lose 2 pounds a week. I am eating that amount in good food, but my kickboxing class torches about 900 calories a day, so it's leaving my NET calories around 500-800 less than my goal.

Example:
Goal: 1680 Food 1920 Exercise 997 Net 923 Remaining 757
Goal: 1680 Food 2159 exercise 908 net 1251 remaining 429


Am I not eating enough? Should I be eating back the calories I burn so that my net and goal match as much as possible?

Thanks in advance!
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Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    do you own a food scale?

    do you weigh/log/measure everything?

    what are you using to estimate calorie burns from work outs?
  • Iknowsaur
    Iknowsaur Posts: 777 Member
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    I would be very skeptical that your kickboxing burns 900 calories.
    If you are using MFP's estimate for burns, it is often OVER-estimated, and it is recommended that you eat back half of what MFP estimates your burn to be.
    If 900 is accurate, then your net calorie deficit after exercise is just too high, and you do need to eat a little more.
  • ElectricDame
    ElectricDame Posts: 43
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    I don't weigh things, but I do make sure to eat the servings of everything as closly as I can.

    I use a HRM to calculate, and I burn between 800-900 per class. It's intense.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Yes, you should eat back at least some of those exercise calories.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I don't weigh things, but I do make sure to eat the servings of everything as closly as I can.

    I use a HRM to calculate, and I burn between 800-900 per class. It's intense.

    HRM usually only measure accurately during aerobic exercise. Kickboxing will usually go beyond aerobic so your counts may not be completely accurate.
  • ElectricDame
    ElectricDame Posts: 43
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    It's a cardio kickboxing class with heavy bag and resistance work, as well as cardio and body weight exercises.
  • ElectricDame
    ElectricDame Posts: 43
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    It's very possible but it's what I have to go off of right now.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,968 Member
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    I don't weigh things, but I do make sure to eat the servings of everything as closly as I can.

    I use a HRM to calculate, and I burn between 800-900 per class. It's intense.

    If you are eyeballing portions, that is likely your culprit.

    It is really easy to eat 500 calories a day more than you think without a digital food scale.

    Here: read these:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • ElectricDame
    ElectricDame Posts: 43
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    I don't weigh things, but I do make sure to eat the servings of everything as closly as I can.

    I use a HRM to calculate, and I burn between 800-900 per class. It's intense.

    If you are eyeballing portions, that is likely your culprit.

    It is really easy to eat 500 calories a day more than you think without a digital food scale.

    Here: read these:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    thank you.
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
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    My advice? Tweak your macros. And honestly, as much as I love being the world's best girlfriend and serving up some raw egg protein shakes with a smile that makes my man think he's the luckiest man in the world, that stuff is designed to and makes me (and probably you) gain weight.

    Ditching protein shakes is horrible advice because they help with recovery, but you could half them, or quarter them, or skip some here and there and see if the weight doesn't start coming off. Everyone will say that's bad advice because it is, but if you want to see the numbers go down...???
  • ElectricDame
    ElectricDame Posts: 43
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    I don't weigh things, but I do make sure to eat the servings of everything as closly as I can.

    I use a HRM to calculate, and I burn between 800-900 per class. It's intense.

    HRM usually only measure accurately during aerobic exercise. Kickboxing will usually go beyond aerobic so your counts may not be completely accurate.

    it's very possible, but it's all i have to go off of.
  • ElectricDame
    ElectricDame Posts: 43
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    My advice? Tweak your macros. And honestly, as much as I love being the world's best girlfriend and serving up some raw egg protein shakes with a smile that makes my man think he's the luckiest ****er in the world, that **** is designed to and makes me (and probably you) gain weight.

    Ditching protein shakes is horrible advice because they help with recovery, but you could half them, or quarter them, or skip some here and there and see if the weight doesn't start coming off. Everyone will say that's bad advice because it is, but if you want to see the numbers go down...???

    It's a very lean protein, about 140 cals a serving, and 6 grams of carbs. I don't think that is the culprit. I don't just want to see numbers go down, I want to build lean muscle. I don't want to be "skinny fat."
  • amyk225
    amyk225 Posts: 154
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    you should definatly eat more, with that kind of burn you should aim for at least 2000-2300 cals a day
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
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    MFP is set up assuming that you are eating back any exercise calories that you log above and beyond what you input as your general activity level when you set up your account.

