Are this many calories actually neccessary? Confused...
DJonssy
Posts: 18 Member
I am just now getting back into tracking my food, along with higher levels of exercises.
Last night by 11 pm I had over 1200 calories still left to "consume". It seemed like A LOT. A lot came from exercising, and I have seen on MFP that you should eat back half your exercise calories, but still, getting to 650 more, half the actual calories left on my Food log, seemed like an awful lot. Not that I will complain about eating! I love to eat! I worry though that this is too much and think, "how can I possibly lose weight by eating so many calories!?" But I do not want my body to hold on to fat because I am not getting enough calories either.
Is it really TRULY ok to be eating so many calories? It doesn't seem right... And, If I have so many calories left over at the end of the day, am I better off NOT exercising so much? So the deficit isn't so ridiculous at the end of the day? I am pretty confused. Thanks!
Last night by 11 pm I had over 1200 calories still left to "consume". It seemed like A LOT. A lot came from exercising, and I have seen on MFP that you should eat back half your exercise calories, but still, getting to 650 more, half the actual calories left on my Food log, seemed like an awful lot. Not that I will complain about eating! I love to eat! I worry though that this is too much and think, "how can I possibly lose weight by eating so many calories!?" But I do not want my body to hold on to fat because I am not getting enough calories either.
Is it really TRULY ok to be eating so many calories? It doesn't seem right... And, If I have so many calories left over at the end of the day, am I better off NOT exercising so much? So the deficit isn't so ridiculous at the end of the day? I am pretty confused. Thanks!
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Replies
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If you've entered your info & goals into MFP correctly, and your calorie burns are reasonably accurate (realizing that MFP's burn estimates are high), then yes, you should be eating that much. Food is fuel!
I've had my best success eating 1800-2000 or more calories a day. This was after starting with the standard 1200 goal and eating back exercise cals, which was difficult to stick to and resulting in my stopping and starting several times over.
If you find it difficult to eat more, ditch the egg whites and fat free milk, or any "diety" foods. Eat whole eggs, full fat or at least 2% dairy, snack on raw almonds (and a piece of dark chocolate!), apples dipped in peanut butter, use olive and coconut oils in cooking. These will add more cals to your day in small portions, helping you reach your goal.0 -
If you've entered your info & goals into MFP correctly, and your calorie burns are reasonably accurate (realizing that MFP's burn estimates are high), then yes, you should be eating that much. Food is fuel!
I've had my best success eating 1800-2000 or more calories a day. This was after starting with the standard 1200 goal and eating back exercise cals, which was difficult to stick to and resulting in my stopping and starting several times over.
If you find it difficult to eat more, ditch the egg whites and fat free milk, or any "diety" foods. Eat whole eggs, full fat or at least 2% dairy, snack on raw almonds (and a piece of dark chocolate!), apples dipped in peanut butter, use olive and coconut oils in cooking. These will add more cals to your day in small portions, helping you reach your goal.
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Just some questions on your calorie burns - did you walk for 180 minutes or are you including some activity, like your job, in that?
And you don't post your weight but with 36 lbs to lose, I honestly don't think you burned 611 calories for Zumba.
And this ^ to the links above. Really great start.0 -
How are you determining your calorie burns?0
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Yes. If your body's metabolic rate is accurately predicted by the formula, then it's best to follow the calorie guidelines. If you are not losing weight, then adjust as needed.0
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Just some questions on your calorie burns - did you walk for 180 minutes or are you including some activity, like your job, in that?
And you don't post your weight but with 36 lbs to lose, I honestly don't think you burned 611 calories for Zumba.
And this ^ to the links above. Really great start.
Yes, it was actual walking, not work stuff. . Well, Hiking, but I read MFP calculates high when it comes to burning calories so I just put in walking instead of hiking.
Should I put in less than my actual exercise time when it comes to zumba so that It doesn't calculate high? I've just been cutting the amount of burned calories to eat back in half to compensate for any high MFP estimates. I thought that would be enough.0 -
How are you determining your calorie burns?
Not with an HRM, only the MFP calculator, which I have read on the forum is notoriously high. Because of that, I've been cutting those "burned"calories in half, and then attempting to eat some of that half back.0 -
Good information, Thank you! I am sure I will come back to it. I've been on the fence about taking measurements, but I am thinking it's something that might be beneficial since I've been using the "how crabby I feel after I put my jeans on" method... which doesn't take into account other "successes" that might be going on in other parts of my body, but only concentrates on the lack of success in my belly region.
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If you've entered your info & goals into MFP correctly, and your calorie burns are reasonably accurate (realizing that MFP's burn estimates are high), then yes, you should be eating that much. Food is fuel!
I've had my best success eating 1800-2000 or more calories a day. This was after starting with the standard 1200 goal and eating back exercise cals, which was difficult to stick to and resulting in my stopping and starting several times over.
If you find it difficult to eat more, ditch the egg whites and fat free milk, or any "diety" foods. Eat whole eggs, full fat or at least 2% dairy, snack on raw almonds (and a piece of dark chocolate!), apples dipped in peanut butter, use olive and coconut oils in cooking. These will add more cals to your day in small portions, helping you reach your goal.
This was very very helpful, thank you. Especially to know you've experienced much success eating higher calorie amounts. I've been exercising 6 days a week, 1-2 times a day, 40+ minutes each time for about a month, and have seen ZERO results.... (my ticker says 1 pound, but I am pretty sure I can thank water weight for that. lol) That's when I hit the forum and started logging again. From stalking around the message boards, I've read a few interesting things and I am hoping my problem was too big of a deficit, because until now it's been feeling like a whole lot of work for NOTHING, and it's a bit discouraging.
Now just changing the mentality that eating MORE isn't going to ruin everything, but instead make it actually work.... Thanks!0 -
I think you should really look into doing the TDEE method. You find your TDEE and take away a percentage and eat that amount every single day. When you log exercise you log it as 1 calorie burned. That way you don't worry about how many calories you're burning because your calories are already calculated into the TDEE #.
Example - I am 5'5", I eat 1940 every day. My diary is open, you'll see I do log exercise and it shows the estimated calorie burns but that's because I have my Fitbit linked. If it wasn't linked (and I might disconnect it) then I'd log all my exercises as 1 calorie burned.
I am doing TDEE-15%.
Here is a great link to explain TDEE. If the first link is TL:DR (too long didn't read) go to the 2nd link. It's condensed.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet
I know you hike, do you do any strength training?
ETA: Do you own a food scale?0 -
I think you should really look into doing the TDEE method. You find your TDEE and take away a percentage and eat that amount every single day. When you log exercise you log it as 1 calorie burned. That way you don't worry about how many calories you're burning because your calories are already calculated into the TDEE #.
Example - I am 5'5", I eat 1940 every day. My diary is open, you'll see I do log exercise and it shows the estimated calorie burns but that's because I have my Fitbit linked. If it wasn't linked (and I might disconnect it) then I'd log all my exercises as 1 calorie burned.
I am doing TDEE-15%.
Here is a great link to explain TDEE. If the first link is TL:DR (too long didn't read) go to the 2nd link. It's condensed.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet
I know you hike, do you do any strength training?
ETA: Do you own a food scale?
I agree that this may be worth a try. I lost quite a bit using the MFP method but, I stalled. I stalled because I quit tracking accurately out of laziness. I am using TDEE -10 now, it works better for me. You may try it.0 -
Try eating lunch,,,,, just a thought.0
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How are you determining your calorie burns?
Not with an HRM, only the MFP calculator, which I have read on the forum is notoriously high. Because of that, I've been cutting those "burned"calories in half, and then attempting to eat some of that half back.
Notoriously high is probably an overstatement. Calorie burns are difficult to calculate accurately without being hooked up to something the measures what you are breathing out to determine what you are burning. Having said that, I have read more than enough posts here from people who followed MFP's number exactly including MFP's calculated calorie burns eating back all of them and lost weight. Thus, I am doubting they are as far off as people seem to think. BTW, even HRMs will over estimate calorie burns for steady state cardio if the exercise time is quite long as HR tends to creep higher during longer exercise periods even though the burn is not increasing. Eating half back is likely not a bad idea, especially if you have a lot to lose. If you have less to lose, it would be a matter of tracking carefully, seeing the results, then determining from that whether to eat more or less.0 -
Try eating lunch,,,,, just a thought.