    Until you are weighing your food it will be very hard to determine what issue you are having. I would generally say that given your height weight and activity level, you could probably eat more, but I can't be certain because your intake may be off....

    My first suggestion would be to spend at least two weeks weighing all solid foods and using measuring cups for all liquid foods until you are 100% certain you know exactly what your calorie input is.... Most people are shocked when they start weighing, everyone thinks they know what a serving looks like, most people really don't.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    I don't weigh things, but I do make sure to eat the servings of everything as closly as I can.

    I use a HRM to calculate, and I burn between 800-900 per class. It's intense.

    HRM usually only measure accurately during aerobic exercise. Kickboxing will usually go beyond aerobic so your counts may not be completely accurate.

    it's very possible, but it's all i have to go off of.

    I calculate calorie burns from my HRM as well, but I only eat back 50% or less because I'm not doing steady-state cardio. I also second weighing and measuring all your food, it's when I started weighing food that the weight started to move.
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
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    When I type your info into a tdee calc, I get an average of 2200 calories to lose about 1.25 lbs/week. Definitely get a food scale. Maybe consider changing your goal to 1 lb/week instead of 2 since you don't have a ton to lose. And I wouldn't eat back all of those exercise cals if you keep using the MFP method as they're probably not entirely accurate.

    And this is great info. Pardon my top quoting.
    If you are eyeballing portions, that is likely your culprit.

    It is really easy to eat 500 calories a day more than you think without a digital food scale.

    Here: read these:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    You're going to want to knock off at least 20% of your burn from your HRM just to account for your basal calories and some estimation error. A HRM is more accurate than other methods of estimating your calorie burn, but it's still an estimate and your basal calories are included in that burn at minimum.

    Also, while it may be a cardio kickboxing class, it's not a steady state cardio event which is what a HRM is most accurate for in RE to estimating calorie burn. The further you get from a steady state aerobic event, the less accurate a HRM is. Your calorie burn is not directly attributable to your HR...your HR is just used by the HRM to estimate at what level of VO2 max you might be working at.

    A good reasonableness for calorie burn is to cap it at 10 calories per minute...it's pretty hard to burn more than 10 additional (above and beyond your basal calories) per minute...essentially a 10 calorie per minute workout would be one that you really couldn't hold a conversation and really just had to focus on your workout and not much else. You may indeed burn slightly more than that, but when you're doing this it is best to be conservative in your estimates. I generally used a factor of 5 - 10 with a 5 being roughly a 3 MPH walk and a 10 being a pretty intense workout.
  • ElectricDame
    ElectricDame Posts: 43
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    Thanks for all the responses. I changed my goal to 1 pound a week, and now MFP is wanting my goal to be 2180. So, this is what my intake should be including food & exercise? I have had 500 or more calories "left" over, after exercise, that I have just left be.

    And I should get a food scale. I measure out everything dry and wet, but I don't weight stuff. I for sure could be off.
  • wolfsbayne
    wolfsbayne Posts: 3,116 Member
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    I'm 5'7", also 200 lbs. I do Stronglifts 3 times a week and have added in 30-45 minutes of moderate cardio at least twice a week. I use the TDEE-20% method and my cals are set to 1897.
  • unFATuated
    unFATuated Posts: 204 Member
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    My advice? Tweak your macros. And honestly, as much as I love being the world's best girlfriend and serving up some raw egg protein shakes with a smile that makes my man think he's the luckiest ****er in the world, that **** is designed to and makes me (and probably you) gain weight.

    Ditching protein shakes is horrible advice because they help with recovery, but you could half them, or quarter them, or skip some here and there and see if the weight doesn't start coming off. Everyone will say that's bad advice because it is, but if you want to see the numbers go down...???

    It's a very lean protein, about 140 cals a serving, and 6 grams of carbs. I don't think that is the culprit. I don't just want to see numbers go down, I want to build lean muscle. I don't want to be "skinny fat."

    It is unlikely that protein is the culprit, but just FYI, you will not 'build' muscle in a caloric deficit, and you will certainly not build it with cardio. Cardio will burn fat, lifting weights will build muscle (but you may have to finish cutting weight first, then look at going into a building phase - eating in caloric surplus and lifting heavy weights). Lifting weights will also help you cut fat and maintain what lean mass you currently have.

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