I guess I should post more clearly.... sometimes I log my lunches as snacks, because it's not an actual "meal" just a bunch of portioned out snack material spanning an hour or two midday... But Thanks....I will log those as lunch from now on as not to confuse those offering help.0 -
Yeah the MFP calculator over-compensates at times. :P If you're going to rely on that and not a HRM/fitbit I'd say only eat like 1/2 to 3/4 of the calories back. 0
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The higher the daily deficit, the more chance you have of losing muscle as well as of compromising general health.
2lb/week or 1000 calorie daily deficit is a number plucked out of the air that makes sense as a maximum deficit to not go above.
So if you're starting with a 250 calorie deficit, I wouldn't worry going over it.
If you've already got a 1000 calorie deficit, I'd try and eat back as much as you can.
This evening I went for a run which burnt 806 calories I think it was.
So I had a tub of low calorie ice cream (around 570) with some 'cookie crisp' mixed in. Lots of simple carbs are ideal to replenish energy used.0 -
That sounds so tasty lolThis evening I went for a run which burnt 806 calories I think it was.
So I had a tub of low calorie ice cream (around 570) with some 'cookie crisp' mixed in.0 -
bump for later0
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Just some questions on your calorie burns - did you walk for 180 minutes or are you including some activity, like your job, in that?
And you don't post your weight but with 36 lbs to lose, I honestly don't think you burned 611 calories for Zumba.
And this ^ to the links above. Really great start.
Yes, it was actual walking, not work stuff. . Well, Hiking, but I read MFP calculates high when it comes to burning calories so I just put in walking instead of hiking.
Should I put in less than my actual exercise time when it comes to zumba so that It doesn't calculate high? I've just been cutting the amount of burned calories to eat back in half to compensate for any high MFP estimates. I thought that would be enough.
I am 5'1" and 168lbs. I only burn 455 calories doing 60 minutes of zumba so yours may not be so high. I have 48lbs to lose myself. I suggest buying a heart rate monitor. I got mine for less than $8 from Amazon. It's worth knowing a more accurate estimate of calories burned.
I saw someone post that you should skip 'diet' foods if you're having so much issue catching up on calories by the end of the day. I definitely agree with this. Eat the whole egg. 2 hard-boiled eggs are about 140 calories and I eat them every morning with some Bojangles seasoning.
Also, I was doing a lot of exercise before, but once I cut it back I began to lose a lot more weight. I went from 60 minutes of zumba to running up and down the hill at my house for 13-26 minutes. I burn about the same number of calories, but my body isn't under strain for a long period of time.0 -
The higher the daily deficit, the more chance you have of losing muscle as well as of compromising general health.
2lb/week or 1000 calorie daily deficit is a number plucked out of the air that makes sense as a maximum deficit to not go above.
So if you're starting with a 250 calorie deficit, I wouldn't worry going over it.
If you've already got a 1000 calorie deficit, I'd try and eat back as much as you can.
This evening I went for a run which burnt 806 calories I think it was.
So I had a tub of low calorie ice cream (around 570) with some 'cookie crisp' mixed in. Lots of simple carbs are ideal to replenish energy used.
How long do you run to burn that many calories? My knees are pretty terrible so I've taken to the woods hiking instead. Well... and Zumba. I'd like to run but it's more high impact than I would like, I guess. Maybe I am just a sloppy runner.
To be honest, I haven't been on a regular running routine since high school volleyball/softball! Yikes....0 -
I think you should really look into doing the TDEE method. You find your TDEE and take away a percentage and eat that amount every single day. When you log exercise you log it as 1 calorie burned. That way you don't worry about how many calories you're burning because your calories are already calculated into the TDEE #.
Example - I am 5'5", I eat 1940 every day. My diary is open, you'll see I do log exercise and it shows the estimated calorie burns but that's because I have my Fitbit linked. If it wasn't linked (and I might disconnect it) then I'd log all my exercises as 1 calorie burned.
I am doing TDEE-15%.
Here is a great link to explain TDEE. If the first link is TL:DR (too long didn't read) go to the 2nd link. It's condensed.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet
I know you hike, do you do any strength training?
ETA: Do you own a food scale?
I agree... you should try this. Works great for me.0 -
I think you should really look into doing the TDEE method. You find your TDEE and take away a percentage and eat that amount every single day. When you log exercise you log it as 1 calorie burned. That way you don't worry about how many calories you're burning because your calories are already calculated into the TDEE #.
Example - I am 5'5", I eat 1940 every day. My diary is open, you'll see I do log exercise and it shows the estimated calorie burns but that's because I have my Fitbit linked. If it wasn't linked (and I might disconnect it) then I'd log all my exercises as 1 calorie burned.
I am doing TDEE-15%.
Here is a great link to explain TDEE. If the first link is TL:DR (too long didn't read) go to the 2nd link. It's condensed.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet
I know you hike, do you do any strength training?
ETA: Do you own a food scale?
My strength training so far has only consisted of pilates, which I found out tonight when trying to plug it in.... doesn't count as "strength training"
I'd like to expand this part of my routine and get some good ideas.
I do not own a food scale. My "food scale" is 12 oz pack of chicken with 3 pieces, well, this is probably 4 oz. If I don't have an exact number, I tend to overestimate because I figure it's better than underestimating... but I could be totally wrong, I suppose and that could be just as bad.
Reading this thread, it really looks like I may need to get my self an HRM, and a food scale to stay on top of myself. I've played around with the idea of the fitbit but it's really not in the budget right now. Bummer.0 -
Just some questions on your calorie burns - did you walk for 180 minutes or are you including some activity, like your job, in that?
And you don't post your weight but with 36 lbs to lose, I honestly don't think you burned 611 calories for Zumba.
And this ^ to the links above. Really great start.
Yes, it was actual walking, not work stuff. . Well, Hiking, but I read MFP calculates high when it comes to burning calories so I just put in walking instead of hiking.
Should I put in less than my actual exercise time when it comes to zumba so that It doesn't calculate high? I've just been cutting the amount of burned calories to eat back in half to compensate for any high MFP estimates. I thought that would be enough.
After seeing the complaints about MFP and its calorie burn quantities I bought a heart rate monitor. Honestly I think of it as an investment in my health. I use the calories I get from my HRM and then enter the activity I completed (Treadmill usually). enter the amount of time and then correct the calories to whatever my HRM says.
ETA: I know some say that HRM's don't calculate well either. All I can say is that so far I have only had steady progress based on my logging and the HRM calories that I enter.0 -
Bump0
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I think you should really look into doing the TDEE method. You find your TDEE and take away a percentage and eat that amount every single day. When you log exercise you log it as 1 calorie burned. That way you don't worry about how many calories you're burning because your calories are already calculated into the TDEE #.
Example - I am 5'5", I eat 1940 every day. My diary is open, you'll see I do log exercise and it shows the estimated calorie burns but that's because I have my Fitbit linked. If it wasn't linked (and I might disconnect it) then I'd log all my exercises as 1 calorie burned.
I am doing TDEE-15%.
Here is a great link to explain TDEE. If the first link is TL:DR (too long didn't read) go to the 2nd link. It's condensed.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet
I know you hike, do you do any strength training?
ETA: Do you own a food scale?
I finally got a chance to sit and go through the info on TDEE. That is some good GOOD stuff! Excellent sources too. Thank you! Looking at the actual definition of a calorie in that post, even though it may sound ridiculous, was extremely helpful to my psyche. (If I can use that word) I was also grateful for the hormone talk in relationship to diet, and it shed a lot of light on things for me. I am very sensitive to even the slightest of hormonal changes so that was some info I really needed to hear. In fact, everything in that post clearly laid out everything that I needed to hear and understand. I see now why others have been applauding that link.
Seriously, thank you!0
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